Any time, any place

[Zhurdan]

I spent roughly 7 years as a volunteer EMT, donating literally thousands of hours per year doing so. By far the most rewarding thing I've ever done. I wish I was still in an area that used volunteers, as I'd still be doing it.

Edit: I should go on to say the catalyst for my starting was coming up to an auto accident and having zero clue what to do. I felt so ineffectual, and never wanted to be that way again.

Used to drive for work a lot and drove up on two different accidents where people died. Unfortunately, all I could do was essentially hold their heads and watch them pass away. All I can think is that I gave them some sort of comfort while they passed. It has steeled me to get more training though, so I guess it's a win/win in that regard.

It is something that haunts my dreams to this day. Being there and NOT knowing what to do in the most basic of manners. Haunting.

I knew a bit, but these people were DOA essentially. There wasn't anything I could really do. There was so much blood. The one lady probably shouldn't have even been conscious with as much of her face that was missing but I held her there, and she seemed at peace. God bless those that deal with this on a daily basis, as I don't want to have to deal with it ever again!

[peterb]

Used to drive for work a lot and drove up on two different accidents where people died. Unfortunately, all I could do was essentially hold their heads and watch them pass away. All I can think is that I gave them some sort of comfort while they passed. It has steeled me to get more training though, so I guess it's a win/win in that regard.

It is something that haunts my dreams to this day. Being there and NOT knowing what to do in the most basic of manners. Haunting.

I knew a bit, but these people were DOA essentially. There wasn't anything I could really do. There was so much blood. The one lady probably shouldn't have even been conscious with as much of her face that was missing but I held her there, and she seemed at peace. God bless those that deal with this on a daily basis, as I don't want to have to deal with it ever again!

You did well. Being alone and scared and hurt is miserable. If just being there and being calm was all you knew to do, it was a hell of a lot better than doing nothing.

http://ambulancedriverfiles.com/2012...bulance-corps/

First aid skills are important, but so is the human side of patient care, and it's a lot harder to teach.

[SeriousStudent]

......

First aid skills are important, but so is the human side of patient care, and it's a lot harder to teach.

Amen. It's also one of the first things to go. And then you should go, as well.

Not turning this into a sob story or anything. But it is like a lot of career paths. It's something you are cut out for, or you are not. No dishonor or hard feelings if you aren't.

I think medical skills are just one of those things that everyone needs, to a varying degree. If you spend a lot of time in harms way, or performing higher-risk activities, it's good plan to know how to deal with the red squirty stuff. It just baffles me how many people think they are set for self defense, but have no ideas about threat avoidance. Or what to do when the threat becomes reality, and parts are no longer working as designed. There's a ton to learn, always more to learn.

[ST911]

Critical life-saving skills needn't be complicated. Early simple BLS saves lives. Keeping air going in and out and blood circulating around and around are huge. Machines and meds are great, and sometimes you really need that OR fast, but I've seen too many die at the roadside or in living rooms that would have had a fighting chance if someone knew something simple.

[MGW]

I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm definitely a lot less skilled than others on this board so I probably can't add much to the conversation. There was a similar incident in our area this past year where a male rented a gun at an indoor range, bought a box of ammo, and did the deed when he stepped into his booth. I wasn't there only got the information second hand.

I've been through Red Cross first aid and CPR (I believe they call it level I?) multiple times and really it's a joke. The best training I've been through is Army combat life saver. The strange difference between the two is current CPR is really only teaching chest compressions and direct pressure for bleeding. CLS doesn't teach any CPR skills and they teach you to put a tourniquet on anything possible if there is blood loss involved.

The big three things in CLS now are stop the bleeding (tourniquet or direct pressure if the wound is in a place where you can't use a tourniquet), establish an airway (chin and head tilt or nasal pharyngoscopy (sp?) (hose up the nose), and needle chest decompression if a lung has been punctured. These three things don't sound like much but over 10 years of combat these three injuries have been the biggest cause of possible preventable deaths and they are three things that almost anyone can learn how to do. The other big skills taught of course is how to get help headed your way and how to move someone that's been injured.

Everyone is issued a personal first aid kit with items to perform those three things too. I think a civilian first aid kit would have a very solid base if it had those three items too. I think the needle chest decompression kit would probably be a lower priority and maybe someone else can chime in on that for me. When I was doing convoy security we made everyone carried at least one extra tourniquet. Having multiple people ready to punch out a nine line card and radio the information in was key too. I think the civilian version of a nine line would be

1. your name
2. your location
3. type of injury(ies)
4. number of people injured

Then you stay on the phone with the dispatcher and let them tell you what else they need. If you have enough people you'll also want someone to meet the ambulance and direct them to where they are needed.

To be effective with first aid you need to be ready to take over a scene if there isn't someone else qualified running things. In my experience when something bad happens there are lots of people standing around and not many people actually doing anything. Time will be the biggest factor in saving someone most of the time. Someone needs to call 911 immediately. Preferably someone that isn't performing first aid.


The biggest thing to remember is the goal of first aid is to keep the patient alive until more skilled and better equipped help gets there.

[vaspence]

Sorry you had to witness what you did, but give yourself a huge pat on the back for being prepared and acting.

WFR is a great choice! I started there and moved to WEMT but WFR is a great place if you don't plan on riding the bus. I'm hoping I'll have the time to take the WFR course again when I recert.

I also took an additional two day GSW course. (If you are attending the Tactical Conference, Doc K is who I took the class from and he is a very good instructor). The only thing I'd offer up is to take the WFR from a reputable company (SOLO, WMI, WMA) to insure a good instructor. Moving to Colorado you shouldn't have any trouble catching up with a WMI course. The WFR will be a great tool for the toolbox out there with your little guys, etc. Even if you get your front country EMT the WFR offers up a lot of skills that you just don't get in a course that is designed around having a stocked bus.

[MDS]

I never understood gunshot/massive trauma and what to do and how to do it well until I took a dedicated two day class dealing with that stuff.

Do you remember where you took that particular class? I've been looking, at it seems like they only have that as part of EMT programs in colleges around here...?

I should go on to say the catalyst for my starting was coming up to an auto accident and having zero clue what to do. I felt so ineffectual, and never wanted to be that way again.

Yeah, I can certainly see how one could fall into the whole trauma care thing. The more I read about it, the more interesting it is - lots of technical details combined with lots of judgment required to make life-and-death decisions under pressure. The highs and lows must both be pretty intense...

[MDS]

If you are attending the Tactical Conference, Doc K is who I took the class from and he is a very good instructor.

Thanks for the tip! I haven't quite had the motivation to make it to the con, but this might put me over the edge...