If you missed the training last Tuesday night (04/16/2019), we covered three main topics. The first being how to properly secure a patient to a backboard for transport. The method that we use at Station 20 is the so called “Parachute Method”. It wraps the top of the patient with an X- across the chest, and a square across the bottom legs. We discussed the difference between strapping a large adult to a small child and what adjustments are needed accordingly.
From there, we practiced bandaging two scenarios. The first is with a small child with an object logged in the eye (in this case the example was a pencil). The major things taught were not to remove the object, but help stabilize the object with either a cup or bandages. The other issue addressed is making sure that both eyes are covered. This is because eyes move in pairs. If the other eye looks at something the injured eye is effected as well. I will probably write a post on this in general for the public.
The last training was taught because a real life scenario happened earlier in the week and Station 20 wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page with additional tools in their belt. The training involved what to do when arriving on a scene where a vehicle is flipped and a person is still inside. We talked about the difference between broken glass versus still intact, how electric vehicles respond in water versus regular standard vehicles, where to hook a winch and how to best extract individuals. We also went over dangers to look out for on scene such as downed power poles in water, alligators, and bends in the road which may put the firetruck at risk for being hit should it have to use the roadway to winch the vehicle out of the water. We also went over probabilities of life and shared experiences of actual events so that all can better learn such as how to handle frightened or aggressive dogs in vehicles
These classes are not only for the volunteers and fire fighters but for the community as well. The more you know the better you are. We invite you to come to classes. We typically train every other Tuesday night starting around 6:30pm and the fourth Saturday of the month.