>> My main goal with the "how to call 911" talks is to hopefully have at least one person per household who can call for help. Fancier stuff comes later.<<
Sensible.
>> Maybe we should do that as a drill, though, once we are back in-person.
"Okay everyone! Fake me is unconscious on the floor! What do you do now?"<<
Good idea.
>>Would be useful, especially as there are often enough people to have / require different jobs - the person(s) flagging down the paramedics and holding doors will need different skills than the people watching the kids or calling it in.<<
Exactly. An important thing is to encourage people to think about their strengths and weaknesses, then choose roles accordingly. Refugees know how to do this, but may not think of it as such in a new setting. And things change. The youngest person is often the best speaker, but that's not who is normally in charge.
>>Main problem with my group is language barriers. If I were trained as an instructor, I could train people who otherwise can't take classes.<<
In that case, go for basic first aid plus CPR and something like Stop the Bleed. That's the most-used stuff and the two best ways to save a life with minimal skills and supplies. Ask if there are programs to subsidize instructor training given that your language fluency will give access to an otherwise hard-to-reach population.
The most basic: "[address], [emergency]."
>>I've also had people listen to 911 calls / watch video reenactments - to familiarize them with how the dispatcher will talk and how the process works.<<
That's a good idea. If you get a chance to do more, get a list of questions the dispatchers commonly ask. Because understanding always exceeds production, it's easier for people to respond usefully if they have already heard sample conversations.
>> Direct pressure is about what I'd expect. (If there are thorax injuries affecting the lungs or guts, there are other things to do, but always, always ALWAYS stop the bleeding first, otherwise you'll be doctoring a corpse.) That's what I know with my basic training... <<
That and airway. No airway, no patient. I don't really agree with the recent suggestion to start CPR without checking the airway first, because if it's blocked, breaths and compressions will do fuckall good.
>> But yeah, I'd start freaking out a bit if organs were clearly visible. (Even more so if injuries rendered someone Ambiguously Humanoid...) <<
By the time you get to "That looks like a thumb, so the elbow is probably up here somewhere," most people are chucking instead of helping. :/
>>I have a little one, mostly for small things, but it's also got an EpiPen, cpr mask and gloves. And I'm female, so I usually keep at least one menstrual pad on hand (Though I've never had to improvise a bandage.) <<
Sounds good.
I'm sure Cas will be hustling Molly for advice on what to put in an EDC kit. If I remember right, her hip kit includes EMT scissors and a knife that Shiv made.
>> Hmmm...cross train enough that everyone knows what jobs need to be done, so they know when to move out of the way or facilitate as needed? (Could be as basic as 'If not busy, be sure Cas has enough supplies' or 'if the person on the phone says to shudup so they can hear better /do it/.) <<
Pretty much. You need to teach teamwork to cover the things an individual can't or won't do.
>>I'm looking more at the difference between "professional ambulance will show up when called in [even if not instantly]" and "so, we have to keep some dude alive for three days with scrounged equipment, no formal training, and little/no hope of professionals actually showing up."
As opposed to the difference between rapid response and more sluggish response by neighborhod, but an ambulance /will/ get there...<<
For many minor to moderate injuries, that difference between wilderness and civilization matters.
For things like a heart attack or heavy bleeding, the 5-minute response in a good neighborhood vs. a 15-minute response in a bad neighborhood or a 30-minute response in rural outskirts makes the difference. And there are places where the response time is measured in hours just because some western states are big and mostly empty. *chuckle* Which is why the Iron Horses push for first aid training, so they were able to help Kenzie.
First aid actually has two applications. One is for fixing minor stuff that doesn't need professional help. The other is buying time to reach professional help. The amount of training and quality of supplies determines how much time someone can buy.
Of course, Cas has ulterior resources. The soul-gripping trick he pulled is actually real, he's just better at it than most folks.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2021-06-21 10:44 am (UTC)Sensible.
>> Maybe we should do that as a drill, though, once we are back in-person.
"Okay everyone! Fake me is unconscious on the floor! What do you do now?"<<
Good idea.
>>Would be useful, especially as there are often enough people to have / require different jobs - the person(s) flagging down the paramedics and holding doors will need different skills than the people watching the kids or calling it in.<<
Exactly. An important thing is to encourage people to think about their strengths and weaknesses, then choose roles accordingly. Refugees know how to do this, but may not think of it as such in a new setting. And things change. The youngest person is often the best speaker, but that's not who is normally in charge.
>>Main problem with my group is language barriers. If I were trained as an instructor, I could train people who otherwise can't take classes.<<
In that case, go for basic first aid plus CPR and something like Stop the Bleed. That's the most-used stuff and the two best ways to save a life with minimal skills and supplies. Ask if there are programs to subsidize instructor training given that your language fluency will give access to an otherwise hard-to-reach population.
The most basic: "[address], [emergency]."
>>I've also had people listen to 911 calls / watch video reenactments - to familiarize them with how the dispatcher will talk and how the process works.<<
That's a good idea. If you get a chance to do more, get a list of questions the dispatchers commonly ask. Because understanding always exceeds production, it's easier for people to respond usefully if they have already heard sample conversations.
>> Direct pressure is about what I'd expect. (If there are thorax injuries affecting the lungs or guts, there are other things to do, but always, always ALWAYS stop the bleeding first, otherwise you'll be doctoring a corpse.) That's what I know with my basic training... <<
That and airway. No airway, no patient. I don't really agree with the recent suggestion to start CPR without checking the airway first, because if it's blocked, breaths and compressions will do fuckall good.
>> But yeah, I'd start freaking out a bit if organs were clearly visible. (Even more so if injuries rendered someone Ambiguously Humanoid...) <<
By the time you get to "That looks like a thumb, so the elbow is probably up here somewhere," most people are chucking instead of helping. :/
>>I have a little one, mostly for small things, but it's also got an EpiPen, cpr mask and gloves. And I'm female, so I usually keep at least one menstrual pad on hand (Though I've never had to improvise a bandage.) <<
Sounds good.
I'm sure Cas will be hustling Molly for advice on what to put in an EDC kit. If I remember right, her hip kit includes EMT scissors and a knife that Shiv made.
>> Hmmm...cross train enough that everyone knows what jobs need to be done, so they know when to move out of the way or facilitate as needed? (Could be as basic as 'If not busy, be sure Cas has enough supplies' or 'if the person on the phone says to shudup so they can hear better /do it/.) <<
Pretty much. You need to teach teamwork to cover the things an individual can't or won't do.
>>I'm looking more at the difference between "professional ambulance will show up when called in [even if not instantly]" and "so, we have to keep some dude alive for three days with scrounged equipment, no formal training, and little/no hope of professionals actually showing up."
As opposed to the difference between rapid response and more sluggish response by neighborhod, but an ambulance /will/ get there...<<
For many minor to moderate injuries, that difference between wilderness and civilization matters.
For things like a heart attack or heavy bleeding, the 5-minute response in a good neighborhood vs. a 15-minute response in a bad neighborhood or a 30-minute response in rural outskirts makes the difference. And there are places where the response time is measured in hours just because some western states are big and mostly empty. *chuckle* Which is why the Iron Horses push for first aid training, so they were able to help Kenzie.
First aid actually has two applications. One is for fixing minor stuff that doesn't need professional help. The other is buying time to reach professional help. The amount of training and quality of supplies determines how much time someone can buy.
Of course, Cas has ulterior resources. The soul-gripping trick he pulled is actually real, he's just better at it than most folks.