CMA Report #5

We did have class this week and I did get a report written. It is a good thing too, as I don't have anything else to post. Well, I did almost finish the "Marshmallow Thief" part whatever it is.:) But I have to save that for the Pickwick. I must say, it sure was fun to read all those comments about "Meleah's Western." Thanks so much for leaving them.:) I guess if I really want a lot of comments, I should post a bunch of one thing and then suddenly without warning, slip a Western in.:) Of course, it probably wouldn't work next time.;)

Let me see, have I done anything exciting and worth mentioning this week? I have! I actually have the background for my book on the computer with all the "letters" inserted where they go! I am working now on adding some other little things here and there. It is quite exciting. I will warn you now that it will be a long book. It is nearly 300 pages right now, and I haven't added in the chapters.

But enough of that. Here is the report.

CMA Report #5

Welcome back to the fifth class of the first CMA. I am delighted you could join me. Today our topic is Mass Casualties.

Arriving at class, I was a little apprehensive of what we would be doing or seeing. Jerry (from the first class) was there and told us that Jason (from medical emergencies) was picking up supper for us. Since he wasn’t there yet, we would go outside and see one of the fire station’s supply trucks. Dave Holden was the firefighter there.

Firefighter Dave Holden

He said he drives this truck and then trades off with another guy and drives a ladder truck. He works in station five. It was pretty neat seeing their equipment. The tools for cutting someone out of a car and these little, flat things that can be slid under a car and then inflated to twelve inches or so to raise the car. They can stack them on top of each other to raise it even higher. Later he showed us the huge ones that can raise a semi! Those things can push it up about five feet! Talk about some heavy duty stuff. We saw the things for high-angle rescues. Dave said he doesn’t like them. He pulled out his mask, and Roger and Dad tried it on.

Roger
Dad (Anyone else want to wear it?)

We were shown things that they put down to soak up toxic fluids as well as their little thing that tells you how much oxygen is in the air and how much chemical. They have a really neat thing that will melt metal. It looks like a metal stick. Dave told us that it can be used right next to a victim’s head and not hurt them. While we were out looking at the truck, a call came from dispatch. There was a fire in Carterville. Dave listened, but they didn’t call him. They did call for an ambulance though, and in another moment one pulled out with lights and sirens on.

We heard that if another call came in, we didn’t have an ambulance to respond to it. They were all out. Well, there was an ambulance, but no one to staff it. About that time Jason returned with supper. As we were getting our food, I heard Jerry tell Dave what this class was for and how it was the first one and they would advertise for the next one. (Hmmm, will that get the fire department to start a Citizen’s Fire Academy? Can’t you picture me learning all about being a firefighter?:))
Anyway, once we had gotten our food, we started leaning about MCIs. That is Mass Casualty Incident for those who were wondering. A mass casualty is anytime they have more victims than they have room for in the ambulances. By the way, they can take two people in an ambulance, one on the cot and one one the bench.
Jason talked first. We talked about terrorist attacks, (That would cause a mass casualty.) and I learned that Joplin is the third in the target cities for Missouri. That is because it has several plants or factories that make things for the military as well as having one of the few remaining dynamite factories. (Don’t you want to live in Joplin now? Not only is it a border town with a higher crime rate than Springfield, but it is third on the list for terrorist attacks in the state. But you have to admit, it is a great place to live.) Jason again stressed the importance of keeping yourself safe. A terrorist does not have to be from another country. He can be someone who just wants to go out and kill people. (Does that sound like Hitler to you?) He talked about different ways of attack. One is very obviously an attack, be it flying planes into buildings, bombing places or shooting people. The other is subtle, poisoning water, the air, or things like that. If you notice a large number of dead birds and animals, stay away. This isn’t stuff we deal with, but overseas it can be a real threat.

After a short break, Jason left and Jerry took over. We first watched a slideshow on the May 10th tornadoes. (That was the day of the first Family Round-Up.) Jerry talked about that as we looked at more pictures. While he talked, several guys came and joined us: Ike, Jason and Darrell. When the tornado hit, Joplin METS was called out to come help Newton County as they were overrun with calls. At the intersection of 43 and Iris Road, they set up camp. People came from all over. Jerry said it was very difficult getting things set up as they didn’t know where to start. Their supervisor, Darrell, was in charge, and all but overwhelmed by it all. There were victims trapped in cars which were stuck in trees, and others were upside down out in the fields, there were injured victims that kept appearing from they knew not where, there were problems everywhere. The first thing that had to be done was triage. That is where they walk all around and mark everyone with a color. Black means the person is dead and no one has to check them. Red means they need help right away. Yellow means they have a broken arm or leg or some such thing, but they don’t need medical attention right away. Green is for the walking wounded, those that can move about but still have injuries. Jerry said that the hardest thing was not to be able to stop and help people then and there, but to have to give them a colored flag and say, “Give this to the next person that comes by.” There was one family in a car and the father had a broken leg. The children were crying and terrified because of what they had just been through, and the mother was frantic. She couldn’t understand why they didn’t help them immediately. So, if you are ever involved in an MCI, just be patient. They will get to you as soon as they can.
They actually set up the “dressing station” (to use a WWI term) in the middle of the road. It was the only place that was safe.
They didn’t have enough ambulances to take people to the hospitals. The roads were so blocked and messed up that the firemen who were needed to do searches, as well as get people from the vehicles, couldn’t get their trucks there. The police that were needed to keep things under control had a hard time getting there as well. The hospitals were full, and a general call went out for anyone with medical skills to go to 43 and Iris. That made even more problems. There were those who really didn’t know what to do or how to do it. There were those doctors who were not being helpful. Like the one that told them they shouldn’t have their “dressing station” in the road. Darrell looked at him and said,
“If you can find a better place to move it, we will do so, otherwise get over there and start helping people.” (I told you they aren’t always helpful.)
With the storm gone, people started showing up looking for friends and family, and then to add to the confusion already there, the media shows up and wants to talk to people. Talk about problems! They couldn’t get any helicopters to transport victims as they were all sitting down in Oklahoma where they were not needed. Finally one showed up after Darrell had been told they couldn’t get any.
A fireman, who was off duty, was driving his pickup when the storm came. Instead of trying to get away, he got out and started warning others. He was killed that evening when the storm came, but he had saved many lives. He had told one man who was trying to change a tire, to get to shelter as a bad storm was coming. The man had a small child in a car seat with him. He got in the back of the car, put the child on the floor and got down on top of the child. The storm bounced that car all around and finally smashed the front of it completely. The man got out with some scratches, and the child didn’t appear to be hurt at all. The medics kept trying to convince the man to go get checked out at the hospital, but he didn’t want to. Finally Jerry came over to him and said,
“Look at your car. You were in that car when it happened. You really should go and get checked.”
After the man had walked around the car a few times looking at it, he finally agreed. There was much more, but I can’t remember it all.

After another break we got to hear about hurricanes. Don’t worry, there haven’t been any here in Joplin. Several of the crew here go down to help when hurricanes come to the southern US. They do get paid by the federal government to do so. Jerry told us that they basically live in their ambulances while they are down there. Each morning they get their assignments of where they are supposed to go. Just before leaving they get their gas tanks topped off and then head out using their GPS to direct them. They don’t know if they will be able to find a gas station later or not. Jerry said that one time he was transporting someone from Galveston to Houston, and it took twice as long because of the traffic.
As there really wasn’t an order to this class session, it is rather hard to put things down. Now and then Jason would throw in something from his experience down there. It was interesting to listen to but didn’t have much to do with MCIs.

At the end of class, we had a little visitor. All of a sudden Jason says,
“There is a scorpion,” and stands up.

Isn't it neat?

We all look down on the floor and, sure enough, a small scorpion is crawling across the floor. Jerry turns the lights on, and Jason steps over to it. Paula and I grab our cameras. I thought Jason would step on it, but he didn’t. Instead he got some tongs and picked it up. I thought it was quite interesting. After we took some pictures, Jason departed with it.
That is all for now, but I hope you will join me next week as we learn about delivering babies from a medic’s point of view. So, until then, this is Rebekah, your reporter for the Joplin CMA.

Did you learn anything new?