CMA Report #7

Well, here it is, another Friday and another CMA Report. There are a lot of pictures on this one as I took 47 that night. Don't worry, I didn't post them all.:)

I have been working some on checking my book as well as writing another "calendar story" to post later. I still have to finish it and write another one that is due by the 15th. We'll see how much I can get done.

Oh, you might want to click on some of these pictures to see them better.:) Enjoy!

CMA Report #7

Once again, welcome to the report from Joplin’s very first Citizen’s METS Academy. This is the hands-on class, so I’m glad you joined me. I hope you are ready for some fun!
Dad and I arrived at class to find Marc there looking for our certificates. He said he had them earlier but couldn’t remember where he put them. Mandy and Lynn had brought soup for supper, and Marie had made four cheesecakes.

We were told to get our food and then as we ate we talked about class. No one really wanted it to end yet, so Marc was talking about having another class next week. (So, I guess this is not the last report you’ll get.) There were many comments we had given about liking the hands-on stuff best.

“So, you’re going to get to do some practicing of a scene, and some of you will be the victims. But we’ll divide into two groups with half driving and the other half staying here.”

Jerry, Ike and Jason were there along with two new faces: Cassie is a paramedic who works there at METS and who is seven months pregnant, and her husband Brian who is an EMT and a fireman. They would be helping later. Once we were done eating (and the instructors were done as well), we split up. Mandy, Lynn, Paula and Roger went with Ike and Jason to drive while the rest of us: Ed, Frankie, Dad, Marie and I stayed. (John and Stephanie weren’t there.) Ed was chosen to be the victim, and the rest of us were sent out to the bay with Cassie who would be our instructor/assistant on the “call.” Brian came out too. Frankie volunteered to be the “on call” person and have the walkie. Jerry was inside getting the “scene ready,” and then he became “dispatch” and called us over the walkie.

Frankie on call

“We have a vehicle collision here at 6th and Virginia. One person ejected from car to middle of road. Unsure if others are in car.”
“METS 10, Copy that.”

And we were set to go. Only, right after that, the real dispatch came on asking about that accident. Jerry informed them that it was just a joke. (Oops. I guess we needed to be on a different channel. Marc did come switch it a moment later.:))

Cassie asked us what we were going to need. No one was quite sure, so she helped us decide. She and Brian also showed us where things were. (After all, most of us had only seen the inside of the ambulance once.) She showed us how to get the cot (stretcher, for those who call it that) out. We got the backboard, air bag, suction bag and something else and headed in.

We found the “victim” lying face down on the floor, excuse me, the “street”. I started taking pictures. Jerry asked where our protective equipment was. None of us had thought of getting gloves.

Oops, don't touch him without gloves!

We all turned around and left the scene. (Maybe it wasn’t safe yet.:)) Back to the ambulance. Cassie told us where the gloves were. She looked at Marie and me and said,

“You will probably need small.” (What? You mean they have gloves that might fit me? They do! Now I can deliver those babies, work in the detective department with the police and all those other things. Or, maybe not.)

Now we are really ready. Back we go with our purple gloves on. Frankie goes up to “Victim Ed” and shakes his shoulder and says,
“Hey, are you okay?”
Jerry: Don’t move him! He was ejected from a car!”

We have to roll him over to check if he is breathing. Brian does the head hold and the rest of us gather around. Cassie says to get the backboard as we will just put him on that. I hand my camera off to Marc so I can get in on the action. Marie and I are ready at the legs while Dad and Frankie have the upper part. Brian counts as he has the head. Cassie keeps the backboard steady.
“One, two, three.” And we roll all together.

Getting ready to roll

Now we need to see if he is breathing. Frankie is ready to do the head tilt, chin lift, but you can’t do that on a trauma patient who might have neck injuries. She has to listen and feel for breath. Nothing. (Ed is a really good actor. I would have been laughing.)

Cassie, Frankie, Marie and Brian get the oxygen things out, and Dad and I are left with the patient. He sort of comes to and moans and moves a little. We have to keep him still and in the same place.

Keeping our "victim" still

Frankie and Cassie start him on oxygen. Dad listens for lung movement while they get ready. We really hook Ed up to the oxygen.

On oxygen

While they are doing that, Marie and I check for other injuries. We didn’t find any. (Pretty amazing after being ejected from a car.)
Brian instructs Marie in taking blood pressure while Dad and I strap Ed on the backboard. Cassie then instructs Frankie on how to check his blood sugar level.
I get the head blocks and the straps. Now he is strapped on.

Jerry then informs us, as we are all going to get the co, that our victim is throwing up. “What do you do now?”
“Roll him toward your partner,” Dad replies immediately.
Jerry starts to laugh. “You must have really been listening.”
Cassie hands Dad the “suction bag,” and we head back over. Frankie, Cassie and I along with another one of the METS personnel who had come in, roll Ed over towards Dad.:)

Dad using the "suction"

Would you like to be held on your side like that?

Marie and I learn how to put the cot down so we don’t have to lift our victim so much.:)
Back by Ed we make sure we are ready. Marc turns to yet another METS person in the room and says,
“You might want to help them as we don’t want any of them hurting their backs.” (I’m telling you they do look out for each other.)

Dad and Jerry are at the head, Frankie is on one side, and I’m on the other in the middle, and the other guy is at the foot. The other guy shows me how to hook the oxygen bottle to the board between his legs so it wouldn’t fall. Jerry counts, and we lift. The cot is ready for him. Once on that, we strap him to it and are ready to head out.

Don't we look official?

Dad and the other guy (nice name) wheel the cot out to the waiting ambulance, and the rest of us gather our bags and follow.

At the ambulance the other guy, Jerry and Dad load the cot.

"Other guy," Dad, Jerry

Then the “medics crew” (that would be us four) and Cassie climb in. She shows us the heart monitor and we pretend to hook it up. During this time we can’t help saying things like: “Now we’ve got to shock him.” “Where are the tubes? We have to intubate him.” That is when Ed wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face. At one point, Dad says,
“We’re going to shock him. All clear!”
We all started laughing as the rest of us were touching Ed.
Cassie protests, “You’re supposed to say, ‘I’m clear. You clear?’ You aren’t supposed to shock your partners.”:)

In the ambulance

At last we take all the straps off and tell Ed that he was rejected by the hospitals so he might as well just get out.:)

Brian was standing at the back of the ambulance, and I almost needed him to catch me. I said almost. I tripped slightly on a strap that was on the floor, but caught myself.

Our next thing was driving the ambulance. Ike and Jason took us out to Memorial Hall parking lot. We rode in the back of the ambulance. On the way there we got rather silly saying that we should go to the back doors (The light was on inside, and we could be seen by those behind us.) and pretend to call for help. Marie wanted a marker to write “help” on the window.:)

Arriving in the parking lot, Jason instructed us on the driving route. Dad drove first with Ed riding. Then Ed drove with Frankie riding. Next it was Frankie with Marie, and last (as I didn’t have a license) I rode with Marie. It was quite interesting.

Ike turned the lights on just for this picture.:)

You probably didn’t know that you have to wear a seat belt in the cab of an ambulance or an alarm will go off that is very annoying. Also, unless you have a special key, you can’t start the ambulance. And it is not like a regular key, it is something else. (Now you know you can’t steal an ambulance very well.)

Back at the station, we joined the rest of the class. Since we had each done a trauma incident, we were going to do a medical one. Ed, Mandy (the other groups’ victim), and Lynn were to be the “medic crew.” Roger really wanted to do a meth house, so he was the victim.

“We have a situation at 6th and Virginia (Sounds like a dangerous place. By the way, that is where METS is.:)) Strange odors coming from house, victim not responding. Smoke coming from kitchen window. Fire en route.”
“Copy that.”

The “medics” came, stopped in the doorway and asked if the scene was safe.
“Yes, the firemen carried him out to the front yard.”

In came the crew with Cassie. Roger sat in a chair and looked at them. He then decides it would be better if he were on the floor since they were going to put him on the floor anyway. (Very helpful unresponsive victim, huh?) They begin to assess him.

Lynn, Mandy, Ed, Cassie

His breathing is slow, his pulse weak and fluttering, his left arm is rather burnt. Roger raises it so they can see. They get him on oxygen or pretend to anyway. Cassie keeps asking Jerry questions about him, and finally says,
“I’d stay away so as not to get contaminated.”
Jerry assures her that the firemen have hosed him down.:)

Paula tells Roger to be quiet a few times as he doesn’t seem to be unresponsive. Now comes a problem. They have to get him on to the cot. Cassie shows them how to first roll him on to a blanket to make the lifting of him easier.

Getting ready to roll

Roger tells them that he will help. Once he was on the blanket Marc says to Cassie,
“Cassie, you don’t need to be lifting, we’ll do it.” We were told again that that is what firemen do, so Brian, Marc and Jerry join Mandy and Lynn. Ed was going to keep the cot steady. All were ready, and one of the guys says to Lynn,
“Don’t use your back. Bend your knees.”

"And lift!"

At last Roger was on the cot and strapped on half sitting up. When he was on, Roger “came to” and began to get violent. He had us all laughing. Jerry told us that in that kind of a situation, you should have a police officer ride in the ambulance with you. Cassie adds that they’ll have a tazer.
After a little more talk, they let Roger off the cot and pack things up.
There was a little more talk about that and then we talked about next week. Marc said they would provide hamburgers and a cake. Paula was the one that said we had to have a cake. We also decided that we all had to wear our shirts next week, and we would get a class picture. Marie thinks there should be several more classes, but as Marc said, we have to stop sometime. One of the medics rolled his eyes when told we didn’t want to stop class. He looked as though he were thinking, “What kind of crazy people are they?”
And that brings this report to a close. Thanks for joining me. Until next week, this is Rebekah.

Will you be back next week?