Scene Safety...

[croaker260]

OK, I posted this request in the instructors section but no response. I know that many of you dont visit that area as often as the forums directly in pt care, so I thought I repost:

I'm putting the touches on a 2 hour Scene Safety/Street Smarts Lecture and I need some help. I am looking for pictures or videos of patients, bystanders, residences, cars, or other scenes. Credit will be given where credit is due.

I am interested in any pics or videos that I can put up on the screen and "pick apart" to identify specific threat cues/warning signs of trouble.

I am specifically looking for scene photos in front of bars and similar venues, in front of crowds, and of residences/scenes in lower social economic areas (projects, trailer parks, compunds, etc) Also interested in scenes of horders, etc with poor egress. Scenes of guns under pillows and on nightstands, other weapons are nice as well.

I am also interested in pics of scene safety done right. Good examples of approach, knock and announcing, position next to patient, and scene overwatch.

I will of course black out any address , liscense plates, and patient faces.

I am recreating some, but obviously I work in Idaho, and there are somethings we just dont have up here, so any help is appreciated. When done, if you want , I will pass the lecture back to you.

And, of course, I will accept anything else you want to send that you may have thought of regarding this that I havent.

Will share finished presentation with anyone who helps of course.

Thank you so much...

Please feel free to email me off list if you so desire:

croaker260@live.com

Edited November 25, 2010 by croaker260

[Chief1C]

We were recently ordered to not take any photos with cell phones at wrecks or fires any more. Every ambo in the county carries a digital camera; and our rescue-engine carries one. That's okay, b/c we use it for training, but we're also forbidden from sending them to our email addresses. The benefit of keeping one on the ambo, is showing pics to the ER or chopper personnel for MOI. I guess the media attention spurred by the fatal wreck where the video was shown around a southern town prompted reaction of preventing similar, locally. Although I don't know anyone sinister enough to do that. Thought I'd share. But I'll look on my portable drives for something you may be able to use, pre-rule.

[Richard B the EMT]

Suggest asking the supervisors to borrow a crew, and stage an incident. Everyone is an actor, as well as a provider. Also, ask the local LEOs if they can lend support, as that part of their training can probably be imported to EMS work.

Works out great. Some EMS folks become Leonardo DiCaprio and Demi Moore, others become Ron Howard and Penny Marshall.

[croaker260]

Suggest asking the supervisors to borrow a crew, and stage an incident. Everyone is an actor, as well as a provider. Also, ask the local LEOs if they can lend support, as that part of their training can probably be imported to EMS work.

Works out great. Some EMS folks become Leonardo DiCaprio and Demi Moore, others become Ron Howard and Penny Marshall.

I have and will do some of that, but I am also trying to get pictures of providers from agencies other than my own.... But good idea, Appreciate it.

Suggest asking the supervisors to borrow a crew, and stage an incident. Everyone is an actor, as well as a provider. Also, ask the local LEOs if they can lend support, as that part of their training can probably be imported to EMS work.

Works out great. Some EMS folks become Leonardo DiCaprio and Demi Moore, others become Ron Howard and Penny Marshall.

I have and will do some of that, but I am also trying to get pictures of providers from agencies other than my own.... But good idea, Appreciate it.

I am well aware that many agencies, my own included are cracking down on cell phone camera use....

[Aussieaid]

Ummmm....don't go in!

[crotchitymedic1986]

I saw some agency did something like what you are talking about. They put an ambulance in a parking lot at night with lights flashing. They put 6 people in uniform at various places around the ambulance, and then pulled a vehicle in front of the scene with headlights on "bright" aimed at the general scene. They took a picture of the scene from the other vehicle, and asked you to count the EMTs you saw in the pic. Then they had everyone put on a safety vest, standing in the same position. It was amazing how big a difference it made. Don't forget to push safe driving practices, as your employees are far more likely to get killed or injured in a vehicle accident, than all other possibilities combined.

[HERBIE1]

I'm afraid that you will have a difficult time with this request. Because of HIPAA, and lawsuits, anyone who values their job will be reluctant to do this. Regardless of your attempts to block out identifying characteristics, it is entirely possible SOMEONE will recognize an area, a car, a home, a situation and want to file suit.

I would go with the suggestions of recreating scenarios. Talk to folks, come up with ideas, and stage them. Use actors, EMS personnel, friends and family- whatever. EMS providers have plenty of experiences to draw from- not to mention fertile imaginations.

[brentoli]

You might search around the interwebs, see what you can find posted out there. Email the person who owns the site/image and tell them what you want to use it for. I have had good expeiences with that. Usually if you tell them you are using it for inhouse training and theres no revenue from it. Now if you will make money off the images, thats another story.

[fakingpatience]

In my class doing scenarios, my instructor hid fake needles and other "dangerous" things on the patients. It was to teach us about scene safety, and to look before you touch. I have seen many providers blindly reaching into a patients coat for something, or to help them get their jacket off, and you never know what could be there.

I don't know if you have done this yet, but get ahold of your local PD. Find out what gangs are big in your area, and what signs to look for. In some places, it may just be people flashing gang signs, or it may be graffiti, or the shoes around the wires. Know what the signs are in your area is always helpful.

[Richard B the EMT]

Ummmm....don't go in!

I speak as an EMT, not a Fire Fighter, but this looks like a "Surround and Drown" exterior fight, not an interior fight. The obvious contraindication is, a search.