Scene Safety...

[Chief1C]

Master Stream!

[FredG]

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 took a similar scene safety seminar a few years ago that was run by a retired LEO. They did scenarios and pulled attendees to walk into a scene and approach the patient, but to call out any hazards or other safety risks. The fake needles, hidden guns, etc were all easy to find and most everybody got that right, but one scenario really stuck in my head.

That scenario was a rape victim. The scene looked safe, no weapons visible, law enforcement on scene, no civilians, etc so the EMT attendee approached the patient to begin assessment. The victim was curled up with a blanket and sobbing. When the EMT approached, she pulled a mock knife out on him from under the blanket. The instructor did a good job of building up the scenario and the performance byt he victim was really good, but the point that he got across at this seminar is that you not only have to look at external threats, but an unstable patient (even a victim) may become a threat.

When I run scene safety drills for my dept, I usually do a half hour powerpoint covering the basics, then break out into groups and do physical scenarios. We also get a town cop or a locally based state trooper to stop in and discuss recent safety issues that they have seen in the region, as well as to review how they would like us to respond to a tactical call (staging, light usage, etc)