Tunnel Vision

[DwayneEMTP]

And I think that this is how we remember such things...by talking them through, deciding what is important, and why, giving our brain more complex context hooks to hang information on.

You probably didn't need a thump on the head, but it's usually what it takes for me... :-)

Good thread.

Dwayne

[Bernhard]

It's part of our SOP, call in the scene upon arrival. That's what I seem to be forgetting.

It's part of our orders, too. But as long as nothing changes significantly the given setting or needed resources (BTW that's why I want to know what dispatch seems to know and which resources are on the way, to counter Dwaynes point of view), I usually delay this until first patient setup/care is done. It may be a problem when beeing in danger or not able to call for needed help.

..just when I see that first patient, well, it's like moths to a flame.

It's good that you want to get rid of this.

As one of my captains told me the other day, when it is an MCI...all the rules change. I just need to remember that.

I wouldn't second that, it's exactly opposite to my view of things: no rule changes! It stays the same: we're responsible for the complete (medical) scene, if 1 patient or more. Would love to discuss this with your captain...

"Anything less than 50 patients is fun"...

[tcripp]

I wouldn't second that, it's exactly opposite to my view of things: no rule changes! It stays the same: we're responsible for the complete (medical) scene, if 1 patient or more. Would love to discuss this with your captain...

"Anything less than 50 patients is fun"...

Well, to further explain his statement...he was saying that rules of a single patient encounter will change. My 10 min on scene time may require more than 10 mintues since I have to address the whole scene. I may have to land HEMS on the major hwy instead of 0.5 miles away because of what could be conceived of as patient abandonment.

And I think that this is how we remember such things...by talking them through, deciding what is important, and why, giving our brain more complex context hooks to hang information on.

You probably didn't need a thump on the head, but it's usually what it takes for me... :-)

Good thread.

Dwayne

Thanks Dwayne. I know that getting my red patch doesn't mean I know everything, but that I'm in a better position to learn. And I always learn better talking them (okay, writing them) through!

[Richard B the EMT]

If they really wanted to create a realistic scene they would've found a length of black cable consistent in appearance to what travels from pole to pole and used that.

Actually, they did. They even extended it between 3 poles, none of which was actively in use.

[Kaisu]

Something I totally rely on is the eyes, ears, heart and brain of my partner. We are a medic/EMT pair, as are most in the cost conscious private ambo world. A lot of medics treat their EMTs like underlings and totally discount their value as a team member. I don't make that error. Two are better than one.

[Richard B the EMT]

This falls back to the scenario planners for failing to create a realistic environment/scene.

Let's see: A Friday evening at roughly 6:00 PM on a midsummer early evening. Bashed up old school bus, 2 bashed up cars, both from a friendly nearby junkyard. Black rope from phone pole draped across the bus. Smoke cannisters going off on bus, simulating fire, and 10 children on the bus in makeup, protected from the smoke cannisters, another 4 adults,simulating victims from the cars and the bus driver. Add one responder who reverted to Mom role, as her daughter, playing one of the victims, had an actual asthma history, which Mom kept repeating, members of 3 Volunteer Fire Departments (two of which have an EMS sector), NYPD, NYPD Aviation 9 (a HUEY that had seen action in Vietnam before being sold as surplus to the NYPD), FDNY Engines 329, 268, 266, FDNY Trucks 171, 137, and 121, FDNY Battalion 47, 3 NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation EMS ambulances, the EMS supervisor, and my community based Volunteer Ambulance.

The guy dreamed the scenario up was from my VAC, originally wanted it to be at night, late fall, with additional engine companies spraying the scene to simulate rain (Fred T, then as now, you were a nut case, in the best sense of the word).

The "patients" that were supposed to be "airtlifted" out, were put in one side of the HUEY, but pulled out the other, and were genuinely disappointed they didn't get a ride on a helicopter.

The only parts of the scenario that weren't plausible, were that the location was a closed roadway in a limited access area of the Fort Tilden section of Gateway National Recreation Area, and how often at Multiple Casualty Incidents do you have folks standing around calmly checking things off a paper on a clipboard, seemingly not at the scene, in the middle of the scene instead of the command post, wherever that was situated?