Boron Extrication An in-depth look into vehicle extrication and rescues involving today's automobiles
I talk with many rescue instructors like Eric Rickenbach and David Dalrymple often how important the EMS aspect of extrication is. After all, the patient, not the vehicle, is the whole reason we are there. If you are heading to FDIC this year I would check out the EMS Aspects of Extrication workshop that Rommie Duckworth, Director of N.E. Center for Rescue & Emergency Medicine is teaching. I’m glad to see a class for the EMS side of it. Regardless, if you only remove the vehicle from around the patient and then hand off the patient, everyone should keep their EMS skills sharp! Here’s a brief overview in the video below.
Good vehicle extrication demands a unique collaboration between rescue and emergency medical personnel. To save a victim (not just chop up a vehicle) you need command, coordination, communication and care. We improve the time from Ex to ED with a focus on “Get in, Get Care, Get Out”. This program incorporates ALS considerations in the extrication strategy using a real-world approach and shows how most critical trauma care can be managed quickly and effectively by BLS first responders. This program will help you better and more safely deliver, immediate life saving treatment, reduce time from patient contact to patient surgery and address concerns for special patient populations including geriatrics, pediatrics, and pregnant patients.
Thanks for the kind words Mike. I appreciate the mention! You hit the nail on the head. Regardless of your EMS certification, a crew that understands how the patient, the vehicle and the tools go together is going to be a top notch team, while the crew that knows only one or two of those may bend some metal, but they won’t be working as well as they can.