Idea's wanted please

[ClutzyEMT]

Hey All you City Folks,

One of my duties with my new part-time paid position on my local volunteer ambulance squad has been to develop a program to educate the general public about not only EMS, but the importance of at least knowing how valuable it is for everyone to know CPR.

Developing the CPR/First Aid program was easy...getting the public to come to the training is becoming the difficult part so I've come up with an idea.

What I'd like to do is get about six to ten people together and put on an evening "skit" or "play". And this is where I would love to have some input from fellow EMS'rs....

I don't want it to run longer than 30 to 45 minutes total.

What I have so far is;

Scene One will take place in the earlier 1960's

There will be f few "older" men having their morning coffee at a local cafe. One of them will suddenly slump over in apparent cardiac arrest. Another will run across the street or call someone to activate the "local EMS" system. No one will perform CPR or assess for a pulse, etc. and then the local hearse will come screaming in at which time the pt will be loaded unto the hearse's gurney and placed into the back. The hearse will then scream off to the hospital with the pt and hand him off to the ER having probably done nothing more than put him on oxygen, if that.

Scene Two will take place in the early to middle 1980's

Another scenario with a cardiac arrest. Not sure what type yet but the "tones" will go out and an EMS crew in an Ambulance will arrive on scene. We have an old (not that old since I remember training on one actually...lol) Lifepack 5 that they will drag out of the ambulance and attach and use for the CPR scenario portion but it will be limited what they do, no ET, IV's etc...in other words, there will be pt care done enroute but it will be minimal.

Scene Three is going to take place in 2010

Another cardiac arrest of course Tones will go out, EMS will arrive and all of the 'on-scene' interventions will be done right there in front of the audience before the pt is loaded~~CPR, AED, intubation, IV's, etc. ROSC will appear and the pt will be loaded and transported. At the ER the doc will comment on how many things were done "enroute". (This is due to the fact that there are still so many people in our community that don't realize what actually can be done in the back of an ambulance)

Scene Four is taking place in 2016 (Most important scene)

Due to the fact that our community is struggling SEVERELY with recruiting and maintaining volunteers we are in danger almost monthly of losing our service if we lose one volunteer and despite all our recent efforts to bring in new people, we are still living on the edge of the unknown. This scene is meant to have an "impact" on two points~ the need for volunteers and the need for as many people possible to know CPR/lifesaving techniques just in case we do lose our service.

This scene starts out with about six or seven teenage boys playing basketball. One of them will jump up to do a lay-up and as soon as the ball drops thru the hoop he will turn to high five one of his buddies then kind of stumble towards the bleachers and "go down". One of the other boys will check for a pulse and when he doesn't find one he will run to his backpack and dial 911. Thirty seconds later the tones will go out and the page will be "******** Ambulance, please respond to the city park for a 16 yr old male who is not conscious and not breathing. Responding unit please acknowledge page at 1605."

Two minutes will pass with no action, no words from the 'cast'.

Tones will go out again "********* Ambulance, please respond to the city park for a 16 yr old male who has collapsed while playing basketball. Not conscious and not breathing. This is your second page. Please acknowledge page at 1607."

Two minutes will pass with no action, no words from the 'cast'.

Tones will go out again with the dispatcher stating the same thing as well as that it is the third page at 1609. At this point, one of the teenagers will walk over and drape a sheet over the downed player....

Then the crowd will hear the "REWIND" sound that you hear when video's rewind and we will have three people scattered among the audience that you would probably never associate with EMS.

First person will stand up and yell out..."Wait a minute! I know CPR! I went to the CPR classes last month!" and they will start heading towards the downed player.

Second person will stand up and yell out "Wait a minute!! I know CPR too!!" and will run and get the AED in the entryway and bring it back to the downed player.

Third person will stand up and yell out the same thing and will run over to the downed player, take the sheet off and the three of them will begin CPR.....

END

When it is over we will serve coffee and bars and have time for everyone to interact with the current members of the squad, ask questions, sign up for the next CPR classes, tour the ambulance etc...

I now humbly ask for comments, advice, critiques, etc........ and thank you for taking the time to read all this!!!

[CANUSAJenn]

If your area has a Community Players group, or the local middle/high school has a drama club, they may be very willing to provide actors for your scenes. You could also perform your scenarios at local schools during their science fairs or community awareness units. Good luck.

[scubanurse]

This sounds like a great idea! The one thing I would suggest is be aware of your audience, the image of a teenager collapsing and subsequently dying can be a hard image for a lot of folks. I've found through the years of doing drunk driving presentations, there is usually at least one member of the audience with a very personal story relating to the topic and it can bring up a lot of emotions.

Let us know how it goes!

[island emt]

I like the concept Clutzy. Are you still on the rez?

Are there boyscout/girlscout organizations in your area? get them involved in taking the CPR program as a merit badge, tied in with their health / first aid requirement.

that might also get the parents involved.

Good luck

[ClutzyEMT]

Kate,

Thank you~I didn't think about that aspect, but I will definitely keep it in mind. I have lived in this community off and on for the past thirty years and in my knowledge, we have lost teens to drunk driving and suicide, never a cardiac arrest but I will visit with some others on the squad. It's not set in stone so we can adapt if we feel this may be an issue. Thank you

Ed,

I'm still on the rez but only part time now. I left for a year and then went back full time which ended up consuming my life again~no time off, no one showing up for shift, and I morally could not walk away from a shift knowing it would not be covered so I ended up staying for days on end, only to have brand new out of class basics come in as my relief....I honestly think I came pretty close to a total breakdown to be honest with you . Never helps to work for an EMS program that has a Director who has never been inside an ambulance, let alone know what it is like to work 40 to 80 hour shifts....the straw that broke this camels back was when they built us a 3 million dollar station out in the middle of nowhere with no phones in the sleeping quarters then put up a huge sign that read "There will no longer be any sleeping between the hours of 0800 and 1800 hrs. You will be required to be up and active between these hours and interacting with the public that is welcome to stop in for assessments at any time."......another of the 'misc' rules was "No staff member is to be found sleeping in the recliners or on the sofa at any time. Sleeping must be done in the bedrooms!" (where there is no phone..and the reservation dispatch does not tone you out, they CALL you out by phone).....and then there was that car load of six fifteen year old girls that hit head on with a semi at 0300 hrs and all I had for help was my EMR driver, a rez cop, and two half sober members of the Fire/Extrication squad.....was time to walk away for awhile after that. I will occasionally agree to working a weekend shift when they need, but it's getting less and less. The ambulance here in town is really hurting and although it's stressful to work at, it's a different kind of stress if that makes any sense......and I can finally sleep more than a couple of hours a night.

Walking away from the rez had to of been one of the hardest decisions of my life tho. I've made so many friends and become a part of so much out there that it was hard to pull myself away until I realized my eleven yr old deserved better than what he had for a mom at the time!!

Hmm..we do have a squad member that is very active in the Boy Scouts...guess who I will be calling on Tuesday!! LOL great idea!

[island emt]

one of my drivers was a scoutmaster and had asked me to do a first aid CPR course for them. They got about 25 hours in total and red cross certified. He worked it into a merit badge program for them.

If they have any fledgling Eagle scouts looking for a community service project then this would be a perfect match. Community CPR & AED training.

[DFIB]

Great idea! We have to try anything and everything to involve people in training. Good on you for putting forth an effort. If you get the media to cover the first one you can probably get them to promote subsequent training as a community service.

If you are instructing I would suggest looking into instructor insurance. One can never be to safe!

[ClutzyEMT]

DFIB

Instructor insurance intrigues me..tell me more. I have been instructing for quite awhile and I Honestly don't think I have ever allowed someone to test out that I don't feel is ready but have never thought about that type of insurance..thanks

[Just Plain Ruff]

DFIB

Instructor insurance intrigues me..tell me more. I have been instructing for quite awhile and I Honestly don't think I have ever allowed someone to test out that I don't feel is ready but have never thought about that type of insurance..thanks

I think that instructor insurance is similar to liability insurance. It covers you for errors and omissions in the instruction process.

It's pretty hard for someone to sue you for poor instruction if you follow the curriculum and many other students that you teach pass.

The onus is on the student to prove that your instruction or lack thereof is the reason why they didn't pass so I never felt that it was needed when I taught classes.

Now if you develop your own curriculum like Dr. Bledsoe or Dr. Caroline have done, then by all means that might be a reason to get your instructor insurance but if you are following a prescribed curriculum that is approved by your educational institution, I don't think that instructor insurance is particularly necessary but I AM NOT telling you not to get it.

That decision is up to you but I do believe that you get what you pay for and you probably will never EVER use that insurance and you would be better served by spending that money on furthering your education or getting additional classes on adult learning and teaching techniques which would go much further in your career development if you choose to continue teaching adult learners than the money you spend on instructor insurance.

I truly believe the only people getting any benefit out of you spending money on instructor insurance is the companies that you send your money too.

And one final thing, make sure you read over the fine print and re-read it again and maybe even have an attorney read it as well, because there is likely to be plenty of clauses that would indemify and allow that insurance company to keep from paying a claim if a claim were to ever arise.

And ONE MORE THING - NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER let your students know that you have instructor's insurance because if they do fail they can possible think back and say "hey, clutzy has that instructor insurance, I wonder what I can get out of him for My failing the class"

[DFIB]

I have never had it but it has been recommended to me many times.

It might just be hooey but different sites recommend insurance for CPR instructors to protect against malpractice.

There are basically three types of liability Teaching Liability, General Liability and Administrative liability as described in this article.

HPSO offers professional liability insurance that includes Instructor insurance.

I have no relation or interest in HPSO.