Scene Safety

[Savoy6]

Well I will give you a quick .02 worth.

Self-Defense in EMS is different than in any other field. Wherever you train think of 4 things to train for

1) The battle of your mind (when can I? Will I get in trouble? etc.?) Officers have extensive training in this area.

2) The actual physical battle. I am not going to start a debate of what system works best, but you better train in somethign that has been "pressure tested".

3) The battle of the media. (Headline reads :Paramedic beats up drunk patient) This it what makes EMS different from any other group.

4) The courtroom battle. If you don't follow local and/or Federal law you may find yourself on the losing end.

If you don't train in all 4 areas you are setting up yourself for failure.

I have taught hundreds of EMS providers DT4EMS. Based strictly from the EMS perspective. Not as a police officer or a martial artist (although I have a background in both).

We use stress scenario training to help the EMS provider recognize limitations and don't blow smoke. The job of the EMS provider is to provide care. Training in techniques where you expect "pain" to cause a person to stop will not always be effective. Remember the people that assault EMS usually fall under one of the 5 D's

Drunk, Drugged, Diabetic, Deranged and someone really amped at a Domestic.

The best tool you have in any situation is your mind. Situational awareness is the absolute best thing you can do. Knowing when things are starting to get bad, having a code word or phrase between you and your partner and get out.

Preparation is not paranoia

Stay Safe.

Kip Teitsort

Well put bruddah. Another thing to put between you and the assailant is DISTANCE. But hey, cowards RUN in my family

[pyroknight]

With two decades of EMS experience I have been assaulted exactly ONE time (it is beneficial to be 6'4" and 120+ kg). I've been on calls with drunks, I've assessed guys who knew they were being arrested, but the only patient to ever assault me was a 70+ year old woman with dementia. My lieutenant and I were trying to assist this "frail" little woman to the ambulance from her car. She was upset because the sheriff's deputies were going to tow her car (she had no idea where she was or where she was going). She jerked her arms out of our light grasps and hit me twice in the sternum before I could say "what the f---?!?"

My chest was sore for two days. I did not use any Jujitsu on granny.

As previously mentioned, your best weapon is your brain. Do not let your guard down. Learn how to avoid situations that would put you in danger and how to de-escalate situations that you were unable to avoid.

[Richard B the EMT]

Someone mentioned distance as a good defence against physical attack by a patient, which is true. My girlfriend is into the martial arts, and in talking with her sensei, he realizes I practice an even older self defence than his Shogotan Karate (spelling?). It's called "FEETS, DON'T FAILS ME NOW!"

Besides, being beaten up by a patient or someone travelling with the patient is against my religion, as I am a devout coward.

Levity aside, it is a serious issue. Some EMS providers have operating guide protocols that no possible or actual EDP goes without a LEO riding in the back with the patient. Others should wait for the LEOs and request they ride, as most understand and will accommodate you.

You should also consider the same for an AOB or ETOH abuser . I didn't, and the intox punched me in the mouth.

[Rescue0ne]

^ Shotokan ? or Shotokai?

If it's "Shotgun"...I don't think that's Karate'. Totally different type of defense :wink:

[Richard B the EMT]

^ Shoto Kan ?

Possibly.

[dahlio]

I won't enter any scene that I consdier harmful without law enforcement. Luckily, I live in a great town, with some great cops. We have at least one patrol car on each call, which is great to have. Once we get there, they typically leave, but then can be quite helpful. (yes, im a spoiled one)

[shade]

I've found that you should never let your guard down, even with law enforcement on scene. Seems like Law Enforcement can make quite a few people very irritable. We carry a trauma kit in on all calls and I like to have it close in case I need something to defend myself with. It is a little bulky, but not as cumbersome as our airway bags. It amazes me how law can clear a scene and we see knives, ball bats and the such close to our proximity.

Worst thing I ever encountered was an old pit bull/doberman cross. Partner got in the house and let the dog out. I had to contend with him getting the cot into the house. As I was getting the cot in, the dog shot through the undercarriage of the cot and was now in the house with us. Just nipped at my hands and was a little playful, but I knew he would get very protective when we took his owner. I made my way to a room on the far side of the house and the dog shot by, right into the room and I shut the door behind him. We got the owner on the cot and just outside the house. I filled the dog's water and food bowl, then opened the door on the room the dog was in and beat feet out the door, shutting it behind me. That dog was really upset that his master wasn't there.

At my part-time job we carry dog biscuits and they work good. Think I'll get a ziploc bag and put under the seat of the unit.

[DT4EMS]

How safe is your scene?

These are just reports from the last couple of weeks. At what point did these EMS providers have an opportunity to check for scene safety?

With the NAEMT releasing a study of 52% of injuries in EMS coming from assault…… it’s obvious EMS providers are assaulted on scenes they thought were safe.

· A paramedic was sitting on the back of his ambulance in a bowling alley parking lot when police say a man walked out from a bar, drunk and stumbling. The man approached the paramedic grabbed the paramedic in the groin, twice, and offered sexual acts.

· Bullitt County authorities are searching for two men they say attacked an EMT. Two guys opened the side doors of the vehicle and dragged her outside, yelling and screaming for morphine. She has a dislocated jaw, broken ribs, a concussion and knife cuts on her arm.

· In Portsmouth six police officers subdued a suicidal man who allegedly held a knife to a paramedic's throat at Portsmouth Regional Hospital this morning.

· A Carlisle man is facing an assault charge after state police said he attacked two emergency medical technicians as they were treating him in an ambulance in Cumberland County's South Middleton Twp. Police said the man became irate and combative when the technicians cut his shirt while in the ambulance.

· Two men went on a rampage Friday, smashing vehicles with baseball bats, attacking firefighters and paramedics and slugging a woman on the street.

What about the female medic shot while assisting the intoxicated man out of a vehicle a couple of months ago? Remember the female medic in Chicago that received a smashed face from a pipe?

The point is…… while on duty, in EMS there is no such thing as a safe scene.

[Dustdevil]

The point is…… while on duty, in EMS there is no such thing as a safe scene.

Plus 5 for that final quote, DT. :thumbright:

Two out of six could have been prevented by simply keeping your doors locked.

The simple, common sense act of locking the ambulance doors results in a thirty-three percent reduction in violent injury.

Sounds like a no-brainer to me. Prevention is the best medicine and negates the necessity to learn "defensive tactics" that you will never remember or successfully pull off in a crisis.

ALL doors locked at ALL times. Period. No exceptions. No excuses.

[Rescue0ne]

We tell every crew that, every week at the safety meeting(s). An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure everytime.

Welcome back, Dust!