adamjh3
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On a related note, can a basic level rescuer up in the tower provide some basic ALS care (pardon the oxymoron) under the direction of an ALS responder on the ground?
Extended Resuce: Your Agency's Training?
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And act outside of their scope of practice? Nope. About the most they could do is apply the monitor and obtain an EKG. But theyre up on a tower and the medic is on the ground to interpret it, it doesn't help much.
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I'd do it in a heartbeat. With that said, I have climbed for 7 years and we do high angle rescue training in ski patrol so I'm comfortable with it.
I'm not a medic yet though
HotelCo
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Shishkabob
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I'd do it... but I also jump out of planes, ride a motorcycle and play paintball. I'm not the most risk adverse person there is...
It's not like I'd be climbing up without safety gear... I've gone rappelling and rock climbing before.
It's not like I'd be climbing up without safety gear... I've gone rappelling and rock climbing before.
DrParasite
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we have an EMS based rescue, but its almost always just BLS. rescue's job is to get the patient to a safe location, and then ALS can assess and treat.
quite a few EMS based rescues in NJ. Ditto in Virginia. and Pittsburg Pa, with is an all ALS system.
but I stand by my initial statement, 60 Ft in the air, hanging from the side of a building, in the middle of a flowing stream, at the top of a cell tower, even the roof of a house, etc, is no place for ALS. have Rescue get them down to a safe location (whether it be EMS, Fire or PD), and then start your ALS assessment and interventions.
and side note, if it takes you 6 hours to get someone off a cell tower, something is going very wrong with the rescue, and another company needs to be called in. different thought process, different plan, even just a fresh set of eyes and ideas are needed.
quite a few EMS based rescues in NJ. Ditto in Virginia. and Pittsburg Pa, with is an all ALS system.
but I stand by my initial statement, 60 Ft in the air, hanging from the side of a building, in the middle of a flowing stream, at the top of a cell tower, even the roof of a house, etc, is no place for ALS. have Rescue get them down to a safe location (whether it be EMS, Fire or PD), and then start your ALS assessment and interventions.
and side note, if it takes you 6 hours to get someone off a cell tower, something is going very wrong with the rescue, and another company needs to be called in. different thought process, different plan, even just a fresh set of eyes and ideas are needed.
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This.
HotelCo
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I wouldn't do it. I dont have the training to climb up there/care for the patient, and bring them back down safely. That, and I don't get paid anywhere near enough/have good enough life insurance to do it. I'd call the fire department, and whoever owns the tower (I'm sure this scenario has been thought of by the guys doing the climbing. FFEMT: care to comment on that?)
If the volly service had the knowledge to get them down safely, they can go for it. ALS, or not.
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Shishkabob
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Well... considering we don't know the circumstances surrounding it, aside from the height being 750 ft...
After watching another news story, they brought in a local FD that has 3 Paramedics on staff, 2 of which went up. They interviewed a couple of the firefighters and it took the FFs an hour each to climb up the full 750 feet.
Sasha
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abckidsmom
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insanity. I would do it, but that's just crazy high. I bet they had to go up and set up their lowering system, bring him down 150-200 feet, and then tie him off and set it up again. Painful, hot work. Yikes.
I can see it taking an hour to climb the tower, and then another hour to get started on the work...that high up, you might as well be working on the moon.
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Shishkabob
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Found more details on it:
The first firefighter took an hour to get up. The 2 other FFs took 2 hours due to the gear they were hauling (1200 feet of rope apparently). Once everything was set up, it took another hour to get the patient down.
The 3 firefighters who went up had to take breaks every so often due to the heat of the metal structure (even though it was 8pm-2am.. hello 110* days) and all 3 were sent home early from shift, all apparently getting an IV started for fluids.
The first firefighter took an hour to get up. The 2 other FFs took 2 hours due to the gear they were hauling (1200 feet of rope apparently). Once everything was set up, it took another hour to get the patient down.
The 3 firefighters who went up had to take breaks every so often due to the heat of the metal structure (even though it was 8pm-2am.. hello 110* days) and all 3 were sent home early from shift, all apparently getting an IV started for fluids.
abckidsmom
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Thank God that's a once in a career call. Good grief.
DrParasite
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8jimi8
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Being an avid rockclimber and having actually rescued my self and my partner from a 400+ meter height, I can see this EASILY taking 6 hours, especially in the heat. Now then. I would have opted for each FF carrying a 100m rope, that would have been 25% of the weight these guys must have been carrying ( looking at he fact that they carried so much and it wasn't even enough to reach the ground.). I would LOVE to see some rescue training become part of the core didactic, but you have to realize how specialized this knowledge is, if you don't have a passion for it, you may as well burn all of the training money because 1 inservice / year is NOT adequate to maintain a working knowledge of rope rescue. Tie your knot wrong, rescue becomes a recovery. Linuss are you SURE atcems does rescue training? I know their specops does, but the real rescue training is done by starflight. And I can see starflight zooming in with a winch and a litter, cutting the rescue time in less than half! As Usals notes, there would be ZERO need for a monitor on this rescue. Take some IN fentanyl and some glutose in your pocket and get to hiking. Btw, Yes, in TX, a first responder can be delegated ALS as long as the MC has delegated that authority.