Middle School EMS Club Advice Thread

[MMiz]

Chimpie,

I'm going to have to check that out. Two questions:

1) They'd only be certified at the First Aid / AED / CPR phase. Couldn't they respond to first aid-type stuff?

2) What would be the best way to teach the six hour course? Should I push for one day on the weekend? Two days on the weekend? Spend an hour each week for six weeks? It's a six hour course, and I'd like them to have the information pretty quickly. I also need to weigh that with my desire for them to enjoy the club and not just see it as "learning".

 

[Stevo]

certified shmertified

soon ther will be aed's in malls, stadiums, schools, and ever so appropo McDeathburger joints

who here hasn't rolled up on the public totally screwing up a code?

WE in ems are no longer able to choose whom are able, have the brains god gave geese, or are compitent to perform cpr, sorry...

however if you view yourself as an ambassador for the AHA or ARC i'd say our existence would be a tad easier

they call the shots, in fact i hear rumour the AHA is (yet again) going to change the cric.

lord knows at 3 a.m. i'm probably 2 or 3 cric cycles behind now....

~S~

 

[hfdff422]

If this is a school sanctioned club with responsibilities at a school sanctioned event, then liability is a bigger issue than competency. People die or have aggravated injuries regardless of the competency of the care. I doubt a school is going to want an unsupervised student that it "sanctioned" or even allowed to be on scene with knowledge of thier activities to render care that is not supervised by a certified tech. Liability is the first thing on the minds of school administrators, even above the well being of their students.

 

[Jon]

I know I'm plugging the Red Cross, but see if your local chapter has what's called "First Aid Station Teams". If not, maybe you're just the person to get it started. They usually have FAST Teams at some social events or school activities. Most of the time they are manned by adults, but maybe for middle school activities you can set up a first aid tent with a few kids and an adult or two to supervise.

I wouldn't teach them anything above First Aid - A/C/I CPR - AED.

I'm liking this idea. Espicially if it is backed by the Red Cross... this will also work great to go to the school administration.

 

[Jon]

Chimpie,

I'm going to have to check that out. Two questions:

1) They'd only be certified at the First Aid / AED / CPR phase. Couldn't they respond to first aid-type stuff?

2) What would be the best way to teach the six hour course? Should I push for one day on the weekend? Two days on the weekend? Spend an hour each week for six weeks? It's a six hour course, and I'd like them to have the information pretty quickly. I also need to weigh that with my desire for them to enjoy the club and not just see it as "learning".

AHA has a "CPR in schools" program that takes Heartsaver CPR (basic) and divides it into several 45-minute segments so it can be taught in a classroom setting.


If all they would be doing is First Aid.... I'd start with taking the class... then looking to the students and the school nurse and see if THEY like the responder idea.

Also, how many times does the ambulance show up a year? My high school of 1200 had the ambulance called about 4 times a year during school hours. We flew folks out from Football and Soccer, and almost did for a Boy's Laccrosse player... but didn't do much in school except for a few OD's and a lunchlady having chest pain (with the food they cooked, it HAD to be indigestion)

Jon

 

[Wingnut]

Welcome to the forum!

If I'm the lady you're referring to, maybe I should start by pointing out I'm a guy.

That's where my comment came from Mmiz, it's no fun if I have to explain it...

Anyway, I read through this whole thing and Mmiz I personally think you have a good thing going here. A couple of issues I might be able to help with:

The 6 hrs for CPR, On your first meeting tell the kids all about it and let them decide how it works best/ scheduling with you, not everything has to be set in stone the first day, and maybe they'd be willing to do it on a "non-meeting" day. It's your first time doing this and thiers, relax a little, have your must haves and have nots, but get with the kids and see how they want to do things, it is about them after all...

Note: I just got a notice from my CPR instructor affiliation that the standards for CPR have changed again, we are to currently teach it by the old standards until we recieve the updated guidelines, and there's no ETA on that (of course <_< )

Also as far as the bully stealing the 800 radio, keep it in the nurses station and have one of the team be responsible for grabbing the radio during said emergency while the rest respond to the problem.

Good Luck Matt, it sounds like it's finally coming together!

 

[Jon]

Also as far as the bully stealing the 800 radio, keep it in the nurses station and have one of the team be responsible for grabbing the radio during said emergency while the rest respond to the problem.

I dunno - is it really needed? Any "important" suplemental info could be called in to 911, and anything else is just "one more thing" for everyone to worry about. Also... if they aren't "Trained medical personell" would they be qualified to give pt. information / status???

Hey - many fire departments - where most of the guys are MFR's or EMT's - they manage to screw up, tell paitents they don't need to go to the hospital (after the car, a Dodge Neon, shears off a telephone pole)...

Honestly - is it really needed, or are you having, :GASP: a Whacker moment?


Jon

 

[MMiz]

Jon,

You know I respect your opinion, and I'm really trying to make this work.

There are a lot of issues I'll need to work out with the school, but you're really against giving a kid an 800 to carry around? To me I see it as a reward for some of my students who are mature and responsible. They'd be elected crew chief by their friends, and would be able to carry around the 800. There is no way the 800 would even be able to reach dispatch. It could at best reach responding units.

Edit: This is a whacker moment! I want the kids to find EMS as exciting as I do. If I told them that Mr. M spends his days driving around 300 lb dialysis patients I'm not sure they'd want to be EMTs.

Jon, I need to make this work, and I need you to help me. Maybe I'll just give them a radio with a dead battery <_<

 

[Jon]

Jon,

You know I respect your opinion, and I'm really trying to make this work.

There are a lot of issues I'll need to work out with the school, but you're really against giving a kid an 800 to carry around? To me I see it as a reward for some of my students who are mature and responsible. They'd be elected crew chief by their friends, and would be able to carry around the 800. There is no way the 800 would even be able to reach dispatch. It could at best reach responding units.

Edit: This is a whacker moment! I want the kids to find EMS as exciting as I do. If I told them that Mr. M spends his days driving around 300 lb dialysis patients I'm not sure they'd want to be EMTs.

Jon, I need to make this work, and I need you to help me. Maybe I'll just give them a radio with a dead battery <_<

:lol: ...... Forgive me for playing devils' advocate - I'm just trying to help you evolve the plan.


I think you've actually partially sold me on the whole concept!

 

[BEorP]

I dunno - is it really needed? Any "important" suplemental info could be called in to 911, and anything else is just "one more thing" for everyone to worry about. Also... if they aren't "Trained medical personell" would they be qualified to give pt. information / status???

I don't know how it is where you are, but here in Ontario, Canada I volunteer with St. John Ambulance where most of us are First Responders. We do stand by coverage at events and when we need to call an ambulance to take someone to the hospital the paramedics do not usually care too much about what we have to say.

Do you think the medics and EMTs in your area will care what 11-13 year olds only trained in SFA have to say about a pt other than what is call in to 911? (this is not meant as a rhetorical question)

 

[bravofoxtrot]

Great thread and ideas. I'll try to get some of them implemented in our Future Medics Club at my high school. Thanks everyone!

 

[MMiz]

Great thread and ideas. I'll try to get some of them implemented in our Future Medics Club at my high school. Thanks everyone!

Glad you found the thread useful!

What does your high school EMS club do?

 

[MMiz]

After a talk with the principal I think the radios are totally out of the picture. I need to work up a good plan and convince her :glare:

 

[MMiz]

As many have probably noticed, I've been rather busy lately

The club had it's first meeting last Thursday. Around 50 people signed up and 30 or so showed up for the meeting.

We did a quick intro, decided to do the cpr / first aid training on the weekend, and then did an EKG, CPR, and backboarding demo. That was followed by showing off the ambulance and playing with the lights and sirens.

It was disorganized but fun. Now I need to work on the whole organization part.

It seems as though Jon's thoughts were right in line with the principals. *Cough*Damn you Jon!*Cough*

More later, but thanks for all of the support and suggestions

 

[CaptainPanic]

Wow, Im glad to hear you had a good initial turn-out, hopefully as things progress along you might actually get one or two adopted members to join.

Good luck with the club and I hope it is able to continue in the future.

-CP

 

[firegal920]

I'm so glad this worked for you. I've been teaching the scouts (boys and girls) for years about first aid and cpr for like camping trips and such. Come to find out that one of my "beginner class" students is now taking medical classes in the hopes of being a doctor. As for the first class being chaotic, that is normal and things will settle. Just remember not to let them get to far off of the course lol.