Walking past the Danko booth I saw a hand tool that looked familiar. Talking to Steve I was surprised to see the Stanley Functional Utility Bar marketed for emergency responders. We have a long history watching the evolution of this tool. It was fun to see it at this conference. We may have to get our hands on one and see how the latest changes have affected its usability.
You can't have an EMS conference with out a light show. This year Kelly Milligan's KELTEK brought out his latest creation. This command vehicle comes from the polk city, and features lights, radios, computers, and a command box In the back. Keeltek is the company that did the great work on the Civil Air Patrol Expedition here in Iowa. A part of their install on that vehicle was this radio console.
These guys continue to impress
The stryker folks have a cot that is rated to hold and transport a 1600 lb patient. This cot is equipped with a cable harness to be pulled by a winch.
Aparently they beefed up their monitor. The sales rep holds the monitor bo the defib patch cable.
Its conference time again.and its time to roll out new gadgets, products and toys.
Physio control is here with there latest monitor. The life pak 15 looks almost exacly like the LP12 only the have rugedised it, and they have added a few features like a color screen, a metronome for CPR and CO monitoring.
Tonight I am pulling a shift at the Johnston Fire department. This has turned into that magical day that happens every fall where rain unexpectedly turns the highways to ice, and motorists traveling at 70+ miles per hour find them selves hurtling side ways, back wards, and upside down across multiple lanes of traffic.
Now that things have settled down my company officer tossed me the latest copy of Fire Engineering magazine. He told me that there was an article I needed to read. Turning to the Volunteer corner I found the following title. "Forming a Ground Search and Rescue Team". The article features the Blue Lake Township Fire Department (MI) BLTFD has taken it upon themselves to train and respond to Search and Rescue requests. They have used NFPA 1670 as their standard, and they have built a box card style response structure including searchers, search managers, CERT team members, and K-9 resources. It appears to be a very well thought out and executed team.
All things considered it is a great article. I would love to see a few FD's in my area get together to establish a ground based SAR team. Very cool guys.
After publishing a brief tutorial on the use of a throw bag in water rescue emergencies the folks at “The Personal Retriever” felt that they had a better product. Their device boasts buoyancy, and range over traditional rescue devices. Standing behind their statements a retriever was shipped to us for evaluation. So far we have had this product for about four weeks, and we have put it into a lot of different people’s hands.
We have allowed civilians with no rescue experience to try it out.
We showed it to a fire department that is currently expanding its water rescue capabilities.
We have given it to the local Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla. Their members actually facilitated a live rescue with the device
We have also showed the tools to representatives from the regional dive rescue team.
All of these groups were very happy to participate in the review, and they all offered some unique insights and observations of the product
The first glimpse:
When we first open the box there was almost a universally positive reaction. The hard foam construction appears resilient, and ready for work. Everyone appreciated the buoyancy, and the idea of throwing a floatation device is always looked at as a positive thing.
After an initial look at the device none of our subjects could intuitively deploy it. The spiral wound chord, and the black retention strap are easy to use once taught, but with out instruction everyone had difficulty figuring it out.
Training:
In spite of this initial hurdle use of the devise is very easy to teach. Taking about 5 minutes you can show anyone how to unravel the line, and throw it out to a victim. Once trained virtually any student can quickly turn around and train others in the device’s use. With only 10-15 minutes of hands on time you can easily train an entire team to use the rescue retriever. This device would be great in a patrol car, or a life guard station, but it might not be the best tool for public use. We'll have to do some more thinking about that one
The Rescue:
During the evaluation period I gave the retriever to a group who were conducting a shake down cruse of a new boat. While putting around the lake they came across a sail boat that had capsized. After nearly 30 minutes in the 60 degree water the sole occupant was exhausted, and incapable of writing his vessel. Due to the victim’s condition our crew opted to throw him the rescue retriever. They quickly tossed the disk over his head, and expertly landed the rope in between his arms (Not bad for 10 minutes of training, and a few practice throws on shore). The victim grabbed the rope, and held on for deer life. The crew began to pull in the line, but the victim never took advantage of the flotation provided by the disk. Unfortunately in spite of instructions from the crew the victim never let the line go, and never took advantage of the flotation provided by the retriever, and the thin line caused some limited rope burns on his hands.
Reflection:
The Rescue retriever is a very unique rescue device. With its integrated tether, and Frisbee styled floatation device it certainly does turn heads. With those thoughts in mind our reviewers came away from the device with some universal thoughts and concerns.
The device gets wound specifically for Left, or Right handed rescuers. Since we never know who will be on crew, or which crew member will grab the Retriever we were not confident that the device would deploy properly under stressful situations.
The fact that our victim would not allow the rope to be pulled through limited the usefulness of the flotation component of the Retriever.
The cost of this device is limiting. After playing with it none of the individuals who tested the device felt that it was superior enough to justify the retail price of $139.00.
Here is an excellent video showing the strengths of the retriever
All in all this is an excellent device, and would be a great addition to a water front rescue response kit
Click below to see what the company felt about their product, and our review.
Power point has become a very powerful teaching tool. Programs are shared to students, other instructors, and industry peers. Unfortunately many times it is difficult to share these programs. In the past you could print slides, or hand outs. You could Save the digital files as HTML and post them to a web site, or you could try to e-mail the presentation. Unfortunately many times graphic intensive presentations are to large to easily post.
I recently found a web application called Slide share. This service allows you to upload presentations, and e-mail, imbed them, or share them much like you tube allows for video sharing.
I am playing with this technology. Here is a presentation I gave to the Iowa Snowmobiler winter convention in 2008. enjoy.
Recently we have been concerned about, and written a few blog posts that have been followed up by large main stream editorials. Most recently Dr. Bryan Bledsoe wrote an opinion piece for the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. Take a look, and see what you think
