Download October 2015 - FirstAidStations.org

2016 Rose Parade® First Aid Stations
Thursday, October 22, 2015
© 2015 FirstAidStations.org
2016 STATION LEADERS
November 1, 2015
www.FirstAidStations.org
CLARA BARTON AWARD TO TODD BLECHA
Frank Bodeman
Konnie Cook
Mack Dugger
At the annual Red Cross Volunteer and Staff Awards Dinner, the prestigious Clara Barton Honor Award was given to
Todd Blecha, in recognition of
his many years as a Volunteer
on the Rose Parade, at the
Rose Bowl, and in Community
First Aid Stations.
The Award, named after the
American Red Cross Founder Clara Barton, is the highest honor
given to our Volunteers. It’s a well-deserved recognition ... congratulations, Todd - and thanks for being part of our team!
Paul Dutton
Michelle Estrada
Randy Ferman
ORIENTATION SCHEDULE DECEMBER 5TH
New Volunteers
8:00 - 9:00am
9:00 - 10:00am
10:00 - 12 Noon
12:00 - 1:00pm
1:00 - 3:00pm
3:00 - 4:00pm
4:00 - 5:00pm
Katy Gould
Erin Huey
Bianca Pino
Registration
Intro to 2016 Rose Parade FAS
2016 Rose Parade Orientation
Lunch (provided)
Station & Radio Ops Practice
Full O2/AED Class and Test
Briefing for LVNs, RNs, MDs
Returning Volunteers
9:00 - 10:00am
10:00 - 12 Noon
12:00 - 1:00pm
Registration
2016 Rose Parade Orientation
Lunch (provided)
Notes
We’ve revamped Orientation, for two main reasons: first, because
there’s a lot of information that is relevant (and interesting!) only to first
time Volunteers ... and secondly, several of our basic procedures have
changed quite dramatically this year, and we need the time to dicuss
them in some detail.
Ralph Ricketson
Paul Tabladillo
In This Issue
Orientation Schedule........................................................................ 1
2016 Station Leaders........................................................................ 1
How HIPPA Aplies to Us.................................................................... 2
Katy’s Korner: ‘A’ is for Apple.......................................................... 2
First Person: Michael Ross, MD....................................................... 3
Volunteer Profile: Ralph Schorbach................................................ 3
The Benefits of ICS............................................................................ 4
R-E-S-P-E-C-T.................................................................................... 4
Youth & Adult Fall Classes............................................................... 4
This Newsletter is for information only for First Aid Volunteers on the 2016 Rose Parade - it is
not affiliated with nor maintained by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses® or the American Red
Cross. “Rose Parade” is trade marked and is used by permission of the Tournament of Roses.
© 2015 FirstAidStations.org - All Rights Reserved.
One way we saved some time - both Bloodborn Pathogens Training
and what used to be called ‘Boot Camp’ are now online courses. The
BBP web class is mandatory for all Volunteers - until you have taken
and passed the course, you cannot work the Parade. And the web
New Boot Camp is required of all first-time Volunteers ...
STATION & RADIO OPS - we’ll set up one or two full Stations in the
back yard at Chapter House, and have Medcom up and running to
let everyone practice, based on the scenarios we’ll prepare and use.
Experienced Volunteers will introduce our first-timers to how a Station
operates, and help with radio protocols.
FULL O2/AED CLASS - this will be the final opportunity if you don’t
have an O2/AED card, or if yours has expired. A current card or this
class is required of everyone - this applies to all Medical Professionals
as well.
continued on page 2 ...
Orientation - from page 1
KATY’S KORNER
BRIEFING FOR LVNs, RNs,
MDs - the phrase “scope of practice” is extremely important, and
that’s the subject of this briefing.
Led by Virgi Mateo, RN, assisted by Medical Professionals
with Parade experience, this will
give an overview of what First
Aiders can - and can’t -- do on
the Rose Parade. Spoiler alert:
no traching, no saline drip, no
endoscopies while working as a
First Aider ...!
“A” Is For Apple
Virgi Mateo, RN
HOW HIPPA APPLIES TO US
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPA”)
has been Federal Law since 1996. One of its primary purposes
is to protect individual privacy “All healthcare providers, health organizations, and government
health plans that use, store, maintain or transmit patient healthcare information are required to comply with the privacy regulations of the HIPPA law.”
The privacy regulations give patients control over their medical
information, but they also set boundaries on how we as First Aiders need to act when we treat a patient, and on how we transmit information to others. Here are a few practical limitations we
must keep in mind ...
1. Our Patient Treatment forms are legal documents, but they
are primarily a record of the patient’s medical condition and care.
The forms are private - we protect them from the public, we never - ever - give those forms to anyone except our Supervisor -not to Paramedics, not to family members, to no one. Yes, show
the form to the Paramedics - but do not hand them over.
2. As a member of a Team treating a patient, we exchange information with our partners - ABC, BP, pulse, medications, AVPU,
bleeding, all the assessment information we’re gathering ... do so
as quietly and discretely as possible.
3. “How much have you had to drink, buddy?” is not the most advisable wording of questions to shout at the patient - think before
you speak, and speak as quietly as possible.
4. Assume that someone is recording what you’re doing with a
cell phone - every action and every word is being saved for posterity, and will probably be on the internet before you know it.
The bottom line - be aware of your surroundings, be aware of
what you say and do - and respect the patient’s absolute right to
privacy. It’s the law, and it’s our responsibility ...
Acronyms are great - as long as you
remember what they stand for ... and
no, Dear Editor, the ‘A’ in S-A-M-PL-E soes not stand for “apple” ...!
Here’s a refresher on the six basic
sets of acronyms we use most often
as First Aiders ...
This is the basic one, something you do first - and automatically for every patient you encounter ...
A - Airway open?
B - Breathing?
C - Circulation?
When you assess a patient - any patient ...
S - Signs (what you see) and symptoms (what patient reports)
A - Allergies, to meds or animals or foods or perfume ...?
M - Medicines the patient takes, both prescription and OTC
P - Prior medical history - has this ever happened before?
L - Last food and water - when and what?
E - Events leading up to this - what happened?
When the patient reports pain ...
O - Onset of pain - when did it start?
P - Provoking factor - what caused it to start?
Q - Quality of pain - ache, dull, throbbing, shooting?
R - Radiating elsewhere, down an arm, around to your back?
S - Severity, on a scale of 1 (slight) to 10 (worst ever)
T - Time the pain started
If you suspect a stroke ...
F - Facial drooping on one side?
A - Arms held out straight, are they parallel?
S - Speech slurred?
T - Time when symptoms started
For a traumatic injury - breaks, sprains, legs, arms, here’s what we
check -D - Deformity - is a body part angled the wrong way?
O - Open fracture - can you see bone?
T - Tenderness - is the patient is guarding the area?
S - Swelling - is the area swollen?
Level of Consciousness ...
A - Alert, aware of situation and surroundings
V - Verbal commands elicit an appropriate response
P - Pain stimulus elicits a response
U - Unresponsive
On TV and in the films - and in ‘real life’ - Police and Fire use a
number system to report or respond on the radio - “10-4” means
“I understand”, “10-20” is “current location”, and so on. As First
Aiders, we don’t use this shorthand - we use plain language, and
ONLY the following 4 codes on the radio ...
10-99 - “I’m in immediate physical danger, send Police”
5150 - CA legal code for mental incompetance
ETOH - chemical symbol for alcohol - suspected inebriation
LP2.1 - possible future legal issues, send a Supervisor
This is Katy, show me 10-24 ...
Photographs by Roxanne Schorbach
k a t y. r e d c r o s s @ v e r i z o n . n e t
Volunteer Profile: Ralph Schorbach
FIRST PERSON:
A Team Is Formed
by Michael Ross, MD
In my day job, I work as an Obstetrician ... before the Rose Parade came
into my life, I developed a highly refined, focused reflex response to
emergencies - “DON’T PUSH!” ... but I’m getting ahead of my story.
I was very happy when our 17 year old son Jared became an EMT, with
his eye clearly set on a career in medicine. No Doctor who’s a Father can
help but claim credit for a child who chooses this career path, and I was
no exception -- “That’s my son ...!”
Three years later, he twisted my arm to join him as a First Aider on the
Rose Parade. My hesitation was partly because I wasn’t sure I remembered how to handle a trauma or medical emergency, plus the fact that
I just don’t get up at 3:00am, certainly not by choice anyway ... but Jared
spread some guilt my way, so I agreed.
We reported to Cal Tech along with the other 100+ crazy people at
4:30am - it was cold, and no coffee. The smiling fresh-scrubbed faces
of the Youth, the eagerness of the other EMRs, EMTs, Paramedics and
one other MD made me want to go back to bed. I’m very glad I didn’t ...
Jared and I were
assigned to the
same
Station
and
(luckily
for me) to the
same Team. At
first, he handled
everything - I
didn’t even recognize my own
Team
when
Medcom called. But gradually I got the hang of it, and by the end of the
Parade, I was handling the radio and the paperwork and vitals - I was
starting to feel proud of myself ...!
The last Float and the Tow Trucks and the Shovel Brigade passed by and
we were on our way back to the Station to help pack things up when it
happened - Medcom dispatched us back to one of the bleacher sections,
an elderly woman had fallen, no other infomation, time out 1008 ...
Jared and I found the lady who had fallen while descending the stairs
- she did a number on her arm, probable fracture, lacerations, bruises, those bleachers are hard. Before I even had my pen out, Jared was
kneeling down with her, talking in a very soft voice, with compassion,
reassuring her, stopping the bleeding, bracing her arm. I managed to
call Medcom for transport, and started filling out the papaerwork ...
The Paramedics doublechecked everything my son had done, and
strapped the lady on a gurney for transport to the hospital, x-rays and
(I bet) a cast. But as they wheeled her away, I was looking at Jared and
not the patient - “That’s my son ...!”
It was a memorable moment for me, both as a father and as a doctor ...
my pride in Jared was probably predictable, but I also gained an appreciation for the skill and training that he demonstrated - proving the very
real value of the pre-hospital system in our country.
Jared and I continue our tradition of working on the Rose Parade together every year. My emergency skills have been sharpened, and he’s
now Dr. Ross, too, an Emergency Medicine Physician. And every New
Year’s Day, I look at him and think, “That’s my son ...!”
by Roxanne Schorbach
Ralph Schorbach has been a
volunteer with the American
Red Cross for 28 years, having started with the Pomona
Valley Chapter working with
the DAT team. His first response was the Whittier Narrows earthquake on October
1, 1987.
Being interested in automobiles he became certified as an
ERV driver and recalls driving
the ERV for the Landers earthquake and the Los Angeles Civil Disturbance in 1992. He remembers the tense days in Los Angeles during
the Civil Disturbance, and the unique challenges driving through town
delivering supplies.
Ralph was involved in Logistics for several years and was the Disaster
Communications Chair in Pomona for five years, where he coordinated the weekly radio call downs every Tuesday as well as radio drills
with neighboring chapters throughout the year. He and his team insured that the chapter radio tower and frequencies were in working
order.
Since 1991 Ralph has volunteered as a radio communicator with the
San Dimas/Walnut DCS, Disaster Communications Service, as part of
the Los Angeles Sheriff ’s Department. This group of communicators
work alongside Sheriffs and Mountain Rescue for communications
support. One big event each year is the B2V, Baker to Vegas, which is
a 120 mile foot relay race for all law enforcement agencies worldwide.
DCS provides the communications for their station as team members
make their way to Las Vegas. Ralph takes his dog Buster as the canine
unit every year, and they camp out in the hills together monitoring the
radio repeaters.
For the past several years Ralph has accompanied the East Branch Director handling photography for our Red Cross volunteers and First
Aid Stations on the Rose Parade. Riding with the Branch Director
helped him to understand the parade route and how stations are set up.
This year he has been assigned as the Logistics Sections Chief for the
2016 parade. This is the first year that First Aid Stations will be palletized and delivered in advance of the parade to each station, instead
of Station Leaders packing and delivering their own supplies. He will
work closely with each Station Leader to make sure that pop-up tents,
cots, blankets, medical supplies, etc. are properly packed and delivered
to each station.
Ralph is EMR certified and plans to work Post Parade with his wife
Roxanne who is also EMR certified.
Ralph is a graduate of Cal Poly in Pomona and has a degree in Computer Science. He works for the Fairplex in Pomona where he is responsible for all technology -- which includes “anything with a plug”, from
computers to security systems and ticketing booths. He loves working
at Fairplex because it gives him the opportunity to work a wide variety
of events which each have their unique technology challenges.
In his spare time he loves to go four-wheeling and rock climbing in his
classic 1975 Ford Bronco with his wife and dog Buster!
YFAST Weekends For Youth
Saturday and Sunday Class provides certification in
First Aid, CPR for the Professional Rescuer and O2/AED
Canoga Park - Nov. 7/8 [email protected]
Long Beach - Nov. 14,15 [email protected]
Arcadia - Nov. 21/22 [email protected]
FALL EMR, CPRO and O2 CLASSES
Nov. 7 - EMR & CPro Challenge (Katy Gould)
E-mail [email protected]
Nov. 21 - Full CPro Class (Katy Gould)
E-mail [email protected]
Dec. 5 - Full O2/AED Class (Katy Gould)
E-mail [email protected]
THE BENEFITS OF ICS
Our Rose Parade operation was asked by National a few years
ago to implement the Incident Command System into our staffing
and procedures. We’re part way there, and we make a bit more
progress every year.
In many ways, using the ICS on the Rose Parade is definitely
overkill - truth be told, we have zero need for it. But there are two
main reasons for having it in place ...
First: we’re in line with every other disaster operation in the USA,
and with most such operations around the world. That has little
impact on us when we’re patrolling Colarado Blvd. - but it sure
smooths the interface with an outside agency ... there’s no question of who Greg Roberts is or what he does when he contacts
them with “Operations Section Chief” in his e-mail signature.
The second benefit is more subtle and more important - it identifies a supervisor, and that supervisor’s supervisor, for every single Volunteer on the Parade. Here’s how it works • First Aiders report to their Team Leader
• Team Leaders report to the Station Leader
• Station Leaders report to the Branch Director
• Branch Directors report to the Operations Section Chief
• Operations Section Chief reports to the Incident Commander
• Incident Commander reports to the FAS Program Chair
... and so on - every one of us has a boss to whom we report and
to whom we take our problems. Just as an Army Private doesn’t
ask the President for replacement boots, a First Aider doesn’t
ask the ARC Chairperson in Washington for more bandaids. The
chain of command is there for a reason - and the Team Leader
is more likely than the Chairperson to get the bandaids anyway!
Serious issues may arise, and the problem you have may be with
your supervisor ... which is why the ICS spells out who your supervisor’s boss is - you are encouraged and entitled to go one
rung higher on the ladder.
This is not to say you can’t talk to anyone about an issue - we’re
all in this together, as a Team, and getting the necessary support
and equipment to successfully treat our patients is the goal.
Visit our web site to see the “classic” ICS structure, where we are
in adapting to it, and links to more information ...
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
“Respect” is one word that really does get over-used, and used in
ways that stretch its meaning beyond recognition. For us as First
Aiders, though, it’s at the very foundation of everything we do - or at
least it should be ...
We must show respect to our patients ... the more serious their problem, the more frightened and nervous and scared they are - in many
cases, legitimately so. We have to be aware of those emotions if we
want any chance of successfully helping the patient ...
Children may be the toughest for us to deal with - add tears and crying
on top of frightened, nervous and scared. A few years ago, I watched
a First Aider treat a 4-year old girl with a badly cut lip and blood all
over her face and hands. Her Dad was with her - he tried every trick
in his book to calm her down, with no luck. The First Aider knelt down
on the ground, eye to eye with the sobbing and frightened little girl,
and stroked her back and arms, talking very softly to her -- not even
her Dad could hear the words ... and it worked. She then enlisted the
girl’s help to clean the blood from her own hands, and asked her to
pull her lower lip open so the First Aider could see the cuts.
The R2 on the team was gloved up, and she handed the Primary
several 2x2s, which the little girl then accepted and placed inside her
own lip. The First Aider even got her to apply pressure ...
The First Aider’s monologue continued softly, and she was soon eliciting head nods and shakes from the little girl ... then she got an “unhuh”, then a “yes”, then “Susan”, then “but it still hurts”. The bleeding
and tears were stopped, Dad was advised to take her to the ER for
possible stitches, and from seemingly out of nowhere the First Aider
produced a small stuffed toy for the little girl. Respect ...
We must show respect to our teammates ... I was R3 on a Rose
Parade team when we were dispatched to an unknown medical problem, female, no further information. We found a fifty-something lady
sitting bent over, hugging her stomach, pale, rocking back and forth,
moaning. R1 introduced himself and started asking questions, R2
opened his backpack, and I called Medcom, “will advise” ...
When R1 got to “P” in SAMPLE, R2 interrupted - he hit R1 on the arm
with a stethoscope and cuff and said, “Aren’t you going to do a BP?”
That showed no respect on many levels, yes, but it all starts with no
respect for his teammate A few minutes later, I watched 2 Paramedics take over this same patient. The Primary had a stethoscope and
cuff in his hands, but he continued to just talk with her. The secondary finally said very quietly, “it’s noisey - did I miss the BP numbers?”.
That’s respect for your partner ...
We First Aiders must be respected by our Supervisors and by the
Red Cross itself. We give time and effort to be trained, and to work
these FAS events - we get up in the middle of the night to do the
Parade ...! We deserve to be treated properly and well, to be taught
- privately - when we make a mistake, and to be recognized when we
do our jobs. That recognition may be the Red Cross Clara Barton
Award, or a simple thank you, maybe even just a glance and a knowing look from your partner in the middle of chaos. Respect ...
I am certain of this - you will be respected by the public when you
walk out on the Parade route on New Year’s Day - they’ll shout “Hey,
Red Cross!” and wave. The patch on our backs has been called a
‘target’, and maybe it is - but it’s a badge of honor, too. When you
put on the uniform and patrol your piece of the crowd of a million
spectators - be proud, because you deserve the respect you will be
shown ...
[email protected]