Prepping For Situations That May Never Happen

I looked over as my partner drove the first-in ambulance up the exit ramp to the elevated portion of I-70, and gasped. “There must be 60 cars over there,” I told him. Black ice had formed on the road (when the wrecks were counted, there were 59 vehicles). The good news was that our 400+-pound dispatcher who had been on his way to work was up and walking, gingerly, on the slippery roadway. The bad news was that the incident command system (ICS) was still evolving in the minds of Alan Brunacini and others. Unified command, a coherent staging process, and radio frequencies in common didn’t yet exist in the early 1980s. Luckily, injuries were few and minor. Perpetually Ready With the evolution of active shooters and terrorist attacks, of course, intensive planning, preparing, and rehearsing for large-scale situations has (rightfully) earned a prominent place in EMS awareness and training. The fact is, we have to be perpetually ready for many different events that may never happen in our world. It’s one of the coolest reasons for being in EMS: You never know what each new day will bring. Being ready for anything, though, is also a real challenge. It’s why we train, and why we can never stop continuing to learn and improve. Yet how often will you be the first-in on an MCI? Honestly, in more than 10,000 emergency calls, I remember only the scenario above and a couple of others that involved mass casualties. Although MCI-specific training is certainly valid and important, p...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Major Incidents Exclusive Articles Columns Source Type: news