PD Week 2019 – Part 2

The course kicked into high gear on the second day.

            

We started the second day with a quick review of what we reviewed on the first day.  Then we moved on to our first scenario: safely removing an injured person from a vehicle.  We used one of the teacher’s vehicle in the parking lot for practice.  The scenario was kept simple; the car was not overturned.  There are too many possibilities & positions of how an occupant inside a vehicle may end up after an accident.  As long as the basics are practiced & mastered, then everything should be okay.  The main things we learned were: don’t break the neck, don’t puncture the heart, and don’t cause excessive bleeding.

            

Dragonfly stove.

We moved to the back of the building where Arctic Response stores all of its training equipment.  There we learned how light & operate dragonfly stoves.  They’re like Coleman stoves but much smaller and more compact.  These stoves are also used during field training exercises in the Canadian cadet program.  Everyone got the chance to light & turn off a dragonfly stove.

            

The next lesson was how to wrap and keep an injured person warm while waiting and or transporting them to safety.  This involved a tarp, sleeping bag, and lots of rope.  Basically, the tarp is laid down on the ground, followed by the sleeping bag.  The injured person is carefully placed inside and then wrapped in a cocoon of warmth.  The ropes are tied across to keep everything together.  Additional ropes can be added for pulling.

            

We moved outside to practice.  I was glad I brought my heavy winter clothing.  We were split into groups of three: one would act as the injured person while the other two would be the rescuers.  The exercise was a “wrap & drag.”  The two rescuers had to pull the injured person for a determined length after wrapping them.  Unfortunately, I was a rescuer.  The total distance was about 200 metres.  Pulling a wrapped person is no easy task, even with two people.  And if your out on the arctic ice with no working skidoo, it’s the only way to close the distance between you & help.  I learned that there will be a lot of stopping-to-catch-your-breath moments but there’s no avoiding that.  Everyone was tired at the end.

            

After lunch, we learned how to administer oxygen from an oxygen tank.  To make a long story short, we just have to remember to watch where we’re pointing the oxygen tank, and to be careful when working the metal regulator.  If you’re not careful, the tank may turn into a rocket, fly away, and injure someone.

            

The last lesson of the day was learning to use disposable resuscitators and oral airway tubes.  These would most likely be included in emergency kits out on the land because they’re easier to use than oxygen tanks.  They’re made out of plastic and are designed to keep a person alive and breathing.  The oral tubes are designed to create a breathing path in the mouth.  We practiced on dummies. 

           

I felt like a first-time student by the end of the second day.  The instructor informed us that the field of emergency response continual evolves and changes with every passing year. 

Me practicing administering oxygen.

On the third day of the course we were introduced to the first aid and medical supply company Sands Canada.  The instructor showed us their website and what we could purchase from them.  In short, everything & anything.  I wrote the website down for safe keeping.

            

We practiced administering oxygen again.  I had someone take a picture of me practicing on a dummy.  I needed proof that I was learning and doing things correctly.

            

Stethoscope

Measuring blood pressure.

We moved on to finding & checking pulses, how to use a stethoscope, and manually check blood pressure.  I’ve always had difficulty finding a pulse on someone.  Not sure why?  Practice makes perfect, I guess.  Using the stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, and sphygmomanometer were much easier.  Now I just have to work on my pronunciation of the word sphygmomanometer.  It’s quite a tongue twister.

The 4^th & 5^th days of the course were all about: wrapping exposed wounds, making splints, using stretchers with head blocks, safely removing objects, and administering liquids.  The instructors showed us the proper procedures and then we practiced in pairs. 

The instructors showing us how to wrap an exposed wound.

Orange splint.

I was amazed by how much gauze was needed to secure & wrap an exposed wound and tie a splint around a leg.  They’re easy to use but easy to waste.  Pack a lot of spare rolls when travelling in groups.  The “high-tech” stretcher with the spider straps and head blocks was really impressive.  The cadet corps in Arctic Bay only has the basic military stretchers and I’m not sure about Inuujaq School.  The spider straps securely attach the body to the stretcher and the head blocks immobilize the head to prevent further injury.

Stretcher with spider straps & head blocks.

People who take first aid classes are usually taught to never remove a protruding foreign object from an injured person because it may lead to further problems.  In this course, we were told that that way of thinking can actually be bad for the person in distress because help is many hours and possibly days away.  To increase chances of survival, we need to carefully & properly remove such foreign objects from the body and then wrap the exposed wound.  The instructors showed us how to remove some common objects, such as, fish hooks, small knives, and harpoon heads.

      

Me practicing administering liquids.

If an injured person is unable to swallow and/or the stomach can’t handle foods & liquids, then the only way to administer liquids is to go through the back.  When I say “the back”, I mean a certain place where the “sun doesn’t shine”.  The process involves using a tube, and a large plastic syringe full of water.  We practiced using cups of water and wore latex gloves.  Graphic?  Yes.  Uncomfortable?  Definitely.  But it’s a last resort procedure to keep a patient alive.  If I ever have to do this in real life, I hope I don’t pass out.

            

I should point out that the instructor showed us photographs of various types of injuries that we may encounter when out in the wilderness.  The photographs were not pretty to look at.  We saw cuts, bruises, burns, broken limbs, blood, death by carbon monoxide poisoning, and scalped heads from bear attacks.  The images briefly made me question why I was taking the course.  Emergency response is never pretty; you have to be prepared to see & deal with some serious situations.  I commend everyone in the medical fields for doing what they do.        

All the stuff we used during the course.

We had a final practical test & written test on the fifth and final day of the course.  The practical test occurred outside and was a simulated accident.  We had to triage and use everything we had learned over the course of the week.  The written test was multiple choice and we needed to score at least 75% to pass.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out I had passed both tests.  Our results would be recorded and we would receive our cards in the mail in about a month.  Our certifications would be valid for 3 years.

We thanked the lead instructor for being our instructor.  We were free to go after completing the feedback form.  We were also allowed to keep the red textbook. 

To Be Continued . . .