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On Sunday July 18 2010 I was riding in a small group and the lead rider went down. He and his passenger sustained serious injuries. Medical personnel were on the scene quickly but I was of little to no use in the situation.
Then again on June 11 2011 I was riding in a group when the lead rider went down. He also sustained serious injury. Again, medical personnel were on the scene quickly in spite of our being in a pretty remote location. And again I was of little use in this situation.
So, these events got me wondering what I should do in a road-side emergency like a motorcycle wreck. I had a lot of questions:
* Should I administer CPR (as if I knew CPR)
* Should the wounded be moved?
* Should I leave helmets on or take them off?
* Should I treat any injuries? And if so, with what?
* What should I do between the time of the accident and when medical personnel arrive?
* Are there any legal issues associated with helping someone in situations like this?
* And most importantly for me, is there any way I can feel less useless in these situations?
Turns out all these questions and more are answered in Accident Scene Management's "A Crash Course For The Motorcyclist".
The course was created by a motorcyclist and RN/EMT named Vicki Roberts-Sanfelipo to address the exact issues I was having. The class I took was taught by Vicki and co-instructed by her husband Tony who is also a motorcyclist and a motorcycle accident scene investigator for a law firm.
The class is offered in two levels: Basic and Advanced. I only took Basic but I will take Advanced at some point in the future.
The Basic Class is 8 hours long and covers how to:
1. Identify how to Prevent Further Injury
2. Assess the Situation and Gather information for the EMS
3. Effectively Contact the EMS
4. Treat the Injured in a Logical Manner using the ABCSS of Trauma
5. Identify Other life Threatening injuries that can be treated at the scene
6. Identify Common Environmental First Aid Problems requiring immediate care
* Complete of the class also provides 6 CE credits that I guess mean something if you are a medical professional.
My Review of the class:
On Friday before the ASMI class I took the American Heart Association's CPR/First Aid training which I thought was very good. But according to ASMI: "When a trauma results in CPR the victim only has a 1% chance of survival. We must do everything we can to avoid getting to that point!!!"
However, the class did cover specific CPR techniques, with hands on demonstrations and practice, of CPR techniques to use on motorcycle accident victims. Basically a way to open the airway without moving the neck so that you prevent further injury to the spine.
I give this class an A+. There is a good mix of lecture and hands on practice of principles taught that could be important in these types of situations. There is a lot of good first aid information specific to the types of injuries that are most likely to happen to our brothers and sister if they wreck.
The training is great but not of much use if you don't have some tools. ASMI provides lists of things to build small or large trauma packs. They also have some pre-assembled kits that they offer during the class and on their web site. I bought the smallest kit and added a few items to it that I thought would be useful.
I left the class feeling much more confident in what to do in case, heaven forbid, I'm around when another motorcyclist crashes. I also left the class with a trauma kit that I will carry on my bike and in my car just in case.
I highly recommend the class. If you are so inclined, go to their website and see if they offer a class near you. There is no down side to having this training.
Cost for the class was $65 (there may have been a discount in that price due to the group that sponsored the class).
Cost of the trauma kit I bought was $34 including the extra items I added to the smallest kit.
Ride safe friends. I NEVER want to have to use this training.
Then again on June 11 2011 I was riding in a group when the lead rider went down. He also sustained serious injury. Again, medical personnel were on the scene quickly in spite of our being in a pretty remote location. And again I was of little use in this situation.
So, these events got me wondering what I should do in a road-side emergency like a motorcycle wreck. I had a lot of questions:
* Should I administer CPR (as if I knew CPR)
* Should the wounded be moved?
* Should I leave helmets on or take them off?
* Should I treat any injuries? And if so, with what?
* What should I do between the time of the accident and when medical personnel arrive?
* Are there any legal issues associated with helping someone in situations like this?
* And most importantly for me, is there any way I can feel less useless in these situations?
Turns out all these questions and more are answered in Accident Scene Management's "A Crash Course For The Motorcyclist".
The course was created by a motorcyclist and RN/EMT named Vicki Roberts-Sanfelipo to address the exact issues I was having. The class I took was taught by Vicki and co-instructed by her husband Tony who is also a motorcyclist and a motorcycle accident scene investigator for a law firm.
The class is offered in two levels: Basic and Advanced. I only took Basic but I will take Advanced at some point in the future.
The Basic Class is 8 hours long and covers how to:
1. Identify how to Prevent Further Injury
2. Assess the Situation and Gather information for the EMS
3. Effectively Contact the EMS
4. Treat the Injured in a Logical Manner using the ABCSS of Trauma
5. Identify Other life Threatening injuries that can be treated at the scene
6. Identify Common Environmental First Aid Problems requiring immediate care
* Complete of the class also provides 6 CE credits that I guess mean something if you are a medical professional.
My Review of the class:
On Friday before the ASMI class I took the American Heart Association's CPR/First Aid training which I thought was very good. But according to ASMI: "When a trauma results in CPR the victim only has a 1% chance of survival. We must do everything we can to avoid getting to that point!!!"
However, the class did cover specific CPR techniques, with hands on demonstrations and practice, of CPR techniques to use on motorcycle accident victims. Basically a way to open the airway without moving the neck so that you prevent further injury to the spine.
I give this class an A+. There is a good mix of lecture and hands on practice of principles taught that could be important in these types of situations. There is a lot of good first aid information specific to the types of injuries that are most likely to happen to our brothers and sister if they wreck.
The training is great but not of much use if you don't have some tools. ASMI provides lists of things to build small or large trauma packs. They also have some pre-assembled kits that they offer during the class and on their web site. I bought the smallest kit and added a few items to it that I thought would be useful.
I left the class feeling much more confident in what to do in case, heaven forbid, I'm around when another motorcyclist crashes. I also left the class with a trauma kit that I will carry on my bike and in my car just in case.
I highly recommend the class. If you are so inclined, go to their website and see if they offer a class near you. There is no down side to having this training.
Cost for the class was $65 (there may have been a discount in that price due to the group that sponsored the class).
Cost of the trauma kit I bought was $34 including the extra items I added to the smallest kit.
Ride safe friends. I NEVER want to have to use this training.
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