September is National Preparedness Month, so Be Prepared!

September is National Preparedness Month, which serves as a reminder that we all must take action to prepare, now and throughout the year, for the types of emergencies that could affect us where we live, work, and visit.

This year will focus on planning, with an overarching theme: Disasters Happen. Prepare Now. Learn How.

Take time to learn lifesaving skills − such as CPR and first aid, check your insurance policies and coverage for the hazards you may face, such as flood, earthquakes, and tornados. Make sure to consider the costs associated with disasters and save for an emergency. Also, know how to take practical safety steps like shutting off water and gas.



The devastating hurricanes and wildfires of 2017 reminded the nation of the importance of preparing for disasters. Often, we will be the first ones in our communities to take action after a disaster strikes and before first responders arrive, so it is important to prepare in advance to help yourself and your community.
It is important to consider three scenarios when planning for an emergency: 1) an escape route and meeting point if everyone is in the house; 2) what to do during a school day; and 3) how to handle an emergency during the weekend, when family members might be scattered.

Although many people are familiar with the concept of developing a family plan for emergencies, most fail to take the time to sit down and actually come up with one. One great resource is the FEMA-sponsored website: http://www.ready.gov/. Check out their kids section too: http://www.ready.gov/kids

Schools need to be prepared themselves, as well as teach their staff and students how to be prepared. (more info for schools below)

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
Emergency Management Insitute
The FEMA EMI offers free, online courses for anyone to take. The courses are well done and there are plenty of downloadable materials to help you. If you pass the test at the end, you even get a certificate.

Here are a list of the courses that I think all educators should take: (I've taken these, and more)

IS-36 Multihazard Planning for Childcare
IS-100.c Introduction to the Incident Command System
IS-362.a Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools

Education Administrators should also be involved in community emergency planning because schools are on the top of the list as emergency shelters and field hospitals and the building administrators know their buildings.

Here is another great resource for schools from the US Dept of Ed - REMS - Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools. This site includes materials, resources and training (including free, on-site training) to help schools start assessing the safety, security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness of their  buildings and grounds.

Each household, business, and school should have an emergency plan, emergency kits and people trained in emergency preparedness and response.

I started my training in emergency preparedness while on my trail to Eagle Scout. Emergency Preparedness is a required merit badge and the Boy Scouts emphasize emergency preparedness among the scouts. I am a retired Paramedic, Special Operations Paramedic and FEMA trained in Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Management. I've responded to many disasters including 9/11 in NYC, hurricanes, blizzards, and mass casualty events and been incident command or staff at many of them.

Here are some of my favorite resources for learning about Emergency Preparedness.

Ready.gov is the US Government's web site for information and resources on emergency preparedness and response. There are resources for making a plan, an emergency kit, and how to stay informed. Information is included for individuals and businesses.

The Boy Scouts of America, who train all their Scouts and Adults in Emergency Preparedness, has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to provide resources for the public on getting prepared. The site has planning resources, how to make an emergency kit, and other resources.

The American Red Cross website also has information for creating an emergency plan and how to prepare for different emergencies. They also sell emergency kits (they are very good and a decent price). You can always make your own using their lists though. There is a full section on preparing schools and students. The Preparedness Fast Facts page is an excellent, one stop resource.

You can even join your local Community Emergency Response Team. These are teams of citizens that are specially trained to help out in major emergencies, sort of like the reserves. Find out more here. Here is a list of CERT's by State: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/CertIndex.do?submitByState


Emergency Preparedness is everyone's responsibility.  Share these resources with your students, colleagues, and family.







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Remembering 9/11 14 years later

I was in EMS for 22 years before retiring due to a back injury. One of my most memorable experiences was responding to New York City as a Paramedic in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I will never forget that experience. What I saw and did are still with me, as is a type of asthma from breathing the dust. My Experience as a Paramedic on 9-11-01 

As the years have gone by, I've noticed that people are not remembering this terrible event like they did the first few years after. I know that my EMS, Fire and Police colleagues all do, as do the brave men and women of our armed forces who fight every day against terrorism.

I've also noticed less being done in schools lately. Most of today's students weren't even born when 9/11 occurred. Please teach them about it (facts only please) and make sure they understand what it means.



Yesterday, this photo was taken showing a rainbow leading right to the WTC site and the Freedom Tower!

United We Stood, United We Stand Today is a day Americans will never forget. It is a day of remembrance, a day of reflection and a day to be proud. It is a day we honor and remember the thousands of lives lost, the survivors, and those who rose up in service in response to the attacks on 9-11-2001. It is a day we pay tribute to and reflect on the sacrifices of the public safety workers and the men and women in our military who serve us and protect us 365 days a year. It is a day Americans can be proud of the way we came together following the attacks on 9-11. United We Stood. United We Stand.

Here are some more resources about my experience on 9/11 and 9/11 in general:

My Experience as a Paramedic on 9-11-01

Remembering 9/11 (from 2009)

Great collection of sites about Osama bin Laden, terrorism, and the wars in the Middle East from Larry Ferlazzo.

http://www.history.com/content/9-11/102-minutes

http://makehistory.national911memorial.org/

http://www.national911memorial.org/site/PageServer?pagename=New_Home

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1921566_1932073,00.html

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/08/13/the-best-sites-to-help-teach-about-911/







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EMS Week is Next Week - thank an EMT and Paramedic

Next week is National EMS Week (May 17th - May 23rd). This year's theme from the American College of Emergency Physicians is EMS Strong.

In my other life I am an EMS-Instructor and Paramedic. I have been involved in EMS since 1988 in college. I have not been able to work on the road for the past few years due to a severe back injury, but I still feel a part of EMS as an EMS instructor and instructor-trainer, although that role has been limited since my daughter's birth. I responded to New York City after 9-11 as a paramedic and I spent 15 years as a paramedic in the city I now teach in. I was also a volunteer paramedic and the Lt. of Training for my town's EMS service.

Take this week to thank an EMS provider in your town. The First Responders, EMT's and Paramedics are everyday heroes who are often overlooked by the media and public. Firefighters and Police Officers are usually in the news, but EMS providers, whether volunteer, commercial, hospital based, or municipal, are working everyday, helping people, at the expense of their time, health, and family. EMS providers experience high incidences of knee and back injuries and spend countless hours maintaining their skills. They provide an invaluable, life-saving service, while dealing with drunks, combative patients, rude patients and family, for low pay and minimal respect.

Teach your students about EMS. What it is, how to call 911, and when to use 911. Tell them more about it as a career.  

Here are some resources on EMS Week and EMS.
EMS Week Homepage

http://www.ems.gov/
What is EMS?
About EMS 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_medical_services

Say "thank you" to one this week to show your appreciation.

EMT's and paramedics dedicate their lives to serving the public. They are on standby 24 hours a day, even on Christmas. They save lives. help others during times of illness and injury. EMS are the ones in the ditches rescuing passengers from a car accident. They are the ones who risk their lives to save others. Through the course of a year, EMS personnel are rarely recognized for their heroic efforts. They are never thanked for their hundreds of hours of continuing education. However, EMS Week is a perfect time for the community to recognize and thank them.


To all my brothers and sisters in EMS - Stay safe out there. EMS providers have a high rate of back and knee injuries, are assaulted by patients, and have very high stress. We've lost some of our own over the years and the EMS community always comes together to help each other out.

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Happy EMS Week - thank an EMS provider this week

Next week is National EMS Week (May 20th - May 26th). This year's theme from the American College of Emergency Physicians is EMS: More than a Job. A calling.

In my other life I am an EMS-Instructor and Paramedic. I have been involved in EMS since 1988 in college. I have not been able to work on the road for the past few years due to a severe back injury, but I still feel a part of EMS as an instructor. I responded to New York City after 9-11 to help out and I spent 15 years serving the city I teach in as a paramedic. I was also a volunteer paramedic and the Lt. of Training for my town's EMS service.

Take this week to thank and EMS provider in your town. The First Responders, EMT's and Paramedics are everyday heroes who are often overlooked by the media and public. Firefighters and Police Officers are usually in the news, but EMS providers, whether volunteer, commercial, hospital based, or municipal, are working everyday, helping people everyday, at the expense of their time, health, and family. EMS providers experience high incidences of knee and back injuries and spend countless hours maintaining their skills. They provide an invaluable, life-saving service, while dealing with drunks, combative patients, rude patients and family, for low pay and minimal respect.

Teach your students about EMS. What it is, how to call 911, and when to use 911. 

Here are some resources on EMS Week and EMS.
http://www.emsweekideas.org/home 

http://www.ems.gov/ 

http://www.ems.gov/emssystem/whatisems.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_medical_services


Say "thank you" to one this week to show your appreciation. If you have ever been helped by EMS, share your story in the comments below.

To all my brothers and sisters in EMS - Stay safe out there.

Here is a list of EMS providers who sacrificed their life on 9-11. I went to the memorial service for them in October 2001 and it was a sobering experience. There were EMS providers from around the world there, paying their respects to those that lost their lives. That day, along with responding to NYC for 9-11, are experiences I will never forget.

Excellent Medical Animations for teachers and students

The University of Pennsylvania Health System has a great web site with medical animations. The animations show and explain many different medical problems, anatomy and physiology and the human body.

As I viewed different animations I quickly realized how useful this can be in a classroom. Health, Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic, Pre-med and Nursing students will all find this site useful as they learn about the human body and it's systems. 

The site is easy to navigate, with a listing of all of the animations on one page. They are sorted by topic/body system. There are animations about each body system, diseases, pregnancy, surgeries, and medical problems.

You will need to make sure you have Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave, and Quicktime installed on your computer to view the animations.

"Lehr und Kunst" or "Theory and Practice." - what we strive for in education

"Lehr und Kunst" or "Theory and Practice." (Learning and Skilled Arts) is the motto for my alma mater, WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute). I really like this as a motto for all education. 

 

The motto appears in the ribbon above the shield. The books represent theory and the arm and hammer represent the practice or skilled art.

We are trying to teach our students facts, knowledge and information, but they also have to be able to apply this to different situations. The practice of applying knowledge is so important. 

We talk about 21st century skills, like communicating, working in teams, life-long learning, analysis, applying, critical thinking, and problem solving. This is what we need to teach our students. They need to be able to learn skills and knowledge and then apply them to a situation. 

How do we do this? Project Based Learning, Contextual learning, internships, practicals, scenarios all help students learn theory and then apply it in practice. To help our students be successful, we need to help them learn theory and how to apply that theory.

Related:

WPI Plan - a great educational model for all schools

EMS Education Practices

Project Based Learning

EMS Education practices - some good ideas for K12

In my other life, I am a Paramedic and EMS-Instructor. I've been in EMS since 1988 in college and have been instructing at different levels since 1990. I love it (although I've had two knee surgeries and I am currently not able to work on the road due to a back injury).

I am one of the senior instructors at the local EMS training program, teaching EMT, Advanced EMT and Paramedic programs. I also taught an EMT class at my school for many years. The Paramedic program is my main class that I teach now and we do some great things that can be applied to K12 education as well.

As background, the Paramedic program is about 14 months long, meeting 2 nights a week for 4 hours each night, plus multiple weekend classes and hundreds of hours of clinical time. Paramedics can intubate, defibrillate, pace, administer over 30 medications, start IV's, insert needles into a patient's bone, decompress a pneumothorax, insert a breathing device into a patient's neck through the skin, assess a patient and perform dozens of medical and trauma skills.

1. Lecture - yes, we lecture. We use the lectures to get information to the students so that they have a base of information to work with. We assign reading on the topic ahead of time and hit the main points in class. The lectures are interactive though, with demonstrations, discussions, and lots of questions to the students.

2. Practicals - these are similar to labs in science. Practicals are over 60% of the course. We have teaching practicals where we demonstrate and teach skills. We also do scenarios where the students have to apply what they have learned to work through a scenario and successfully treat a patient verbally,. There are the hands on practicals where they have to work through a scenario and do certain skills. We have manikins and life "victims" along with all of the equipment that they would use on an ambulance. We also set up very realistic scenarios outside, in the dark, in an actual vehicle, and so forth. This is where they truly learn and demonstrate their understanding of the concepts.

3. Simulations and Virtual environments - there are some virtual/online quizzes and scenarios that are available, as well as video scenarios that we will use in class. We also use video and audio clips to show them things they wouldn't be able to experience otherwise, such as lung sounds of a patient with respiratory problems, and young children in critical condition. We also use EKG simulators, IV arms, and manikins to simulate real situations. There are some very nice simulator manikins out there. We do not have the $50,000 one my colleague Richard Byrne saw recently, or the $100,000 one I used when taking a Terrorism and Special Operations EMS course with the Feds, but we have some good ones. The $100k one had two computers and a tank of compressed O2 running it and could sweat, cry, recreate lung sounds and change status based on treatment given.

4. Clinical Time - this is where the students do observations on an ambulance and in different departments in the hospital. They then start doing patient treatment and procedures under the watchful eye of their preceptors during their clinical time. They are applying what they have learned to real patients, in real situations. Talk about learning in context.

5. Textbooks - we use textbooks. The paramedic course textbook comes in 5 volumes, each of which is big, plus there are textbooks for CPR, Cardiology, Anatomy, ACLS and PALS. They are adjuncts to what they learn in class. They also receive tons of information in class and from a variety of sources, including web sites. The publishers of the textbooks also have some good online material.

6. Assessments - Students are assessed through practicals, written tests and quizzes, research projects, clinical reports. In order to successfully complete the course, they must have a minimum overall average as well as pass the final written and practical exams (10 stations). To get licensed, they must pass the National Registry written and practical exams. High stakes to be sure, but not just written. The practicals test their ability to apply their knowledge.


I think K12 education needs more hands-on, context based, application learning, such as with Project Based Learning. Clinicals could be replaced by more field trips, internships, shadowing professionals, and the like. Assessments should always be more than just a written test. And textbooks are one tool for learning, not the curriculum or main learning tool.

I also teach EMS Instructor courses, teaching EMTs and Paramedics to become instructors and educators. I stress all of the things that are important in education and all of the things that are important in EMS.


See Also:

Bridgeport Hospital EMS Programs

National Association of EMS Educators





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Happy EMS Week - thank an EMS provider this week

This week is National EMS Week (May 15th - May 221st). This year's theme from the American College of Emergency Physicians is EMS: Everyday Heroes.

In my other life I am an EMS-Instructor and Paramedic. I have been involved in EMS since 1988 in college. I have not been able to work on the road for the past two years due to a severe back injury, but I still feel a part of EMS as an instructor. I responded to New York City after 9-11 to help out and I spent 15 years serving the city I teach in as a paramedic.

Take this week to thank and EMS provider in your town. The First Responders, EMT's and Paramedics are everyday heroes who are often overlooked by the media and public. Firefighters and Police Officers are usually in the news, but EMS providers, whether volunteer, commercial, hospital based, or municipal, are working everyday, helping people everyday, at the expense of their time, health, and family. EMS providers experience high incidences of knee and back injuries and spend countless hours maintaining their skills. They provide an invaluable, life-saving service, while dealing with drunks, combative patients, rude patients and family, for low pay and minimal respect.

Say "thank you" to one this week to show your appreciation. If you have ever been helped by EMS, share your story in the comments below.

To all my brothers and sisters in EMS - Stay safe out there.


Here is a list of EMS providers who sacrificed their life on 9-11.

Medical Animations

The University of Pennsylvania Health System has a great web site with medical animations. The animations show and explain many different medical problems, anatomy and physiology and the human body.

As I viewed different animations I quickly realized how useful this can be in a classroom. Health, Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic, Pre-med and Nursing students will all find this site useful as they learn about the human body and it's systems. 

The site is easy to navigate, with a listing of all of the animations on one page. They are sorted by topic/body system. There are animations about each body system, diseases, pregnancy, surgeries, and medical problems.

You will need to make sure you have Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave, and Quicktime installed on your computer to view the animations.