As a member of the local fire & rescue company in a rural part of PA, I get the benefit of unlimited free training from the county for fun & knowledge, and just enough real emergency situations to keep it all interesting. We do lots of emergency planning and training, and of course, I respond to as many calls as I can.

Along the way, I've had time to acquire the firehouse nickname "Gadget" because of all the stuff I have in my jeep and on my person- like a GPS, several flashlights, rope and more. You folks here know what I mean.

As much as I take a ribbing about all the gadgets and stuff I have, I've used all of them at one time or another either on the scene or on the go with family and friends.

But on the scene - a fire, a vehicle extrication, whatever - there's some principles that I've applied to my own "preparedness" kits.


1. Carry a few tools that do many jobs well.

In my right pocket of my turnout gear is an ordinary utility knife from Sears and a pair of 8" diagonal cutters. In my hands is either an Ax or a Halligan Tool. That's it. You can't imagine how much you can do with just a Halligan tool, but it's a striking tool, prying tool, forcible entry tool…and more.
This carries over to my personal kits, and I've found that I had too much specialty gear in my emergency kits - stuff like cups, where a zip-lock bag will do the same job and more. In some cases, like with cooking gear - I dispensed with almost half the stuff I had in the kit. Plates? Who need's 'em when you have a cook pot to eat from? A few forks and it's "family style" dinner!

2. Don't get into a situation in the first place.

Yesterday, we had a truck crash that was really bad - a 14' truck slid off the road, struck a rock, spun back onto the road, tipped over, spun some more and then slammed into a utility pole and dumped its load of 160 gallons of liquid oxygen. The driver walked out - he was wearing a seatbelt. An extrication we did earlier this year with a car into a tree injured the driver so badly that I could not find his FACE - just a mass of bloody flesh, hair, teeth and other gore. Yet, his car was less damaged than the truck yesterday - and was going slower for sure.
We also have gone to fires that started out so small - a pan on the stove on fire, a chimney fire - yet they exploded into a huge, destructive fire for want of a $20 fire extinguisher. Each vehicle I own has a fire extinguisher, as does my kitchen, workshop, basement office and shed. I have actually used my extinguisher to douse a fire in my shed caused by a welding spark that "couldn’t" have flown all the way to the shed.
In terms of my personal preparedness, well, that's the whole idea behind this forum. Avoiding being in bad situations by letting people know where you're going, having appropriate equipment for your environment and so on.

3. You'll never make it alone.
While this is not a "survivalist" site in the terms of apocalyptic end of times collapse of society types of folks, admittedly, we're all a little concerned with What To Do When It All Gets Crazy. Indeed, much of our preparedness seems to stem from a desire to protect ourselves and our families from harm - in some cases, even if that means NOT helping someone else.
But I can assure you that in real emergencies, it's no time to be selfish. It would be deeply insane for anyone from my fire company to go into a burning building alone. In the same way it would deeply insane of you to have a "Go Bag" without a plan of where you are going to GO. Who's on the other end of your trip? The Interstate? A hotel?
Coordination, communication, preplans. We have a paper mill that closed down here this year. All of the local fire departments got together and did a "walk through" in case it ever goes up. We're making a plan we might never have to use.
I have a friend with a vacation house 150 miles north of here. I have a key to his house in my emergency kits. He has a key to MY house in his kits. We have plans we might neve have to use.
That's just my 2/100's of a dollar.

martinfocazio,

Well stated, I concur. Within practical limitations, it would be great if everyone lived by the philosophy of "It's always better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." Leading by example is a great way to encourage this.

Regards,
Comanche7

If I ever get in a car accident, I want you to be the guy behind me. I know you will stop to help.
If you don't have "it" in your car, check my trunk! It is probably there.
The kicker is, you do this as a volunteer.

Nice job.

One of the first things my instructor said when we started talking about "off duty" responsibilities that for the love of the job we will stop by and help people in the accidents or just pay courtesy call just in case. Somebody asked how you can help a person without an ambulance or supplies. Instructor answered that as an EMT your car will become a second ambulance whatever you like it or not. And it is true. All my friends have their cars stocked well. Short of AED, long board and stretcher my car has everything I need including oxygen supply. It makes me feel at ease to have it just in case. When you are prepared nothing ever happens. <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Matt

Hey Matt, what sizes of airways do you carry in your "civilian" kit? We have a 3-year old that would probably need like a 70mm, and a 5-month old that would probably need a 55mm. Are the protocols for infants different than older children or adults?

Your young one will be classified as an infant and 5 yo will be classified as a child.

With infants it’s very easy to overextend the head when trying to open the airway. Also brachial pulse (arm) should be used for monitoring. No finger sweep on little babies, since it can lodge the object into their cavity even deeper. You also have to learn that numbers for pulse are higher for kids same goes for number of resps. Also if you are single rescuer on a baby/child you do a cpr for a minute than call 911 or even better carry them with you (if there is no trauma). On adults you call 911 and than start with cpr.

On a kid (infant and child up to 8 yrs) you do 5 comp per 1 breath. On adult you do 15 comp per 2-3 blows.

Also tidal values of lungs for the child and adult are different. I only have an adult bag valve mask (BVM) in my car but I roughly know how to use it. Make sure (if you have one) that you don’t deliver full volume of air from adult bag to a child or an infant. Look at the chest when delivering so you see equal bilateral expansion.

I carry set of child airways (40mm which is considered infant size) , 50 and 60. And adult set which is 70 (small adult) to 110. They have to be measured the right way for each person (corner of the mouth to tip of the ear lobe) and I wouldn’t recommend using them if you are not trained.

Above is just basics in the nutshell. There is no substitute for training.

Matt

Post deleted by Skater

Although you asked Matt, I will throw my 2cents in. First do you have the appropriate training to use supplemental airways? If not do not attempt to purchase and use them in an emergency situation. You can cause soft tissue damage and if the improper size is used, you can actually block the airway. If you do have the training, then be aware that supplemental airways are most effective when used in conjunction with a CPR mask (I am not talking about a CPR shield) or BVM with high flow O2. If performing CPR without CPR mask or BVM with high flow O2, then the use of adjutant airway is not helpful. Both the CPR mask and BVM require two hands on the mask to achieve an effective seal around the mouth and nose. Even with the appropriate training, those without actual experience generally form a poor seal around the mouth, have inadequate head positioning, ventilate too rapidly or with too much force, resulting in inflation of the stomach or inadequate ventilation. Pete

If you need an airway for yourself you won't be giving anyone instructions.

Post deleted by Skater