Emergency Management
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Volume 8, Issue 1 October 2014 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Special points of Wilderness Medicine Weekend June 6-8, 2014 interest: Wilderness Medicine Weekend highlights. Being a firefighter means being prepared Emergency Preparedness information Inside this issue: Introduction to Wilderness Medicine Weekend The first NCEM Wilderness Medicine Weekend was held June 6-8, 2014. Unfortu- nately only 3 people from Nye County Emergency Management attended because the Rope Rescue 2 weekend had to be rescheduled from the original May dates. We were; Matt Drywater Team hangs out (Sta. 91-Duckwater), Diane McGinnis (Sta.31-Beatty) and Ed Booss (Sta.51-NCEM), with several people from Las Vegas rounding out the class. This was a condensed version of the 2 week course that SNWMS (Southern Ne- Long Hot Sum- 3 vada Wilderness Medicine Society) conducts for 4th year medical students; it was tailored mer for people without extensive medical training. The course focused on first aid skills using improvised items and any equipment that we had in our backpack. Participants with no training up thru EMT all learned valuable skills, which are applicable to both the wilderness Being a firefighter 4 means being pre- and in an urban setting during a disaster. Friday was the power point presentation with some hands-on practical skills. Saturday pared morning the class observed vehicle extrication and studied. That afternoon started the "fun Notes from the 5 stuff" with swimming (in the heat of the day), water safety and a water rescue exercise. Technical Re- After supper it was "back to school" due to the volume of information in the handbook. sponse Team Throughout the weekend participants were challenged by scenarios where we had to iden- tify and treat emergencies. On a beautiful Sunday morning they broke camp. At Lake Mead, Coyotes among 6 took a final swim and did a "warm up" rock scramble at the abandoned Ore Car Mine. We us then hiked several miles up an erosion canyon, with safety lessons along the way. On the return leg of the hike, about half way thru this narrow canyon, an emergency scenario was done to demonstrate the difficulties in getting victims evacuated. Later it was "back to www.ready.gov 7,8 class", reviews of lessons learned and exams. The course concluded with an evening of rap- pelling in Red Rock Canyon. At the end of the weekend, even with slight sunburns and some sore, tired muscles, everyone agreed that they had a great time and learned a lot of useful skills. Matt Drywater summed it up by saying "it was well worth the long drive from Contact info and 9 the north end of the county and hopefully more people will attend next year". Emergency pre- paredness tips Page 2 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT NV State Health Division Trailers We have 3 disas- ter trailers lo- cated through- out the County. They are regu- larly inspected and inventoried. Rope Rescue Team hangs out The Technical Rescue Team (aka Rope Rescue Team) in the southern part of the county can be found "hanging out" in various locations. Sometimes they are at the Nye County Training Site in Pahrump using the rappelling tower to work on techniques, maybe on a hillside far from town or at Beatty VFD reviewing and practicing skills. The team members come from several departments and bring their own areas of expertise which benefits everyone. There is a lot more to rope rescue rappelling than what you see in the movies. They use 2 ropes (main rappelling and belay) because, SAFETY is top priority - the life of the rescuer and the victims are at stake. The team must maintain proficiency in many disciplines, for example: knots, rigging, mechanical advantage and patient packaging, just to name a few. The latest Thursday of the month is for reviewing, practicing skills and preparing for the weekend training. The second Sunday of the month is an 8 hour training where they do rescue scenarios "in the rocks". In March the team did a fun exercise at a place called hole-in-the-rock, near Beatty, that tested their ability to rappel over different terrain. It was over 150' with 3 faces to be transitioned and a free rappel (where there is no place to put your feet for stability) - just your ropes and thin air. Faces transitioned: The first was almost vertical with a low anchor (normal transition), which went down to a chasm that could be stepped across. The second face was undercut with about 30' free rappel with a high anchor transition (vertical rope from descent). The third was a steep descent to skree (loose rocks) above the flatter terrain. When doing a free rappel, even with your safety belay line, you are really hanging out. The team has identified other fun and challenging locations for future training, so you might want to consider joining the team and "hanging out" with us. Volume 8 Issue 1 Page 3 Long-Hot Summer 2014 In 2014 the summer weather started early and was hotter than the past few years, and is expected to last longer, too. Everyone needs to take extra care to avoid heat related problems. Evaporation of sweat is the primary cooling mechanism when working in the summer, and we have been told to hydrate, but what does that really mean? First you can sweat 3 liters of water in an hour, sometimes more doing firefighting, so you become dehydrated rapidly. But, you do not get thirsty until you have already lost 2 liters of water, so it will be hard to catch up if you did not drink before you started working. Since we can have long response times to many incidents, drink a bottle of water on the way to the scene. Second, most people do not know what hyponatremia (water intoxication) is - blood sodium level that falls too low to maintain normal body function. This is usually the result of drinking more than enough water while failing to eat or replenish electrolytes. Hy- ponatremia patients deny being thirsty, usually have urinated recently and the urine was probably clear; sometimes, if the kidneys are distressed the patient may produce a large volume of diarrhea instead of urinating. The treatment is rest in shade and gradual intake of salty foods, when thirst and hunger com- bine with normal urine output, the problem is solved.* It can be prevented by consuming fluids in a ratio of 1 liter of electrolyte mixture (sports drink) for every 2-4 liters of water. The risk factors for heat illness include being over 50 years old, obese, fatigued, out of shape or un-acclimatized to the heat. High humidity, medications, caffeine, alcohol and medical conditions (including a fever or recent prior heat illness) can all reduce your ability to cope with heat. The mildest heat illnesses are heat syncope and heat cramps. Heat syncope is when the blood flow to the brain is reduced because blood is drawn to the skin and pools in the legs, so you feel dizzy when getting up or even faint while standing in the heat. Heat cramps are caused by a sodium deficiency in the exercising muscles, so a few muscle fibers at a time will briefly spasm. Since both illnesses are caused by dehydration the treatment is resting in shade and drink fluids containing sodium (salt pinch to a quart of water or sports drink). Heat exhaustion is a serious problem when the body's core temperature rises. The patient is sweating profusely, has cool clammy skin that usually has a pale or dusky look, decreased urine output, headache, feels very tired and can have persistent muscle cramps. Treat with rest in shade, fluid replace- ment, you can assist cooling by fanning a patient also have medical personnel check them. Usually the patient has about a 90% recovery in several hours, but it will still take a few days for the body to return to completely normal functioning. Heat stroke is a medical emergency because the core temperature rises to 105o or more. The classic signs and symptoms are hot dry skin, rapid heart rate, fast breathing, headache, disorientation, confusion and possibly seizures (if the body is not cooled, it will go into a coma). An exertional heat stroke (EHS) can come on in as little as 15 minutes so the patient will still be sweating profusely with rapid bounding pulse. One of the reliable indicators are the changes of behaviors; such as being irrational and sometimes showing aggression.* The heat stroke patient MUST be rapidly cooled and evacuated to a medical facility. Things everyone can do to combat a heat illness: 1) get in better shape and become acclimatized, 2) stay hydrated, 3) when you first start to feel heat related problems get someone to relieve you so you can rest, 4) always watch your team members for heat illness, 5) always get pre- entry and post-entry medical evaluations, 6) work smarter not harder. ------------------- *Wilderness First Aid, American Safety & Health Institute, 2013 Volume 8 Issue 1 Page 4 Being a firefighter means being prepared By Thomas A Merrill—from Backdraft Magazine Vol.51 iIss. 2 (The following is an EXERPT) “If you are like most volunteers, you LOVE to advertise the fact that you are a firefighter. But, with that title comes an immense responsibility, because people do not think of you as a volunteer or a member. People think of you simply as a firefighter. When people are with you , they take great comfort in the fact that you are not only considered trustworthy but also competent and dependable. They believe that you will be able to help them out in their time of need.