I Forgot the Names...By Jim Love

Years ago I worked with a medic- kind of a grumpy guy. Didn't seem to care much about - well about much of anything. He just came to work and did his thing and went home. Little did I know that behind the scenes he was building the momentum for legislation that would improve kid safety for- well forever.

Once upon a time the State of Florida, yes that one down south almost completely surrounded by water and with a reputation as a water vacation destination, did not require fencing around pools. As a result kids could wander into pools and you can guess the unfortunate outcome. This medic, with no kids of his own, no personal story of loss or tragedy just said enough is enough. His action caused legislation to occur in Florida that for more than two decades now has required fencing around pools saving countless lives.

Years later I met another medic from Alaska of all places. He too had seen too many river drownings and took personal action to prevent these in the future.

I wrote this because I want to say that action by one, and then two and then a hundred people does make a difference. They do work. They do save lives- its how MADD started. The acts and deeds live on beyond the memory of the person-sometimes beyond the life of the person who started it all.

There are still many needs, many opportunities. Getting proper child seats into emergency vehicles is one. There are still states that do not require fencing around swimming pools. You can make a difference by what you do. I don't recall their names- I'll never forget what they did.

What I Remember ...by Jim Love

St. Petersburg, FL., the year was probably 1978 or 79. My partner and I had responded to a drowning in a large apartment complex at the north end of town. When we arrived we found a bunch of people doing or trying to do CPR. While we were getting into position to take over care a news crew arrived and began to film the action- the cameraman positioned right behind me.

The child was blue and just had that look and feel. The outcome was not going to change and it was not right that it was being filmed- solely for the benefit of the TV station. Somehow when I stood up I bumped into the cameraman and into the pool he went.

Fencing could have, would have prevented the death of this child. Parental oversight could have, would have prevented the death of this child. These were not the only mistakes to be made. We put the child on the stretcher and began the very long trip to the hospital.

We did not secure the child in any special way to the stretcher. We never had any means to do so and nothing bad ever happened. Each time we transported a child back then, we did so either using the stretcher or more commonly held the baby in our arms- as though we could hold onto a 30 pound baby in a high speed collision. But we did it time and again and nothing bad ever happened.

That's not to say that there could not have been a catastrophic outcome from the transport- it just never happened- to me. Back then we were not taught any better and frankly did not know better. Back then the world was a lot larger. We did not know what happened across the country or the world like we do today- only 'major news' received that level of exposure. And the fact that we did not believe anything bad would happen kept us from seeking change or improvement. As a society we have enacted universal laws that govern how we transport children in ordinary vehicles. We made these changes because bad things do happen. Emergency vehicles are the same as other cars- only riskier- they run red lights and go fast. We need to adopt the same laws as those that apply to all vehicles

How children are transported today is about the same as it was back then and largely for the same reason- we take a risk and nothing bad happens. There are those who advocate for safer transport of children and infants and some states have enacted legislation to require safe transport equipment for emergency vehicles. Most people just assume that EMS, 911 responders, know what to do and do the right thing.

So what is the moral to this story? We often get angry when bad things happen and lash out in the wrong direction. Hindsight is most often crystal clear but too often we fail to use this vision to change the future. Learn CPR. Insist that all states require EMS vehicles to carry and use approved child and infant transport equipment. Ask questions and get involved. No Excuses

Jim maintains a website about EMS safety. For more information about this topic please visit: http://www.emsafety.net/.