Anthrax Detection Device

Who doesn't love a cool gadget?

Here's a nifty new tool for the well-supplied first responder tool bag - The Ceeker. Pronounced 'seeker' the New Zealand made tool accurately identifies anthrax with remarkable accuracy.

Veritide Ltd., the company that developed it, says that their hand-held device recently passed two weeks worth of testing with impressive numbers. The Ceeker correctly identified anthrax 100% of the time and it caught hoax substances with 95% accuracy. You'd rather have a few false positives when it comes to something anthrax, wouldn't you?

First Reponder Fees Banned in Florida

I wanted to post a follow-up to a story that I wrote about back in May. Some Florida municipalities were attempting to balance their books by charging people for the services the received from first responders, specifically the police.

In example included a woman who was pulled over and ticketed. After paying the ticket and seeing her auto insurance go up she also received a bill from the city for a the policeman's time.

Well, the bill finally wound its way through the legislature and ended up on the governor's desk. She signed it - right or wrong it would have been incredibly unpopular for her to have vetoed it!

Autism and Emergencies

It can be frustrating for first responders – not to mention dangerous – when they have trouble communicating with conscious victims in emergency situations. One area where this issue comes up is with autistic children.

Autism diagnosis have skyrocketed in recent years and the chances that emergency personnel will encounter someone with autism increase all the time.

To help with this issue Autism Speaks has released The Autism Safety Project. The project is aimed at both sides of the equation – families with autistic members, the autistic themselves and the emergency personnel who may encounter them. When everyone is reading from the same playbook chances are increased for a good resolution.

For more information check out AutismSafetyProject.org

Found via Examiner.com

First Responders, DDS

If the latest first responder trainees in California ask their practice dummy to turn and spit it’s understandable. Just force of habit, really.

California dentists are being trained to act as first responders in emergency situations. It’s thanks to a modification in the Dental Practices Act that has elevated dentists’ roles as first responders.

Consequently, dentists are being trained in triage and the basics of being a first responder.

It makes a lot of sense, really. Dentists do have medical training even if it is specialized. More importantly they have experience dealing with patients, an important asset when trying to control an emergency medical situation.

The Future of Triage

Not much has changed about triage in recent decades. During emergencies with many people with medical needs healthcare professionals and first responders stop, bend over each patient and check things like breathing, heart rate and responsiveness. Determining who should be treated first takes skill, sober judgment and the ability to juggle lots of information. It also requires the ability to gather that information delicately, swiftly and accurately.

No wonder there's been little change. There simply isn't a machine as capable as the human brain for such a task. But things may be changing.

A device that can take measure the various risk factors of a patient is being developed. The goal - a realistic goal - is to create a single instrument that can take these readings from a patient from a distance. In other words, one person could, in just a few seconds per patient, evaluate and accurately order a triage - something that now takes around 3-5 minutes per patient.

The Standoff Patient Triage Tool (SPTT) is still in development but plans are to put it in the field for test by this autumn.

These are fascinating times we're living in!

National Emergency Medical Services Week

We are in the midst of National Emergency Medical Services Week. Across America first responders are being recognized for their contributions to our communities as well as the nation as a whole.

There's an interesting bit of history to this 36 year-old celebration. It was first observed during the Ford administration. It was all part of a budgetary fight that Ford eventually lost regarding funding for a program for trauma center and EMS system development.

Ford had declared that there would be no new spending in the federal budget and had eliminated the proposal for the program. A vigorous lobbying campaign was launched that eventually convinced enough congressmen and Senators to override the president. The program was put back into the budget. In fact it was the only new spending that year in the federal budget!

Declaring a new National Emergency Medical Services Week was Ford's way of offering an olive branch to first responders. Good call, Mr. President!

Teaching High School Students First Responder Skills

This isn't much of a news story, just a quick mention that a new First Responder Certification class will be available as an elective at a local school.

But the idea is a new one to me and seems like a great one. Talk about real life skills! As kids roll their eyes at trigonometry or having to learn the dates of the Norman invasion they can't make the claim that first responders skills will never be used in real life.

When I was growing up no such thing was available. We had the once a year drunk driving presentation put on by the local police department and that was about the extent of our in-school exposure to first responders. Teaching high school kids not only how to handle an emergency but also how to help others is an excellent move.

So kudos to the school for doing this. Let's hope more schools will consider it.