CITY PERSONNEL GET TRAINING IN EMERGENCIES

Firefighters and police dispatchers in Cape Girardeau are working to become even more invaluable to victims in emergency situations.

Today, firefighters and dispatchers taking the mandatory first responders classes at Fire Station No. 1 will begin the practical testing phase of their training.

The first responders have been taught basic, first-aid medical care and how to handle victims in accident situations.

"We have four fire departments strategically located throughout the city," explained Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Robert L. Ridgeway. "That gives us an average response time to an emergency call of 3 minutes.

"That makes people feel pretty good to know that the majority of the time we can have someone on the scene in less than four minutes," he said.

When Ridgeway arrived in Cape Girardeau, he said that it struck him as odd that so many of the personnel in the fire department were trained in emergency medical procedures, yet the department did not function in that capacity.

The fire department currently has four certified paramedics, 15 emergency medical technicians and 33 first responders. The first responders were required to retake the course with 17 people within the department who had not.

So Ridgeway with the help of Lt. Brad Golden, a paramedic and soon-to-be registered nurse with the fire department sought out people and organizations within the community who could help establish a first responders program and train the personnel within the department.

Ridgeway prepared a memorandum of understanding signed by the fire department, Cape County Private Ambulance Service, St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital, the Cape Girardeau Police Department and Dr. Charles Pancoast, medical control officer for the city and emergency medical services coordinator for the region, to get the program going.

At first, not everyone was crazy about the idea.

"All of the people in the classes are real receptive to the idea now," he said. "Any time you have a change, there will be a certain amount of people who are unsure about it.

"Over the past month our people have gotten pretty darn good at the techniques taught in the classes, and will only get better with time," Ridgeway said. "Acceptance is just something we do; we're really getting there now."

Once the program was started, Golden and other paramedics and emergency medical technicians within the department took over.

First responders are required to have 40 hours of classroom training. The firefighters and dispatchers of the city will have more than 70 hours of training when they finish on July 16.

"First responders must have an understanding of basic first aid techniques," Golden said. "They learn airway management, CPR, oxygen administration, how to take vital signs and interpret them; they must be trained in patient protection during extrication procedures, know how to use backboards and C-collars and various splinting techniques."

Golden said that city police-fire dispatchers are taking the course to have a better understanding of an emergency call when it comes into police headquarters and to be equipped to tell firefighters and other emergency personnel as much about the situation as possible before they reach the scene.

Since beginning the program, the department has racked up seven clinical "saves."

"Most of them were closed airways," Golden said.

"When a person stops breathing, there is a four-to-six-minute window before biological death sets in," Ridgeway said. "Unless someone can get to the scene fast and begin CPR, that person wouldn't make it. Therein lies the need for the first responders program."

Once certified, the first responders must take a refresher course every three years. Once a month they are required to take a continuing education class to update emergency medical techniques.

Ridgeway said that in the future he would like for the department to be able to staff one or two paramedic engines within the city.

"That's a unique concept enjoying a great deal of success in states like Florida, Texas and California," Ridgeway said.

"Often times, police officers will respond to a situation requiring emergency medical procedures," he said. "They find themselves trapped with little or no equipment and training and simply try to do their best.

"We now can work together," he said. "We get the call at the same time they do, and can respond almost as quickly."

Ridgeway said there has been a tremendous amount of cooperation during the training between the fire department and the local ambulance service.

"The whole point of the program is to get trained medical service personnel to the scene as quickly as possible to asses the situation and to begin to administer emergency care," he said. "It's for the ambulance service to know that when we get to the scene there will be enough help or for us to know that they are right behind us.

"We have a responsibility to recognize the needs of the community and to meet those needs," he said. "Our vehicles, personnel and training are defined by our mission to protect the lives and property of the citizens of Cape Girardeau."