October medical skills training

BAMRU held its annual medical skills training in Huddart Park on October 26-27. Lucas Marciniak, a BAMRU technical member and registered nurse, organized a day of lectures and breakout sessions, followed by a day of awesome scenarios we called the “Medical Olympics”. Twenty-three active BAMRU members showed up, along with five guests and a handful of BAMRU's friends.

Day 1 started out with a fascinating lecture by Dr. Zina Semenovskaya, on wilderness medicine. The group discussed the unique risks associated with environmental exposure, and spent a lot of time deliberating sticky questions about acute mountain sickness (AMS): How do you recognize it in the field? When do you make a decision for search teams to descend? What are early warning signs for the life-threatening forms of AMS?

Dr. Semenovskaya Lectures on Wilderness Medicine

The team then split up into groups by certification level (EMT, WFR, WFA/First Aid), and began rotating through stations manned by knowledgeable BAMRU members. RN Abi Fitzgerald educated first responders and EMTs alike on the value of taking good baseline vital signs and an accurate medical history. Kyle Barbour walked each group through the contents of BAMRU’s jump bags - no one wants to be searching for the right piece of equipment in an emergency! Former BAMRU member and practicing anesthesiologist Dr. Victor Tubbesing mediated a discussion on patient medical scenarios and airway management, and Lucas Marciniak drilled the teams in how to properly package patients with cervical spine immobilization.

Dr. Victor Tubbesing Teaching the Airway Station

Lucas Marciniac, RN, Teaches Litter Packaging and Spinal Stabalization

At the close of the day’s training, some of the group headed home while others camped at Huddart Park (and, after contemplating a dinner of dehydrated food, made a late-night taqueria run instead).

Day 2, the Medical Olympics, began with the creation of mixed certification level teams. Friends of BAMRU as well as some generous paramedic students from Foothill College volunteered to act as patients for the Med Olympics scenarios.

Each team had a full day of patient care! The training scenarios included a hiker with a broken ankle who was having an anaphylactic reaction to a bee sting; a teenager, alone in the park, experiencing food poisoning; a woman having tonic-clonic seizures following head trauma; a diabetic backpacker in DKA who'd left his insulin at home; and a lightning strike on a member of the BAMRU rescue team.

Evacuating a Diabetic Patient in the Medical Olympics 

In addition to each BAMRU member getting invaluable practice with patient care, patient packaging, and equipment handling, each group vastly improved in communication and teamwork over the day. The scenarios also prompted discussions on managing bystanders, interacting with minors, approaching potentially dangerous patients, and handling the incapacitation of a team member.

Overall, the BAMRU members present at the training had the chance to refresh their EMS skills, gain familiarity with BAMRU’s equipment, and experience how rescue teams might conduct patient care in the field. It’s safe to say that no matter the certification level, we all learned a ton!

BAMRU Team: Abi Rankin Fitzgerald, Alexa Fredston-Hermann, Alex Grishaver, Brian Ducay, Charles Dimmler, Chris Seffens, Christiaan Adams, Christopher Nielsen, Dominique Freckmann, Eric Mcdonnell, John Chang, John Zirinsky, Kimberley Craig, Kyle Barbour, Kyle Smith, Lindsay Chromik, Lucas Marciniak, Mike Dacre, Patti Viri, Rachel Allen, Sarah J Roth, Thom Dedecko, Tom Grossman