SIMULATION BASED TRAINING FOR LEMR CREWS

The weekend of the 7th Sept saw LEMR Volunteers put through their paces during a simulation based training day, held on farmland near Lincoln.

The team, under the guidance of EMAS Paramedic’s and Trainer’s Tony and Pippa were exposed to several training incidents from Drowning, Multi vehicle RTC, Myocardial Infarction (MI) leading into a Cardiac arrest and a BBQ incident with burns.

‍

The day started with a patient that had drowned in a nearby lake. This simulation utilised live actors with a bystander having pulled them to the side of the lake awaiting the arrival of the emergency services. As in the real-world environment, the majority of the time LEMR arrive first on scene. LEMR volunteers Chris, Sean and Alyssia responded to the incident. After stabilising the patient and elevating her feet due to her low Blood pressure, the crew then awaited the arrival of front line EMAS crew. Unfortunately for Alyssia, she ended up at the feet end and on the waters edge.Needless to say when finished, she looked like she had just completed a Bear Grylls assault course!

‍

The second simulation involved a 16 year old who had an unwitnessed fall from height, a 4m Silo. On examination the patient was discharging Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) from the ear and had an open chest wound.The patient was stabilised prior to being moved. Credit to the actor who maintained his character while a snail decided to utilise his ear as a transit road and a spider took itself for a walk…across his face!

‍

The third was the result of a teenager lighting a BBQ with lighter fluid which blew back in his face causing burns to face, throat, mouth, nose and chest. The team simulated irrigating the patient with water for 20 minutes whilst taking observations (Obs). The patient was lowered to the floor in a semi recumbent position due to Obs decreasing but still allowing a good seating position for breathing.

‍

Simulation four was a middle-aged male suffering with severe chest pain in a small confined space within a caravan. On arrival the patient who stated they had just removed a car tyre prior to symptoms. During the history taking by the crew, it was identified that the patient had a cardiac history while also identifying an allergy to aspirin. The patients own GTN was administered. After which a 12-lead ECG acquisition following protocol was conducted, with his ECG showing a suspected MI. The patient proceeded to suffer a cardiac arrest. The patient was extracted from the caravan and replaced by a resusi manakin for the CPR elements that followed.

‍

Next up was an adult male who had been on a ladder in the woods using a chainsaw for tree cutting. Unfortunately, he had fallen with the result being a catastrophic haemorrhage to his upper thigh, a head injury and a laceration to his right hand. Immediately the Catastrophic bleed was halted with the use of a tourniquet. The patient was immobilised and placed onto a Scoop, with spider straps and head blocks.

‍

The final simulation was a major RTC, which stemmed from a tractor colliding with a moped with rider and pillion passenger, and a car with two passengers and a dog inside. Ten Second Triage protocol was used to assess and treat the casualties, whilst at the same time dealing with an intoxicated tractor driver and several bystanders who were taking pictures and filming the incident. Responders were faced with one patient not breathing and one with traumatic head injury from the moped, plus facial injuries to one of the car occupants. The dog was also looked after and reunited with its owners.

‍

This real-world training for our volunteers is invaluable and shows the range of emergencies LEMR can be sent to. The casualties for the day were all live actors with realistic injuries and haemorrhage crafted by Pippa. An exceptional day carried out under the guidance of the EMAS Community Response Team Training and Advisory Officer for Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, who acted as incident commander.

Hopefully stories like this show exactly what LEMR provide as a rapid response to 999 calls across the county of Lincolnshire, and without your support this would not be possible.

‍

‍