AIR RESCUE UPDATE The joint San Bernardino County Fire/Sheriff aviation program has had many notable calls since its inception six months ago. One of these incidents proved the value of auto-launching Air Rescue to remote areas of our county. On Mon., May 26 (Memorial Day), San Bernardino County Fire received numerous reports of a traffic collision with multiple patients ejected on Highway 395 near the community of Red Mountain. Air Rescue 06 was dispatched with ground units from County Fire and Kern County Fire Dept. Sheriff deputies and CHP units arrived on scene first, confirming numerous patients had been ejected from the vehicle and that some had critical injuries. Kern County Engine 75 from Randsburg arrived on scene 21 minutes after dispatch and was able to provide initial triage and basic life support to the injured. AR06 was the second-arriving fire department unit, adding paramedic level care to the scene. Staffing that day included Captain/Paramedic Steve Simpson, Firefighter/Paramedic Eric Sherwin, Deputy/EMT (and crew chief) John Scalise, physician’s assistant/Air Medic Chris Williams and pilot Dave Borgerd.AR06 brought paramedic level care to the scene. Captain Simpson established incident command while Sherwin and Williams coordinated treatment and triage with Kern County Fire EMT’s. Scalise assumed air operations to handle three more inbound medical helicopters. Within 11 minutes AR06 was enroute to LLUMC with the most injured child. However, the crew’s dynamic staffing model, which allows the crew to divide and multi-task, meant Capt. Simpson could remain on scene as IC before ultimately passing command to County Fire Medic Engine 4, which had arrived as the helicopter was leaving the scene. Simpson then assumed air ops to cover for the Scalise, who had accompanied the medics for transport. This call exemplifies the value provided by the joint fire/sheriff aviation program. The ability to bring command and control to the scene as early as possible is essential. AR06 provided clear communication and accurate information to the additional units assigned to the incident while simultaneously initiating ALS care and rapid transport for the most critically injured patients. By - Eric Sherwin
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 19:03:58 +0000
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