PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
LIFTING AND MOVING PATIENTS TRAINING … Several members of the Williams County Emergency Medical Services (above) along with members of the Bryan Fire Department underwent continuing education training regarding lifting and moving patients during a recent training session held on Friday, May 22 at the Williams County Courthouse and Bryan Fire Department.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
As part of EMS Week, members of the Williams County Emergency Medical Services along with several members of the Bryan Fire Department went through a continuing education course for lifting and moving patients on Friday, May 22.
The hands-on training, which took place at the Williams County Courthouse and Bryan Fire Department, focused on safely moving patients upstairs and downstairs and through challenging environments.
Participants utilized a weighted mannequin provided by Wieland-Chase, LLC. Weighing about 220 pounds, the mannequin simulated the weight and movement of a real patient, providing them with valuable hands-on practice and realistic education for real-life situations.
“It allowed us to maneuver it on lift sheets and different backboards, stair chairs and Stokes basket and we were able to utilize our equipment and practice better body mechanics and actually just moving patients and what we are comfortable doing,” said EMS paramedic and training officer John Noyes.
Part of the training was done at the courthouse where EMTs and firefighters maneuvered on the stairs and went up and down on them in the four-story building.
Noyes said the EMTs and firefighters handled the courthouse training pretty well.
“It actually helped us to talk about what different people do, so it allowed all of our providers to be able to communicate like ‘hey I used this technique’ or ‘this technique works better for me,’” said Noyes.
“It allowed us to really become one and try to maneuver people better.” He pointed out it was also one of the most interactive trainings the Williams County EMS had.
“As EMS, we really love the hands-on and that’s where we thrive in our training,” he commented. To be able to actually move and manipulate, and kind of do all of our training, it was the best one we’ve had so far.”
The training allowed the EMTs to really make sure they were all confident in lifting these patients and moving them but also helped ensure the EMTs stayed current on their skills.
“We have critical patients all the time, maybe someone is unresponsive in a bathroom or something and these are the things that we practice on,” said Noyes.
“We’ve had unresponsive patients who fell downstairs, and we had to make sure we were delicate in how we move our patients because of spinal or neck injuries.”
Noyes said 20 to 25 people participated in the morning-long training session. “Communication was a big thing when we started this,” said Noyes.
We didn’t have a lot of communication and by the end of this we were communicating like ‘hey I’m going to lift here’ or ‘I’m turning here.’
“Communication was a big piece that I think we’ll all take from this because our jobs rely on communication.
Another piece that we’ll take from it is we’re here for the patients, so we want to train for the patients. Being able to manipulate and able to use our equipment to the full capabilities.”