By Lauren Formosa
Grand Haven Tribune
HOLLAND, Mich. — High school seniors in the Careerline Tech Center’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program got a glimpse of what it would be like working with other first responders at scene of a car crash.
On Friday, April 16, the EMS students used the skills they learned in the classroom to practice vehicle extrications with the Olive Township Fire Department.
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The volunteer firefighters walked the students through the specialized process of removing a trapped patient from their vehicle after a collision by teaching them about the tools they use to stabilize and cut open cars. Kim Schrader, the EMS Program director, explained that this hands-on practice helps the students better understand what it would be like to respond to a real-life vehicle extrication, as well as how they would work together with firefighters to help safely remove their patient from a vehicle.
“Our students have spent all year learning how to ... assess and treat (patients),” Schrader said. “Eventually, if they go into this field, they’ll have to work alongside the firefighters as the firefighters are cutting a car apart to access a patient. This gives them the opportunity to better understand their job so they can better treat their patient, have more empathy for their patient, understand all of the sounds (that occur during a vehicle extrication) and things like that, and how to work alongside the firefighters and not get in their way.”
During Friday’s practice, the EMS students were split up into three groups. While one group toured the Olive Township Fire Station and learned about the different trucks and their equipment, the students in other two groups suited up to work on cars provided by Holland Towing to practice a vehicle extrication.
One of those groups learned how firefighters stabilize a vehicle before they can extricate a patient, using tools like cribbing blocks and rescue struts to prevent it from moving. The other got to take apart another vehicle to see how firefighters work to access someone trapped in a damaged car, such as breaking its windshield and using hydraulic-power rescue tools called the “jaws of life” to pry open and cut through metal doors.
“We’re just showing them a really basic-level introduction into all of our rescue tools,” said Lieutenant Steve Schoenborn of the Olive Township Fire Department. “As the EMS class, they are not likely to be using the tools ... but they will be on those scenes where the tools are being used. We’re just giving them really a baseline introduction (to) let them get their hands on the tools just so they understand what’s happening.”
Schrader said showing the students what firefighters do in these scenarios give them valuable experience for when they enter their EMS careers
“It’s not uncommon to have a call where maybe a person is working on their car in their own yard or in their driveway, the car falls of a jack, and the patient gets pinned under,” Schrader said, “so they’re learning how they would work alongside the fire department if they had to treat that patient. If they’re cutting a car apart, often their role as an EMT would be to be in that car, under a blanket, holding the patient’s head (and) trying to keep them calm. It’s nice for them to understand what would be happening outside, so they can explain it to their patients.”
Nevaeh Lee-Jones, a senior from Grand Haven High School, said it was a “great experience” to step into the firefighters’ shoes and see what they do during these emergency situations.
“I’ve enjoyed just seeing the tools that we use, what we could experience, and also the people we’re working with,” she said. “It was a great way to get connections.”
Although the “jaws of life” were a bit intimidating at first, the Grand Haven student said it was fun to learn how to use the tools. Getting a hands-on lesson in vehicle extrication also provided her with an important lesson.
“If you go into EMS, try anything, even if you’re scared,” Lee-Jones said. “That’s the biggest takeaway for me, for my future – to not be scared and worried.”
While being a fun learning experience for the students, Schoenborn said that practicing a vehicle extrication can also be a good challenge for them. Getting this real-world training, he explained, can help the students “think outside the box” when or if they go out to respond to a variety of situations in which someone gets trapped in a car.
“I think it just shows them that no two things are going to be the same,” Schoenborn said. “They have to learn a lot of textbook knowledge for their class to get all their licenses. That’s a lot of hard work, but seeing what they learned about in real life, I think, gives them the other side of it. They’re seeing how things really happen ... (and) things aren’t always textbook. Even today during the training, there’s unexpected things that are happening and it helps them think on their feet (and) understand that sometimes you got to have two or three plans because the first plan isn’t going to work.”
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