[Ansteorra] SPAM-LOW: Re: [SCA-AE] Chirurgeon Title Changes

[Mike C. Baker]

Oh, drat.  I appear to have come across as something more / less than I
intended.  

Thank you very much for the inside view on what happened with the title
structure. I'll note -- reasonably quietly, I hope -- that the final
impact is still dealing with fear of legal consequences, and in a manner
that I personally find distasteful.  (An old, sore subject for which I
again apologize for being a bit hasty in my response on the current set
of matters.)

Note that I was writing in reference to myself to a large extent, when
commenting upon the strictures of the office.  Caelin, I *have*
previously worked toward "normal" chirurgeon status, even if that was at
least five or six years ago, and very much appreciate the difficulties
we face as the SCA in presenting ourselves for the mundane context. 

To restate from before, my generally-recognized certifications are
currently lapsed as far as expiration dates are concerned, for those
that actually have expirations (even the one that was based upon the
instructor's recognition instead of the individual students...)
Considering that my earliest formal training in first aid is four
decades old this fall, small wonder... I fully intend to get myself a
set of refreshers taken as soon as I can -- the recognized "state of the
art" changes, even within the courses offered by a single authority in
this field (AHA standards for number of compressions vs. rescue breaths,
for example, were updated at least three times in roughly ten years back
when I *was* renewing annually). I for one especially need to update my
knowledge on some of the equipment that has become more widely available
in the last ten years.  Even if it is not immediately to hand, knowing
that it may be somewhere on site could be a tremendous advantage for the
injured party.

As I am currently beyond the borders of Ansteorra, I'm planning to wait
a little while before trying the formal chirurgeon route again.  (Humid,
HUMID, western Pennsylvania... And my contract [currently] only runs
through the end of September.)  I *will* support the office in my way
whenever I can -- and sometimes I see that support as my bad old habits
of speaking out / up.

 Adieu, Amra / ttfn - Mike / Pax ... Kihe
 
 Mike C. Baker
 SCA: al-Sayyid Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra, F.O.B, OSCA
 "Other": Reverend Kihe Blackeagle PULC (the DreamSinger Bard) 
 Opinions? I'm FULL of 'em alt. e-mail: KiheBard at hotmail.com  
 OR MCBaker216 at cs.com
    Buy my writings!:   http://www.lulu.com/WizardsDen
    http://www.livejournal.com/users/kihebard/
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org 
> [mailto:ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of 
> Richard Threlkeld
> Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 1:18 PM
> To: 'Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.'
> Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Re: [SCA-AE] Chirurgeon Title Changes
> 
> If I might comment? First, we are allowed to provide aid up 
> to our training or "Advanced First Aid" whichever comes 
> first. Not First Responder which in many US states is a 
> licensed/certified title. Beyond that you are on your own 
> liability and not operating as a Corporate Officer. But you 
> may work at any level for which you are trained and you 
> indeed be required to do so by your license or modern law. 
> Modern law trumps Corporate law every time.
> Anyone may provide any aid that the patient wishes at any SCA 
> event without being a Chirurgeon.
> 
> The BoD is worried a jury might misconstrue the Master title 
> even though it is very clearly defined in our handbook which 
> is a part of Corporate law and the jury is required by law to 
> make any decisions about such things using the Corporate law 
> where applicable. Of course, jury nullification applies to 
> Corporate law as well as modern law. The Legal Committee did 
> not recommend we change the titles and did not recommend or 
> approve (to the best of my
> knowledge) the new titles. They said they wanted to do some 
> research on the topic when the BoD asked them about it. The 
> BoD is not prepared to wait for their research as they 
> believe the liability to be too great a risk. I disagree, but 
> I don't have the burden of governing the SCA and providing 
> for it future viability.
> 
> Yes, there are usually many people at an SCA event who have medical
> training: EMT, Paramedic, Nurse, Doctor. Most will respond to 
> a true emergency even though they may be taking on personal 
> liability (Good Samaritan is variable from state to state in 
> the US concerning licensed or certified people who are not on 
> duty). Yes, most of our Chirurgeons are trained in basic 
> first aid and CPR. But 95% of all requests for aid in the SCA 
> only requires first aid and common sense. 
> 
> In the remaining 5% we provide an infrastructure that gets 
> the aid needed to the person who needs it as quickly as 
> possible. At larger events we are on radios and have carts to 
> quickly get help where it is needed. We maintain a central 
> point where people can come at all hours. We know the local 
> hospitals and the best way to get EMS to the site. We have 
> coordinated with Security and the Autocrats to make sure EMS 
> knows where to go and a clear path is available for them. We 
> know who is available on site with advanced training who is 
> willing to use it (at least those who have told us so). And 
> we have often basic equipment provided from non-SCA sources 
> (the site owner, personal property of Chirurgeons, etc) that 
> allows those trained to provide oxygen, use an AED, splints, 
> etc. And, finally, most of us know when doing all that stuff 
> is inappropriate.
> 
> We provide the basic support for small problems and the 
> infrastructure to get the needed help quickly for big 
> problems. If you have current first aid and CPR certs and 
> have a clue (and it sounds like you have a clue), we would be 
> happy to have you become a Chirurgeon.
> 
> In service,
> Caelin on Andrede
> ER Deputy Society Chirurgeon