[Ansteorra-chirurgeon] The value of additional knowledge

[Chris Baran]

You had sent out a letter / e-mail before speaking of first aid / cpr
classes that Chirurgeons in the DFW area could sign up for.  I would like to
renew my certs and would like more information on this if you have any.

Thank you,

Sir Romanius

>From: "Richard Threlkeld" <rjt at softwareinnovation.com>
>Reply-To: ansteorra-chirurgeon at ansteorra.org
>To: <ansteorra-chirurgeon at ansteorra.org>
>CC: "Friar Galen of Ockham" <galen at chirurgeon.org>
>Subject: [Ansteorra-chirurgeon] The value of additional knowledge
>Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 09:50:03 -0600
>
>Chirurgeons of Ansteorra,
>
>I have been asked whether getting additional training beyond that of Basic
>First Aid (BFA) is useful in the SCA or even harmful from a liability
>standpoint. Since this has come from several people while I am taking an
>EMT course, I wish to give my opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of
>the SCA or the Chirurgeonate, so take it as you will.
>
>I have been doing first aid in the Boy Scouts and in the SCA for over 15
>years. My qualifications for this have always been Red Cross first aid and
>CPR or equivalent combined with calmness under pressure, a dose of common
>sense, and a strong desire to help.
>
>In my mundane life, I have always felt a need a to know more than the
>minimum required to do any job. In the SCA we are sometimes called upon to
>be the first responder to the myriad of health problems that a temporary
>city of 3,000-5,000 people can have (at Wars, for instance). I have
>sometimes felt I was not well enough prepared to handle these, though I
>have always been able to provide good care to those I treated.
>
>To answer these personal issues, I decided to get more training. After
>looking at first responder training, I decided to go for an EMT-B (Texas)
>certification and found an intensive course that took only 8 weeks of class
>and two weeks of "rotations". EMT-Bs can only do a few things we cannot and
>then only when under protocols of a Medical Director, but the required
>knowledge of the body and its functioning is much greater than that of a
>BFA. Our course is 164 class hours plus a fair amount of homework. This
>yields a greater skill in patient assessment - especially in the trauma
>arena.
>
>It is here the Society benefits from those who have or get training beyond
>our minimum requirement. I can now recognize many situations where EMS must
>be called immediately. Based on my BFA training, I would not have known the
>importance of some of the symptoms and may have delayed calling for
>transport until it became apparent the patient was in serious trouble.
>There are probably still situations where my training is inadequate, but
>I'm not going for a medical degree any time soon.
>
>We spent less than an hour in my BFA courses on bandaging and splinting and
>did no practice. After the bandaids, these are some of the most common
>things we do in the SCA. My EMT course has spent a couple of days on
>learning when to use what technique and actually practicing them. This
>could translate into more comfort for my patients and perhaps a safer
>transport.
>
>Is any of this required? No. I provided a valuable service for years
>without this training and most of you do a wonderful job of keeping our
>friends and neighbors healthy and safe without it. Is it beneficial? Yes.
>If you know where the boundaries of the Chirurgeonate are, you can use
>enhanced patient assessment skills, basic trauma treatment skills, and
>packaging skills to do a better job in the Chirurgeonate.
>
>Caelin on Andrede
>Kingdom Chirurgeon, Ansteorra
>
>P.S. I have had several people ask me about the intensive EMT program. It
>was recommended to me by our Deputy Kingdom Chirurgeon, Robert Carmichael
>(Croaker). He took it and worked as an EMT for several years. I have been
>impressed by the instructors. Neither the Chirurgeonate nor the SCA
>recommends any particular training (beyond a Red Cross equivalent BFA/CPR)
>or school and I do not recommend this school as Kingdom Chirurgeon, but
>personally, if you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and want EMT training,
>you might want to check them out. Contact either myself or Croaker for
>info. Neither of us has any financial or personal relationships with the
>school or its instructors and we will not benefit directly or indirectly if
>you choose to attend this school.
>
>
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