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| Casualty Simulation
is published four times a year (February, May, August, November) and includes
information on medical conditions, acting, staging, make-up, planning and
details of exercises.
Journal Editor: Dougie Mac Eachran (01495 718889) A selection of articles are reproduced
below:
LONDON
MORTUARY TRAINING - Caroline Thomas
WORKING TOGETHER Inter-regional protocols - Caroline Thomas, Hon. General Secretary We are one organisation, one charity, divided into regions with Directors and their Deputies, to act as channels for communication between centralised roles including Headquarters on the one hand, and the units and their members on the other, and to allow local people to have some control over local activities and get to know both members and clients. With members it is clear which unit they belong to, and therefore which Region. We have a map and lists in the “Who’s Who in CU”, updated and published in the Journal about once a year. But with clients it is not always easy to categorise them into our Regions, and occasionally this gives rise to misunderstandings and resentment. For example, an organisation may have its Head Office in the southern counties, but ask us to provide members at a venue in the north of England. At this distance, it makes sense for the local people to provide the casualties, and I suggest that you pass this client to the nearest CU unit, or to the Regional Director if you are unsure which to choose. Here is another example. You provide services to a client in your area, but they relocate a short distance and are now in a neighbouring Region. Your members are willing to make the extra journey, but they will be in another Director’s territory. Talk to that Regional Director and come to an arrangement, perhaps with you controlling the bookings because the client has got used to your booking system, but using their members part of the time, and passing them their share of the expenses. The local units may welcome providing the service without having to do the administration! Finally, you may be under pressure from your client to provide members from your own unit, even though the venue is in another Region. Perhaps the client has got used to your members, likes the service they provide and is reluctant to try anyone else. This is flattering, but possibly unjustified and certainly risks upsetting your neighbouring Region’s units and Director. So talk to them. Explain things, and come to a compromise that will keep everybody happy, including the client. Know your regional borders. Mostly, these
coincide with county borders, listed in the “Who’s Who” on the ‘Regions’
page. Consider any CU jobs you do over the borders and liaise with those
Regions if you have not already done so. If in doubt, ask Headquarters
for advice.
Have you thought about air bags!!! - Dougie Mac Eachran I was following a car through a country
lane when it was involved in a low speed crash – not more than 20 mph.
I was surprised at the extent of injuries that was sustained by the driver
and passenger.
But first, a little background on how this equipment works. On frontal impact, a sensor in the car's front bumper causes the bag's cover to split and open outward. In most systems, the sensor simultaneously ignites a cartridge of sodium azide (a solid rocket propellant), which liberates nitrogen gas. This deploys the air bag at speeds averaging 144 mph, with a maximum velocity of 211 mph. (now that’s fast) All these events happen in less than one-tenth of a second from the time the bumper sensor registers the impact. When the air bag hits a front-seat occupant, it releases gases and heat through vents, causing deflation. Back to the scene of the accident that was nearly involved in. The car in front decided to have a small argument with a builder’s truck. The car front took most of the damage. But the driver suffered minor injuries. After examining her, the only injuries she had was what looked like paper folds of skin where the skin was forced back. (I hope to create this in a Tip Article with photos) All I can say it looked like a minor de-gloving but only surface skin affected. The surprise injury that caused me to think was the passenger. She took the full force of the air bag in the face. This caused her to be blinded – not completely but she could not focus completely. Now think the air bag is going at between 144 – 211 mph driving at not more than 20 mph, and this caused the passenger to be blinded. What could have caused this it could have been the force of the bag hitting the face, or it could have been the powder that coats the bag itself. When I examined the passenger ere was no obvious signs of any injuries. Her eyes where clear no marks on her face, she just could not focus her eyes. Why have I put this article to you as members of Casualties Union? We are asked to perform injuries that take part in cars. Have we thought to ask ourselves and the organisers what if the air bag has been deployed in the crash? Have we thought about the injuries that could be sustained by the air bag? (I know most organisers will not ask us to portray this type of injuries, but it is worth pointing out) As casualties we have to take into consideration
injuries associated with air bags:
Find out whether the driver and any passengers
were wearing lap or lap/shoulder belts, which offer additional protection
from the force of impact.
We get invited to strange places to act as casualty, but one of the most unusual was a big, rambling factory tucked between the Thames and the London City Airport. And yes, I really did see a notice warning pedestrians about falling sugar. My bottle of artificial blood bubbled with excitement because one of its ingredients was coming back home. This was the Tate & Lyle sugar factory in Silvertown, between the flood barrier and the Woolwich ferry. The management is very keen on safety for their staff, and use MCA Associates to keep their first aiders trained and ready for accidents. Patrick and Jim designed and supervised a series of secret exercises in various locations on the site, using a couple of Casualties Union members. We were asked to portray injuries such as spinal, pelvic and lower limb fractures, head injury, immersion hypothermia, burns, lacerations, electrocution and cardiac arrest. The exercises were held at various times of the day and night in order to catch all shifts, and most first aiders participated in more than one. Attending a series of them spread over several months, I was struck by the steady improvements in incident management and team communication as well as first aid skills. The hot debrief was an important part of each event, with all the first aiders having a chance to comment on how it went and what they had learned, as well as constructive suggestions from the observers and casualties. The locations ranged from metal walkways indoors to the end of a jetty where sugar is loaded. There were moments when I wondered to myself whether a 65-year-old woman ought to be behaving more normally, but decided that being hosed down in the middle of a December night to look as if I had just been pulled out of the Thames was actually more fun than sitting at home with a cup of tea and telly. There was a risk assessment for each location, so that we could dress warm and waterproof accordingly. We wore industrial boots, high-vis garments, goggles, gloves and hard hats, and felt safe at all times. Even the soaking worked well by wearing waterproofs (courtesy an earlier decontamination exercise) over the warm woollie,s and overall on top; we looked wet but felt warmer than the shivering first aiders! Others who were game enough to take part were Marian Kerr, Derek Elliott, Jane Baluch and Jamie Strinati-Greenwood of London Branch, and Jim Goodwin of Welwyn Garden City Branch. Well done, team, and thanks. Happy Birthday, Casualties Union, 65 Years Old On 22 November 1942, our charity, Casualties Union, was born at our Founder Eric Claxton’s Leatherhead training school for extricating victims of bombed buildings. He presented to an excited crowd some spectacular demonstrations of rescue work and casualty simulation make-up, and so impressed them that he was worried how he could cope with so many eager recruits. So he talked to them about danger, dirt and discomfort, but still they flocked to join - 120 of them. 1942 was a good year in other ways. I don’t know about the wartime wine vintages, but your Honorary General Secretary was born that year, and so were some other members of C.U. who have been persuaded to describe their entrances. We have no difficulty in remembering the year of C.U.’s foundation, or the Headquarters P.O. Box number! Here are our early stories, in order of arrival. Wee Caroline clocked in on time, but little Rodney and baby Ann were both in a hurry to get here, and young Brian Cox was the heavy-weight! Brian Cox, Cleveland Branch, 17 February
1942
There was a story in the local gazette of my mother losing hold of me when I was about six months old, and I ended up on the pole of a fishing trawler in Whitby Harbour. In those days all babies wore dresses, so I was able to float, and survived. In November, when Casualties Union was being created, my father was in the Royal Navy, so my mother moved back to Whitby where her family was. Rodney Hayward, Berkshire (Reading),
26 February 1942
In November, when Casualties Union was founded, I was 9 months old and weighed 20lbs 8ozs. My mother was very proud of the fact I had survived and accredited my weight factor to Cow and Gate full cream baby milk. My father was on active service with the Royal Marines and did not see me until I was 18 months old. I lived in the house I was born in until I got married in 1964. As a teenager I was keen on competition ballroom dancing. At the STAR championship finals in 1962, a gentleman on the next table had a heart attack, and no one knew what to do. This inspired me to take a first aid course with St. John Ambulance. I joined them in 1964, became Divisional Superintendent, then a County Staff Officer for Training, and am now Divisional President. I first joined C.U. in 1965, took a break when my children were young and rejoined when I had more time. Caroline Thomas, London, 9 July 1942
My father, a Brigadier in the Royal Artillery, was keeping a watchful eye for the Japanese enemy. My mother was looking after the welfare of army wives. My sister, already married the year before, was serving in the W.R.N.S. More of her in a moment. Little did I think, when I was lying in my pram in the garden, cutting my first tooth under a mosquito net, that on the other side of the world, an organisation was being created that would one day play a very important part in my life. Sailing to England when the war was over involved dodging mines in the Mediterranean, but we missed them and docked safely. A rented house on Lake Windermere gave us a home while the family house in Folkestone was being repaired from slight bomb damage, and that is where I was brought up. My parents set me an example by joining the Civil Defence, and my mother in the W.V.S. (as it was then) founded the local Meals-on-Wheels service. She had also been a Red Cross commandant in Ceylon before I was born. So getting into uniform and undertaking voluntary work for charitable purposes seemed to be the completely natural thing to do. I studied drama at school, performed in Shakespeare and pantomime, learned theatrical make-up in the local amateur operatic society, joined St. John Ambulance, went to one of their big competitions in Croydon and saw Casualties Union in action there. I was caught: hook, line and sinker. Meanwhile, my sister Amber had been living in South Africa since the war. I had seen very little of her, as she was 21 years and half a world apart. Yet we both inherited the same genes and family inclinations, and perhaps this explains why she joined the Port Elizabeth Branch of C.U. at about the same time I joined in London in 1982. Weird things happened. I wrote to tell her I had just made an amputated hand, and an air mail letter from her crossed in the post to say she had done exactly the same. This sort of thing occurred so often that I get goose-pimples thinking about it even now. We both took up tatting at the same time, and that’s as uncommon an activity as crafting a gory limb extremity! For more murky secrets about my life, please
visit my website:
Ann Phillips, Bucknall, 25 September
1942
Loughborough Casualties Union - David Gillis Finding new members is an issue that most - if not all - units have trouble with. With this in mind, I tried a potential solution: a student-oriented unit. Why should I aim my recruitment drive at students, whose membership will probably not last for more than a few years anyway? Firstly, students of varying subjects have varying schedules, and it is possible to have casualties available on weekdays as well as weekends. Secondly, the demographics of the charity’s membership can be vastly improved, so we can provide more realistic crowds. Finally, even if very few can be persuaded to give casualty simulation a try, our name will be promoted among young people, whose futures are uncertain. What does Casualties Union have to offer students? We offer the chance for them to feel that they’re making a difference: front-line charity work! Furthermore, the duties that they can volunteer for are fun, unusual, and a welcome break from their work. Having had a discussion with our then acting Study Circle Secretary at the 2006 conference, setting up a new unit at a university seemed like a possibility. Being a student at Loughborough with six years casualty simulation experience, I was ideally placed to try to bring more students into the charity (or at least make more young people aware of our existence) and to plug the void in the East Midlands. By November 2006, the unit was up and running, with a good make-up kit (courtesy of kind donations from other units) and a modest number of interested students. The majority of those who started their training in Loughborough Study Circle, stayed on to take their membership exams: all passed. I am happy to report that this unit’s members have, to date, contributed 115 hours to duties, including a national exercise for students’ lifesaving clubs, and the Croydon finals for St. John Ambulance. The bad news, though, is that none of the unit’s current members (myself included) will be staying in Loughborough for another year. It is probable that the unit will close unless the leadership is taken over. Irrespective of whether my study circle is taken over and continues, I feel that the project has been moderately successful. I have shown that, given the right conditions, the concept of a student-based unit is workable, and I invite others to improve upon the idea I have explored. There are many people who have aided me in this, but I wish to extend my gratitude towards Judy Bradshaw, Mike Evans, Caroline Thomas, Terry and Anthea Hull, Judith Ward, and my mother. Their helpfulness and patience was invaluable in compiling a good make-up kit, assisting with training and guiding me through all the regulatory procedures. What advice can I offer? If you are thinking of setting up another such unit then do bear in mind that the principal problem is the capricious nature of students. If a sufficiently large number of students can be reached then it may be possible to overcome this problem and end up with a unit of reasonable size. There are two simple ways of ensuring this: 1. Affiliate the unit with the university:
to make it a student society (allowing free use of the freshers’ fair to
advertise C.U. membership). The opportunity to recruit non-students
would diminish, though as it is often university policy not to allow more
than 10% non-students in their clubs and societies. In addition,
it is usually policy that there must be a minimum of about half a dozen
interested students, and there would be an extra layer of bureaucracy between
the unit leader and the regional director. I decided not to affiliate
myself with Loughborough Students’ Union for these reasons.
If you are interested in taking over Loughborough Casualties Union, please let me know Marian practises a royal curtsey Caroline Thomas, London Regional Director Fire appliances are big things. There is plenty of room behind them to practise an elegant curtsey ready for being presented to royalty. Marian Kerr, London’s Deputy Regional Director was on a C.U. car extrication job for the Fire Brigade at their Southwark training centre. She had applied bruises and cuts to her face, with plenty of blood running down, and the exercise went off well in spite of the rain. Then, just as the sun came out, Marian was asked to join a line of people to be presented to H.R.H. Princess Anne. She gave her curtsey and the Princess asked if she had put on her own make-up. Her reply “Yes, Ma’am” was followed up by a glowing report from the Fire Officer who told the Princess that Marian produced brilliant injuries from the contents of her little make-up box, and helped their training considerably. After chatting for a while, the Princess left, the Fire Chief thanked Marian for her contribution to an excellent event, and she went home “on a high”. Earthquake-
With a twist! Alastair Ratnage, Milton Keynes Branch
Rapid U.K. is a voluntary service that sends search and rescue teams to natural disaster areas such as earthquakes around the globe. Luck was on our side as it was the half term and including juniors a total of nine members and an “adopted” bystander travelled to the old ministry of defence ammo complex at Elstow in Bedfordshire. Here we were sneaked onto the site and left the team to set up, as Lyn and I were driven in secret to do an assessment of the area of the “earthquake”. The secrecy was needed, as the trainees had no idea of the exercise. They had been on “exercise” for most of the week, whole days at a time - the night before they had been tunnelling through a wall to a trapped casualty. The scenario was to be that a family had been split and trapped in various locations following an after tremor from an earthquake (this allowed for bleeding and fresh looking wounds) and the team would be in the area. Everyone was buried and hidden around the site requiring different degrees of search and rescue skills - the idea was that the team would have the chance to use the full range of equipment available if possible. The injuries for the teams ranged from open fractures to a partially severed hand and numerous cuts and grazes from falling masonry. Everyone was then put in position giving the teams as much difficulty of access as possible; eventually over the entire site only one walking casualty could be seen! To start the exercise off we used our secret weapon - Elizabeth. The team in their camp, at rest from the previous nights exploits, were suddenly aware of a young girl wandering in. She was showing signs of distress and confusion, and was dragging a doll. The professionalism of the teams kicked in as she was given all the T.L.C. from very tired members and the process of coaxing information from her began. Working compassionately with her the team managed to locate the area of the incident and a search team was sent in. A frantic aunt with minor wounds met the first pair into the area! Slowly more team members arrived and a sweep of the area began. As team members began to search with a thermal imaging device, they heard cries for help from Kelly buried at the base of the surrounding earthworks and the extraction began. Acting as safety observer, I had the luxury of a short cut from between the two sides of the outer building wall, all team members had a small opening to pass themselves and their equipment through! Once into the large enclosure a total of seven casualties lay hidden. During this phase, I had to withdraw Lyn from the exercise as the organisers had asked if one the casualties could be taken to another part of the site to take part in a “special extraction” as the Duke of Gloucester (a patron of the organisation) was paying a visit to the exercise. The royal protection team had requested a more contained environment to view the team at work. Working along the site, each of the casualties was found, treated and extracted, including a removal from a height, until only one - Chris still lay hidden. The team began their sweep of the final quarter of the site when our second request came. During the day, a team from G.M.T.V. had been filming the work of Rapid U.K. for a mini series hosted by John Nichols entitled “Real Life Heroes” (our episode was broadcast on Wednesday 20 June). It seemed that the crew wanted to film an extraction by the team with as many members as possible. Chris was stood down and a small outbuilding with sufficiently thick walls was found for the team to perform the extraction. A quick safety check was made of the building and Chris lay in the dark. A small hole was first punched in the wall until the smallest team member could pass through to assess the casualty and provide first aid. As Chris was protected from debris the hole was made larger to enable a stretcher to pass through. As more light was able to enter the building the purpose of the building became apparent and gave a little “light relief” to the scenario. Chris was being rescued from a small toilet block! Filming finished and casualty safe we all made our way to the pick up point at which we had the pleasure of meeting the Duke before he left the site. The feedback from the exercise was very positive as all the team members enjoyed the experience of dealing with “live” casualties and felt they had learnt a lot. In the weeks following we had the pleasure of giving a talk and demonstration to the Women’s section of our local Royal British Legion, where “revising” on the history of C.U., the last exercise that the branch had taken part in was a modern version of the scenarios originally organised by our founder for the then search and rescue teams - a definite case of deja vous for the organisation. A
special disaster exercise by Edward Goodman, Regional Director
This is an important part of the training of ships’ crews as (thankfully) they rarely fire their guns in anger these days, but are very often called upon to give help at civil emergencies across the world. Thus, one attended the flooding of New Orleans, another helped in last year’s evacuation from Lebanon and another the tsunami in south-east asia. From time to time, we are visited by V.I.P.s. Thus, we have met cabinet ministers, M.P.s, and recently we even had an ex-Eastenders actor. Sometimes these visitors are foreign officers and dignitaries as the Royal Navy trains naval personnel from many other countries - this being the only training site of its kind in the world. A couple of months ago, H.M.S. Chatham (the tsunami ship) came through again and we were asked to mount a special ‘emergency’ as we were to have our most important visitor to date - H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. He caught up with us at the casualty clearing station and a couple of us were privileged to have a word with him. I have to say that he came over in the flesh much better than he does in the media. We went home feeling quite proud that evening. However, for some of us, the next day was ‘down to earth day’ as we spent it in body bags and being undressed for a local C.I.D. course. How are the mighty fallen! The two pictures show John Cann, our resident
tramp, who warned Prince Charles not to get too close as he could have
fleas, and Edward Goodman, who outlined our volunteer role to him.
Working with Peaceworkers UK by Gill Bache, Worcester Branch. Peaceworkers UK is an organisation whose aims are to contribute to the alleviation of suffering caused by violent conflict through the promotion and encouragement of civilian strategies for the prevention, management and resolution of conflict. In July 2003, we at Worcester Branch of Casualties Union were asked to provide five members for a day, to act as “displaced persons” for the training of would-be peaceworkers taking part in a pilot scheme course at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh. The candidates had been on training sessions for several days and this was to be their “practical” round where they would be able to put into practice all they had learned. The scenario was explained to us as “five people had been forced to leave their village (four days walk away) which had been pillaged”. Three of the IDPs (Internally Displaced Person) were to hide in among the bushes, as one was seriously ill and the other two were too frightened to be seen. Two of the IDPs were grandmothers carrying babies and they were to stop any vehicle and ask for help. Meanwhile, across the road from the elderly ladies, there was an armed rebel soldier who was watching them. And so the scene was set. Dressed in suitable costume we waited by the roadside for someone to come and help. Along came a vehicle containing eight of the course members whose job it was to seek out those needing help, assess their needs and react accordingly. We two grandmothers acted our socks off trying to get them to take the babies to hospital and to persuade the candidates to find their friends and attend to them. We also pointed out the presence of a soldier who looked menacing and that we were frightened for our lives. The results were not quite what we expected and I believe that we were not quite what they expected! They were supposed to get out of the car and take us aside to a safe place to question us as to our needs, and then report to someone somewhere as to our situation. Actually, when they caught sight of the soldier, they muttered that it was dangerous here, and they had better get out whilst they could. Which is what they did! The following group of candidates behaved in a somewhat similar manner, and they got the same reaction from the grandmothers – much shaking of fists and spitting! The third and last group were more sympathetic but were unable to offer much more than promises to send help as soon as they could. One of them found some chewing gum and offered it to us and receive many blessings on them and their families! You can imagine our comments afterwards at the debriefing. The whole day was a valuable and interesting experience for us as it was entirely different from any other role we had been asked to play – a real chance to put in some Oscar worthy performances. It also gave us an insight into some of the ramifications of war and conflict that perhaps we had never considered. A SMALL GROUP, A LARGE JOB & OUR YEAR HAS JUST BEGUN! by Barbara Hain, Stourbridge Branch Stourbridge is a town that lies in the West Midlands. In 1960, a young Police Sergeant Roy Seale set up a voluntary group in the town known as Casualties Union. Volunteers were easy to get and their enthusiasm was boundless. Nearby in Worcester, another member of the Police Force, George Chesworth, was running a Branch with the help of Norman Ryde, an enthusiastic member of the Red Cross. We spent weekends on aerodromes, railways, at Civil Defence Camps and as casualties for the Busman of the Year Competitions. Our founder, Eric Claxton often joined us at the Police Headquarters at Hindlip, and Casualties Union became our life. Now the year is 2003, many more people have better houses, roads are blocked with cars. The big companies that had First Aid Teams are no more and even the successors of the Knights of St. John have fewer volunteers. We are now in the era of nightclubs, foreign holidays and political correctness! We are surrounded by Fire Services who are concentrating on road accidents, rescue and first aid. Two days ago, our local Fire Brigade staged an accident between a tanker, two cars and a coach full of teenagers on a half term holiday. Three of us were cut out of vehicles. One of our teenage members, who recently brought his laptop computer to one of our meeting to set up some adverts of our members work, was a casualty on the bus. He had caught an early train from Kidderminster to get here on time. The other day, four of our members went to the Fire Headquarters to provide casualties for some first aid tests. Our work with various Brigades, will last until the middle of April. What a blessing we have four ‘recycled teenagers’ who are free during working hours! We’re near Birmingham with its hospitals, medical examinations centres, and the centre of Defence Medicine. In Worcestershire, there are Army Cadets. Is there no end to this voluntary work? I must stop! There’s an A.T.L.S. at the local hospital this week, followed by the Dudley St. John Ambulance First Aid Competition and then on to Wolverhampton. Thank goodness for the followers of Eric
Claxton and for good old fashioned volunteers!
COMMINUTED
FRACTURE OF THE TIBIA by
Lyn Broad, Milton Keynes Branch
Greater Manchester Police have once again run a series of 999 Challenge training sessions for young people aged 13 - 18. The instruction given included how to deal with emergencies that they would encounter in real life, e.g. R.T.A.’s, cases of sudden illness. It also included how to make a call to the Emergency Services, giving all the relevant and important information and how to give the appropriate assistance. The training session on 10th August 2002 was held at the rear of Thompson Street Fire Station. THE SCENARIO
A 999 call was made and the Emergency Services responded. The Police were the first on the scene and they started to assess the situation. Then came the Fire Service followed by an ambulance. The fire crew stabilised the car and the paramedics attended to the driver, his passenger and the victim of the mugging. Since the driver’s door of the car was jammed, the only way that the driver could be taken from the car was through the passenger’s door. This would not have been a problem, but the passenger was complaining of pains in the neck and numbness in her right arm. At this point the decision was made to take off the roof of the car. Now a second ambulance arrived and the casualties were taken to hospital. A van now arrived carrying a dog handler and dog. An onlooker spotted the assailant and shouted to the dog handler “He’s over there”. The dog handler and dog gave chase and arrested the assailant. Whilst this was going on the casualties in the car were freed and the demonstration then finished. All through this a police officer had given a running commentary. The police officer explained that the costs of such an incident run into many thousands of pounds to the Emergency Services. ... I find it easiest if ... Responding to questions by Edward Goodman, Torbay Branch People who are ill or injured do not have the energy to respond clearly and promptly to questions. The blood supply, which will be limited by shock (if nothing else) is busy keeping them alive, and there is none to spare to hold a conversation. To give the information their rescuer or carer is seeking the patient needs to concentrate. The information has to be trawled from the dark recesses of the brain, turned into words and actually spoken. We too often fall into the trap of responding automatically. When asked a question, we need to show on our face that we are struggling with this challenge. The very fact that we can’t find the answer right away would be a worry to us. This must show. We would be even more concerned if we couldn’t remember it at all. Try to imagine how you would feel if you couldn’t remember your own name! Who are you? Where do you live? Are you married? The absence of a name makes you a Nobody. We all need to be a Somebody. To create ‘thinking time’ for yourself,
you might
Thus, if asked “What is your name?”, mentally list all the options: Your full name - “Richard Archibald Eustace Smith” (no, he won’t want that, and you’ll not have the energy to give it to him) Do you have a nickname? - “Smithy” (that’s not what he’s after either) What does your family call you? - “Rich” (that won’t help him) What were you called in school? - “Sniffy” (nor will that, and you didn’t like it!) What do your friends call you? - “Archy” (because there were two Richards in your group and that would mislead him) How are you known elsewhere? - “Ambulanceman Smith” or “Smith the Grocer” (they are still not what he is looking for) So, very quietly, offer him just your first name, then, only when he presses for it, add your last name. You can, of course, apply the same principles to ‘Where do you live?’ or ‘What do you do?’ etc. Not only does all this take a little while, but your brain has actually been working so the thought and concentration expressed on your face is easier, more natural and more accurate. MUSIC
IN THE AIR EMERGENCY SERVICE EXERCISE A refreshing change
I received a call late one evening requesting a number of casualties for a live exercise on behalf of the School of Army Aviation, Middle Wallop, Stockbridge. They were due to have an air display known as Music in the Air. Here was something right on my doorstep, which I had never heard of, and it takes place every year! The display consists of helicoptors “dancing” to music in the air, floodlit. Thousands of people attend. I was able to gather up twelve Casualties Union members at very short notice. We were given a very warm welcome by the Captain and escorted to our place of make-up. All the usual injuries that one would expect from a light aircraft crashing into a crowd, fractures, burns, lacerations, and one going into early labour. Why refreshing? Nurses, doctors, firemen and soldiers, treated all casualties on the field before being transported by ambulance to the Field Hospital. Here the casualties were treated with great care and very realistically before being admitted to their makeshift hospital. Nothing was too much trouble and they really “cared” for each patient. The whole event was treated as the “real thing” and not as an exercise, so that a tick could be placed in the correct box to show an exercise had been held, so that a certificate could be obtained. A big thank you to all that helped me on the morning at short notice. I think I can say we all enjoyed ourselves. FULL THICKNESS BURNS by Anthea Hull, Aylesbury Branch Equipment and materials required: Burnt clothing Water spray
Yellow Vaseline
That was the question I asked of one of my customers a few months ago when she told me she was going to a meeting. One minute I’m serving her a slice of pork & egg pie and the next she’s telling me if I join the Casualties Union there’s a good chance I’d get man-handled by some very fit fire fighters, all in a good cause of course. As far as recruiting for new members goes, she certainly had my interest! I joined the Wessex Group in March this year so I am very much a rookie, but what I have done so far I’ve found to be an amazing experience. I have been on St. John Ambulance competitions and two exercises at Southampton Airport, and my customer was right I did get man-handled, gently of course, by several very fit boys from ‘Blue Watch’. At the time I had a spinal injury so naturally I had to let them do whatever they felt necessary with me! Mind you I did not exactly look at my best having been flung from an aircraft on crash landing. I could not even reach for my lippy girls! Seriously though, the more I learn about C.U. I realise what a vital role members play in training our Rescue Services and members of the First Aid organisations. All the members I have met so far from Groups and Branches have been very helpful and welcoming towards me and I hope to remain a member for some years to come. I work for the John Lewis Partnership and have just written an article in our partnership magazine about C.U. Of course I mentioned should anyone be interested in becoming a member to contact me. Thank you to my customer for introducing me to Casualties Union. I know what it is now! C.U. JOINS THE ARMY by Caroline Thomas, London Branch This job was certainly different. No make-up was needed, just imagination, the gift of the gab, the ability to improvise and put emotion into the voice. Some of us were asked to be at the Chelsea Barracks in London by 06.45, work through to lunch time and begin again at 18.45, others just did the evening shift. We lunched in the officers’ mess and the afternoon was free, with Peter Jones the department store in Sloane Square being a nearby temptation. The Ministry of Defence wanted to test their ability to handle large numbers of phone calls from worried relatives and friends of army personnel following a disaster. An imagined incident was created in the north country in which an explosion occurred during an army training exercise, injuring large numbers and with a few fatalities. Rescue work is hampered by bad weather. Precise information is scarce, but radio broadcasts invite families and friends to ring the given number and ask whether their young man or woman is safe or injured. We were given details of the soldier we were enquiring about and who we were, and the rest was left to us. Often the lines were all engaged, prompting: “It’s taken me ten minutes to get through to you! This really isn’t good enough.” Then more radio announcements came over and we had to respond: “They said on the radio there’s been a terrible accident, and gave your number to ring. My son Kevin was up there - is he alright?” Some of us were interviewed by radio journalists and we heard our voices on the next broadcast; “It’s been dreadful. The Army just don’t have any information. All I want to know is whether my husband is alive, or hurt, or ....” We could play it straight, or embroider the situation. “No, I’m not his next of kin, I’m just a neighbour. His mother’s been in hospital for a week with a heart attack, and if she hears about this incident it could be the end of her. Won’t you tell me how her son is?” All I regretted was not having the skill to put on a wide variety of convincing regional accents to fit the areas we were supposed to be living in. But it was good fun, useful, appreciated and praised by the people at the other end of the line, and - different! The exercise was organised by Escott Hunt Associates of Cambridgeshire, and Joy Schreiber of Cambridge Branch arranged the CU involvement. Thank you, Joy, for an enjoyable day. ALIENS OR RITUAL SACRIFICE? by Caroline Thomas, London Branch The scene is Chelsea Barracks, London,
the couple in ‘space suits’ are A&E nurses on a training course in
chemical de-contamination, and on the trolley is Caroline Thomas of London
Branch. “We will cover you in black treacle and show them how to
wash it off”, said the man from Emergency Planning. The image was
too intriguing to miss, so Caroline put herself down for the first of five
weekly sessions. In the event, it was only a smear on each
arm, but it was enough to show the students the protocols needed to avoid
cross-contamination. Watching them get into their suits and fix the
air filters onto their bottoms was a joy to behold. Tell us about
your experiences in de-contamination training.
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