Provided to the MPT
As a member of the Madison Park volunteer Emergency Preparation Hub, I’ve been mulling over the relevance of something Anna Deavere Smith asks:
“In this time of a global economy and business mergers happening as often as sunrise and sunset, where is the human merger? Where is real human engagement?”
A global pandemic has certainly put us through our paces, a reckoning of sorts for many of us as individuals, and for us as a fast paced, consumer-driven culture. If we landed on our feet rather than on the street, perhaps the subsiding of that pandemic provides a sense of expansiveness, some adjusted possibilities for our lives. We have plenty of evidence though, that other big troubles are waiting in the wings. How do we use this little window of time wisely, on behalf of who and what we really care about? What kind of preparation will serve us well when the next disaster hits?
At the community as well as personal level, my thinking circles around exploring Deavere-Smith’s question regarding real human engagement. If we already feel too overwhelmed, too overburdened, what does that say about how we’ll respond when the next tidal wave of disruption arrives? I think we do well to prepare by engaging in some human merger. AND we need to have some basic skills for taking care of each other because our city emergency management team tells us to expect significant delays before others outside our community might arrive with help and resources when, not if, an earthquake rocks our city.
So how do we get engaged?
Pockets of volunteers around the city are forming neighborhood Emergency Communication Hubs. This involves recruiting volunteers and identifying a neighborhood location where they organize communication supplies and systems for mutual aid for neighbors to assist each other when a disaster arrives. In addition, neighborhood block groups are organizing, getting to know one another’s existing needs and resources, along with teaching each other the basic skills of how to manage power outages, ensure clean water, dispose of human waste, do search and rescue.
Here’s a helpful example from the Madison Park Hillside neighborhood group which over time formed task groups. One team focused on First Aid concerns, identifying who might have medical training or experience. Neighbor Bob Mecklenburg worked with this team to come up with some recommendations for training and supplies. They suggested that all members of their block cluster (SNAP group) receive basic first aid training. They also evaluated a number of available course offerings and distributed the list with specific links to consider. While noting that most urban-oriented courses emphasize CPR and the use of defibrillators, Bob’s team stressed that general first aid skills are the most relevant for us when faced with the injuries most likely after an earthquake, such as, bleeding, broken bones, emotional shock and concussions. Bob has generously allowed me to extract recommendations from his list of First Aid courses and manuals.
Stop the Bleed. This is a national grassroots awareness program to educate citizens in first aid for serious bleeding using the tourniquet innovations that were developed by the military during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This training is strongly recommended. Here are some Stop the Bleed courses to choose from:
Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management. The city periodically offers free Stop the Bleed classes. To access these trainings, you must contact StopTheBleed@seattle.gov or (206) 403-8127.
American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. This free on-line course and quiz can be completed in about 30 minutes and includes a certificate of completion. It does not include in-person training. stopthebleed.org/training/online-course/
American Red Cross (ARC) First Aid for Severe Trauma (FAST) course. This course includes Stop the Bleed training. Course duration is 90 minutes for on-line format ($30)
redcross.org/take-a-class
There is also a 135-minute classroom option ($24).
CPR Seattle. Severe Bleeding Control content. Three-hour classroom course is $59. cprseattle.com/severe-bleeding-control
Basic courses
American Red Cross basic first aid courses:
Adult, Child and Baby First Aid/CPR/AED Online Only. About 2.5 hours. $37.
Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED. About 2.5-hour online plus 2.5-hour classroom. $117.
Adult First Aid/CPR/AED. About 2.5 hours online plus 2.25-hour classroom. $82.
This class is also available in a 3.5-hour classroom format. $97.
CPR Seattle basic first aid courses
First Aid. On-line/classroom course is 1.25 hours; classroom course is 2.5 hours. Cost of each is $66.
Adult CPR, AED & First Aid. On-line/classroom course is 2.25 hours; classroom course is 4 hours. Cost of each is $77.
Adult/Child/Infant CPR, AED, & First Aid. On-line/classroom course is 2.75 hours; classroom course is 4.5 hours. Cost of each is $85.
cprseattle.com/cpr-first-aid-aed-classes
Outdoor/wilderness-oriented classes
While not having an urban CPR/AED emphasis, their focus on administering first aid when professional services are not readily available could be useful preparation for urban disasters.
CPR Seattle Wilderness First Aid. Included is a 140-page digital copy of the American Safety and Health Institute Wilderness First Aid book. Course does not include CPR/AED training. 16 hours. Classroom. $229. cprseattle.com/wilderness-first-aid
REI Wilderness First Aid with REI and NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). 16 hours (2-4 days). Classroom and outdoors regardless of weather. REI provides group first aid kit. From $350.
rei.com/events/
Mountaineers Alpine/Wilderness First Aid. 16 hours (2-days) hands-on course usually taught once monthly over a weekend plus an evening “scenario” session. Includes CPR. Taught by Remote Medical Training. $240 for members, $255 for guests.
mountaineers.org/
First-aid manuals
There are many options, but here are two that have good, basic content:
Boy Scouts of America First Aid Merit Badge Pamphlet. Excellent, well-tested content and graphics with input from numerous authoritative sources and references. Outdoor focus. $5.99. Available for purchase on-line at scoutshop.org/
Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED Participant’s Manual (item ID 754000). Urban focus. $12.95. Available online at:
https://www.redcross.org/store/
Kits
Individual /home first aid kits: recommended contents are available in the two manuals above. Commercial kits, available on-line or at REI, contain much of this content and can be supplemented as needed with personal meds or other items.
Engage by learning and sharing skills
Consider this: something as fundamental as learning first aid skills is NOT yet another task for your busy life, but rather, an opportunity to engage with a few neighbors in becoming better able to take care of yourselves when the need arises. In a serious disaster, neighbors must be the very first responders for someone who is seriously bleeding, or has cuts, burns, sprains or fractures.
How might you find neighbors to join together to make use of Bob’s list and take some first aid classes together? Alternatively, could you find someone to come teach a first aid class at a location in your neighborhood with a pledge to get neighbors out to attend? Our bodies will certainly be grateful when we find ourselves in need of first aid. Our hearts will especially be grateful as we engage in building relationships that nourish us and call out our longing for a community spirit that looks out for each other, in ordinary times as well as during disasters.