Playground Training Scenario

In the Filmstrip to the left LIFEFORCE personnel demonstrate actions taken during a Playground Training Scenario.

A series of shots were taken of Jerry and I responding to a call for help from a little girl that came running over to where we were providing First Aid coverage at a Surrey Field Hockey Tournament.

She appeared very upset, I made every effort to depict the information from her gasping breaths, she told us that her brother had fallen from the Monkey Bars and wasn’t moving.

We quickly jumped in our response vehicle, activating our lights and siren to signal everyone in the area that we had an emergency and to stay clear.

Once at the location, we cautiously approached the area assessing hazards to ourselves and to get a view of “the big picture”. As we entered the play area, we noticed a pale little boy lying motionless under the Jungle Gym. As I call out to him, there is no response. I give him a painful fingernail pinch, still nothing. “Jerry no response, call dispatch for assistance.” As Jerry makes the call to 911 emergency dispatch requesting BC Ambulance for a trauma incident involving an unconscious child, I carefully move down stabilizing my body and the boys head for concerns of a suspected spinal injury.

Once in C-Spine position, I listen for any effort of breath sounds. Great! I hear and feel his rapid little puffs of air against my cheek. “Jerry take over, I’m going to assess breathing.” I pull out my stethoscope, bare his chest, visualize for injury, and auscultate the sounds coming from his lungs. “Clear bilaterally, at an effortless rate of 24.” Now I know his breathing wont be a critical intervention necessary for us to maintain at the moment, we can focus on stabilizing the situation and getting him in the back of our unit out of the cold.

As I check his radial pulse, I find it to be quite weak and rapid. I move on to my rapid body assessment looking for any signs of bleeding or deformity, while watching his face for any indication I might have run my hands over something he finds very painful. Because he is unresponsive, we need to be observant to any indication of abnormalities we may be faced with.

“Ok Jerry, let’s give him some O2 and prepare him for Transport.” I select an Oral Airway and insert it into his mouth so we are able to maintain his airway, in which he accepts without any gag reflex. My partner applies oxygen to the little boy to offset the effects of shock, and retrieves the immobilization equipment. I manually stabilize his head and neck until we can apply the Uni Select Immobilization collar.

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- Recognize the seriously injured worker quickly.
- Perform lifesaving first aid interventions quickly.
- Ensure that the Patient gets to the Hospital without delay.

Time in profession, maturity, accurate/legible report writing, minor wound care skills, knowledge of medicine/the human body/recovery from injury or illness, level of calm and tact in an emergency)