Copperas Cove Fire Department gets skills refresher

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

When Copperas Cove EMTs and paramedics render aid during an emergency medical call, they may know the type of emergency they are responding to, but some cases end up being a little more than “routine.”

On Wednesday, Copperas Cove EMTs and paramedics had the opportunity to have some hands-on training on through a series of stations that helped them be even more prepared when responding to emergencies.

Copperas Cove Deputy Fire Chief Gary Young explained that the four training stations focused on vascular access, delivering a baby, pediatric cardiac arrest, and intubation . Medical staff from AdventHealth and Baylor Scott & White provided the training.

“It gives us the ability to ensure that our skills are up to par, and that we’re practicing things we don’t normally do on a regular basis,” said Young. “Our whole department has come in, all shifts, throughout the day. On duty, off duty. Everyone you see, other than those in scrubs, they’re all our firefighters.”

Young said that paramedics work under the license of a doctor, and the physician that the paramedics work under was present on Wednesday, and leading the vascular access station.

Along with the physician, resident physicians on rotation for EMS with Baylor Scott & White were also giving training on Wednesday.

“This is not an EMT skill, but our EMTs can be in the driver’s seat, doing it, so they know what the paramedic is doing. So that way, they can hand them equipment.”

Where vascular access is concerned, Young said that the personnel know how to start IVs and do so regularly.

However, when vascular access becomes an issue, a tool called an EZ-IO is used, which enables the paramedic to start an IV port by actually drilling into a patient’s bone, such as in the shoulder area or even knee. This allows the paramedics to start a line and then begin administering aid to a patient even sooner.

On Wednesday, the personnel had the opportunity to practice on a mannequin, equipped with the access points.

“We give IVs every day. We’re not going to teach how to give IVs. But, we don’t stick a needle in a bone very often. With a complicated airway, it’s kind of the same thing. We don’t do it very often.

Also, AdventHealth sent a nurse and the hospital’s paramedic liaison for the entire day, to teach obstetrics. The two led the paramedics and EMTs through the process of helping deliver a baby. The torso of a pregnant female mannequin came complete with a full-term baby and umblical cord. The obstetrics providers discussed the stages of childbirth and provided hands-on tips that showed them how to deliver a baby, including what to do if the baby’s head or shoulders get “stuck” during the process, and starting skin-to-skin as soon as possible, even if while en route in the ambulance.

The pediatric cardiac arrest module took place in an ambulance, with a mannequin the size of a small child. A long paper strip in a variety of colors is placed beside the child, which sersves to estimate height and weight. The estimates also include information on medications and the proper doses to use in an emergency.

The intubation station was held in the one of the bays of the Central Fire Station’s garage, and like the other stations, included a mannequin, this one of a torso.

A gelatinous “goo” was created, and then infused into the mannequin’s airway, mimicking an obstruction.

Then, the paramedics would use the tube along with a tube introducer, which acts as a guide. An attached camera gave real-time video feed so they could see where the tube is going and make sure it’s going past the vocal cords entering the airway properly.

Young said a total of 12 teams, with four personnel on each team, went through rotations during the day on Wednesday.