ECMC has different trauma initiatives and programs in place to educate the community in safety and emergency techniques.
Linda Schwab, Trauma Program Manager, discusses programs and how to take advantage of them.
ECMC Trauma Initiatives/Programs
Featuring:
Linda Schwab, MS, TCRN, RN
The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN) recognizes ECMC Trauma Program Manager Linda Schwab, MS, RN, as a Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN). Schwab becomes one of the first trauma nurses in the country to take and pass the new exam to earn this credential through the BCEN. The TCRN is the first trauma-specific, national credential that designates expertise in trauma. Transcription:
Bill Klaproth (Bill): ECMC offers trauma initiatives and programs such as Let’s Not Meet By Accident and Stop the Bleed. Here to talk with us about those initiatives and programs is Linda Schwab, a Registered Nurse and Trauma Program Manager at ECMC. Linda, thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate it. First off, let’s talk about Let’s Not Meet By Accident. Can you explain that program to us?
Linda Schwab (Guest): This is a program that is designed to educate the new and novice driver on some of the risks involved in being involved in a motor vehicle crash.
Bill: Parents listening would be very interested in this if they have a child coming of age who’s starting to drive. This sounds like this program would definitely be for them.
Linda: Yes, that’s our target audience.
Bill: This program is designed, like you said, to demonstrate the reality and the consequences in being involved in a motor vehicle crash. Is that right?
Linda: Yes, it is. It’s actually a two-pronged program. One part of the program actually brings high school aged students into the trauma center where we are able to take them through the journey a trauma patient would take if they came here after a motor vehicle crash. They are greeted by the EMS providers who explain what occurs at the scene of a crash and what they do to help save somebody’s life. We proceed into one of our trauma rooms in the Emergency Department where one of our Emergency Department nurses goes through the very comprehensive assessment that we do on all of our trauma patients. We actually give the students the feel for being in a trauma room, and we pull out tubes that we might insert into people and we show them some of the monitoring equipment that we do, and we explain what happens.
And then, we proceed on to our trauma Intensive Care Unit where our Intensive Care nurses take over and explain how we manage our critically ill patients who are victims of a motor vehicle crash and explain all of these things that they do there and really can relay first hand experiences to the students so that they get the feel of being — what would happen if they were involved in a motor vehicle crash.
Bill: I can see where this would be very powerful. The idea of this then is for them, the participant, to envision themselves in this situation like, “Oh, man. I do not want to wind up on that end where they’re working on me and having to do this to me because I was texting and driving or not paying attention.” It really gives them perspective on what the consequences are. Is that overall what you’re trying to impress on these young drivers?
Linda: Yes, that’s really what it is. It’s giving them the experience of our trauma team who are very passionate about saving the lives, especially of young drivers, and just giving them the experience of what happens when they make a quick decision not to put a seat belt on or to pick up their phone and read a text or to have too many other kids in the car and be distracted by noise, and radios, and things going on, and how just a very quick second decision can result in something very traumatic. And hopefully, they take away from the whole experience that they don’t want to be that victim and they want to have a better safe driving practice.
Bill: And they think about that when they get behind the wheel. So Linda, what is the cost of the program?
Linda: There is no cost to this program. This is part of our mission as being the trauma center is to help prevent — our goal is to help prevent people from becoming trauma victims, so part of our mission is to educate the public on being a safe driver and to prevent injury from it happening. We’re more than happy to go out and offer this program to the young people in our community.
Bill: Well, you can’t beat that. That’s for sure. Linda, at the end, does the participant get a certificate or a safe driving pledge? What happens at the end of the program?
Linda: We do have actually a brochure that we give to them — a hand-out that is a reminder of all of the points that we make throughout the program. At the end of that is a pledge that the students actually bring home to their families, and they pledge to be a safe driver, to not text and drive, to not consume alcohol or any drugs while they’re driving, and to practice safe driving while they’re in the car. And also, when they’re a passenger in the car, to stay away from situations where they may be unsafe. It’s not so much a certificate, but it’s a commitment to being safe when they’re in a vehicle.
Bill: And if someone is interested in this program, where can they learn more or how can they contact you?
Linda: Well, they can learn a little bit more about our program if they go to the ECMC website at ECMC.edu. And if they’d like more information or to schedule a program they can call our trauma office at 716-898-3962.
Bill: All right, very good. Let’s turn now to Stop the Bleed. Can you tell us about that initiative, what that’s all about, and what will the participants learn?
Linda: The Stop the Bleed initiative was really started by a consensus of providers shortly after the Sandy Hook massacre that occurred, and it was a consensus of providers from trauma care, and law enforcement, and community leaders that got together to take a look at what happened in this tragedy. One of the things that they found was some of the people who died in that incident died because of excessive bleeding and help was not able to get to them in time. The purpose of Stop the Bleed is really to teach people — everybody who is involved in some type of an incident to be able to control bleeding for even the minutes it takes for help to get to them. That’s really the whole purpose of this is really to save lives.
Bill: It sounds like this program is for anyone really that wants to learn this skill. Take us through this class then. Is it a one-day class? Is it a couple hours long? How does this one work?
Linda: It’s actually a very quick class. Our trained providers will demonstrate and show anyone attending how to recognize excessive bleeding and the steps to take to control that bleeding, whether it be how to pack a wound — and we teach them how to pack a wound with hemostatic gauze, or plain gauze, or if you’re in a situation where you don’t have anything around, we show you how to take off your shirt and pack a wound with a shirt because stopping that bleeding is what’s going to keep somebody alive.
We then also teach you how to apply a tourniquet. There’s a basic tourniquet that’s out there that’s actually the same as used by our law enforcement, by our emergency medical responders, and in the military. We teach people how to apply these tourniquets so that they can stop bleeding on an excessively bleeding extremity and save somebody’s life. Although, sometimes it only takes a matter of five to ten minutes for EMS to get to the scene of an incident to help you, sometimes if you’re bleeding badly enough, that’s not soon enough and somebody can die from that. The effort is to get people to act and intervene to save somebody’s life.
The whole course takes approximately an hour to an hour and a half.
Bill: And Linda, I think I know the answer to this already, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Is there a cost for this? And then, after you answer that, what can someone do if they’re interested? How can they sign up?
Linda: There is no cost to the course. Again, all of our injury prevention programs are free of charge. And if somebody is interested in signing up for the program, they can again go to our ECMC website at ECMC.edu or call our trauma office at 716-898-3962. If somebody is interested in looking at a little bit more about what goes on with the Stop the Bleed course there is a website called BleedingControl.org, and that takes you through a lot of videos and explains exactly what the Stop the Bleed effort is all about.
Bill: These are great initiatives, Linda. Thank you, for putting these together and teaching them. Just really important, and I think all parents should really pay attention to the Let’s Not Meet By Accident. It seems like everyone — this course is for anybody that wants to learn how to Stop the Bleed, right? Any age can participate in this class?
Linda: Absolutely. They are teaching this course to children as young as middle school aged children right now.
Bill: Oh, wow.
Linda: It is really a national effort really pushed out by our trauma community to save lives.
Bill: Yeah. Well, Linda, thank you so much for your time today. I have enjoyed talking with you. For more information again, please visit ECMC.edu, that’s ECMC.edu, or you can call 716-898-3962, 716-898-3962. If you want more information on Stop the Bleed, you can visit BleedingControl.org. Thank you again for listening. This is the True Care Health Cast from Erie County Medical Center. I’m Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.
Bill Klaproth (Bill): ECMC offers trauma initiatives and programs such as Let’s Not Meet By Accident and Stop the Bleed. Here to talk with us about those initiatives and programs is Linda Schwab, a Registered Nurse and Trauma Program Manager at ECMC. Linda, thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate it. First off, let’s talk about Let’s Not Meet By Accident. Can you explain that program to us?
Linda Schwab (Guest): This is a program that is designed to educate the new and novice driver on some of the risks involved in being involved in a motor vehicle crash.
Bill: Parents listening would be very interested in this if they have a child coming of age who’s starting to drive. This sounds like this program would definitely be for them.
Linda: Yes, that’s our target audience.
Bill: This program is designed, like you said, to demonstrate the reality and the consequences in being involved in a motor vehicle crash. Is that right?
Linda: Yes, it is. It’s actually a two-pronged program. One part of the program actually brings high school aged students into the trauma center where we are able to take them through the journey a trauma patient would take if they came here after a motor vehicle crash. They are greeted by the EMS providers who explain what occurs at the scene of a crash and what they do to help save somebody’s life. We proceed into one of our trauma rooms in the Emergency Department where one of our Emergency Department nurses goes through the very comprehensive assessment that we do on all of our trauma patients. We actually give the students the feel for being in a trauma room, and we pull out tubes that we might insert into people and we show them some of the monitoring equipment that we do, and we explain what happens.
And then, we proceed on to our trauma Intensive Care Unit where our Intensive Care nurses take over and explain how we manage our critically ill patients who are victims of a motor vehicle crash and explain all of these things that they do there and really can relay first hand experiences to the students so that they get the feel of being — what would happen if they were involved in a motor vehicle crash.
Bill: I can see where this would be very powerful. The idea of this then is for them, the participant, to envision themselves in this situation like, “Oh, man. I do not want to wind up on that end where they’re working on me and having to do this to me because I was texting and driving or not paying attention.” It really gives them perspective on what the consequences are. Is that overall what you’re trying to impress on these young drivers?
Linda: Yes, that’s really what it is. It’s giving them the experience of our trauma team who are very passionate about saving the lives, especially of young drivers, and just giving them the experience of what happens when they make a quick decision not to put a seat belt on or to pick up their phone and read a text or to have too many other kids in the car and be distracted by noise, and radios, and things going on, and how just a very quick second decision can result in something very traumatic. And hopefully, they take away from the whole experience that they don’t want to be that victim and they want to have a better safe driving practice.
Bill: And they think about that when they get behind the wheel. So Linda, what is the cost of the program?
Linda: There is no cost to this program. This is part of our mission as being the trauma center is to help prevent — our goal is to help prevent people from becoming trauma victims, so part of our mission is to educate the public on being a safe driver and to prevent injury from it happening. We’re more than happy to go out and offer this program to the young people in our community.
Bill: Well, you can’t beat that. That’s for sure. Linda, at the end, does the participant get a certificate or a safe driving pledge? What happens at the end of the program?
Linda: We do have actually a brochure that we give to them — a hand-out that is a reminder of all of the points that we make throughout the program. At the end of that is a pledge that the students actually bring home to their families, and they pledge to be a safe driver, to not text and drive, to not consume alcohol or any drugs while they’re driving, and to practice safe driving while they’re in the car. And also, when they’re a passenger in the car, to stay away from situations where they may be unsafe. It’s not so much a certificate, but it’s a commitment to being safe when they’re in a vehicle.
Bill: And if someone is interested in this program, where can they learn more or how can they contact you?
Linda: Well, they can learn a little bit more about our program if they go to the ECMC website at ECMC.edu. And if they’d like more information or to schedule a program they can call our trauma office at 716-898-3962.
Bill: All right, very good. Let’s turn now to Stop the Bleed. Can you tell us about that initiative, what that’s all about, and what will the participants learn?
Linda: The Stop the Bleed initiative was really started by a consensus of providers shortly after the Sandy Hook massacre that occurred, and it was a consensus of providers from trauma care, and law enforcement, and community leaders that got together to take a look at what happened in this tragedy. One of the things that they found was some of the people who died in that incident died because of excessive bleeding and help was not able to get to them in time. The purpose of Stop the Bleed is really to teach people — everybody who is involved in some type of an incident to be able to control bleeding for even the minutes it takes for help to get to them. That’s really the whole purpose of this is really to save lives.
Bill: It sounds like this program is for anyone really that wants to learn this skill. Take us through this class then. Is it a one-day class? Is it a couple hours long? How does this one work?
Linda: It’s actually a very quick class. Our trained providers will demonstrate and show anyone attending how to recognize excessive bleeding and the steps to take to control that bleeding, whether it be how to pack a wound — and we teach them how to pack a wound with hemostatic gauze, or plain gauze, or if you’re in a situation where you don’t have anything around, we show you how to take off your shirt and pack a wound with a shirt because stopping that bleeding is what’s going to keep somebody alive.
We then also teach you how to apply a tourniquet. There’s a basic tourniquet that’s out there that’s actually the same as used by our law enforcement, by our emergency medical responders, and in the military. We teach people how to apply these tourniquets so that they can stop bleeding on an excessively bleeding extremity and save somebody’s life. Although, sometimes it only takes a matter of five to ten minutes for EMS to get to the scene of an incident to help you, sometimes if you’re bleeding badly enough, that’s not soon enough and somebody can die from that. The effort is to get people to act and intervene to save somebody’s life.
The whole course takes approximately an hour to an hour and a half.
Bill: And Linda, I think I know the answer to this already, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Is there a cost for this? And then, after you answer that, what can someone do if they’re interested? How can they sign up?
Linda: There is no cost to the course. Again, all of our injury prevention programs are free of charge. And if somebody is interested in signing up for the program, they can again go to our ECMC website at ECMC.edu or call our trauma office at 716-898-3962. If somebody is interested in looking at a little bit more about what goes on with the Stop the Bleed course there is a website called BleedingControl.org, and that takes you through a lot of videos and explains exactly what the Stop the Bleed effort is all about.
Bill: These are great initiatives, Linda. Thank you, for putting these together and teaching them. Just really important, and I think all parents should really pay attention to the Let’s Not Meet By Accident. It seems like everyone — this course is for anybody that wants to learn how to Stop the Bleed, right? Any age can participate in this class?
Linda: Absolutely. They are teaching this course to children as young as middle school aged children right now.
Bill: Oh, wow.
Linda: It is really a national effort really pushed out by our trauma community to save lives.
Bill: Yeah. Well, Linda, thank you so much for your time today. I have enjoyed talking with you. For more information again, please visit ECMC.edu, that’s ECMC.edu, or you can call 716-898-3962, 716-898-3962. If you want more information on Stop the Bleed, you can visit BleedingControl.org. Thank you again for listening. This is the True Care Health Cast from Erie County Medical Center. I’m Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.