Easy As P.I.E.

When the fire department I worked for back in the early ’70s considered providing a more modern form of prehospital care, things were in a sad state of affairs to say the least.

Our primary response vehicle was an old International Harvester, which had an extended fiberglass roof, so you could sort of stand up and move around to provide care. In truth, it wasn’t actually called an ambulance anyway, as the term back then was Inhalator Squad. That meant we carried an E&J resuscitator, which was an interesting device that you applied to heart attack victims that usually caused them to aspirate and die. If that wasn’t bad enough, the city didn’t have money budgeted to send us through the paramedic program, much less buy a real ambulance.

Thanks in large part to the work and initiative of our Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary, a fund-raising drive was started, and presentations were given to every civic group in town. We supported their efforts by collecting door to door from our citizens to raise the money needed to get the program rolling. In just 10 days, we raised over $40,000, which was used to pay for and equip a new ambulance that was promptly donated to the city. We opted to pay for our paramedic training out of pocket.

One of the key elements of that whole process was educating our business community and citizens about the benefits of having advanced life support provided by paramedics, instead of just having a couple of first aiders show up in the Inhalator Squad, throw patients on the E&J and drive really fast to the hospital.

Today, in EMS land, a number of agencies have what is often called a P.I. & E. person (Public Information & Education). Too often, their primary job is to speak to the media at the scene of a terrible fire or car crash. While having someone designated to provide consistent information that doesn’t compromise a law enforcement investigation or violate HIPAA is an important function, it falls short of what could really be accomplished if only agencies realized that providing public information and education isn’t just for one person to do—it takes an entire department or agency-wide commitment to truly realize the potential of such a program.

Gain/Maintain Financial Support

In a sluggish economy when budgets are overspent, everyone is scrambling for tax dollars. There is no question that one of the primary benefits of an active P.I. & E. program is to keep EMS in the public’s eye. No one wants to have a friend, family member or loved one die for lack of competent prehospital care. But the truth is, trying to save lives and resuscitate cardiac arrest victims is a very small part of what we really do. It’s critical to get out and speak to the civic and business groups as to what EMS is doing for them, which in turn, makes them more likely to provide the financial support we need. Remember, as scary as it seems, many people believe what television feeds them. Do you want the TV to be your agency’s spokesperson?

Provide First Aid/CPR/AED Training

Another area with potentially huge impact is to provide educational opportunities at low or no cost to your taxpayers. While CPR/AED training is important, that effort focuses on a very small segment of what we do. By attending a basic first aid program, local citizens get the opportunity to learn two valuable things: What to do and what not to do until an ambulance arrives.

I recently saw a news clip where three citizens were being hailed as heroes for pulling about a dozen or so folks out of a multiple car crash. In truth, the vehicular damage was pretty minimal, and it was plainly evident that there was no fire or real risk of fire. As such, there was no compelling reason for anyone to be removed from their vehicles until they were assessed by EMS. However, these well-meaning citizens didn’t know better, nor did the media, as they played the whole deal up. Both groups would have benefited from a healthy dose of P.I. & E.

At the same time, training programs offer the opportunity to educate folks as to when and when not to call for an ambulance. Frequently, people call 9-1-1 because they just don’t know what else to do. Too often, they think that every injury, cough or sniffle is a reason to call an ambulance. While I personally have always embraced the philosophy of “when in doubt, call,” I also believe that even minimal amounts of education help the public to make better choices. With limited numbers of ambulances being available per capita at any given moment, not having a vehicle tied up unnecessarily makes better use of those valuable resources.

Recruit for the Future

Last, but by no means least on the benefit list is that you never know when that presentation at career day at the high school, or bringing the rig in for “show and tell” at the grade school will plant the seeds for tomorrow.

When children and young adults have the opportunity to talk with people who actually do the job, that has far more impact than a tri-fold brochure sitting in a rack in a counseling office. You bring to life the reality of the job and can answer the questions that the brochure can’t.

None of us are going to do this job forever, and we would be foolish to miss opportunities to help that next generation of EMSers find their calling.

In these difficult and challenging times, keeping the public informed and providing educational opportunities have never been more important. As the expression goes, knowledge is power. The more well-informed our citizens are, the better, and even knowing the bare-bones-basics of emergency care can be critical in the event of some catastrophe—terrorist-driven or otherwise.

Consider an active, agency-wide P.I. & E. program as a true investment, not just in EMS, but also in the people we serve, that can pay big dividends. The short list above represents just a few of those dividends, and is by no means intended to be an all-inclusive list. It truly is as easy as P.I.E.

Until next month…