OSMOND — This past weekend, despite the terrible weather, two Osmond Emergency Medical Technicians — Tiffany Friedrich and Melissa Lind — took a course in intravenous administration. With that certifica tion, the EMTs can now give an IV if necessary.
Melissa explained, “To be an EMT, you don’t have to be trained in IV administration, but many squads around here have EMTs who have gotten trained. Not all our EMTs have to be trained, just those who want to or have the time to take the class. We can carry the fluids now because we have someone who can administer them.”
SandyAtkins, a paramedic and EMT instructor, formerly of Wisner, now of Savannah, GA, was the teacher. She was in the area for a few weeks teaching courses and was able to stay in Osmond before the recent blizzard began. There were originally six students who were to take the course, but four were from other towns and couldn’t make it to Osmond.
Tiffany and Melissa prepared for the course by reading a textbook. Sandy then spent Saturday lecturing, answering questions and covering all the bookwork for the course. They ended the day with the two EMTs taking the written exam.
On Sunday, the two women began their skills testing. Taking this class through a college would require probably only three successful IV attempts in front of an instructor, said Sandy, but she required a more rigorous testing with 12 successful attempts per EMT. This required more arms, and 13-14 Osmond firemen and community members courageously showed up at the Osmond fire hall to volunteer to be patients.
Both Tiffany and Melissa completed all 12 attempts and each administered an additional IV in the back of the ambulance while driving over Osmond’s snow-packed streets.
OSMOND EMTS CERTIFIED FOR IV ADMINISTRATION
Now that Osmond can carry fluids and IV equipment, the EMTs can potentially be of better assistance to the patients and also the health-care providers down the line. EMTs are not allowed to delay transport to insert an IV, unless the patient is in cardiac arrest or awaiting extrication, but en route to a hospital or while waiting for the helicopter, EMTs can establish IVs, thereby saving time and helping the patient get pain management or life-saving medications sooner. Fluids can also help replenish lost blood until the patient has access to actual blood and can be used to assist firemen suffering from dehydration.
In addition to learning how to administer IV fluids, Tiffany and Melissa learned to discern which situations would call for this treatment, how to choose and calculate fluid amounts, how to monitor the IV, and what signs and symptoms would call for discontinuing IV treatment.
Also present on Sunday for the IV administration were several other Osmond EMTs who learned how to assist the trained EMTs. Several firemen also became proficient in assisting, which will be very useful in the future. Tiffany and Melissa were both thankful for teamwork within the squad and fire department.
Melissa shared her thoughts on the matter: "None of us on this rescue unit comes from a medical background. We each have different jobs and duties that we are proficient at, but have nothing to do with health care or public safety, but what unites us is our care for our neighbors and our willingness to step out of our comfort zones. Putting in an IV might not be a big accomplishment for someone in the health-care field, but for a volunteer position, completely unrelated to our areas of expertise, it's not a small thing. I'm proud of our squad members for their dedication and support and the ways we work together, and I'm thankful for our firemen for their encouragement and assistance." Osmond EMT Chief Missy Hoppe commented, "This is an asset to our squad. They will be able to start IV fluids in serious situations that will benefit either the hospital or Lifeflight paramedics. We are very fortunate to have these two EMTs dedicate an entire weekend to further their skills as volunteer EMTs."
