Casualty management

   Zippy,
I'm puzzled by this.  I get the fact that they might have a spinal injury.  However surely in the majority of the conditions in which an injury would occur they would not only be at risk of drowning and hypothermia as you mention but would also have a very mobile spine due to the waves and the requirement to support them.

Next someone will be suggesting that I shouldn't lift their face from the water if they are wearing a BA not a lifejacket because thee might be spinal damage.

Surely the speeds and impacts are much less than motorsport an the risks of spinal injury much reduced.

Totally agree that rescue boats must have 2 crew.

Author	Message Share Topic Printable Version Delicious Digg Facebook Furl Google MySpace Newsvine reddit StumbleUpon Translate Twitter Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic
sargesail Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 14 Jan 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1459	Post Options Post Reply Quote sargesail Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Casualty management Posted: 12 Jan 12 at 10:26pm
	Zippy, I'm puzzled by this. I get the fact that they might have a spinal injury. However surely in the majority of the conditions in which an injury would occur they would not only be at risk of drowning and hypothermia as you mention but would also have a very mobile spine due to the waves and the requirement to support them. Next someone will be suggesting that I shouldn't lift their face from the water if they are wearing a BA not a lifejacket because thee might be spinal damage. Surely the speeds and impacts are much less than motorsport an the risks of spinal injury much reduced. Totally agree that rescue boats must have 2 crew.

zippyRN Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 14 Sep 06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 437	Post Options Post Reply Quote zippyRN Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 12 at 9:34pm
	In the light of incident in Aus discussed here http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8905&title=unfortunate-event-at-australian-youth-championship maybe it's time for another 'rescue' topic my first question primarily to those who advocate single crew rescue boats or rescue crews where the 'crewman' is not dressed to enter the water - how would you deal with this especially if it were a single hander or the crew of the casualty vessel was not 'together' enough ( or in the case of club racing where the crew might be a child and the helm a parent - physically capable of assisting )? with my Health Professional Head on - my first thought and the first thought of marshals and first aid / ambulance personnel at a motorsport even where you have a competitor knocked out would be the possibility of spinal injury How many clubs even possess Spinal immobilisation kit never mind routinely carry it on rescue boats and have crews trained to use it - use of a long extrication board is a core part of the pool lifeguard qualification in fact Ferno make a specific model of board for aquatic use http://www.ferno.co.uk/product/aquaboard although the majority of long extrication boards are buoyant and water proof ( being either rotomoulded or GRP ) while straps and head restraints might not be . You can't rely on the Ambulance service being able to assist in a timely manner as ordinary crews aren't water rescue trained - so we'd be relying on HART or the the Fire and Rescue service inland and the RNLI / Coastguard in coastal waters I have visions of spending 30 or 40 minutes 'on scene' with a hypoxic head injured patient who is being handled poorly , and becoming more and more hypothermic because of a lack of preparation