One of the most first things taught in [link url=”https://www.ems.gov/whatisems.html” title=”Emergency Medical Services (EMS)”] is [link url=”https://www.ems1.com/scene-safety/” title=”scene safety”]. The bottom line is that Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and Paramedics should never enter a scene that’s unsafe. The reasoning goes that if an EMT or paramedic does that, they could become a casualty themselves, which means that more resources—which might not be available—would be needed to be employed. Ultimately, unsafe scenes catapult into much larger issues, thus it’s important to assess scene safety and to potentially determine what resources are needed.
Because of the nature of EMS, when an EMT or Paramedic assesses the scene, often times they are absolutely correct to enter because it does not pose any real danger. However, in recent years there has been a few instances where first responders have entered a scene that appeared to be safe, but was anything but! Only this week, [link url=”https://www.ems1.com/ems-assaults/articles/374802048-Firefighters-held-at-gunpoint-while-responding-to-medical-call/” title=”firefighters responded”] to what they thought was a medical emergency, only to be held at gunpoint by the so-called patient. It ended with a police standoff.
[link url=”https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/10/us/georgia-firefighters-hostage/index.html” title=”A similar situation”] happened a few years ago when firefighters responded to what they believed was a possible cardiac emergency, but turned into a hostage situation after they arrived.
These incidents point to a growing need for training in the first-responder community. EMTs, Paramedics and Firefighters may have to learn how to handle situations where they could become the hostages for what should have been a regular-run-of-the-mill medical or trauma call.
Collaborative Leadership
This particular issue is not only serious, but reinforces the need for law enforcement, fire and EMS to come up with a plan for handling such circumstances. It is important they are all on the same page for how to handle hostage situations that suddenly arise from an ordinary emergency.
In-Service Trainings
Departments should regularly schedule [link url=”http://ncja.ncdoj.gov/Commission-Courses/In-Service.aspx” title=”in-service training sessions”] to address specifically how they would respsuch an emergency. More importantly, teams on the ambulance or on the fire trucks should discuss how they would respond to such an emergency.
Conclusion
Ultimately, departments need to contemplate how they would handle and manage such emergencies and manage such an issue. It would work towards helping to prevent injury or loss of life.
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