Authored by Meadow Crise
A new EMRTC course is providing educators with the tools to act quickly in an emergency event.
The FEMA SME review pilot of the Surviving Bombing Incidents for Educators (SBIE) course took place at EMRTC on June 21, 2022. Ten educator participants were in attendance. On average it takes 7-14 minutes for first responders to arrive on scene. During this time, educators can provide timely life-saving assistance to critically hurt individuals.
The course included a kit for treating wounds sustained from a bombing incident and a booklet that had step by step instructions that demonstrated how to properly pack wounds, use a tourniquet, and create a chest seal. Curriculum Designer Karen Hellinger explained that the application of chest seals are usually only taught in Emergency Medical Technician classes.
“While applying a chest seal is a basic application, it is not something taught in basic first aid classes.”
Each first aid booklet had a place to take notes. Hellinger highlighted the importance of teachers taking notes: “Teachers love to take notes, and there was plenty of space so that they could take this [the booklet] home with all of the tools they can use if they are in an incident.”
One priority in developing this course was teaching the educators about the impacts of bombing incidents. This priority was achieved by designing the material to include basic information to help educators understand how possible injuries could occur due to a bombing incident and provide the science behind explosives.
For example an instructor mentioned blast waves and how objects in the school can be turned into shrapnel. Blast waves throw humans into objects, and can release shrapnel at such a high velocity that it can go through a person. An instructor mentioned during the pilot that there is an enormous amount of pressure that is being released.
Not only were there resources for the educators, but the course was hands-on so that the educators could practice the life saving techniques. A CPR training device was used to show how shrapnel can puncture the body. This allowed educators to understand how to apply a chest seal and how to act quickly.
According to one of the educators who participated in in the pilot, they wanted to be “prepared [in the case of a bombing incident] to protect the children.”
The goal of the SBIE at New Mexico Tech is to give educators the tools and resources they need in the case of a bombing incident. The course is intended to be mobile and the hope is for as many educators as possible to receive this training nationwide.
