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The Fire Within – Students Learning to Save Lives
Description
On this episode of the Supercast, we travel to the JATC South in Riverton where Superintendent Godfrey joins high school students who are finding out, first-hand, what it takes to be a Firefighter and EMT.
Unified Firefighter and Fire Science/EMT Coordinator, Taylor Sandstrom puts student skills to the test and we find out if Superintendent Godfrey can make the cut.
Audio Transcription
Superintendent:
Welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Today I'm taking you to the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers, the JATC South Campus in Riverton, where students are finding out first-hand what it really takes to be a Firefighter EMT. Trust me, it's even harder than it looks. I know, compared with you guys, I looked very soft and undisciplined and not ready for this, but are you guys ready to put me through my paces?
Students:
Let's do this.
Superintendent:
So, your instructor can maybe help me with this. Tell me your name.
My name is Taylor Sandstrom.
Superintendent:
And your title?
Instructor:
I'm a Firefighter Paramedic with Unified Fire Authority and currently the JATC Fire Science and EMT instructor.
Superintendent:
That's a mouthful. That's a lot of responsibility,
Instructor:
A lot of stuff on your email closing. We emphasize in any EMT program, besides the skills, what do you need to be an EMT. One of the things you need to do is be active in your community, in educating people about what to do in case of emergencies and how to perform before we arrive. We've found across the country that if we can educate people about hands only CPR, when somebody has a cardiac event and collapses, then our survival rates go way, way up in that five minutes to seven minutes it takes the EMS providers to arrive. If somebody else has already begun doing chest compressions, survival can double. So, we teach in the community, hands only CPR so that people aren't intimidated to just start doing compressions and do them correctly. So they would like to teach you how to do hands only CPR.
Superintendent:
I have to admit that hands only CPR sounds a whole lot better than just regular old CPR.
Instructor:
It is. And we have found that people are hesitant. They take a CPR class every couple of years, maybe, but they don't practice in between. And it can be very complicated. We've simplified it down to push hard and fast and in the center of the chest at 120 beats per minute.
Superintendent:
Now, let me ask you this. I'm a music fan is the "Staying Alive" thing true, that you do it to the beat of standards?
Instructor:
That is pretty good.
Superintendent:
"You Should Be Dancing" or "How Deep Is Your Love"?
Instructor:
Both of those, I believe are a hundred beats per minute. Also, "staying alive" seems to be the right mindset.
Superintendent:
Because really every BG song sounds about the same. You know exactly. Okay. Alright. I'm going to do "Staying Alive". It makes sense. But you know, you could mix it up if you had to is what you're telling me. Okay. So we've got three torsos with heads that seem to be screaming out in internal pain. Is that right? Do I have that right? Okay. Is that the expression part? They're like, no, I'm in pain. Okay. All right, here we go. So should I try this one?
Instructor:
All right. First, you'd arrive on the scene. The person that you're looking at is going to be unresponsive. But you want to check to see if there's a response in the first place. So you want to say, "Hey, are you okay?" Maybe he gives him a few claps to make sure that sound doesn't wake him up and he's not just sleeping on the ground.
Superintendent:
Right. Okay. Hey, are you okay?
Instructor:
If he doesn't respond, you need to give