Guns for medics?

Safety Sunday, Volume 1. Issue 5 (6/16/13)

 From my cold, dead hands! Guns in EMS…

Over the last year or two the topic of first response EMS carrying firearms has been brought up more times than stories about what the Kardashians did while on vacation (if you don’t get that, you are lucky!). One of this month’s major articles in JEMS was about a rural-Ohio company’s allowance of its EMS personnel carry handguns, as long as they were legal to carry in the state and took additional training. JEMS ArticleThe blogosphere and EMS chat rooms have been blasted with opinions, so I figure why not resurrect my safety Sunday series with an extra kick to the proverbial dead horse.

Let me start by saying that I am a proud multi-gun owner with a concealed carry permit in Indiana (though all you need to do is breath in this state to get it).  I also am a proponent of increased background checks. Anyway I thought I would anger a few people on both sides of the political aisle to get some increased viewership. If my company would allow carry I would be hesitant to carry myself, though if provided with extensive training I would have to consider it more. The problem though is I want a different kind of training than most people envision.

The first training I would want is to take a general EMS Safety Course (like the one the NAEMT has). After that 9 hour day, I would want to have a two-day course in verbal judo (the art of using verbal strip phrases, among other things, to calm angry people).  After these two days of learning about using more effective communication I would want to learn more about the thing that is most likely going to kill me in EMS (finally some hands-on work), driving.

Driving?? I know, I know, you want to shoot things or learn how to kick someone or put them in a sleeper-hold, but if my agency is serious about mitigating the safety of its personnel, then this makes the most sense. We do an actual multi-day course where we learn how to drive with grace, trying not to “spill the hot coffee” (thanks Guy Haskell), we learn about appropriate use of going code 3, we spend hours on a course with different road conditions. We then spend a couple of hours with our maintenance chief going over appropriate assessing vehicles every morning to identify potential maintenance issues, checking fluid levels, air pressure, belts being worn, etc. We learn the in’s-and-outs of appropriate emergency and non-emergency driving with trained instructors sitting next them for longer than 10 minutes. Ok, after that we are ready for some action finally, we are ready to get safe with… lifting and moving.

We spend usually an hour during orientation teaching people how to properly lift and move patients. Though a lifetime of poor moves in awkward positions lead to career-ending back injuries, missed days of work, missed play time with loved ones, and often disability or a pension is out of the question. There are some great courses out there, like Bryan Fass’s course (fitresponder.com) speaking about proper fitness and lifting and moving, NAEMT’s new ACE fitness recommendations talk about being in the right shape to properly move patients. There are hundreds of different products out there to aid in moving patients. One of the most important tools in my opinion is electric cots and automated loaders of cots. There are also many lateral transfer aids, sheet “chairs” with straps to help move a patient, slip sheets, bariatric cots, etc (I’m keen on just a trash bag between beds). Ok let’s get more physical, proper self-defense training.

Normal self-defense training doesn’t really provide EMS with the appropriate training to deal with the situations that they will encounter, we will need something more specialized. Previously I have mentioned defense training for EMS (dt4EMS.com) as a viable training option to prepare your people for surviving violent encounters. This class, along with a visit from someone to speak about increasing your situational awareness (Rich Gasaway for example at SAMatters.com) can help get you prepared for safety.  Finally we have reached the cool stuff, firearms training!

Firearm training should include range time (who pays for bullets?) with qualifying (I don’t want to be shot by my partner), time with qualified instructors (LEOs preferably), and training on how to secure their weapons upon entering secured facilities. Of course your company already has a policy on dealing with weapons found on patients, right?  There should be scenario training with video review. A few years back one of the JEMS games final involved a gunman grabbing an EMT from behind, this scenario should be included. You may also want a lawyer to come by (at $250/hour of course) to talk about appropriate level of response and the use of deadly force. Obviously there will be training on how and where to conceal the weapons, and recertification/requalification every year. There are many great tactical EMS (TEMS) courses as well that will go beyond these courses, especially important if the provider wishes to have a more active role in their area swat teams.

So by now you may get my point. I am not against providers not carrying weapons, though if you or your service is doing this for “provider safety” then you will need to do some heavy internal review of what REALLY matters when it comes to the safety of your providers. There have been instances where providers have been severely assaulted, shot and in some very rare occasions actually murdered, though EMS providers die and get injured in a multitude of other fashions. So if your agency is thinking about allowing your employees to carry a concealed weapon I would suggest you take care of all those other safety trainings first. Prioritize... then possibly, if you think the benefits outweigh the risks, liabilities, and costs, I say GO FOR IT!  

 

Disclosures... I have not received any remuneration for the different links provided, though I am a NAEMT Safety Course instructor