Rural Missouri - October 2021 - 4

RM | COOPERATION
photo by Heather Berry
Emergency responders from Air Evac Lifeteam joined employees from Crawford Electric for a simulated rescue of an injured lineworker. The
exercise helped both groups understand the challenges they would face should an injury occur to someone working in a remote area.
Teaming up for safety's sake
Air Evac Lifeteam joins lineworkers for simulated rescue
E
lectric cooperative lineworkers train constantly
to ensure they stay safe on the job.
But what if the unexpected happens and
someone suffers a life-threatening injury?
Chances are they will be miles from emergency
help, working in a remote area where roads are
rough and help may be far away.
That's why lineworkers from Crawford Electric
Cooperative, a safety instructor from the Association
of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and emergency
responders from Air Evac Lifeteam came together
for a simulated rescue of an injured employee.
During the exercise Crawford Electric crews
practiced poletop rescue, where a mannequin representing
an injured lineworker dangling from a
pole is lowered safely to the ground. That's when
paramedics on the helicopter crew took over, evaluating
the " patient " and showing the co-op employees
how to assist with carrying a gurney to the helicopter
without becoming another casualty.
The learning process was a two-way street says
Tim Pirtle, who coordinated the training in his
duties as a safety instructor for Missouri's electric
cooperatives.
" What I liked about it is they're wanting a partnership
with us, " Tim says. " They wanted to educate
both us and them as far as just getting people
4 RURAL MISSOURI | OCTOBER 2021
to the hospital. They just want the guys to know
that this is something that is available to them. "
The co-op employees learned that GPS coordinates
are more important to helicopter pilots than
addresses, since everything looks different from
the air. They learned that rotor blades flex and
can strike a person moving to the helicopter. The
Air Evac team also pointed out that small objects
- including hard hats - can be sucked into the
engine and disable the helicopter.
For their part, the paramedics acknowledged
that their training did not include getting an
injured person off a pole, which is something the
lineworkers practice often. They told the lineworkers
that help evaluating the patient would be crucial,
because the problem could be anything from
an accidental contact to a fall to a heart attack.
" It takes a partnership sometimes to get the person
on the ground where the ambulance district
or whoever can go from there, " Tim says. " It's not
over once you've got the guy on the ground. There's
going to be a lot of other things you've got to consider.
The information they learned is hopefully
going to save one of their coworkers. "
For more information on Air Evac Lifeteam, visit
www.lifeteam.net.

http://www.lifeteam.net

Rural Missouri - October 2021

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