Industry vendors, distributors, retailers, installers and collision repairers are being encouraged to assist with hosting or sponsoring a series of training sessions called Rescue 4 Disabled. The program provides first responders and other emergency personnel with the skills necessary to recognize and properly aid senior citizens, children and people with disabilities during dire circumstances.
Like this article? Sign up for our enews blasts by clicking here.
Presented by the non-profit Scene Of The Accident, Inc., the organization aspires to conduct at least 411 localized classes; the figure matches the tragic toll of first responders who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
“We’ll be hitting the lower 48 states in the next year-and-a-half,” says Executive Director Todd Hoffman. More than a dozen sessions have been held thus far with high attendance and positive results, he reports.
“The more I do this program, the more I find out how serious this problem is,” notes Hoffman, who has previously been the recipient of the prestigious Automotive Body Repair News Leadership Award and the I-CAR Chairman’s Award for being the aftermarket’s safety conscience.
The service encompassed by Rescue 4 Disabled is a much-needed endeavor that has largely been neglected up until now. “Over 10 percent of the U.S. population has a permanent disability – that’s a lot of people,” Hoffman points out, adding that the numbers are expected to grow with an aging baby boomer population and a governmental push to better accommodate handicapped drivers behind the wheel. Automakers and specialty mobility adaptors have also been busy developing advanced in-cabin systems to make motoring controls more accessible.
Police officers and firefighters frequently fail to initially grasp the special needs of vehicle occupants that must be addressed when responding to an emergency, according to Hoffman.
Rescue 4 Disabled aims to eliminate these confusing situations by raising awareness and recognition along with teaching specialized rescue techniques covering the elderly, children and those who are autistic, deaf, blind or otherwise impaired. The program additionally includes working with people who have a limited grasp of English and even inmates secured in prison vans.
Hoffman recounts a number of reported incidents involving unfortunate misunderstandings as people with physical or mental issues are often mistaken for being drunk or on drugs – and treated as criminals rather than victims. A blind person’s eyes can be glazed and unresponsive, a deaf person or limited-English speaker won’t properly respond to commands, an artificial limb won’t yield a pulse. A handicapped individual may stumble and fall, and assisting traveling prisoners under lock and key presents its own set of challenges.
“As research has shown, certain stimuli affect persons with disabilities differently,” Hoffman says, citing a crash scene in which “an autistic child simply became overwhelmed, fled the scene and ran into traffic. With any of our first responders, when there’s a bus accident they’ll yell out, ‘If anyone can move, get out of the bus and wait over by that tree.’ If it’s an autistic child, they may run out into the street or anywhere.”
In one case, a young man with autism who was behaving oddly ended up being tasered by a police officer.
In another situation, a deaf individual wouldn’t acknowledge a communication delivered via sign language; it turned out that the person was from another country. “I had always assumed that if you could ‘sign’ you did it in English,” Hoffman muses. Not so.
“We provide training for those crucial moments that may make the difference between keeping both disabled children and adults calm during times of chaos.” Currently most emergency personnel “receive no training in any of this,” he explains.
Stepping up
“So far the auto industry has stepped up by hosting or sponsoring the classes,” says Hoffman. “The first thing that goes in a budget crisis is funding for training (in a given community), so it’s good that that the cost is being picked up by the industry.”
On a national level, State Farm Insurance has donated cars for Jaws of Life extrication demonstrations, and Mitchell Industries also contributed resources. LKQ Corp. is on board with the project as well.
“LKQ is proud to be a supporter of first responder training for many years by providing vehicles and LKQ facilities as critical training locations,” says Eileen A. Sottile, the supplier’s vice president of government affairs. “Being a partner in this program serves our community well by helping to prepare first responders to react to dangerous life threatening situations. We are extremely pleased that we can provide this service to local community fire and rescue departments and hope that this small contribution makes a big difference in saving lives.”
There is a flat fee of $1,500 for a local automotive business to put on a class. The remaining cost is absorbed by Scene Of The Accident’s corporate contributors. The students attend for free. Hoffman suggests that WDs and retailers can participate by pooling their resources. “A group of stores can get together and sponsor a class at a collision or mechanical shop, or at community college or church – there’s a lot of places in your town where you can hold a class.”
Community colleges are eligible for government subsidies when hosting this type of training, “so community colleges like to provide the facility,” according to Hoffman. “The size of the class is dictated by the size of the facility.”
When the Rescue 4 Disabled effort began last year, 10 to 15 attendees were typically accommodated. The numbers quickly began to trend upward to 30 to 40 people per session, and the pattern indicates that going forward some 75 to 100 participants may want to sign up.
A recent class at an auto repair center attracted extensive television coverage entailing remote broadcasts that aired during the morning, 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts. “It got a lot of publicity for the shop,” says Hoffman. “State Farm donated a car and we simulated rescuing a person from an accident.”
The extrication element is especially effective for attracting attention. “If the facility has room and there’s a car available we can conduct a hands-on demonstration,” he notes. “Media like to see something with action,” Hoffman continues. “They don’t want to see me up there with a power point – they want to see me with the Jaws of Life.”
Impressed and appreciative
“It’s a direct benefit to the community,” declares Bob Miller, marketing director at Artistic Auto Body in Tigard, Ore., which hosted a Rescue 4 Disabled session in February. “It shows that the shop is supporting what’s going on. We’d do it again.”
About 50 attendees were on hand. “They were impressed and appreciative – they got a lot of good information. We made space in one of our bays, put a screen up, added tables and chairs and conducted it right there on the cement floor.”
Miller goes on to say that if a future class is taught he’ll expand the program’s reach by personally calling on a wider range of police stations and firehouses “to get more people on board with the training.”
Local members of the national CERT organization – the Community Emergency Response Team – are also being invited to attend these classes, according to Hoffman and Miller. CERT participants are “civilians” who volunteer and train to provide authorities with additional manpower during emergencies. They may also be receptive to patronizing a particular parts store or repair shop that they become familiar with during such sessions.
“It’s a good idea,” says Colette Gschwind, a songwriter, performer, author and artist who is currently writing and illustrating a children’s book. She also belongs to the Tri-Community CERT in Mayfield, Ohio, and she definitely sees value in what Rescue 4 Disabled offers.
“People of all ages and different backgrounds are involved with CERT because everyone’s skills are needed in an emergency,” Gschwind explains. “We’ve been learning how to triage people in bus accidents,” she adds. “Everyone needs to be aware that there are different kinds of people, and they will react differently in traumatic situations.”
For more information, visit www.sceneoftheaccident.org.
Subscribe to Aftermarket Business World and receive articles like this every month….absolutely free. Click here.
