by Kirk W. Johnson

Created on: May 03, 2009

To be a hero requires that you remember the old adage, "If you aren't part of the solution, then you're part of the problem." This requires several things to happen and they all require common sense.

The first thing to do is to verify that there truly is an emergency. Many times people activate emergency response systems without actually checking that the situation requires help. An example is the lady who appears passed out in her car (a true situation from the other day). Once the police arrived, they knocked on the window of the car and the woman immediately woke up, startled, and explained that she was taking a quick nap while her husband was inside at an appointment. Had the initial caller merely checked with the woman, it would have saved the police response as well as activation of the volunteer ambulance corps.

Secondly, once the emergency has been verified, activate the emergency response system.....dial 9-1-1. Make sure that you give a complete description of the emergency as well as your exact location. While many cell phones have GPS locators available to the 9-1-1 operators, nothing beats a description of the scene and location from the caller. Stay on the phone until the operator tells you it's ok to hang up.

Lastly, do not take any action unless you are trained or instructed to do so by the 9-1-1 operator. While it may seem like a great idea to pull someone out of the smoking car, what happens if the smoke is only steam from the radiator and the victim (who wasn't in any danger) had a spinal injury. Now you've paralyzed someone for no good reason. On the other hand, if you see an obvious life-hazard like flames under the car, certainly do what you feel is necessary to save a life.

Most importantly, and the most difficult thing to teach EMTs, is do not enter a scene that is not safe. An example of this is the story of a workman who was overcome by fumes while cleaning the inside of an in-ground tank. Well-meaning bystanders rushed down the ladder to pull the man out only to be overcome by the same fumes. Now instead of having to rescue only one person, the fire/rescue team had to rescue five. Again, if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

It's easy to be a hero by using common sense. Verify the emergency, call for help, and then do only what you are trained to do. Sometimes the only thing that you are trained to do is to wait for first responders and lead them to the scene. That is helpful.

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