Week Two September 12th 2011- September 18th 2011 Eagle Cruz from Aerie Backcountry Medicine joined us for a few days this week. On Tuesday night we learned about Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Eagle told us about the human heart, and how it functions. We then practiced giving CPR to manikins that he brought with him. After we felt comfortable with the technique, Eagle tested us, and certified us for CPR. On Wednesday we learned about stabilizing trauma patients. We had a lot of hands on activities like: bandaging wounds; doing head to toe assessments; splinting arms and legs; and assessing situations. Eagle used fake blood, simulated throw up and makeup to create simulations of emergencies. The activities were coupled with gory slideshows of burns, lacerations, and contusions. On Thursday we learned about internal injuries. This included poisonings, illnesses, hypothermia, asthma and diabetes. We saw a few slide shows and had some great discussions. The members were able to share past experiences and Eagle shared some of his experiences from the field. All the members felt comfortable learning about Wilderness First Aid and they really enjoyed the course. On Friday, Jarrod Ball flew into Nashville to see how our team was operating in the field. Jarrod is the trails program director for the SCA. I drove Jarrod to the recreation areas around Percy Priest Lake and Old Hickory Lake on Saturday and Sunday. We were able to visit each team a couple of times. He was happy to see that the members seemed to enjoy surveying. He was also happy that we were safely conducting our surveys. Jarrod treated us to a great feast of grilled kielbasas, grilled kale and grilled squash. It was one of the best meals we’ve had since coming to Nashville. We are looking forward to Jarrod coming back to visit in November.
