How do emergency medical people reach a patient on your golf course? Have you and your fire department or EMS provider ever met to set up a plan?
You might ask, “Why are you asking this of golf course superintendents?” Because you have the equipment and staff who will be responsible to handle such a situation when it arises. You have a vested interest. If it’s done incorrectly, you have to fix the mess and make the course playable. Consider the following equipment modification and base plan. Then take your ideas to management, who should appreciate your initiative and foresight if you choose to set one up.
Prior to retiring as a firefighter/paramedic, I responded to a situation on the local links. I had a patient near death, and with no plan in place, I made one at that second. I wheeled my ambulance onto the fairway to assist the person. But the only happy person was the patient who lived. The course crew and my chief weren’t as pleased because ambulances make terrible off-road vehicles and require a lot of room to turn around.
Now that I’m retired and play golf, I wonder what would happen if it was me. Recently, I saw a piece of equipment that might be useful to golf course maintenance crews. It’s a unit designed to fit into an ATV, turning it into a patient transport unit. Originally, it was designed for use in rural areas. I looked at the unit and said, “A golf course could take that basic design, have it built into one of their utility vehicles, and use it to pickup the EMS people at the clubhouse, parking lot or other entry point and take them and their equipment to the patient.”
What’s required to service clients or staff better when the unthinkable happens? First of all, have a plan, and practice the plan with your staff and EMS responders. Each needs to know what the other can and will do. Call and invite them – they love an excuse to get out of the station. Second, insist the plan is understood and work it. Third, modify your existing equipment to give you the ability to move EMS people to the patient and back to the ambulance safely.
If you’d like to look at the unit I saw, visit www.kimtekresearch.com. It looks like the unit could be modified from an existing utility vehicles and still be used daily, making it a dual-purpose piece of equipment.
The following is an example of a simple medical emergency plan:
1. Notified of an illness or injury, get accurate information such as location, cause and condition.
2. Make the 911call. Relay all the information you have.
3. Call the person operating the vehicle with the patient transporter to come to a prearranged staging spot to meet incoming emergency people. As soon as they get their gear onboard, have your staff member get them to the scene promptly but safely. You might want to stage another one or two carts or for additional personnel or equipment needed by them in the field.
4. As the equipment is being exchanged, relay any pertinent information from the scene to the EMS people that might have become available.
5. Assist the EMS people as required until they clear the scene.
It might be a good idea to have instructions printed on score cards. In this day of cell phones, a golfer might call 911. Perhaps there should be instructions to notify your office so you can initiate your plan – “in case of emergency, call these numbers.” You might be able to implement a 911 reverse call to alert your staff in case the original caller fails to follow directions.
This plan can be expanded or changed to meet your qualifications and needs. If you have staff with medical training, you could have them respond to the patient at the same time as ordering the primary unit to the staging area.
By investing in the time to plan and equipment, you can better serve your clients and staff. So follow the Ps … prior planning prevents poor performance … and keep your eyes open to the possibility. GCN
The author is a retired firefighter and paramedic.
