GILROY
– Little Johnny is drowning in the pool. You are able to pull
him from the water, and now he’s lying unconscious. You don’t know
the procedure for mouth-to mouth-resuscitation – what do you
do?
GILROY – Little Johnny is drowning in the pool. You are able to pull him from the water, and now he’s lying unconscious. You don’t know the procedure for mouth-to mouth-resuscitation – what do you do?
If a new program is instituted in Gilroy, a person in an emergency situation like Johnny’s will be able to call 911 and have a highly trained medical dispatcher talk them through the steps of mouth-to-mouth, CPR or other life-saving techniques.
The program – which is already in place in several cities throughout the county – provides that a fully trained emergency medical technician/911 dispatcher is available at all times in Gilroy to coach bystanders through emergencies.
“Adding an (emergency medical dispatcher) is essential to get bystanders to act as the first link in the chain of survival,” said Geoff Cady, the Gilroy Fire Department’s fire-EMS analyst who is in the process of developing a contract proposal for county certified emergency medical dispatchers to work with Gilroy. “If a bystander can support the victim until first response arrives, it can save a lot of time and lives.”
Emergency medical dispatchers currently operate in other county cities such as San Jose by receiving the city’s life threatening 911 calls which require medical assistance. The EMD’s then pass their medical knowledge on to bystanders who are coached over the phone on various life-saving techniques.
In many emergency medical situations first-response medical aid does not arrive on the scene in enough time to save the victims, and the EMDs provide precious instructions and invaluable time for the victims, Cady said.
“Most people don’t know how to give the Heimlich, CPR or even mouth-to-mouth,” Cady said. “But with the coaching of an EMD in your ear it becomes a lot easier since the procedures are usually basic.”
If the EMD program is implemented for Gilroy, the city will use a county-certified EMD based in San Jose for a trial period before hiring its own EMDs to be on duty 24 hours a day.
The cost for contracting the EMD is still unknown, but Cady said he expects the proposal to go for city council approval before July.
“The dispatchers are basically saving a life through a bystander,” Cady said.
