Snuff films for kids
Yeah, I remember these snuff films from the 60s. We had to watch them in driver's ed class. But the real stuff I remember from my childhood in the 50s was far worse. Seeing what's left on the roadway after a family is strewn across the Santa Ana freeway as my dad drove past the wreckage comes back like it was yesterday. The chunks of glistening meat on the roadway was a horrific thing to see for a kid barely 7 years old. My mom, being a nurse, always got out of the car to help, but didn't even bother when we passed the real bad ones.
Seat belts save lives, use them!
One thing I notice watching these films is the involvement of CHP and police officers doing first aid, bandaging etc. I don't know any cops who actually did any kind of first aid, that was our job and they were usually directing traffic or writing their reports upon our arrival. Mostly they were concerned with getting the wreckage cleared, finishing their investigation and getting traffic moving again. The only cops I ever saw doing patient care at an accident scene were Los Angeles City police department ambulance crews assigned to "george" units, mostly out of Central Receiving Hospital. But, these ambulances were part of the police department and their crews dedicated to ambulance service rather than being actual cops.
I didn't note any backboards being used, I believe they came into use in the 1970s, one source says 1977, but we used them as early as 1973. And the wooden plywood boards I trained on had seen several years of prior service.
I also see ineffective use of the flat. No log rolling, just plop the patient from the vehicle, using a lift known as the "Georgia Street Carry," on the flat lying on the ground then transfer to the gurney, or even worse, make the patient walk to the gurney. No! You always brought the gurney to the patient. Most ambulance services that gave a damn about patient care mandated that you bring the cot to the patient and never allow them to walk to it.
We were also trained to use a flat whenever possible if no backboard was available. We always slid the flat or board as far inside the car as possible, and if the vehicle damage allowed it, we'd gently place the flat between the seat back and the patient, then strap and rotate the stretcher for removal and subsequent carry to the cot. The fire department rescue crew always used a come-along winch attached to the front frame, with chain leading through a hole in the windshield to bend the steering wheel column forward toward the dashboard so we'd have room to work and reduce risk to the patient's likely fractured legs (occurring upon impact with the column and dash underside) to be splinted as best as we could given the confines of the wreckage.
I know in EMS, most modern EMTs tend to denigrate the older services and personnel that came before them. Even the old History Channel ambulance video, "Wheels of Mercy" glosses over ambulance services during the 60s and 70s as having gussied up hearses and poorly trained personnel. In contrast they idolize the civil war horse and wagon drivers as well as the modern day paramedic and modular ambulance truck, along with the aeromedical helicopter as being the last word in emergency medical care. Until something better comes along and the stigma of poor training and useless protocols taints the modern EMTs because the guys operating today did barbaric things like CPR and shoving needles in veins. And they drive around in bread wagons, the bigger the better, even though they can only carry one patient at a time.
I will admit that I only watched the first video, I don't have the stomach for it anymore, after 10 years in Los Angeles ambulances and 15 in fire dispatch, my thick hide is finally beginning to soften up and I can be human again and enjoy life as a retired guy.
One last word about "the last word" in emergency medical care, we got our flying ambulances, but where's the anti-gravity gurney?