EMS, PC Firefighters hold extrication demonstration for Malta Students

The Phillips County Ambulance Emergency Medical Service (EMS), along with the Volunteer Fire Department put on an Extrication Demonstration for Malta High School and Middle School students on Thursday, April 20.

"Our students need to understand the seriousness of the decisions that they make while they are behind the wheel of a vehicle," Malta High School Principal Scott King said. "With the gravel roads and the road conditions around here, they just need to slow down and be good decision makers when it comes down to the potential of drug or alcohol use."

The two demonstrations included live participation from teachers Sue Gilkerson in the high school session and Mark Nathe in the middle school session as both teachers represented the drivers that needed to be extracted from their respective vehicles.

Josh Newman, a Volunteer Firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) operated the Jaws of Life, a hydraulic rescue tool in which he was able to cut apart the frame of the vehicle.

"This presentation was for EMS week," Newman said. "It was an opportunity to come here and give the kids a little bit of exposure to what goes on with a car wreck. Kind of pull back the veil and let them see so that they are knowledgeable to what we do and how we do it."

He explained that though the demonstration was in a controlled environment, in an emergency situation the protocol can vary.

"It depends on how bad the car wreck is," Newman said. "Is the car on fire? How many people? How bad of a wreck was it? What's the mechanism of injury? Luckily everyone here is pretty skilled at what they do, so they know how to respond depending on what they come up to."

The demonstration featured several glass punches as well as a demonstration on how the paramedics remove an unstable person from their vehicle.

"Depending on how bad the car wreck is, you are going to have to take off the windshield. If you have enough fire guys you would cut the pillars off and roll the top off the whole car," Newman said. "There is a lot more to it than you can show or even explain. There are many steps."

EMT Riley Abrahamson addressed the students during the demonstrations. He explained later why the demonstration can be a hard task.

"When we do the presentation for EMS week, it's always a difficult thing for us because we try to pique their interest and say something that is going to speak out to them," Abrahamson said. "We want to get a message across but at the same time we want to keep them interested."

He went on to say that it is hard to get across the severity of the situation in a controlled demonstration.

The Phillips County community has had lives lost even in the past year to reckless driving and impairment so the yearly extrication event is very important but most important conversations need to take place in the most familiar of territories.

"The conversation needs to be started," EMT Gina Lamb said. "It starts at home really, with parents. They need to talk to their kids about the dangers that are out there and that's why we do this stuff. Because sometimes the parents aren't around and sometimes they don't know how to touch on the subject either. That's why we do this public awareness."