Grand Canyon National Park Search and Rescue Part 1

We are going to bring you a potpourri of topics to start off this episode. We start off with Kyle Nelson’s weekly weather report on a rash of tornadoes sweeping through the lower midwest the week we recorded this episode. Then we chat briefly with B.J. Schneider about a drunk driver careening into crowds on a Mardi Gras parade route in Louisiana.

The real topic of the call is to cover preparedness and prehospital care with Dr. Drew Harrell, medical director for the Grand Canyon National Park. Their service deals with rough terrain, swift water rescues, rabid animal outbreaks, high angle rescue, air lifts and more. They have serious challenges that put them almost always at an extreme distance from definitive care. Often, rescuers spend the night with their patients before a rescue can be staged.

Drew shares some of the amazing rescue and prevention situations worked by the PSAR teams (Park Search and Rescue). In the summer months especially, they deal with many exertional hyponatremia cases where the PSAR teams have to replenish both fluids and electrolytes in life-threatening medical cases.

https://www.grandcanyon.org/donate/projects/psar-saving-lives-grand-canyon

http://www.grandcanyonnews.com/news/2016/aug/16/grand-canyon-rangers-helping-hikers/

Find Dr. Drew Harrell on Twitter @EMSDrDrew.

Check out this episode and if you have questions, leave them here or on our new disaster podcast Facebook Group.

Paragon Brings “The Experience”

Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.