Montana Training Medical Incident 2019

A DNRC Initial Attack Crew was conducting line construction exercises for their weekly crew training. Weather conditions were clear with temperatures in the mid to low 60’s. Early into the line digging exercise it was noticed that one firefighter’s face was flushed, she was leaning heavily on her tool and slumping over significantly. It took approximately 20 minutes to complete the first portion of line construction exercise, after taking a short break (1-2 minutes) the firefighter fell to the ground. Upon initial assessment by crewmembers, the firefighter was unresponsive but breathing. Patient care was initiated immediately by checking vitals, removing PPE, and applying cool wet clothing to the underarms, neck and groin area.

One member of the crew, a Paramedic, took over patient care being assisted by another EMT-qualified crewmember. Other crewmembers returned to the Station to retrieve the SKED and medical bag. The paramedic contacted dispatch and relayed the incident, requesting an ALS response from the local Fire Department. This also initiated a response from the local Air Ambulance.

It was decided that the best action was to transport the patient to the Station’s helibase to rendezvous with ALS. The patient was loaded into the SKED and moved by using a “leap frog” method about 150 yards at a time to the helibase. The patient was transported to the hospital by Air Ambulance. She was treated for dehydration and released from the hospital later that night.

Training, RLS, Medical Emergency, Medical or Exertion or Heat