you're watching lmcc hi I'm Kelly Murphy rangate Fire Marshal and public educator for the exceler fire district and welcome to firstresponder TV your local public safety Source featuring training exercises safety tips and much more here's what's coming up on First Responders TV I'll talk with Greg Hayes from the Metropolitan Emergency Services Board about the stop the bleed program Alex Ericson the 2023 Mound firefighter the year goes above and beyond to serve the community on making a difference scam alert we'll give you an update on scams that have been targeting citizens in the lake area from The Vault we'll revisit informative first responder TV segments from the past joining me today is Greg Hayes the EMS coordinator for the Metropolitan emergency service board thanks for coming so tell us more about where you work and how you became the EMS coordinator well the Metropol Emergency Services Board is a joint Powers amongst 10 County Metro area that includes isan Sherburn and Chisago it was formed in the 80s it's made up of two County Commissioners from each of those counties also including the City of Minneapolis and the board's Mission since the80s has been to assist Public Safety agencies with a 911 system so dispatching um the radio system um GIS coordination for Public Safety uh resources and also EMS and so EMS has been a part of what's called EMS regions through the emsrb I'm the Metro region coordinator for that and really what we do is we assist agencies for largescale planning so I I really just try to get people to sit around the table and say hey let's have a incident response plan for large scale disasters um and then we have special Focus areas much like stop the bleed and other pieces that that relate to EMS delivery in the field um to the public so tell us about your background and how you became the EMS coordinator so I started in the fire service in 1992 in Chanhassen and developed that into a full-time career uh for 30 30 years in the street um I've been around Public Safety for 32 years and I I ultimately was a fire chief or director of Public Safety and then came to the mesb as the EMS region um coordinator two years ago so tell us more about stop the bleed and how um it began so stop the bleed initiative really began from the Department of Defense and there's something called T C uh tactical combat care we were learning about uh how to control bleeding better unfortunately due to um activities across the world and in wars and and the trauma surgeons with the military uh went back to an old um way of doing things that we had gotten out of and it was called tourniquets there was other components to it using gauze and it was really about hey for a patient that has has external bleeding we need to do some simple steps to stop it um if I remember back in '92 when I was first trained in in EMS uh by a guy named Scott Gerber was my first instructor and uh in EMS and we learned we I remember we talked about tourniquets and I remember that from Boy Scouts in high school and then all of a sudden tourniquets went away we were told by our medical directors you can never use a tourniquet don't ever put a tourniquet on anybody and then what did we learn 20 years later um you know or 15 years later was that tourniquets aren't a bad thing and that we need to stop stop the bleeding and so the stop tobly program the public version of it is is it was taken by the on by the um American College of Surgeons and they partnered with the dod and when you do a Google Search and you look up stop the bleed and you get to their website that's the public side of the program to educate the public to do some simple steps of just try to stop bleeding it's not just tourniquets it's also direct pressure it's also using gauze for other types of wound care but it is really just we've learned that hey the more somebody is bleeding on the ground um the less the chance that we're going to be able to save them the goal overall is is to train as many people as we can and and when we look at who really coordinates stop the bleed within the the metropolitan area there's a group called MMR Tac which is the Minnesota Metropolitan trauma advisory committee led by Dr John Gibson out of north but it makes up the trauma medical directors the trauma surgeons out of the metro area also including our traum trauma Pro program coordinators typically a nurse in the level one two and three hospitals um and a few other medical directors and and other subject matter experts that get together once a quarter to talk specifically about trauma delivery from from EMS what we do what we do in the fire uh fire service and in ambulances but also how do we educate the public and so stop the bleed has anchored there um and our biggest our biggest Outreach has been the state fair so two years ago we went into the state fair and uh at the table we were teaching people how to do stop the bleed and and that wasn't just me as a as a 30-year EMT doing it you're you're learning it from the state's top trauma surgeons to say hey here's why this is super important in training the public and so I know that last year I was we were giving away tourniquets um and we had 500 and they were gone by the time our one day was ended so we knew we had at least 500 people trained in one day yeah and you're going to be at the State Fair again this year during Governor's Fire Prevention Day yes so people can look for you there they can come get their tourniquet and learn how to use tourniquets so where can the public get um a course or an online training stop the bleed program if you do a simple Google search with stop the bleed you you come to the main program there's some online resources that there for training there's also some resources you can go locally uh where in there they'll have a calendar so there are sometimes some stop the bleed programs that are offered so you can go for a live program um and you can reach out uh to through that website to to find other resources um that will allow you to get some uh get some experience for something as simple as a tourit you just go online and order a order a tourit go online grab a couple tourniquets and they're really super simple to use do you have a tourniquet with you can do show our viewers and we're going to make you do this and so so here's here's our uh here's our simple cat cat tourniquet and so first step is if I have major bleeding that I cannot control on my arm for whatever reason that might be uh first we try direct pressure that's not working um if I have some gauze that's not working that that's still profuse bleeding so now we're going to go to the tourniquet and we put it to the outside okay and so first step um you're going to put it on the arm second step is is this is a velcro piece and you're going to pull and you're going to go as tight as you can to my arm and I'll help you hold it and you one of the other key pieces you go high as as you can to the what's called The Junction point you don't ever put a tourniquet on the lower part of the arm below the elbow or below the knee because there's two bones down there and tourniquets only only will work if you have a single bone up here now what Kelly's doing is quick checking for a pulse to verify ify that I actually do have a pulse and so with that is now now that this is applied now alls we're going to do is turn the windless and so Kelly's going to turn and keep turning and what you're going to what as the patient what you're going to find is yes it does provide a little pain because it's squeezing against the arm and so yeah now we're getting there and feel the pressure one more no put it in there so now we throw that in and what we're going to do is put this over the top Kelly's going to verify that I have or don't have a pulse you not have a pulse so my pulse in your wrist yep there's no pulse in my rist which means all my blood flow is is done when you apply a tourniquet we've always used a pulse check as a standard how do you know when when to stop it is when the bleeding stops I have um heard of cases in the field where we've had to apply two tourniquets um because the bleeding was so severe we did not get good pinch point on that artery so sometimes if you if you have a second tourniquet you can't get the bleeding to stop put it right underneath but 99% of time this stops the bleeding um and now the question comes in what do I have to do next so the old adage was every 10 minutes take this off and then reapply it and that is not the case anymore because if I re if I take this off I'm going to start bleeding again the whole goal is to keep that blood into to my Center center part of my uh uh of my core and so you can leave it on and from what I've heard from the trauma surgeon 6 to 8 hours before you're going to see any tissue damage and so a lot of times this is white and you'll write a Time on it just so that the trauma surgeons once we get to the hospital um can tell what time so would you like me to take that off you're welcome to if you want to it's just watching your arm turn purple well okay there we go and so one of the pieces to tourniquets U that's always surprising ing is how many people don't have them a lot of uh a lot of people that we run into when we're doing public demonstrations one of the qu questions that I asked them is do you uh do you hunt and of course in this part of the country there's a lot of hunters all right do you carry a tourniquet with you and a lot of times there's a Blank Stare going nope do you have a medical kit nope um and funny part is I get a lot of them say I have a medical kit for my dog well how about going out and buying a tourniquet because accidents do happen whether you fall out your tree stand we do have some accidental shootings that happen from Hunters um from time to time and you know a simple turnit in in a medical kit um is really one of the best things I'm not a hunter but I do carry tourniquets I get tourniquets on the boat I get tourniquets in my car tourniquets are super simple and easy to use and you don't need any you know hours upon hours of training and so we're really just trying to get that message out there about stop the bleed so speaking of training can firefighters and police officers sign up to become instructors yes so if you go to the stop to bleed website there's an instructor portal and what you do as a firefighter a medic uh EMT a cop if you've got some background which all of them do because we do this in our medical training or if you're on the SWAT team um you can just it's a simple application to be an instructor and they take your years of experience um to account so that yes you can be a registered instructor with a stop the bleed program and from there just going out and and and teaching the classes what that allows you to do though as a first responder is use their course materials oh yeah um so they have some course materials that are already pre-done um that are excellent the other good ones are the te what's called TC that you can get online um and so those are excellent courses too um yeah I mean we carry t uh T kits and all of our kits so we've got them all over the fire station in public safety a lot is we're talking about active shooter response or Asher response um to public locations um and how do we better prepare ourselves but it's a lot of using the public when you go back into look at the after actions for example in the Vegas shooting it was a lot of bystanders using bystander things like belts and shirts that saved a lot of people's lives by simply stopping the bleed the fire service has Sparky the Fire Dog Okay the DNR Forest Service Has Smokey what does stop the bleed have well they have they have a partnership with uh with the comic World simply they're doing the same thing they're providing public education at our earliest level and So within the comics they're trying to push an initiative to educate the kids show that it's not a scary thing it fits right in with what they do and and The Narrative of what those messages with GI Joe and the others are at the state fair I have kids put these on me um when they come up with their parents and I have the kids do it and and make it fun you know and while it's a very serious thing it's to educate the kids that hey you know you can help a lot it's like teaching a kid how to dial 911 so are there any local success stories I know that a lot of agencies are using them very frequently on I would say unfortunately when we watch the news on a nightly basis um and so there's been a lot of successes um from outcomes to say hey we've been able to um have a better chance at saving this patient who's who's unfortunately been shot multiple times um in the extremities um obviously we have torso penetr penetrating trauma or blunt trauma to the Torso these tourniquets don't work but a lot of times it's extremities and and so tourniquets go on immediately so agencies are talking about that yeah it is definitely something that's uh that's being used if you look at your law enforcement officers on the street and look at what they have around them you'll find a tourniquet on every single one of them because they know and those tourniquets are actually for them so we we train you know when I was on SWAT we had had to put these on ourselves um and and when we see the number of call first responder um related uh incidents where First Responders and law enforcement officers are unfortunately getting shot uh tourniquets are being used and so we're having positive outcomes there U and that's really the program is working so is there anything that we didn't cover today that you would like to talk about the biggest piece for people is to remember that you know while this stuff can seem scary and it has a negative connotation for us yes we are talking about things we don't like to see in the news every night with active violence and violence against people and and all of these car crashes but if we don't educate ourselves right now as a lay person not as a as a trained EMT um just the public is hey what can I do to help somebody in need and do some simple steps like stop the bleed where we know that saves people's lives it is really just getting the public to say Hey you know we just need to take on a little little extra here um in knowledge because it might be a family member it might be your neighbor um it might just be somebody you're driving by and you help um that you save their life and that makes an impact not only in theirs in yours and I know for me um that's what that's why I retired is was was a cardiac arrest save and I'm like this is what I got into this for and I want to go out the same way um and so that's really just getting that Public's mindset is yes these these are very negative things but they're very important for all of us to be educated and I think the name itself stop the bleed and you made a great point about Las Vegas you don't need one of these you can use a shirt you can use a belt stop the bleed yes whatever it takes stop the bleeding thank you so much for joining us today thank you we said we'd never break the 3 second rule never do that and never become a minivan Mom hey Chris as parents we say never a lot but never happens So when you say you'd never leave your child in a hot car know it can happen before you leave the car always stop Look Lock we'd like to Spotlight a member of the community that goes above and beyond in our segment making a difference this month it's 2023 Mountain firefighter of the Year Alex Erikson [Music] very awesome very humbling very honored to be named firefighter of the year for 2023 I wasn't not expecting it it's one of the very few things that everybody votes on and it is not a chief votes nothing like that it is you're 100% voted in by them and it's very humbling and awesome to know that they respect you to that point to give you that honor the firefighter of the Year Dad got it 198 85 so that was really cool too to also follow in his footsteps so it was just really cool to be named firefighter of the year I have been on mfire for just over 7 years now I just celebrated 7 years back at the end of March actually I got involved with the fire department growing up here it was always my second home if you will Dad was on for 22 years decided one time that I was ready to join something that always in the back of my mind to do and something I always wanted to do and when we moved in into the area and we very settled it was something I wanted to just get a part of be back in that Community environment and be back up here where it felt like home pick probably one of the craziest times we just had our firstborn son he was only a couple months old and one of the firefighters here one of the captains said you should join I never thought I'd be able to it was always a such demand department but just something at that time told me it was time to join up and you know give back to the community that I've been a part of pretty much my entire life so my family my Dad Steve Ericson he was fire chief for 4 years here did 22 years all on Mound I also have a brother also Steve Ericson he is on Buffalo fire department and so it's always been kind of a a family affair if you will community service it's always just been a calling for us and great thing to do big stuff for me that I love doing is besides just you going to fire calls and helping people with Medicals which is a very great part I also love going to like our local schools you know our elementary schools or high schools stuff like that to just help teach the kids how to do this kind of stuff and what to be aware of and to see the look in their eyes when their actually gets through to them oh cool that's awesome that's a big part I love is just the public service side of it the public connection and adults you know helping them with with that too we go to do CPR classes for like around the gpsy center that was a fun thing to be a part of just knowing that even if it's in the middle of the night that drive to go and help and make sure that their worst day can sometimes become their better day it's fulfilling to be able to see that to see that we can walk into a room and everything just seems to get better it seems to get lighter the chaos is not as bad as it once was the part I love about it is just being able to help people and you know helping everybody in our community make their lives a little bit better we get awesome feedback everybody loves Mountain Fire Department when we come through be it the fish fry our annual staple being able to see the thousands of people come to the line being able to see them out in the Dance Floor how much they can support us going to the parad everybody loves to see the big red fire trucks come by and the horns blaring and the lights going love just seeing us come through and they've always been such a huge supporter for us over the last 100 years in County now so I'd absolutely tell them to join it's a great environment to be in a lot of great fellow firefighters they're very welcoming very inviting it's it's a great way to give back to your community you really get to learn your community a lot more a lot of the people in it especially if you're newer to the area it really helps you connect with a lot more people a lot faster and get to know everybody a lot more support I've gotten from all the guys here all the way from the brand new guys all the way up to Chief huge support from my wife and family be able to let me go at a moment's notice it's always been home always will be home it's just awesome to be a part of it [Music] have you ever helped a fellow veteran of course yes have you ever asked for help yourself uh it's always tough right I always feel like I can solve my own problems but eventually you know you just can't deal with it on your own and you start to question maybe people would be better off without me when you realize that you're not alone once you take that that there's so much support welcome back to first responder TV it's time for scam Alert in this segment we alert the public of scams that have been reported to local police [Music] departments in impersonation scams a scammer reaches out to you pretending to be someone you trust to get sensitive information like Social Security numbers Bank information or Account Details scammers change tactics quickly making them hard to detect scammers have been sending emails posing as Amazon and include PDF attachments stating that your account will be suspended or on hold these attachments prompt you to click on a fraudulent link to update your account these links lure you to provide personal information such as payment information or account login credentials do not click on any links or provide your information without verifying the email or link Amazon will never ask you to provide payment information for products or Services over the phone scammers try to create a sense of urgency to persuade you to do what they're asking be wary anytime someone tries to convince you that you must act now review the link for misspellings or repeated characters in your web browser hover over the display name under from to see the full sender address always go through the Amazon mobile app or website when seeking custom customer service tech support or when looking to make changes to your account if you receive a call text or email that you think may not be from Amazon please report it at www.amazon.com reporto scam West hennipin Public Safety department recently received numerous reports about fishing and scam attempts to Residents callers have been impersonating officers and public defenders they use family members and create horrific stories trying to get you to pay their bail West henpen Public Safety wants the public to be aware and stay diligent criminal justice agencies will not call you to ask for money once the callers are questioned about their credentials and accused of being scammers they disconnect the call the phone numbers used are fake they use apps to disguise their phone numbers and can even use your family members or other familiar phone numbers to try to scam you if you are a victim of one of these scams or receive a suspicious phone call please call the West hennipen Public Safety department office at 763 4795 so these incidents can be documented the henpen county sheriff's office has been informed of recent warrant scams targeting henpen County residents be aware that the henpen County Sheriff's Office does not email or fax copies of warrants or subpoenas or call for payment scammers pose as law enforcement by demanding payment for a Miss court date jury duty or other legal matter and threaten to arrest you unless you pay the fine remember cops don't call for cash law enforcement never calls or emails you about paying them money if you receive a suspicious phone call or message do not provide your personal information instead search the official phone number of the agency the caller mentioned and contact that office directly [Music] [Music] eyes forward don't drive distracted coming up here's a first responder TV segment From the Vault opiate addiction continues to be an epidemic in Minnesota with help from The Steve rumler Hope Foundation we learn how Naran can save someone from an overdose the Steve rumler H Foundation was founded in 2011 after Steve rumler had died from a heroin overdose the main mission of our foundation is to heighten the awareness of the Dilemma of chronic pain and the disease of addiction a note uh with the words below was found among his belongings and that note says at first it was a Lifeline now it is a noose around my neck we have three programs at the foundation the first program is advocacy so we are actively trying to reduce the stigma of addiction our second program is the prescriber education so we partner with the Minnesota Medical Association and the University of Minnesota Medical School to provide education to prescribers who often are not educated on a addiction our third program would be overdose prevention as you're going to see tonight and part of that program is the overdose prevention training programs and nxone training so what is nxone nxone is a medication available in all hospitals and most ambulances it acts in the brain to immediately reverse the effects of an opioid that a person has taken we want to increase the accessibility of nxone so every motan in our state has a tool that they need to save a life in 2014 the Minnesota state legislature passed thieves law allowing firefighters and other First Responders to minister a lock Zone to a person who is exhibiting the signs of an opio overdose one of the things that Steves law does that's so impressive is it does provide that temporary limited immunity for people who do call 911 when they witness an opioid overdose and the reason why we wrote that into the law is because we notice that majority of people aren't using a loan when they're overdosing but they're being found alone dead we also passed at the following year a $290,000 appropriation for First Responders to use to be able to carry in a lock Zone one of the barriers was is no one was doing the training so of course the Steve rmer Hope Foundation stepped up to do the training for the community so you find someone who's overdosed what's the first thing you're going to do yep try to wake them out really quick if they're not responding to you shouting at them and shaking them doing a pain response what's the next thing you do right away call in11 that's right we hold the trainings at our office once a month every third Thursday is is what we normally do but then again we're out in the community almost every week we're training organizations like hospitals we're doing trainings for First Responders we're doing trainings for treatment facilities then we do the breaths that's right so you're going to do two rescue breaths 5 Seconds Apart and then you're going to quickly prepare your noock zone so this is a muscle which three muscles or areas of the body can you inject into arm thigh and then upper buttocks okay so you do it directly into the muscle you inject and then you're good let's say 2 minutes go by there's no response then what do you do another dose we're trying to work ourselves out of a job here right so we're trying to have everyone in the state carry in a lock Zone and hopefully people will stop using hopefully this drug will get off of our streets and we won't be needed anymore but until then we are out there every week doing trainings [Music] thank you for watching first responder TV your local safety Source if you have an idea for a segment an upcoming fire prevention or Life Safety event please let us know this is Kelly Murphy rangate giving you information you can use share or to live by see you next time