PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Fremont County, comprised of several small communities and the Wind River Indian Reservation, is a gateway to Yellowstone National Park and the Jackson Hole resort area. The large spaces between populated areas, coupled with the small population, hamper dispatch of EMTs and impede access to trauma centers. The first person to come across a crash will most likely be a civilian who, if afraid of worsening the situation, will probably do nothing.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of Lifesavers Care Training was to utilize the caretaking community values that are characteristic of rural populations to maximize bystander care by civilian motorists. This was to be accomplished by:

• Training EMTs, Public Health nurses, and First Responders to teach motorists what to do
• Teaching motorists what to do if they are the first to arrive at the scene of a rural motor vehicle crash
• Providing Lifesavers Care Training program participants with a motorist kit for use at the scene of a rural motor vehicle crash.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

The Fremont County Traffic Safety Program designed a 30-minute Lifesavers Care curriculum based on the Indiana model of Bystander Care. The aim of the curriculum is to provide training on the bare minimum of care necessary to keep an injured person alive until EMTs arrive. People are taught to recognize the need to help, make a decision to help, implement helping procedures, and seek additional help.

Lifesavers Care Training (cont'd)

Building on the rural nature of the communities involved, small groups were trained. Person-to-person contact, rather than use of mass media delivery systems, has been successful in reaching

isolated and diverse populations. Further, several companies that have drivers constantly on the road provided this training to their employees. At the end of the training, each person received a motorist kit to be kept in his/her glove compartment. The kit contained latex gloves, a face shield, an information card, and a 5 x 9 inch bandage.

RESULTS

This pilot program has trained 2,000 citizens to provide competent critical care at the scene of a rural motor vehicle crash. By bringing the training to small, close-knit communities, the program has succeeded in increasing understanding of the overall crash problem and creating a group of self-confident, self-reliant individuals who can handle emergency situations.