Work-Based Learning into the Emergency Admission - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxx Title : Work based learning Course : xxxxxx Institution : xxxxxx Work based learning Introduction During one of my visits to the hospital for a routine check up, I encountered some scenes that stirred my emotions and thoughts. As I sat in the waiting room for my time to be seen, there was rushed into the emergency admission an old lady probably in her early 70s.She had multiple burns and wounds that covered most of her body and especially her face and her hands. This scene made me gasp for air as I had never before seen something like that before. My mind was taken off from my routine check up and focussed on the old woman that had been wheeled into the emergency room. Different thoughts rushed forth and back through my mind and I flashed back as to what might have transpired back at the old woman’s house. She was in a critical condition and I though that she might not make it. However I prayed that the able doctors and nurses might do something that would bring her back to normal life, although her life would never be the same again. If she survived, she would have to live with ugly scars all over her body that would remind her of that accident that she was involved in. I knew that the doctors would do everything in their power to save her life. I went on to see the doctors for my check up and then proceeded to go home. However, the picture of the old lady being wheeled into the emergency room kept on flashing through my mind. A few days later, I went back to the hospital out of curiosity. That picture of the old lady being rushed into the emergency room haunted me and kept knocking at my conscience. It did not give me peace at all and it stirred up a desire to know more, to find out what really transpired back at the old lady’s house. After several inquiries, I was informed that the old lady had been rushed to the hospital by her neighbours after her house caught fire. The cause of the fire had since been established as a faulty electrical circuit in the bedroom that caused a spark, which later developed into a fire that caught her bed sheets and later spread to other parts of her house. Being the old woman she was, she couldn’t move swiftly to put out the fire as it started but tried to escape. However, the fire blocked her way and so she cried out for help. Some of her neighbours heard her cry for help and came to her rescue. However, by the time they arrived, the fire had grown bigger and fiercer and thus this hampered their efforts to rescue the old woman in good time. Eventually they managed to gain entry to where the old lady now lay, unconscious and burnt to some extent and they then rushed her to hospital. According to sources from the scene of the fire, the rescuers were unable to gain entry into the house due to the complex nature of the house setting. Fire fighting equipment such as fire extinguishers and or fire blankets were absent from the house hence crude methods had to be used to fight and put out the fire. This being an electrical fire, it was very difficult to put it out especially as the immediate rescuers tried using water to put it out! This was not only dangerous but also life threatening as electrical fires are not put out using water based methods like water itself or water-based fire extinguishers. This showed that these people had not been properly educated in dealing with specifically electrical fires. Electrical fires may be caused by a variety of different sources, and these include faulty sockets, electrical heaters and bed warmers that are not properly used and sometimes power surges that cause sparking and eventually fires if they are not checked. By the time of my return to the hospital to conduct my inquiries, the old woman was in stable condition and out of danger. She however would remain with her burns which would leave scars all over her body. She was still under close monitoring in case of any eventuality. I found this incident to be very significant to me as it brought out the risk that the older people are to fire accidents. Thus the role of fire fighters and fire safety came to my mind and triggered a thought to try and enhance the safety of the community from accidents, especially fires. In particular, the old people above the age of 65 and the small children are at a much greater risk of accidents due to their slow reaction rates which would have otherwise checked the effects of say the fire and prevented more damage as a result of the accident. It is recorded that one person succumbs to the injuries sustained from accidents sustained according to Kendrick (2003). The Fire and Safety Act has provisions to cater for all forms of accidents and emergencies. These include fire safety, fire fighting, road traffic accidents and other emergencies. In the case of fire safety and fire fighting, the fire and rescue authority is responsible for ensuring that the community is taken care of in case of any f these emergencies. They should be able t extinguish fires in their areas of jurisdiction, protect the life and property in that area and ensure that the chances that a fire accident occur are very minimal if any. And for the above purposes, the fire and rescue authority should ensure that they have adequately trained personnel, services and equipment necessary and efficient to meet any emergency, they should have avenues for receiving and dealing with emergency calls for help and summoning personnel and also be able to limit the rate and extent of damage to property in the case of a fire accident. At that time, I was concerned about the state and condition of the old lady. It was very sad for me to see such an old woman being rushed to the hospital’s emergency theatre in such a critical condition. I reflected in my mind that the fire accident could have been prevented if not checked before it could go out of hand. I asked myself many questions about the condition of the old lady’s house that made it difficult for her to be rescued in time before a lot of damage was made. I also wondered why the fire fighters and rescue team head taken long to respond. Were they even contacted at all? The neighbours, did they have the necessary equipment and skills to carry out the rescue operation? Was a fire extinguisher present in that house or not, and if it was present, was it in good functional order? Fire and safety measures in the homes this raised my concerns about just how much we are prepared for such events, should they occur. Since accidents are unpredictable, it is difficult to know exactly when one will occur, but being prepared and ready to deal with one such incident once it occurs greatly improves chances of dealing with the emergencies. From some studies that have been carried out, some of the findings that might be useful in the control of these accidents are incorporating environmental interventions having a role in safety for the disabled or elderly people living at home. These include the installation of alarm or monitoring devices and other safety features (Chan 2009) in their homes. Those people residing in their homes, in addition t o requiring physical protection from external dangers from emergencies that may occur, they also require social and emotional well-being. This highly increases the chances of fire safety and prevention measures in the society, especially to the elderly n the society. For fire safety among the elderly, smoke detectors should be fitted on every floor and batteries renewed regularly, fire escape route should be planned accordingly and as required. This should incorporate any disability to the elderly people or the persons concerned (Department of Health 1999). The other day at the hospital while the old woman was being stretchered into the hospital’s emergency room, I could not help but think that that incident could have been controlled or otherwise prevented from occurring altogether took a pause and gave a thought!....This could have happened to anyone, even my loved ones; my parents or relatives. I asked myself whether the fire and rescue authorities had in place measures to deal with such issues. Maybe they did, may be they did not. But I could not help thinking that there was something that was not particularly right, otherwise the extent of the damage would have been reduced to minimal. Although I felt pity for the old lay that had been affected this time, my mind kept on ringing about how other fire accidents could be prevented or stopped altogether. Particular emphasis was on the old people and the children who were at a higher risk to fire and other accidents. Accidents are a major cause of death and incapacitation leading to disability and dependency and when this occurs, more money is spent on the caring for the disabled and injured, whereas that money could have been used elsewhere for the improvement of lives and taking care of other important issues. It then came to me that probably there is a miscommunication between the fire and rescue authorities and the citizens who are at risk of accidents. I thought that maybe someone should act as a ‘middle man’ between the two groups, that they should be brought together in a forum whereby both sides learn from each other, and educational tips and strategies are put to the table and also that the parties involved may help each other in the quest to reduce fire accidents. This now spurred me to look for a fire and safety authority to work with in the ‘implementation’ of the Fire and Services Act (2004). Hence there was a great need to improve the state of affairs that are targeted to reduce the risks and challenges faced by older people in preventing accidents caused by fires, and these include attending to factors and designing them in such a way that they improve fire protection for the older people. Some of these include improving the design of cooking equipment heaters and bedding to improve safety and protection. However, the stake holders ought to be brought together for these discussions and educative programmes. Now the incident that happened at the hospital called for measures that could be used to control the accidents that occur in the society. I therefore decide to come into partnership with one of the fire and rescue authority around the area to carry out educative programmes to the community. Also, I would carry out research on the fire and rescue authority and find out the level of competency and training skills on fire and rescue drills. Probably some of them are not very qualified and don’t have the necessary skills to fight fires of a certain extreme, or maybe they have the skills yes, but do not have the necessary and efficient equipment that would assist them in their fight against fires. Now the process of identifying a suitable fire and rescue authority to deal with would be a major issue as not all fire and rescue service authority are the same. A specific fire and rescue service authority therefore needs to be identified, one that would be easier to work with. Also, since this work would involve the community at large, ease of movement of the fire fighters and some of their equipment would be of paramount importance so as to enable effective and efficient education of the community. This means that the fire and rescue service authority should be well equipped for the educational processes and still have the station well equipped in case of an emergency call coming in while some of them are away carrying out community education on fire and safety prevention measures and also reaction to emergency situations that may occur. In respect to the incident that occurred at the hospital, I was challenged to take to task the fire and rescue authorities on their roles in the implementation of the Fire and Rescue Services Act (2004). I could not sit down and watch or hear that some other forms of accidents have occurred and which could have otherwise been prevented. In my partnership with the local Fire and rescue authority, I had a purpose to bring together the fire and rescue authorities with the people for educational forums and trainings on fire and safety procedures as the ones used for educating the community are mainly biased to a certain age group. There is therefore need to continue developing fire safety and prevention programmes for the older people in society and also other vulnerable groups from accidents. According to the Lancashire fire and safety department report, the educational procedures used to disseminate the information on fire safety and prevention should be reviewed for more efficiency. These methods, it says, should be simplified and made easier for the elderly people in the society, taking into consideration the disabilities and handicaps faced by the elderly. Their learning capabilities do not match that of younger people, ad whereas the convention normal educational procedures and programmes can be understood by the young people with ease, this is not so with the elderly according to Kendrick (2003). Carrying out this research in partnership with the fire and safety authorities will require the input of both the fire and rescue fire fighting crew and also the input of the society. Hence there will be need to consult all the participatory parties, especially the fire and rescue authorities. This will require getting permission to carry out the research project on the consent of the fire fighting crew to take part in the study and educational programme. To begin with, a spot check on the fire and service authority will be done on the level of preparedness to emergency calls and fire fighting ability will be done. This will be for the purpose of evaluating the extent to which the fire and rescue authority will go to respond to a specific emergency call for help. Also a spot check will be done to find out the type of equipment that they have and which they will use to fight for example fires and also to help in the rescue operations that may be called for in the event that an emergency occurs. This will enable me to have a basis of research and also a platform from where my investigations and educational information will start. The level of training of the fire fighters will also be assessed and other special skills that they may possess that will help them in the dealing with emergencies that may occur. Another study will be conducted on the people’s homes to find out how well they are educated on fire safety and prevention measures, and how well they are equipped and how much they are prepared to deal with emergencies in case they occur. To this end, it will be easier to form a starting point in carrying out my planning for the educational activities, so that I may not try to educate the people and the fire and rescue service men what they already know. However, there is some training that the fire fighters undergo that they may pass on to the people and help them to keep safe always. Therefore the fire fighters will be an asset in the educational process that will be carried out in the community. Also, the fire fighters will be in a position to interact with the community and have a good knowledge of the area so that in case of any emergency in that area, the fire fighters can navigate through the area with ease. This therefore is a plus to the community because they will receive attention in the shortest time possible and also the fire fighters will execute their rescue operations without any hindrances. Basically, the educative process will involve the two parties, the fire fighters and the members of the community at large. Generally, the work of the fire fighting crew will be determined by the level of preparedness of the community members. If the community members are not well prepared for any emergency, they will not have any ideas to control the extent of the damages and injuries, and therefore when the fire fighters arrive at the scene, they would find total chaos and thus have difficulty in dealing with the situation at hand. However the more prepared the members are, the more educated they are on the fire and safety measures; they will be better prepared to deal with the breaking emergency and reduce the extent of the damages that might have been caused by the fire accident. All in all, educating of the members of the community will require the presence of the fire and rescue service authorities. On the other hand, the level of the training of the fire fighters should be assessed and brought up to standard. It is recommended that the fire fighting crew be uniformly trained, and in a wide area of emergencies, so that they are in a better position to deal with any kind of emergency that they may be called upon to deal with. Some may be very extreme like apartment fires, floods, earthquakes and landslides and sometimes disease epidemics; while others may be mild like a pet stuck on top of a tree, snow on the road among others. Irrespective of the incident or accident emergency, the fire fighter should be in a position to deal with any eventuality that they may be called upon to deal with. If for one reason or another the fire fighter is called to deal with an emergency that they are not conversant with, they will be of no help to the person in distress, and instead of helping, the person in distress will be more troubled to find out that the person they rely on for help is not in a position to assist. However, if the fire fighter is well trained in all fields, any call for help from a distressed person will be comfortably handled and the people will have faith in the fire fighting and rescue services. My role in all these will be to use the available resources to bring these two parties together in the educative process. By involving the community in the fight against ignorance on fire and safety rules, they will be in a better position to take care of them and also the work of the fire fighters will be made easier. Safety of the property and lives will be increased and the extent of damages will consequently be reduced. In lieu of this, I would be required to find a specific fire and safety authority to collaborate with them in the carrying out of this exercise. The involvement of the fire fighters is of paramount importance to the success of this study. In order to get the involvement of the fire fighters, the consent of the fire and rescue services authority should be sought and the mutual agreement of the individual fire fighters is a pre requisite. Also, the members of the community should be willing to participate in the studies and also be willing to learn and implement some of the things that they will be taught. At the same time, the fire fighters should be willing to learn from the members of the community on certain issues that directly affect them, so that in case they encounter a similar situation, they will know how to carry themselves while on duty. References Chan M, Campo E, Esteve D, et al. 2009; Smart homes - current features and future perspectives. Maturitas. Oct 20; 64(2):90-7. Epub 2009 Sep 2. Department of Health (1999) Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation. The Stationery Office, London. Kendrick D., Groom L. and Hippisley-Cox J. (2003). Accidental injury: a neglected area within Primary Care Groups and Trusts? Health Educ Res. Jun; 18(3):380-8. Read More