First Aid???
Dick was training a driver.... standing in the step-well of a GM 4106. The trainee was doing a fine job, driving the airport express run loaded with passengers, when he developed severe chest pains, and passed out. The coach drifted towards the shoulder of Atlanta’s busy perimeter highway.
Dragging him out of the seat, Dick grabbed the wheel, and got control of the bus. This was before cell phones (heck, this was before telegraph), so Dick did the only smart thing, and headed directly for the hospital. He pulled up at the emergency entrance, ran in to get help, and as soon as the stricken man was on a gurney, he took off for the airport.
There's a happy ending there, thanks to Dick's quick thinking, the driver recovered and no one missed their flight. Not too long after the incident, figuring there would be less stress involved... Dick became a bus salesman.
It made national news recently when a Florida teenager suffering from seizures was dropped off... in fact forced off... the bus by the driver. This one had a relatively happy ending too. The boy recovered, but his mother was understandably outraged.
In this case, his family publicly demanded the bus drivers be given “medical training”. Probably an overreach, and fraught with legal potholes... but it does raise a valid concern. How should we train our drivers? How do we expect them to act in medical emergencies?
In the first instance, Dick wasn't medically trained, but he was smart (and quick thinking). That was fortunate, but not a plan that works every time.
As usual, I'm long on questions and short on answers, but it does seem important that we consider how we want drivers to handle medical situations, and train them accordingly. A substantial part of our demographic is senior citizens (you know... like me), which adds emphasis to the need for drivers to be able to handle emergencies.
There are two general areas that bear consideration. While you probably don't want drivers offering medical treatment, you might want them to understand the signs that a real emergency exists. Some discussion and formal training might be in order. At what point should they take action?
Once it's clear that something bad is happening, how should drivers react? First Aid isn't a bad thing, but in this modern age of cell phones, GPS and texting, unless they're deep in the boonies, skilled help isn't far away. The problem is that electronic tools need to be used correctly or aid will be delayed. Again, a bit of advanced discussion in drivers meeting might make things go better when the world is turning to doo-doo.
For example... calling 911 from a mobile phone might not connect to the closest services, depending on where the active cell tower is located. The driver needs to know their location, and be able to communicate it to the dispatcher. That might involve understanding the coach's GPS system or (gasp) the ability to read a map. Most drivers understand how mile-markers work, and those may be valuable in helping responders know where to find the emergency.
Texting might not be helpful, because on occasion texts are backed up in an electronic que, and you can't be sure when they're read.
The more your drivers think about this stuff in advance, the more likely they are to react quickly and correctly when the poopie heads for the spinning fan.
Near the end of my worst trip ever... a passenger began suffering shortness of breath. Actually it was stoppage of breathe. In 1,500 miles we'd had an accident, blown a front tire at 75MPH, slid sideways under a bridge and discovered the spare was useless. We were running 12 hours late and now one of the chaperones was having a seizure.
We pulled the Scenicruiser into the New York Thruway's median, and the kids passed him hand over hand down the aisle and dumped him on the grass. We flagged down a Trooper who radioed for an ambulance. In an inspired “twofer”, we stuffed him into the ambulance with a second chaperon who had a cold (why take chances... it would turn into the Plague?) and continued on our merry way.
They both made out fine, and it turned out that the guy with the seizure was withdrawing from heroin. He was so inspired by the spiritual content of the meetings they'd attended that he decided to go cold-turkey. Bad idea.
I'm not sure if there was a better way to have handled it, but one BIG regret was giving all our cash to the second guy in the ambulance, figuring he might need it. As a result, after dropping off our passengers, the other driver and I had to dead-head home nearly 1,500 miles without eating...
