5-23-2022 12:17pm

Broken Bones and Blood: Dexter Scouts are Prepared

Scouts listen intently as part of their mission to be prepared and do their best.

By Doug Marrin with Betsy Finn

If you ever need emergency medical help, you might be thankful to have a local scout or their parent nearby.

In keeping with their motto to do your best in any given situation, Cub Scouts from Dexter’s Pack 477 recently visited DAFD Station #3 in Webster Twp to learn about first aid skills from local emergency medical professionals.

DAFD Firefighter Ed Root and his wife Mysti, both scout parents, organized the event. Emergency medical professionals from Dexter and Ann Arbor led the scouts through several emergency scenarios – complete with fake wounds for the scouts to practice bandaging skills.

While the scouts learned first aid, their parents were shown how an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) operates. These units are often located in plain view on the walls of social gathering places. An AED is used to help people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. It's a sophisticated yet easy-to-use medical device that can analyze the heart's rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm. Learning how to use them falls under another scouting tenant maxim—always be prepared.

Parents learned that through AEDs, untrained persons could provide critical care while waiting for emergency responders. The Red Cross states
that “the average response time for first responders once 911 is called is 8-12 minutes, and for each minute defibrillation is delayed, the odds of survival are reduced by approximately 10%, having access to an AED and knowing how to use one, is critical.”

Parents were surprised to learn that an AED will guide you through each step in the sequence. If you can hear the verbal directions, you can use an AED.

First-grader Zack Finn described what he and the other scouts learned on their side of the training event. “How to put on gloves and take off gloves. How to put a makeshift splint on and take them off. And how to dress and bandage a really big cut.”

The K-4th grade scouts also practiced assessing an accident scene. (These are just elementary students, right?)

Dexter Cub Scout Pack 477 thanks those organizations involved with the event at Dexter Fire Station #3: Dexter Area Fire Department, Ann Arbor Township Fire Department, Huron Valley Ambulance, and educational materials provided by the University of Michigan Burn Unit and 'Stop the Bleed' campaign.