SB Member Littlejohn in critical condition

[truck1]

My old DAN CARDs and ICE/In Case of Emergency Info printed on wp paper are sealed with clear packing tape to my mask case.

Contrary to popular opinion and viral emails, ICE info on phones is nearly worthless. On scene medics or emts aren't going to waste treatment time going through a cell phone, nor are they going to make sure your phone or wallet is transported with you.

Actually we will try and keep your phone and wallet with you for several reasons.At the very least, a police officer will have possesion of both.
1 Acountability. There have been several cases of phones being used by bystanders to call family and relay false information.
2 Fire and EMS crews are sometimes held responsible for lost and or stolen items. I can think of several cases around here in which things such as watches and Jewelry have disappeared and the EMS crews have been singled out.
3 At somepoint the police will want to know who you are so they can begin the process of notifying family, filling out reports etc.
4 If you have been to most hospitals lately, they are usually from the same parent group. One hospital can pull your prior history from another, assuming that you have been in one.

While we probably wont waste time looking thru a phone for someone to call while at the scene, we will go thru a wallet to find your name, or any other pertinent info. Some people who have prior medical histories, have put there medical condition info in their wallets, or there is a clue as to their condition in a purse such as prescription meds, or glucosamine.

Some have their medical alert tags in their wallets. That will tell us volumes about the person.

I am lucky in that the Dept I am with there are at least 5 of us onscene of serious accidents. At least one of us is usually looking at or for wallets purses etc.

 

[craracer]

In critical situations, I could care less about looking through a wallet or cell phone. However, both can be extremely helpful if either is brought along to the ER.

I can think of less than a handful of times in which I've searched through a cell phone for phone numbers (always non-critical situations). Some of the rural EMS providers may use ICE, but we don't as our transport times/distances are short.

Having said that, I've searched countless wallets/purses for medical information. Having your pertinent medical information in either is very valuable to the medics.

Tis true that EMS providers are frequently blamed for missing personal items. Usually, but not limited to: jewelry, wallets/purses, keys, dentures, walkers/canes/wheelchairs, watches, insurance cards, cash.....

The items are usually either left on scene, taken by a family member, didn't exist in the first place, or are accidentally left in the back of the ambulance. It's always worth checking though.

 

[John_B]

This should be a thread about littlejohn, however some of the above comments deserve an informational response:

Based on some recent family experiences, the only thing I would want to accompany someone leaving on an ambulance might be a laminated card with name/insurance/contact info (sans SSN), and possibly a laminated photocopy of an medical insurance card... No wallet, no checkbook, no DL, no original documentation at all.

 

[PaulSmithTek]

It seems extremely strange that the onset of DCS was that delayed, and he was coherent in the ER, but has deteriorated severely despite appropriate treatment for DCS. It really makes me wonder if the problem is something else.

I have to say the onset of symptoms for me was about 10 minutes after the dive. Then the beautiful instructors I had at Deep Sea Diving School. Did nothing but wait for 45 minutes to get me to a chamber by then I was in so much pain and was so delirious, it was a joke. I know this is so way behind in the thread sorry about that.

 

[craracer]

For those members who may have not seen the well-wishes/update thread:


http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/258241-littlejohn-well-wishes.html

 

[mpgunner]

What is the latest status of LittleJohn?

 

[austriandiveress]

Fritz, I just came across this thread, and even if you think that your actions were "no big deal", your kindness toward Littlejohn started when you drove him to the dive, and have continued by informing everybody here, and keeping John's vehicle safe. And no, not everybody would do as much as you have done, so hats off to you for you kindness!

 

[Cave Diver]

Slightly off topic, and irrelevant in this case (as his phone was unavailable), but the (WIFE) and (MOM) thing would still require some scrolling to find.

What is (slowly) becoming an international standard is ICE (In Case of Emergency) and paramedics will look if your phone has that listing first. For instance, I have ICE - WIFE as one listing, which contains all her numbers and email + street addresses. You could, of course, also have an ICE - MOM listing! Easy to set up, easy for emergency personnel to locate and works for non-diving emergencies too.

Many new phones have I C E buttons on them, so a single push brings up the emergency contact.

For the people with phones without this feature, be sure that when you add the name to your contact list you put a period first. That will put it at the start of your contact list.

Mine looks like this.

.ICE (name) - SISTER
.ICE (name) - Mother

Then the rest of my contact list. That makes it immediately evident to anyone looking at my phone who they are calling without having to scroll through the entire contact list.

 

[Doc]

Mine looks like this.

.ICE (name) - SISTER
.ICE (name) - Mother

Good method, but I use that trick for my special use numbers.

If they're taking the time to find your ICE numbers, they'll have time to dial down to the I listings. Keeping them all together at that point is very easy...

ICE1 Mom
ICE2 Dad
ICE3 Sis

That numeric will keep them grouped in a row.

 

[FritzCat66]

This should be a thread about littlejohn, however some of the above comments deserve an informational response:

Based on some recent family experiences, the only thing I would want to accompany someone leaving on an ambulance might be a laminated card with name/insurance/contact info (sans SSN), and possibly a laminated photocopy of an medical insurance card... No wallet, no checkbook, no DL, no original documentation at all.

This is the Accidents and Incidents thread concerning this incident (immediate information about John's status and well-wishes go here), so the purpose is to discuss it at a meta level, see what we can learn from it; so I think these discussions about availability of diver information is appropriate, since lack of said information was definitely a problem in this case.

The thing about the DAN Tag, is it has the basic info needed by EMT's, the DAN contact number for questions regarding dive medicine, and your emergency contact number so family can be alerted. Because the DAN number is 24/7, if they call that they can get even more information that you have filed with DAN (like alternative contact information, more detailed history, etc.).

For basically the cost of one dive boat trip, you can have DAN coverage for a year, and you're supporting an organization that contributes so much beneficial research to the diving community, and which provides so much medical assistance to divers around the world, it's kind of a no-brainer for me.

I have to say the onset of symptoms for me was about 10 minutes after the dive. Then the beautiful instructors I had at Deep Sea Diving School. Did nothing but wait for 45 minutes to get me to a chamber by then I was in so much pain and was so delirious, it was a joke.

However, I'll wager that you were improving at least slightly after that first chamber ride, were you not? Whereas in John's case he continued to decline, which is what is odd. However, from the latest status post on the well-wishing thread, it sounds like there were indeed cardiopulmonary events involved as well. DCS may not have been a factor, or perhaps the strain of eliminating the sub-clinical nitrogen became a trigger.

Dunno, just speculating, but keep in mind even if we divers don't take an actual clinical DCS hit, we're still straining our cardiopulmonary system to carry all that excess nitrogen to our lungs for exchange. And even if John did not take a clinical DCS hit, he was definitely saturated after that second Jupiter dive. As were all us divers - those beautiful deep reefs there nearly always have us pushing deco on the second dive.

>*< Fritz