Rider Down Course

[SMSW]

I attended a Rider Down - What to do in an Emergency course today. It was given by Josh Hudson, an EMT and off road rider. He not only presented the information, but he did so in an entertaining and friendly way that made a lot of this information stick. This was not intended to make our class of around 25 club members first responders, but to give us an idea of what we can do in the event of an accident. In response to my question, can unskilled riders could really help a seriously injured friend, he talked about the 'golden hour'. "If an accident victim gets medical attention within an hour," he said, "there is an 80% chance of minimal long term effects. You can hopefully increase that to two hours or longer." (I may have misquoted him slightly, but that's the gist of what he said.)

Josh showed us how to safely remove a helmet (only if CPR is needed or there is significant bleeding), how to carry an injured rider out of the woods, how to pack a wound, etc. etc. He also described first aid kits (see linked article below) and derided pre-assembled kits over a make one yourself because of the cost factor.

One of his demos was very sobering. He had 4 guys put our 'injured' rider on a fold up for storage canvas stretcher (factory made with 8 or 10 webbing handles). They then picked him up - incorrectly of course - 'lift with your legs and back straight'! - and carried him across the room. This was in a carpeted conference room - NOT out in the woods. Carrying a fellow rider out a mile or three would be one heck of a task. I facetiously suggested that the light guys get hurt, carrying our bigger club members 2 miles would be nigh on impossible unless it were a large group.

I cannot recommend his course highly enough. He is based in western Pennsylvania. I've emailed our club president for more information which I will post here later - how to contact Josh.

The Best First Aid is Preparation

Do you know what makes me so frustrated that sometimes I just want to eat a bunch of cheese and sit on a rat? The way people ignore safety. It is like buying cereal without any milk. You don’t need...

www.appalachianadv.com

 

[Joeywhat]

Good info to know. People wildly underestimate how often medical knowledge will come in handy, especially if you're in more remote areas.

 

[SMSW]

PostScript: I just heard from the guy who booked Josh Hudson. He can be found on facebook, but he does not do his demonstration/class for pay. He evidently does it at some rallies or groups near his home base (western PA). One of our members saw his presentation some years ago and has been begging him to come to Cleveland. He finally agreed.

A year ago, our club got an EMT to do a general first aid for bikers course that was similar to Josh's. This EMT was a member of a suburban fire department and was more oriented toward general first aid for accident victims (car and bike). Josh's was pointedly for off road riders - he frequents the Allegheny National Forest and discussed seeing accidents far from paved roads.

He mentioned that the subscription locators - Spot, Garmin, etc. will merely call the same first responders to help you that you can call if you have either cell service or iPhone satellite service. Life flights are often not an option - they don't fly in bad weather, and if there is no place to land (a large clearing) nearby, they will not land. They also tend to cost thousands of dollars (like 25K$). Life flights are more frequently used for highway accidents - lots of open areas nearby to land. Hence the need to carry a seriously injured buddy out of the woods by hand (foot).

 

[aniwack]

There's a similar group in Georgia called Guardian Angels. They do a basic how to keep em alive long enough to make it to a trauma center course they put on at the big biker shows. It's a short form program in stop the bleed and maintaining c-spine.