Rolling with the Bike Medic Program
BY NANETTE CRIST, Florida Weekly Correspondent, May 29, 2014
Imagine yourself perched on a barstool at Harpoon Harry’s after finishing your first Freedom Swim across Charlotte Harbor. Hordes of people surround you and spill out into every nook and cranny of Fishermen’s Village. Although you left the water 30 minutes earlier, your heart continues to race and you feel lightheaded. Would help be able to reach you in time if you collapsed? The bike medic program was created to help people in situations just like this.
EMS on wheels
The concept of providing emergency medical services from a bike is nothing new. Before the advent of the car, doctors frequently traveled by bicycle to provide care. The Seattle Police Department is credited with reviving the use of bikes for public safety purposes in the 1980s. It didn’t take long for the idea to grow from the provision of police services by bike to the delivery of emergency medical services on two wheels. Today bike medic programs can be found across the country in big cities and small towns.
The development of a bike medic program seemed a natural evolution in the way emergency medical services are provided by the Punta Gorda Fire Department. “We’re a biking community,” Fire Chief Ray Briggs said, “so it just fits.”
Gearing up
The structure of the bike medic program is simple. Two medics operate as a team, with medical equipment and medication in their bike kits comparable to what would be found on a fire truck. One bike carries basic life support equipment like splints and oxygen. The other is stocked with advanced life support gear, including a defibrillator and IV lines.
Differentiating the kits in this manner permits flexibility in staffing. EMTs are credentialed to provide basic life support while only paramedics can provide advanced life support.
The first step was to obtain funding to purchase the bikes. A presentation about the program was made at a TEAM Punta Gorda meeting. In less than two weeks, TEAM had raised the required $1,500 to purchase the bikes and the panniers to hold the gear.
Getting ready to roll
The next step was to staff the team. Fire Chief Briggs asked his firefighters for volunteers. His goal was to train four individuals; more than twice that number put up their hands. The firefighters selected are all paramedics.
The firefighters were required to complete a 40-hour training program run by the International Police Mountain Bike Association. The training was more rigorous than the participants — all experienced cyclists — expected.
Bike medics are called upon to provide services in places ambulances can’t easily travel due to crowds or traffic, such as in the Fishermen’s Village scenario above. The training prepared the firefighters to maneuver their bikes in these conditions.
The medics worked on tight quarter drills, riding as slowly as possible through an obstacle course without hitting any cones. (Knocking over a cone was the equivalent of plowing into a pedestrian.) Riders were pushed to the ground to learn how to fall properly without injuring themselves. They learned how to negotiate stairs. And they spent a full day on bike maintenance to avoid being out of commission due to a slipped gear or flat tire.
With that, the medics were ready to take their show on the road.
Riding to the rescue
The bike medics will be on the scene at large-scale community events. Fire Chief Briggs explained that the existence of the bike medic program will not increase the Punta Gorda Fire Department’s coverage of special events. Instead, he says, “We can provide our services more effectively.”
With the profusion of festivals and other mass gatherings, the medics can expect to put some mileage on their bikes. To date, they have been on-site at the Florida International Air Show, Pedal and Play in Paradise, the Punta Gorda Block Party and the Paint Your Heart Out event. And their services have been called upon, generally to treat minor scrapes and scratches.
Having been on duty at these events both on and off his bike, Danny Felico is convinced of the program’s value. “Bike medics have the ability to weave in and out of a crowd and initiate care more quickly than an ambulance,” Mr. Felico says. Those few extra moments can make all the difference.
Educating the public
The public relations impact of the bike medic program is an unexpected benefit. Fire Chief Briggs says, “The bikes are a good ‘vehicle’ for educating the public.” (Pun intended.)
It turns out that people are more willing to approach a medic on a bike than one sitting in an ambulance. Passersby stop to ask medical questions such as how to use an EpiPen and to find out more about the program.
The medics take advantage of the opportunity to educate the public, telling them about services provided by the Punta Gorda Fire Department. (For instance, firefighters are available to change the batteries in smoke detectors on your cathedral ceiling. They would rather provide this service than answer an EMT call after you’ve fallen off a ladder.)
Meeting community needs
The bike medic program enhances the Punta Gorda Fire Department’s ability to provide its emergency medical services in a timely manner, making citizens glad they’re just a few wheel rotations away.