Here We Go Again...Part 2

I will start by saying that I DO support the police and appreciate the difficult job they have. However, last night's news only proves that there is a real problem with training, in general. The job is about much more than target shooting. It is about dealing with a WHOLE community. That community includes those who have a variety of impairments. Head injuries and the post-trauma issues around that, especially with a closed head/spine injury, shouldn't be an unknown to ANY first responder. The more that comes out about what happened after Freddy Gray was injured, however that happened, the more I see a traumatic head/spine injury (TBI) with neuro complications. The flow of the cerebral spinal fluid impacts the pressure on the brain and anything that impacts that flow can cause pressure to build up. That would cause incredible pain and for someone with no experience with it, they wouldn't be able to articulate what was going on. In addition, as I said before, not imobilizing the neck and spine would have only increased the injury, if there was an internal decapitation going on. There is a reason that EMTs secure a patient's neck and spine before transporting them to the ER. Those officers didn't call for appropriate assistance, even when the victim was asking for that assistance. It didn't help Mr. Gray to NOT secure him in the van in the first place. Now we are hearing that a second person in the van, along with the driver, heard banging and noises coming from where Mr. Gray was seated. They didn't see him and it only lasted "a few seconds". With ANY TBI, there is a high risk of the patient having a grand mal seizure. That wouldn't last minutes, necessarily, but seconds. It also speaks to the severity of Mr. Gray's injury. From what has been reported, the assumption was that he (Mr. Gray) was doing this on purpose. That he was trying to hurt himself. A seizure, of any type (there are over 100 types) is involuntary. It is a short circuiting of the brain and should be a sign to go to the nearest ER, rather than dragging the patient/victim out of the van and putting them in restraints. All of that could easily have contributed to furthering Mr. Gray's injuries. I realize that it is popular right now blame police for excessive force. IMO, if all of this is accurate, it is all about lack of training and awareness of head injury, as well as a lack of common sense. What also concerns me is the report that stated that while the DA will look at the final report on what happened to Mr. Gray, none of the facts will be made public. All that leaves is speculation and keeps the 'exessive force' issue for the public to consider. It certainly doesn't clear anything up or inform the public about what probably DID happen.

Here We Go Again...

Here we go again, with first responders having no clue about spinal cord or head injuries.  The Baltimore PD now faces hot water, as they should, for the internal decapitation death of one of their citizens because of a total disregard or awareness of such a condition.  Frankly, even EMTs have a difficult time determining an internal decapitation, but the fact is, nothing was done to prevent such an injury and looking at the video, the officers on the scene don't seem to be aware of the possibility of such an injury.

I appreciate the difficulty of their job, but first responders need to have a healthy respect for the spine and brain.  They need to appreciate that injuries to these areas are potentially fatal or could be life altering.  Prevention is the only way to stop the kinds of life altering injuries that take someone from being able to pursue their dreams to someone who's dreams have to be altered to fit a 'new normal' that simply didn't have to happen.

I've seen accounts of two incidents in the last week alone where severe, closed head injury (TBI) has been ignored and first responders have only gone by someone's actions on the surface.  The man who was walking down a Texas highway naked (except for his cowboy hat) had been in a car accident.  It isn't unusual for someone with a traumatic brain injury, particularly a closed head injury, to do things like strip off their clothes.  Or, as apparently happened with the young man in Baltimore, he became agressive.  Both are not uncommon responses to a head injury.  Taking these actions as conscious decisions on the part of the victim(s) only shows how little these folks have, in terms of training.  Piling on top of someone with such an injury can also just make the injury worse.