Scene Safety: It's Not Rocket Science (But It Helps to Stay Calm)

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where instincts clashed with safety protocols? Join Life Safety's owners, Jimmy & Jenny, as they dive deep into the world of scene safety. From high-pressure emergency situations to everyday parenting challenges, they share personal stories and expert insights to help you stay calm and make informed decisions.

Jimmy, a seasoned first responder, brings real-world experiences to the table. Hear about the time he made a critical error in a medical emergency, leading to a painful lesson in scene safety. Discover the "me, my team, my equipment" hierarchy and how it's shaped his approach to prioritizing safety in chaotic moments.

Jenny offers a unique perspective as a parent and partner to a first responder. She shares her experiences navigating emergencies as a mom, balancing instinct with reason. Together, Jimmy & Jenny explore the complexities of decision-making when loved ones are in danger, providing practical tips and emotional support for listeners.

Tune in to learn how to assess a situation quickly, prioritize actions, and maintain composure under pressure. Whether you're a parent, a professional, or simply someone who wants to be better prepared, this episode offers valuable insights into the art of staying safe, keeping calm, and making a difference.

Life Safety Associates specializes in emergency response training for corporate ERT Teams. We help businesses create competent and confident first responders who are ready to handle unexpected emergencies. For more information you find us @lifesafetyassoc or email@lifesafety.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 Safety First
• 14:24 Parenting Without Emotional Reactions

Transcript

Jimmy: 0:23

Hey, what's happening? It's another episode of Life and Safety with Jimmy Rios, and today you got a special guest sitting in with us. We replaced Megan for a couple episodes with the one and only my wifey, jenny Rios.

Jenny: 0:39

Hi everyone.

Jimmy: 0:41

And it should be a good one. We're going to talk about safety first and what that means. Talk about safety first and what that means. So getting into that, in my class we always say safety first. There's a hierarchy in that, you know. It's always myself first, my teammates, our equipment and then obviously the patient after that and then anybody else after that, and what I mean by that is friends and family of the patient. You know we want to take care of them, but they got there on their own. They should usually be able to leave on their own. So, as a mom, I'm going to ask Jenny a question. When you see, you know, one of the babies hurt, you know our, obviously our babies are older now, they're teenagers, but they still, you know, they get a little ouchies and stuff like that, especially the boy with this baseball and craziness. You know, um, the safety even like, do you even think about that? Or you just go straight to mama bear and you go after it.

Jenny: 1:42

That's a good question. Um, I think it depends on the situation. I mean, if it's a little scratch or a scrape or something like that you know I'm pretty tough they can figure that out. They need to sort that out on their own, or they have coaches or somebody else near them. I think I also don't want to rush in and cause a problem because of the business that we are in. You know, I want people to be able to help them, but I'm also the first one to say hey, should we call 911?

Jimmy: 2:14

Yeah, that's true, for sure, For sure. Is it a thought as far as safety goes, when I'm with you or you're just like, eh, jimmy's going to handle it, you or you're?

Jenny: 2:27

just like eh, Jimmy's going to handle it. Oh, absolutely, we always call you first for everything, so does everybody who knows you. It's just, you know, we check with you. That's like our little check-in, and if you say everything's cool and to wait, then we usually wait and it's just fine.

Jimmy: 2:43

Yeah, yeah. So I bring that up because I get that question a lot Like how is it at your house when I talk about scene safety and I always tell people? You know, I always go through the checklist and I always kind of tell the story Not all of the story, but when we were driving home from Reno from Reno yeah, I had to been Reno because we were driving out 80 and there was a traffic accident and we pulled over and I helped and we were just dating then and then fast forward a couple years, we were with our son in the car and I didn't stop. Do you remember this? You really look like you cut her over the one we were on Monterey road, no no different, one different, one different one.

Jimmy: 3:31

Um, and I said we were on 101 no, excuse me, we were on 85. I think we're going to santa cruz to visit your dad and go to the beach and I didn't stop. And it was like one of the first times I didn't really stop at a traffic accident when we were together. And you kind of looked at me side eye like you're not gonna stop and I was like one of the first times I didn't really stop at a traffic accident when we were together. And you kind of looked at me side-eyed like you're not going to stop and I was like, nah, I was like they have it. And then you're like, but you always stop. And then I was like, yeah, but I have you and the kid with us today.

Jimmy: 3:59

And you looked at me and was like what do you mean by that? And I said, well, you know, I got you. I gotta worry about you, I gotta worry about everybody else and I gotta worry about myself and I gotta worry about the kid. And you said you didn't worry about me, like you kind of trapped me without like thinking that. Do you remember the story now?

Jenny: 4:18

I don't, I don't at all never forget it.

Jimmy: 4:22

And I said it was like I was like I wasn't trying not to not thinking about you, but you're. I was like you're a grown ass woman, you can stay in the car or run away or something like that, but the baby couldn't, you know. So that's where my head was at and that's just kind of me using our algorithm of me, my team, my family, my equipment, you know, then the patient, and then everybody else afterwards, my equipment, you know, then the patient and then everybody else afterwards, and I kind of always loosely tell that story in the class and it, you know, it's a couple of chuckles, cause, you know, cause it's funny, I didn't think of it that way, but you definitely did. And yeah, I'm glad you don't remember it, but I guess I messed up, cause I brought it back up.

Jenny: 5:04

No Well, you don't usually stop. I mean most of the time.

Jimmy: 5:09

Yeah, not anymore.

Jenny: 5:10

There's not any reason to, but we have called 911 a few times.

Jimmy: 5:15

Yeah, yeah, and it's funny because we talked about when to call 911. And we talked about that Monterey incident road on the fire with Megan in the last podcast and I would love to hear your side of that story right now Because I want to hear what you have to say, like how do you think that call went?

Jenny: 5:39

What do you mean? Like I thought it went great, it was super easy, like we called we weren't even on the phone for that long, told them where it was and what happened, and I didn't feel like that was a situation where we should stop. It was definitely a situation to notify 9-1-1 and and walk away. It was, it was night, it was dark, all that kind of stuff. I was not expecting to stop, but I'm I'm also like one of the first people to say, oh, there's something going on. I'm just going to call because, especially when I'm by myself, I can't stop or I won't stop or I'm going somewhere. But I do want to facilitate help for somebody who might be in a bad situation.

Jimmy: 6:22

Yeah, no, awesome, we definitely remember that different Like most things.

Jenny: 6:28

Why Were you ready to stop?

Jimmy: 6:29

I definitely would have stopped if we weren't having a great conversation and missed kind of the start of it Because remember we kept driving and the part I brought up was pull over and tell people where you're at, because we were driving and remember I kept telling the 911 operator we drove away from it. It's close to this intersection and I couldn't give her any more information.

Jenny: 6:53

But because it wasn't, because it was on the other side of the train tracks, like right. It was at the intersection but it wasn't.

Jimmy: 6:59

Yeah, but we were driving and I just didn't do a good job.

Jenny: 7:03

I felt like giving location right, like we teach, but your standard of how to give a location versus, like, my layman's standard of how to give a location is completely different, so from my point of view, you did great.

Jimmy: 7:16

Right, right, fair. See, this is why I wanted to talk about this right now. I'm trying to reiterate this Right and back to safety. If I would have stopped, I have no idea what I would have done. You know, full disclosure. We were in the wife's car and we don't even have a fire extinguisher in that car, you know, and uh, there's not much I could have done or would have done, really, because it was a pretty good fire. Now, with that being said, uh, jenny, I don't know how she came up with this in her notes. We we talked about this for a while ago and we came up with the idea for the podcast and podcast ideas. She brought up a story when I was working in the know at the recycling plant and talking about scene safety, and I guess I'll just jump into that story. So I'm working in South Fresno County as a volunteer for a firefighting company. I was on air.

Jimmy: 8:22

Quote on duty that day and I'd been working a little while on ambulances and stuff like that, I was going to the fire academy and I kind of felt like I needed to prove myself a little bit. You know, I was I think maybe I was 21 at the point, I don't know Pretty young, pretty dumb, had a lot of arrogance to me. So we get the call out and come to find out. It's a pretty common spot for people to have medical calls because of the heat and things like that and just general shenanigans that would happen at this place. Come to find out later. So we show up. We're the first ones there. Per usual, the engine gets there first. Fresno fire engine is right behind us because it's an area that both engines fire engines kind of cover their territory, just in case Because it's outskirts South Fresno, like I said, and person having a seizure actively seizing I don't know what comes over me.

Jimmy: 9:27

I jump off the fire engine, I go into my Baywatch, slow motion, run down the beach. You know, back when I had hair flowing, you know the whole bit's happening in my mind I kneeled down and I started checking the patient. You know I didn't kick the person, so to speak, but I got down next to them. I was shaking their shoulder, yelling in their ear like we trained to do, and I leaned over the person right like in the movie. Don't lean over me, you know, it's a great, great movie. Quote good life lesson. I leaned over the person with both hands and again, I'm all riled up, you know, wanting to make a good impression, and I'm screaming in this person's ear wake up, hello, can you hear me, hello, screaming in this person's ear.

Jimmy: 10:17

Wake up, hello, can you hear me, hello. And the man wakes up, looks at my ugly mug and it goes to push me away and has another seizure and knocks me out. I've only been knocked out twice in my life and it's impressive if you know how many head concussions I've had or head injuries I've had. I've only been knocked out twice. And I wake up and I'm looking around and there's a free-for-all for the cans from the man who had fallen in first. He's having a seizure. I've been knocked out for a couple seconds and the guys are dragging the homeless man over into the shade to sit him up because the ambulance hasn't gotten there yet and I have a firefighter standing over me going are you okay? Because that looked like that hurt. I go, yeah, that hurt man. He's like what, are you good? And I was like I think I'm good and he goes cool, he goes, don't ever do that again. And he tells me the guy's name and he had been like a frequent flyer, like they knew this guy, and he was actually having a seizure because he was detoxing from not drinking and apparently what the guy would do is. He would drink all day while collecting cans and then go the next morning, turn his cans in and then buy a couple of tall boys with those recyclables and he would have seizures a couple of times during the day. So all the guys knew him but me being the new boot.

Jimmy: 11:48

I got there, ricky rescued out and took a left hook to the jaw. Um, so, seeing safety, seeing safety, seeing safety. Yeah, not my best moment and it really stinks because I didn't learn my lesson from that, because it happened again when I was in the Nevada City area working up north. A little lady I was trying to get her attention same scenario had a seizure and if you seen me in class, you know I'm a large human and this is a small grandma, very, you know, petite, elderly lady and I'm trying to be nice to her and you know, wake her up and she wakes up. And this time, instead of the left hook, I got the palm thrust to the nose and it busted my nose and popped my lip pretty good. And I woke up to the guys carrying her out on the gurney because I was out for a while and they had all stepped over me. I got called ducky for about six months or so, because I had a big, huge lip like a duck bill. Yeah, so safety first team Safety first.

Jenny: 13:01

So what should you have done differently?

Jimmy: 13:04

Well, I should have never leaned over all the way with both hands. One hand on the shoulder, keep that one hand on the shoulder. We always preach in class and just slow down a little bit, not get so close. Yeah, yeah, you also have that burning. Look on your face. You want to ask me some more questions or make fun of me I can't tell which one sometimes.

Jenny: 13:23

No, of course I have more questions. So my question is for the regular student in our classes, the layperson, someone like me, mom, whoever, when should we stop versus when should we not stop versus when should we call 911?

Jimmy: 13:41

That's a good question. Lots of layers there, I think. Any time your spidey senses kick in, you know your hair on your hand, your hair on your arm sticks up you should always, you know, make sure you're safe, always call 911. You know it's on your hand, your hair on your arm sticks up, you should always, you know, make sure you're safe, always call 911. You know it's never going to hurt. The guys are just sitting around, you know. You know the stereotype is they're always sitting around just cooking chili, watching their fire engine, watching TV. You know which is not true. Go back and listen to our stories from the Firehouse podcast. There's always shenanigans I think we're not getting into, but no I always call 911.

Jimmy: 14:25

It's never a bad thing not to and try not to respond with emotion. I know as a parent it's super hard. Even as a trained parent, it's super hard not to respond with emotion. You know, especially one of our kids. You know me, I always want to jump in and help as fast as I can. I don't always think about it, you know. All right, Thanks for listening to. Life and Safety with Jimmy and Jenny this time. All right, team, be safe.