Life & Safety with Jimmy Rios
Welcome to Life & Safety with Jimmy Rios! Get ready to dive into a world where safety meets storytelling! Drawing from his rich background as a former firefighter, EMT and safety expert, Jimmy brings you straight into the heart of safety and emergency preparedness. Episodes feature easy-to-understand tips, real-life stories, and interviews with experts, all designed to help you protect yourself, your business, and those you care about.
Whether it's advice on navigating everyday safety challenges or insights into the latest in health and safety trends, let this podcast educate and entertain you. Join Jimmy and level-up your safety knowledge with engaging discussions that could one day save a life.
Life & Safety with Jimmy Rios
Don't Let Your 4th of July Go Up in Smoke!
What if your favorite summer holiday could be both fun and safe? On this episode of the Life and Safety Podcast, Megan and I take a trip down memory lane reminiscing about our fondest 4th of July moments. From my unparalleled experiences of watching fireworks over Lake Tahoe to Megan's lively neighborhood parades, we share what makes this holiday special for us. But we also don't shy away from discussing the serious side of things, including the safety hazards that accompany the celebrations.
You'll hear firsthand accounts of tragic firework accidents that I've encountered during my time as a firefighter. Megan and I also go over essential first aid tips, such as the proper use of tourniquets and direct pressure techniques for firework-related injuries. This episode is a must-listen for both 4th of July enthusiasts and those who prioritize safety above all. Whether you're looking to relive some holiday nostalgia or gain crucial safety insights, we have you covered.
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.
What's happening. It's your boy, jimmy, with Megan, with another episode of the Life and Safety Podcast, and it's we're going to talk about my favorite holiday, 4th of July. So 4th of July has always been my favorite holiday because just it's the middle of summer. I've always been able to have this carefree, fun weekend until I had kids and growing up in Lake Tahoe. It was always just really cool because the town was always buzzed, there was always lots of people there, the beaches were full, and just watching fireworks over the lake has just always been one of my most favorite things to do. So that's why I like fourth of july and we'll talk about some safety stuff and things like that here in a second uh, because it's always been a very interesting response time for fourth of july. So what's your favorite holiday makes?
Megan:I like halloween that makes sense.
Jimmy:What are your thoughts of fourth of july? Do you enjoy it, hate it?
Megan:not really a big fan um, I'm pretty neutral on it. It's um's. Growing up there was always a big party like block party, but with the whole neighborhood there was always a parade and I almost always found some way to weasel my way in on the parade, whether it be on the school float or if a parent's friends, or if, uh, parents, friends or friends, parents were doing something. Be like can I ride. So that was fun fun.
Jimmy:That's rad, you know. So it's always a good time. But, you know, like things, within the kind of fun, there's always the bad. People always try to take it to that degree where they shouldn't be at or do something. One of my first memories of things going wrong, so to speak, with 4th of July stuff was, actually, I was fighting fire. Actually, uh, I was fighting fire and I heard about a young lady who had a. She was at a city park and one of the mortars, the things that launched the fireworks fell and it launched the firework into the young lady's lap, basically blew her leg off. And I was wondering, like you know what, what? If right, like what would I have done or what could I have done? And it was just really interesting because if, obviously, the fire department and everybody was there really quick it's this big city, you know event and they responded and really did a great job. Unfortunately, the other lady lost her leg, you know. So I was always kind of like I still to this day. I always think about what would happen if one of those things fell over. And I actually saw one. Uh, it was floating, not at Lake Tahoe but a different lake, and the waters fell over Cause somebody flew by it on a speedboat and the wake messed it up while they were setting it up and one of them went off and the whole thing caught on fire and that was actually not working. But I knew the guys that were working and I watched them pull a hose and fight that fire. It was really interesting and I was like man, would I have fought that fire? I think I would have just let it go up because it'd be really cool to watch.
Jimmy:I love fireworks. I love fireworks. Uh, you know. So there's a famous football player out there. I'm not gonna say his name, but he was holding on to a firework firecracker and the firecracker went off and blew a couple of his fingers off, which is a very common issue with fire. With fireworks, people always try to hold on to them. Never, ever, hold on to fireworks with a fist, like you know. Just let them live on the ground. Don't do that. But if you do get your fingers blown off or something like that, you know how would you treat it? So direct pressure, if you could. If the fingers are kind of mangled and kind of opened up and kind of all over the place, then you would want to maybe put a tourniquet on, even if you had one. Direct pressure may not be the best thing, depending on how much of the fingers and the hands are kind of blown apart, because where do you hold it?
Megan:Yeah.
Jimmy:Right, so you may need to just kind of wrap, as best you can, a lot of pressure bandages, uh, maybe indirect pressure, maybe like an artery, something like that, like a pressure point. It's old school, but it's going to be a really dynamic situation if you don't have a tourniquet. A tourniquet's gonna be the best bet. What are your thoughts on that?
Megan:I mean, yeah, um, I agree, uh, dynamic situation. I guess it really just kind of depends on what exactly the injury is. Um, what about if the person's finger gets fully?
Jimmy:blown off. Well, the person's gonna end up with a pretty cool nickname, um, like stumpy or lefty or something like that. That's pretty cool, uh, uh. But take that blown appendage off, figure, whatever it is, wrap it up loosely and then put that on ice and then transport that with the patient and hopefully they can reattach it, depending, if it's not too bad.
Megan:What do you mean by wrap it up with?
Jimmy:like Paper towels, gauze, something.
Megan:But definitely don't Beach towel t-shirt. Definitely don't put it directly on the ice.
Jimmy:Definitely do not do that. That'll freeze the nerve endings and stuff like that and give it frostbite. Then it makes it really hard to reattach. You know, really worst case scenario if somebody catches on fire. You know let's do nylon board shorts and things like that. They're not great. So stop, drop and roll right, cover your face, keep rolling around until the fire goes out. And then what's the best way to treat a burn in their bag? So right, I mean, at that point we have the traits of burns and you've got to worry about some, you know, probably sensitive areas.
Megan:Treating a burn. I mean, best thing to do is get them call 911 and get them, you know, to the hospital. It depends on the severity and how much of their body is burned and where on their body is burned. I mean, I guess the rule of nines is a really complicated way of thinking about it, but there's this concept. The rule of nines is each body part you can break it into like 9% of your body. So your torso, the front is 18%, the back is 18%, the arms is 9% each and the legs are 18% each and the head is 9% and then genitals are 1% and I think that adds up to 100, perhaps Check my math or don't, probably don't. That was questionable math, but so, depending on how much of the area is burned and what the level is, but if you know they're caught on fire, that's going to be bad and you're going to want to get them to the hospital.
Megan:Don't ever put ice directly on a burn and if it's a small enough area that you can have it under cool, like continuously flowing cool water, that's gonna be your best bet. And don't stick like paper towels and other type of things on it if possible, because that can get stuck to the wound. So if you have like burn pads, um, like specifically made to go on burns, that's going to be your best case scenario, because they're designed not to stick to the wound. Um, another big issue with burns is that, uh, your skin is technically an organ it's your biggest organ and one of its big jobs is heat retention and keeping your body at the right temperature. And so if a lot of your skin is damaged, you're not going to be able to regulate your temperature very well.
Megan:So keep that person. I know it's counterintuitive, but keep them warm under an emergency blanket, if possible. Keep them warm, you know, under an emergency blanket, if possible. Um, cause you don't want them to also get hypothermia, or you say you know something like that, while being burned badly, I'm sure I missed things, what? What else would you add to that ramble?
Jimmy:No good ramble, uh. Only thing I would add is, you know, cool, cool, cool it off, cool it off. And again, depending on how big the burn is, we need to protect them, keep them warm. There's a thing you could actually get too cold, so don't ice, so don't dump your coolers on them, right? So use the garden hose. You know, continuously flow water, nice and cool water, hopefully, unless you're out in the valley or something like that, where the water sits there and gets hot in the pipes and then loose dry, sterile dressing, if you can. T-shirts actually work pretty good, as long as it's a cotton T-shirt, right, nothing synthetic or anything like that, because it'll melt or hold in heat potentially. So be real careful with that. Other than that, just be safe, have fun with it. Enjoy the Fourth of July. Don't buy fireworks out of people's trunks. That's never a good idea and if you are going to do stuff like that, you know, have a fire extinguisher.
Megan:Yeah, that's a good one.
Jimmy:You know I'm a big fan of people if they have fireworks and they you know a lot of people they're still allowed to buy fireworks and shoot them off in certain areas. And if you do that, awesome. But to buy fireworks and shoot them off in certain areas, and if you do that, awesome. But take that firework and throw it in a bucket of water because you never know it can still ignite, so that works really good.
Megan:Oh, to add on to that, if you set off a firework and it does not go off, don't go sticking your face in front of it and looking down the barrel to see what's happening Just in a bucket of water personal experience there makes no but I've seen stories I follow, some pretty gross, for lack of better word um things on instagram, uh that you know show cases where things went horribly wrong and I've seen quite a few firework injuries.
Megan:That just don't look fun yeah, I was always too scared to deal with the big fireworks, I did my little sparklers or those little tiny things like the crackers yeah, the little pops pop them on the ground. That's about as far as I would go, because I don't want to incriminate myself.
Jimmy:I'm not going to talk more about that good idea. Pop them on the ground. That's about as far as I would go, Because I don't want to incriminate myself.
Megan:I'm not going to talk more about that.
Jimmy:Good idea, good idea. Let's just say that I've always been a big fan of big fireworks, mm-hmm. On that note, fire extinguishers, abc fire extinguisher it's a good time to use them. Fire extinguishers, abc fire extinguisher it's a good time to use them, to practice with them, and then you can always buy another one, just in case. Remember the PASS acronym Pull the pin, pull the pin, pull the pin, aim at the base, squeeze and sweep.
Jimmy:And I always tell people too, if you are going to have a little firework show at the house, bucket of water for old fireworks, fire extinguisher, just in case you get your hose out and flake it out and turn it on so it's ready to go. And especially if you have a nozzle on it. So if it does get on your house or lands on your house or your neighbor's house or something like that, you know somebody else's fireworks land on your house, you could put that out too. You know, uh, the first fourth of july we actually had in our house, when jenny and I moved in, the biggest, loudest firework improvised firework I've ever seen landed on our roof.
Megan:Improvised firework. What does that mean?
Jimmy:It looks like somebody taped a giant like I don't know if you can even really describe it. They taped it to a lawn stake, like one of those big green lawn stakes for like roses or something like that, and it was stuck in the ground and it shot off into the air and I heard it whistling and then nothing happened and I was like, well, that's kind of a weak firework. And then we had this huge, loud thud on the roof and I was like nothing just landed on our roof. Luckily we had a pretty new roof when we moved in and I got the hose, immediately, found it, saw it smoking with my flashlight and just sprayed a bunch of water on it and just doused it. And then I was able to get my ladder up and got it, threw it down and put it in a bucket of water.
Jimmy:It was pretty scary. I was like dang it, these damn kids. And lo and behold, two, two days later, the same kids. I couldn't prove that they shot the improvised one in the air, but my neighbors had caught them on other security cameras around their house and they caught them. They actually lit our uh neighbor on our corners shrubs on fire, oh my.
Megan:God, oh, fire bugs.
Jimmy:Yeah, they're just out there playing with fireworks, you know, just being little knuckleheads. And that was kind of a fun thing because I may or may not have fire hydrants at my house and it was right next to a fire hydrant. So I actually hooked up to the fire hydrant and used the big fire hose and put the shrubs out. And when the fire department got there, I was standing in my flip-flops and board shorts and t-shirt. You know, with this two-inch fire I was like I got it, we're good. And they were not happy with me. You see the fire hydrant and they're like what are you doing? And I was like I'm putting out the fire, big fire equals big water. And they were like, yeah, don't do that again. But then I gave them my secret handshake and showed them my decoder rig and we were all good. So have a safe, happy 4th of July. Thanks for joining us for another podcast and we'll talk soon.
