In an emergency or large-scale disaster, our local first responders will be overwhelmed by calls. There won’t be enough of them to respond, and, in any case, roads might be damaged or blocked, keeping them from getting to you. This means that your household members and neighbors will be relying on you to help them with medical care.
To keep people alive until they can get to definitive care, you need basic life-saving supplies and you need to know how to use them.
Training
The most important first aid preparation is training. Medical tools and supplies serve little purpose if you don’t know how to use them.
At a minimum, take two key life-saving classes: Stop the Bleed and CPR/AED. Stop the Bleed will show you how to save a life by applying a tourniquet, pressure, and/or an appropriate dressing to stop a dangerous arterial or venous bleed. CPR/AED will train you how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation effectively and how to use an automated external defibrillator; these are located in 94 places throughout the island (see map at https://aedviewer.pulsepoint.org/?agency_id=18D02).
Both Stop the Bleed and CPR/AED classes are regularly offered free of charge by the Bainbridge Island Fire Department through a partnership with the city and Bainbridge Prepares. You can also find classes elsewhere in Kitsap and even online. Expect the classes to last about an hour or two each.
If you have the time, consider taking a first aid class or a more advanced version like a Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder class. Despite the name, these classes are also useful in non-wilderness settings when medical care can’t reach you right away.
First Aid Kit
Assemble a first aid kit to meet your training and skills or buy a pre-made kit. If you’re buying a kit, shop carefully to make sure that you’re getting enough of what you need and not paying for useless items. In most cases, you will need to augment pre-made kits with greater quantities of important items.
Consider making or getting kits for your home, for your vehicles, and to carry in a backpack or on a bike. When building your kits, think about the purpose of each kit to help you decide what to include in it. For example, a kit for biking or backpacking should have supplies for treating sprains or road rash. A kit in your vehicle should include supplies to help you stop bleeding and include a CPR mask.
You should also think about the number of people who might be relying on the kit’s supplies. Don’t forget first aid items for pets, too. Make sure to have backup supplies of prescription medications on hand. Your physician should be able to help you do this.
What items should your kits contain? Bainbridge Prepares offers lists of items for a basic kit and an advanced kit. Find them at https://bainbridgeprepares.org/gear.
Disaster Hubs
Your first aid help during the first 24 hours or so after a disaster could be crucial for someone you know. After that, if first responders still can’t get to you, you will want to transport the injured from your neighborhood to the closest disaster hub. Once volunteers are able to staff them post-disaster, these 13 hubs will offer limited, gap-filling medical care. If injured people require a higher level of care, they will then be transported from the hubs to the island’s Disaster Medical Center.
Find out which is the disaster hub closest to where you live: Bloedel Reserve, Seabold Methodist Church, Island School, Bainbridge Island Recreation Center, Rolling Bay Presbyterian, Battle Point Park, Island Center Hall, Sakai Middle School, Strawberry Hill Park, Bethany Lutheran, the Senior Center/Rowing Center, Hyla Middle School, and Fort Ward Community Hall.
Sarah Lane is the community outreach team lead for Bainbridge Prepares.
