[at-l] Cellphones Not Required

[readyhiker@yahoo.com (Sanne aka Ready)]

>>There was a time when you could take kids off out of contact for weeks -- as
I did.  One would not have been libel for not providing/exercising due care,
simply because you were out of contact, were a medical emergency to arise.
However, today our expectation as a nation is the "911 mentality."  Don't
believe me?  Take a Red Cross 1st Aid course, today.  Better yet, do some
library research on the content of a standard Red Cross 1st Aid course of 50
years ago vs. today.  Were I to make that trip w/o communications today, I
would not be exercising due care.>>

This makes a good point. That is, there IS an assumption of availability of
assistance  via 911 in our world today. How much this is an assumption will
surely be played out as we observe litigation activity in the future.  

However, I have a different take on the Red Cross example provided above.
I'm  not at all convinced that it can be successfully invoked to support a claim 
that we have a "911 mentality"  when it comes to engaging in remote activities.
The Red Cross DOES distinguish between various populations and settings for its
course offerings, a product of our changing times and needs. That  very fact 
should tend to weaken any notion that a "911 scenario fits all."

A  closer look shows that the most typical attendee of a Red Cross course is a
lay person with little or no medical or rescue experience/training. An 
assumption with these courses is that the potential first aider is at home/at 
work/near a phone and therefore IS within the reach of 911 assistance.  

Also, comparing courses of 50 years ago with courses today is not especially  valid.
50 Years ago we didn't have a well defined, virtually universal EMS system. 
Our modern EMS system only really came to fruition in the 70's with the 1972 Highway
Safety Act. Our EMS system is truly still in its infancy, and is not universally strong/well
defined from one community to another! Before EMS became as established as it is 
today, folks were largely left to their own devices in an emergency situation. The Red 
Cross sought to teach what it could in the hopes that doing SOMETHING would be better
than doing nothing for lack of knowledge. As our EMS system evolved (indeed, even
as our rescue *techniques* and teaching efficacy evolved), so too did the ARC courses. 
Today, course offerings are much more specialized for various populations.
 
The ARC courses designed for the lay population take into consideration that 
the most common scenario likely to occur includes providing assistance for 
persons known to a given potential first aider, ie, a family member, co-worker, 
friend, etc.   Virtually gone is the focus upon coming to assistance of the "stranger 
on the street." (For persons likely to provide that type of care, the Red Cross offers 
separate courses  -- designed for persons in that rescue level, EMTs, Camp 
staff, Coaches, Nurses, LifeGuards, -- even babysitters and Child Care Providers!,
There are a number of courses, depending on a person's situation, so I won't 
go into detail here.)  

I will comment on one course, however as it relates specifically to us as a
hiking community....The Red Cross offers a course and module for persons likely 
to  be in remote situations, specifically :  the "Responding to Emergencies" course
with the "When Help is Delayed" module. Camp Health Officers and other camp
staff  (the most identifiable clients for the course) take this course. It is the one 
I'd recommend to any hiker who can't otherwise find a Wilderness First Aid or 
Wilderness First Responder course.  Most Red Cross chapters offer this course in
the late spring, when camps are preparing for the summer season. 

Ready

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! 
http://auctions.yahoo.com