Field Safety 101 by Cattails Environmental, LLC

An Avoidable Danger of Fieldwork: Dehydration

8/16/2016

Field season can be a very busy and demanding time of the year for field biologists. One of the potential afflictions that can occur is heat illness. Heat illness can come in several forms and it is important for everyone to recognize the symptoms in yourself (and others), along with knowing how to prevent heat-related illnesses.

Heat illness has three degrees of severity: heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke (a serious and deadly medical emergency needing immediate medical attention).

The cause of heat illness is prolonged exposure to high temperatures and/or doing strenuous activity in hot weather. Your body loses its ability to control the core temperature by sweating. Other causes that contribute to heat illness are dehydration, drinking alcohol, effects of certain medications, and sunburn.

Dehydration is one cause of heat illness that all field biologists should avoid, and the signs of dehyration are easy to spot in yourself. Here are nine warning signs of dehydration.

Your best defense is prevention.

Consume fluids before, during and after your work. Preferably water or electrolyte sports drink.
Take breaks to cool off and provide time to rehydrate, if the day is especially hot.
Wear proper clothing: light-colored, lightweight, and loose-fitting.
Acclimatize yourself to hot weather as much as possible early in the summer.
Share with others how you are feeling so you can get the rest, fluid, and medical attention you might need.

This is also a team effort. Properly monitor those you work with by having open discussions of how everyone is feeling. Field team leaders should be asking direct questions to assess if team members are taking care of themselves to help prevent an incident in the field. Machismo has no place in a properly working field team.

Stay safe out there!

-JMB

Sources: emedicinehealth.com, kendrickfincher.org, U.S. Centers for Disease Control

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The Practice of Wilderness First Aid (WFA)...

2/29/2016

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Source: NOLS WMI Pocket Guide PAS triangle. Use as a reference only. Not a substitution for any training or first aid certification course.

This February I was fortunate to be able to take a Wilderness First Aid course sponsored by the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. It was taught by Amy Shambarger and Ben Tettlebaum. I thought I would share a bit about what I learned in this blog.

The first basic step to wilderness first aid is called the Patient Assessment System (PAS), which is used to decide if the injured can STAY & PLAY or LOAD & GO (quick or slow), and is symbolized by a triangle where you work your way down the image taking the different steps summarized.

Dr. Sarah Hammonds of Chaetura, LLC, one of my field work collaborators.**

You will note the use of lots acronyms throughout the system and course which are used to help summarize lots of information in a small space and assist your learning. For instance, MOI stands for Mechanism Of Injury; BSI means Body Substance Isolation [WEAR GLOVES!]; CSM stands for Circulation, Sensation and Motion; LOR means Level Of Responsiveness; SCTM stands for Skin Color, Temperature and Moisture. When finding out the patient history, you use the acronym SAMPLE (after noting chief complaint and age of patient) which stands for Symptoms (in addition to chief complaint), Allergies, Medications, Pertinent medical history, Last fluid/food intake/output, and Events (story before and during the event).

As Mr. Tettlebaum stressed, every person deserves to be given all the steps of the Patient Assessment System. Using the PAS will help you be thorough in your assessment. Regardless of the possibly apparent simplicity of an injury, working through all the questions leaves no stone unturned and helps remove personal hesitation in asking (or answering) all the questions needed for the best diagnosis possible (given the absence of a doctor or an emergency medical technician).

Part of the course material was a WFA Pocket Guide which is a small cheat sheet that lists all the different aspects to consider and questions to ask the patient to help determine the next steps to take in their care. I decided to put this pocket guide in my all-weather zippered folder where I keep my state scientific collection permits (required to be on my person at all times while I am doing biological field work), and is always in my field bag.

Lastly, I would highly recommend taking this course from NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute*. I was very impressed with the teachers’ professionalism and use of time. The practice scenarios were most helpful in learning the information and mimicked the possible situations you might encounter in the back country. One thing I had not considered when in a scenario (real or practiced) is the influence of group dynamics on a situation. Very interesting to witness, but fodder for another day!

Stay safe out there!

-JMB

*Just FYI, the cost was $240 for a 2-day course through the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. At the end, you are considered Wilderness First Aid certified and NOLS WMI recommends you re-certify every two years. I am thinking of re-certifying on a 3-year cycle though due to the costs and plan to review the material annually as part of my pre-field season preparations.

**This was our practice splint for a broken arm using a clip board, field safety vest, and some American Burying Beetle field tape, along with a jacket for the arm sling.

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Dogs “In The Field” – How To Handle Aggressive Dogs…

10/1/2015

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As is my usual custom (and nature), I have been contemplating a project from this past summer near Coffeyville, KS - evaluating if we could have made ourselves any safer with knowledge or equipment. We had ran into an unleashed, rather aggressive, barking dog within our project area and I was not sure we handled the situation correctly. I decided to write a short blog summarizing what to do when you encounter an aggressive, unleashed dog while out working “in the field.”

According to the “dog-whisperer” (Cesar Millan), one of the most important things to remember when confronted by an aggressive dog is to stay calm. Remain calm and in control. Make yourself rigid and motionless. Avoid direct eye contact, but keep the dog in your peripheral vision. DO NOT try to run way which can awaken the dog’s prey instinct to chase.

Place some kind of field equipment (perhaps your field bag) in front of yourself to make you appear bigger and to create a barrier between yourself and the dog. Use a disposable object (jacket or otherwise) as a distraction, so if a dog comes at you, the dog will bite the object, instead of you.

Knowing the body language signs that signal an imminent attack can help you block the dog before they strike. Signs to watch for are tension in the body (straight and stiff with head, shoulders and hips aligned), raised hackles, and ears flat against the head. Growling, snarling, and baring teeth are obvious signs of aggression.

When you encounter an aggressive dog, leave the area slowly (backing away) and without sudden movements.

If you are attacked, remember to protect your face, chest and throat while keeping your hands in fists to protect your fingers. The safest place to be bitten is in a shin or forearm; a bite to the thigh can cause fatal bleeding. While trying to defend yourself, hit or kick the dog in the throat, nose, and back of the head (not the top where the skull is thickest). Another suggestion is to use your weight to your advantage by bearing down on the animal using the hard points of your knees or elbows. Dogs can bite, but they can’t wrestle.

We did met the dog's owner eventually and we talked to him, asking specifically if his dog bit. He gave us a mediocre response about the dog biting - “not usually” [What does that mean!!]. Looking back, I think we could have asked the dog owner to leash his dog for the next day or two, while we were working in the area. He had another unleashed dog that did not treat us the same way and was no problem.

This specific field day, I did not have my usual hiking stick with me, which is one suggestion for increasing your "space" when approached by an aggressive dog. Another thing we could carry is pepper spray, but you have to make sure it gets right in their face (AND NOT YOURS) - so a bit risky to use and we certainly did not have an escalation to that level this time.

Stay safe out there!

-JMB

August 2016 Update: As the American burying beetle season is drawing to a close this summer, I have added another strategy for dog encounters in the field. I now carry doggy treats in my field bag in the hopes of winning friends and influencing mammals.

May 2017 Update: After visiting with Mr. Scott of Sit Means Sit of Northwest Arkansas, I have several additional stratagies for dealing with aggressive, barking dogs on project sites. He suggested carrying a can of compressed air OR carrying one of the taser stun guns (kind that does NOT shoot out dart-like electrodes). The sound of the air can or taser can startle the dog and gets its attention. Of course, the stun gun could be used as protection if the dog decided to attack.

Sources:
http://www.wikihow.com/Handle-a-Dog-Attack
http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/biting/When-Dogs-Attack
http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/aggression/when-several-dogs-attack

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Fieldwork First Aid: When the Worst Happens...

9/8/2015

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No one wakes up in the morning and thinks - "I'm going to trip and break my arm today", or "I think I'll see if I can get bitten by a poisonous snake today"...

When you are out in remote areas by yourself or a select few, forethought needs to be given to how you will handle medical emergencies that might be encountered. Part of what I, along with my collaborative working partners, did to prepare for our fieldwork was to take a first aid class taught by a Red Cross instructor. We found someone to accommodate our schedule and took the First Aid CPR AED course in one night. The instructor was an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and tailored the course to our needs, so we received instruction about more than just basic first aid. We thought through as many possible disasters we could encounter out in the field, in remote areas, and developed strategies on how to cope with each possible challenge. Some of the potential challenges we covered were snake bites, broken limbs, gunshot wounds, severe allergic reactions, and severe bleeding.

The first line of action is to ALWAYS call 911. Yet, in remote areas, phones do not always work. If this happens during any SEVERE and LIFE-THREATENING emergency (and the injured can be moved), the general course of action we decided upon was to administer first aid techniques while moving the injured TOWARD access to phone services and experienced medical help (hospital or EMTs, if the 911 call goes through). This entails a group effort with one person driving and others administering first aid.

As a group, we also developed a Safety Plan, similar to what you would find for a university campus fieldwork safety protocol (which is where I looked to develop the content of our group's safety plan). Included in our safety plan is each individual's contact information (spouses and parents), any known allergies, medications, doctor information, and medical insurance information. A copy of the safety plan is kept in each person's Field Emergency Kit (as pictured above). The contents of Cattails Environmental's Field Emergency First Aid Kit also ranges from the usual household items (hydrogen peroxide, Band-Aids, Moleskin) to the more serious items like tourniquets and splints.

Medical emergencies can occur to anyone, but with some planning, long-lasting and negative outcomes can be avoided.

- JMB

Post Script: There is another first aid course that would be appropriate for those who work in rural and backwood areas. Wilderness First Aid (WFA) is usually taught over 2-3 days and costs $275 (Fall 2017 prices).

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﻿An Avoidable Danger of Fieldwork: Dehydration

The Practice of Wilderness First Aid (WFA)...

Dogs “In The Field” – How To Handle Aggressive Dogs…

Fieldwork First Aid: When the Worst Happens...

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An Avoidable Danger of Fieldwork: Dehydration