First 2,000 Rescues: Victim Condition

Data from the first 2,000 recorded rescues (you read that right) has been collected, calculated, and collated for all you nerds.

Data Drop.....Victim Condition v Survival Rate.

If you've been doing this job long enough, you've probably come to the realization that at times, life can be incredibly resilient. The data indicates that victims have survived 56% of the recorded rescues when they were unconscious upon removal (when CPR was not performed), 41% of the time they had severe burns (when CPR was not performed), and 31% of the time when they were in cardiac arrest at some point in their rescue, treatment, or transport. A 31% survival rate for prehospital cardiac arrest is incredibly high, and for a type of traumatic arrest this is simply off the charts.

For clarification, survival in this context means that the victim was alive as of the most current information when the survey was filled out. At the risk of repeating ourselves, these data demonstrate that we should not be so quick to write off people or areas of the building, for even in the most hostile of environments, with severe injuries, life can find a way to survive. Rather, if we can occupy the space, we should…it is literally our prime directive. Like in all things, the more we learn about something, the more questions arise.

• Is a dedicated EMS unit dispatched to all potential fires?
• Where does our EMS stage at a fire, and with what equipment?
• Do we ever incorporate victim treatment into our fire scenarios?
• Etc.,etc.

Search Culture
​31% survival rate when our victims are being pulled out of a fire in cardiac arrest. The AHA states that the national average survival rate is 10% in the outside of hospital setting.

What’s the TIME?      CPR alive vs deceased
- Air brake to locating these civilians
- Locating them to bring rescued

We need to compare the above times to the 69% of victims that did not survive. Was TIME a factor? For every minute in cardiac arrest, their survival chances decrease by 10%.
What are we doing to decrease the TIME to the interior?
​
- Do you, your crew or department have a mask up TIME standard that supports rescues? If not, we have work to do