Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-18
FIRE RESCUE SQUAD
ANXIOUS FOR CALLS
Quicker, Better Service Than
Ambulances Give Pledged
by Chief Watson.

in case Of an accident is to run to q
Telephone and franticaaly, call for an
Ambulance.
If Washington's fire department did
not have well equipped and highly
trained rescue squad, ready to meet al.
most any emergency at moment e
notice. day or night. that probably
would be the proper thing to do. The
advice OF Fire Chief George S. Wat.
son. however, is to call the rescue
| squad. Such a caIl also will bring an
ambulance. but the chances are ten
4 to one, according to the fire chief.
that the rescue squad will arrive long
i before the ambulance. 1t Is a mat
ter of common knowledge that In
many accident cases, the element Of
time is an important factor in saving
q life.
The men who make up the rescue
squad have been thoroughly trained
in first aid work by Commodore w.
E. Longfellow, associate national di.
rector of life saving service of the Ma
tional Red Cross. Their knowledge
of firemanic work is equally as com.
prehensive. As result there are
exceedingly few obstacles in the fire
| fighting and life saving fields that
these men cannot overcome, and do
It with the knowledge and efficiency
Of an expert.
Fine Record Established.
The records of the squad in its
brief history bear mute. but con-
elusive evidence of the ability of these
men, and their intrepidity in face Of
difficult hazards. Their motto seems
IN 11Ea. fes III 49, n
human life, we will do it. .
As co-ordinated unit Of the regu.
lar fire lighting service the rescue
squad has been of inestimable value.
Its humanitarian work in accident
cases has been retarded. however,
either because of the lack of knowl-
edge on the part of the public that it
exists, or the natural impulse to tele-
! phone for an ambulance when human
| suffering is involved.
Just q few days ago, the rescue
squad responded to call to resusci-
| tate a boy whose apparently lifeless
| body had been dragged from a bath
ing pool. The body had been out of
the water. fully As minutes before the
| squad was summoned. Fire Chief
Watson is confident that this boys
life may have been saved had the
II
drowning. Only once before the res
cue squad was summoned on drown
| ing case; like the other, the message
was not sent until all other attempts
at resuscitation had failed. Again it
was too late.
Response in Traffic Cases.
The records show, however, that
in the accident cases involving traf-
fic collisions as well as injuries re-
sufing from fires. the rescue squad
has done effective first aid work,
which not only relieved the suffer
ing of the victims but undoubtedly
aided in saving the lives OF those
who had beer seriously injured.
Members of the squad are required
to pass difficult examinations before
being qualified to render first aid.
Here Is one Of the problems that
the squad answered in recent ex-
animation which they passed with an
average above so per cent.
Returning from a fire. a piece OF
apparatus is i'm a collision with q
taxicab, containing a driver and two
passengers. The cab Is overturned
and partly demolished. The driver
is knocked into the gutter with q
broken leg Gbelow the kneel One OF
the passengers. a woman, has a squirt
ing wound over the right eye and
cannot use her left hand. The man
passenger has a severe bleeding from
the palm of his right hand from wind
shield glass and complains OF pains
in his right knee. In trying to avoid
the collision the fire truck collided
with a i1ydrant breaking 1t of and
the taxi driver has been laying one
and q half minutes in the path OF the
flood before being extricated. What
would you do?"
Meeting Chief Demands First.
No matter who had to face this
problem there would be many ele-
ments to consider and in first aid the
thing to do is to treat those persons
first whose condition is so serious
that a few minutes delay might mean
death The solutions offered by sew
eral members OF the rescue squad are
interesting. The answer considered
most meritorious follows:
"The driver Of the taxicab would
have Strengthened out, send for doc
tors and ambulance and treat Tor
shock and after had stopped severe
bleeding of other injured would put
his leg in q splint ready for transpor-
tation
"The woman passenger would be
a,lv annears the most dangerous.
= would mt 3. compress on the wound
: "a n this wo,IId not stop bleeding
nc, ryo,,,d NIT nressure on artery Ia
front ~ ear and then if could not
detarroine the extent az injury TO
hand. would put same In splint ond
treat her for shock. She would be
covered I'M. ready for TRANSPORTATION.
~ I'M, ~ 1890 .vvn,Iid NIT =
$500 -, "a direct,v to the wound and
~ I,,,,cIrIa banae-e 20 Eaay, tine
I.s.,S ~ $500 ana iT 7 co,,lS net data,.
..;ra az axta,t - iri,,rv - Iryea
. .r,,,,I .re.t 4be same a. fract,sra and