18-03-2008 09:08

Rich Wong

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

Hmmmm...... (make note to self for the NYC Regional)

Good Idea, a Button Trading Post (table).

Take one, leave one!

18-03-2008 09:44

Mark Pierce

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

I think it's great when the EMT table gets little or no use at an event. Glad they found something to do to keep themselves occupied.

18-03-2008 09:51

RoboMom

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

The EMT's at Chesapeake were fantastic. We were also fortunate that the number of times they were needed for emergencies can be counted on one hand. A miracle considering the size of this event.
Thanks for the photo Billfred!

18-03-2008 10:55

Billfred

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

Actually, to give credit where credit is due, the photo was taken by my girlfriend (and unofficially official team photographer) Melanie Griffin. I just supplied the camera.

One lesson we learned this time around with buttons: If you make three different button designs, people will want three different buttons. (For anyone wondering, there was the maroon-and-gold Capital Robotics button that matched the fronts of our shirts, the similarly-colored "The Standard Is Excellence" button that matched the backs of our shirts, and a relative few with the old star team logo. Oh, how I love being able to fiddle with vector art...

The other lesson we learned was to hide the button box--if we had left it at the edge of our pit as we did on Thursday, we would not have had any left come Saturday!

18-03-2008 12:41

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

I recall talking to one of the EMT's at SVR last year... He was telling me how normally he's on standby duty for concerts, so he gets to deal with all the people getting hurt in the mosh pits, stepped on, and so on. He was quite amazed at how safe we all were, and was very proud of us for it. I recall him saying how the largest thing he had to deal with all day was a small laceration.

About an hour later one of my team members fell off some stairs, and FUBAR'd his ankle... he was in a wheelchair the rest of the day.

18-03-2008 13:50

RoboMom

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

Hurray for the Safety Advisors, some of the hardest working Ambassadors in FIRST!

We did have an ankle injury due to the very spontaneous dance off (complete with backflips) while waiting for opening ceremonies on Sat. Lots of leeway granted there

20-03-2008 14:13

Kyle

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

As a professional EMT/ Fire Fighter I have worked standby for many events, concerts, every type of sports event and even a chess tournament. I have noticed at the FIRST events I have worked as an EMT and also as a student or volunteer at the competition FIRST is by far one of the safest events I have ever been to. With all the potential for injuries with the tools, machines and large amounts of people walking everywhere it would make sense to see some injures, but that is not the case at most events. I think that says a lot about the students and mentors from the teams learning the proper use of tools and how to act safe while at an event. Sure there are still lacerations and injuries related to falls but that is nothing compared to some of the events that I have been to with the same large groups of students.

I hope the button collecting tables will be the norm at most regionals so the EMT's can have some interaction, It gets really boring sometimes just sitting there having no idea whats going on.

Good luck to everyone

20-03-2008 16:17

Boydean

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

Oh awesome! Im going to try and the EMTs at Palmetto to do this. Im sure they would love it.

20-03-2008 16:22

wendymom

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

Everytime I see the name of this thread......it makes me think of our partners at the Florida Regional 1649......the EMSs

20-03-2008 18:18

Protronie

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

As a side note... many EMT's and FD's collect or trade patches ect...
Some teams might want to start collecting a patch from the fire department from each city they go to.

Glad to hear they have so much free time on their hands.

21-03-2008 01:07

pandaF

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

We learned that last year. For some reason, we had a bunch of different designs, including ones from years past. We would always run out of buttons quickly because people would want one of each kind. This year we stuck to one design, and we actually came away from SVR with left over buttons!

21-03-2008 11:29

Daniel_LaFleur

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

Lets all work together to make sure all EMTs at FIRST events are this bored.

21-03-2008 13:59

FF_1610_EMT

Re: pic: What happens when the EMTs get bored...

You'd be surprised at what Firefighter/EMT's will do when we get bored. We will do alot of crazy stuff.