The Independence First Aid Squad is excited to announce another public outreach class for June, Heartsaver CPR and AED!

The American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR and AED training program is a classroom, video-based, instructor-led course that teaches adult CPR and AED use and how to relieve choking on an adult. This course teaches skills with AHA's research-proven Practice-While-Watching (PWW) technique, which allows instructors to observe the students, provide feedback and guide the students' learning of skills.

The Heartsaver CPR and AED Course will run on June 17th, 2023, at our building at 3 Regina Lane, Great Meadows, NJ 07838, from 12 pm to 4 pm.

Course cost is $65.00 each.

When checking out for the course, the PayPal option also accepts regular credit card payments; you do not need a PayPal account.

To sign up, please click the "enroll here" button on the training section of our website.
https://www.73rescue.org/trainingcenter.html

Did you know the Independence First Aid Squad offers multiple other training programs to community groups, businesses, and the general public? Courses can be held at our building, and we also provide on‑site or private programs.
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If you have any questions, please reach out to us at trainingcenter@73rescue.org

The Independence First Aid Squad is excited to announce our first offering of the American Health and Safety Institution Childcare and Babysitting Safety Course! 

The Child and Babysitting Safety training program is designed to focus on supervising, caring for, and keeping children and infants safe in babysitting settings. The program provides fundamental information on the business of babysitting, proper supervision, basic caregiving skills, and responding properly to ill or injured children or infants.

Even though CPR/AED and Basic First Aid certification are not required as part of this course, it is strongly recommended, so we will also be offering an American Heart Association Heartsaver Pediatric First Aid CPR AED the directly after the Child and Babysitting Safety Course. 

The Childcare and Babysitting Course will run on June 10th, 2023, at our building at 3 Regina Lane, Great Meadows, NJ 07838, from 8 am to 12 pm. The Heartsaver Pediatric First Aid CPR AED will start at 1 pm and run until 5 pm. 

Both courses cost $80.00 each, but we offer a bundled deal for both courses at $140.00. 
When checking out for the course, the PayPal option also accepts regular credit card payments; you do not need a PayPal account. 

If you have any questions please reach out to us at trainingcenter@73rescue.org 
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To sign up, please click the "enroll here" button on the training section of our website. 
https://www.73rescue.org/trainingcenter.html

This past weekend 8 Independence First Aid Squad members attended the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians Tactical Emergency Casualty Care course. The Warren County Department of Public Safety and the Independence First Aid Squad sponsored this joint training course. Instructors from Saint Clare's Health made the trip to the Great Meadows Middle School to instruct the class. In addition to our eight members that attended the course, 15 members of the Warren County Rescue Taskforce and other members of local Police, Fire, and EMS agencies participated in the class. 

The Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) course teaches EMS practitioners and other prehospital providers how to respond to and care for patients in a civilian tactical environment.
The course presents the three phases of tactical care and integrates parallel EMS nomenclature:

Hot Zone/Direct Threat Care that is rendered while under attack or in adverse conditions.
Warm Zone/Indirect Threat Care that is rendered while the threat has been suppressed but may resurface at any point.
Cold Zone/Evacuation Care that is rendered while the casualty is being evacuated from the incident site. 

The 16-hour classroom course includes all new patient simulations and covers the following topics:
Hemorrhage control, including immediate action drills for tourniquet application throughout the course;
Complete coverage of the MARCH assessment;
Surgical airway control and needle decompression;
Strategies for treating wounded responders in threatening environments;
Caring for pediatric patients;
Techniques for dragging and carrying victims to safety; and
A final, mass-casualty/active shooter event simulation.

National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians TECC course is endorsed by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, is consistent with the current guidelines established by the Committee on TECC (Co-TECC), and meets all of the updated National Tactical Emergency Medical Support Competency Domains. 

The final simulation tested the students' knowledge they learned over the two-day course in a simulated active shooter scenario with over 35 "victims." We want to give a massive shout-out to Warren County Technical School for allowing students to attend our final scenario as role players. 

We want to thank all the agencies that assisted in making the final exercise as realistic as possible. The following agencies participated in the final exercise. 
Law Enforcement: 
Independence Twp. Police
Mansfield Township Police Department
Washington Township Police Department
New Jersey State Police
Phillipsburg Police Department, NJ

EMS: 
Phillipsburg Emergency Squad
Lebanon Township Fire Department
Independence First Aid Squad

Public Safety:
Warren County Department of Public Safety FIELDCOM

Once again, we would like to thank the Great Meadows Regional School District Board of Education for allowing us to use the middle school and all of the instructors from Saint Clare's Health for putting the class on for us. 

If you are interested in taking a TECC course or your agency is interested in hosting a TECC course, you can contact Clinical Supervisor Ryan Stickle at ryanstickle@primehealthcare.com for further information. 

Ryan Newkirk and Chris Hinkle took all photos.