Victim letter

Excerpt from a letter that WFAC sends to student 'victims'

Dear “Accident Victim”,

Thank you for agreeing to participate in the Wilderness First Aid Course as a "victim" in simulations. These are the heart of the Wilderness First Aid course and your enthusiastic participation will make them valuable experiences for everyone. If you are a “regular” victim, you have volunteered to act the part of a victim in one full-dress accident scenario on both Saturday and Sunday. If you are the “backup” victim, you have volunteered to play the part of the victim in the instructor demo on Friday and to be available to take over “regular” victim responsibilities if one of your fellow victims cancels. You can expect to miss up to one hour of lecture each day that you have a role in a scenario or demo.

One of the most important skills the students will practice on you is the head-to-toe exam. This involves a considerable amount of squeezing and pressing parts of your anatomy by people whom you may not know. If you did not understand what was involved when you volunteered and the thought of this makes you uncomfortable, please contact Steve immediately. Other than the responsibilities outlined above, you may expect to listen to the lectures and participate in the skill exercises along with the rest of the students.

In exchange for your reduced fee, you are required to bring one set of old clothing with you to wear during the simulation: a long sleeve shirt, a pair of loose-fitting long pants, a set of old underwear, a pair of socks, and an old pair of running shoes or sneakers. Bring clothing, including running shoes, that you can discard since it is likely that it will get cut up or become stained. Your shoes may get stained, but they will not be cut up or otherwise damaged. However, do not rely on the stains washing out completely. The WFAC has limited victim clothing – it is available to you only after your original clothing has been destroyed. This clothing is sorted by size. Return the unused clothing to its correct box and close the box lids when you are done. In a recent course, we woke up Sunday morning to find that all of our spare simulation clothing was soaking wet and cold because the boxes had been left open overnight and it had rained. In the event of wet or cold weather during the simulations, you may borrow a warm top from the WFAC box so marked – please return it when you are done.

It is possible that your "rescuers" will misinterpret the signs and symptoms to indicate an injury not in the script. Their first aid training requires them to remove clothing to examine the site of a suspected injury. Therefore, regardless of the scenario, dress so that if the first aiders remove your shirt or pants, no difficulties or embarrassment will result. Rescuers will not remove exercise shorts, women’s exercise tops, or underwear. However, women should not wear exercise tops or underwear that completely cover the stomach (above the waist) since these will make it impossible for the students to do an appropriate physical examination.

Enclosed please find two scripts for the simulations including hand signals which the observer will use to direct your actions. Before the weekend, please learn the sections of the scripts labeled Background, What Happened, and Victim's Responses and Observer Clues. Do not show the script to others (including spouses or friends) who will be students in the course. Having prior knowledge of the location and nature of the victim's injuries will make the simulation less valuable for them as a learning experience.

Act in character during the duration of the accident simulation. The "victim" must take things seriously if the "rescuers" are to do so and this makes the simulation more effective as a teaching tool. A little hamming it up by the victim is in order; a few moans, groans, and screams of pain make the simulation seem more realistic.

In addition to acting in the simulations, you have an additional responsibility as a “victim”. As part of your role in the simulations, you may be issued equipment such as daypacks or specialty items used to simulate bleeding. This equipment is to be saved for re-use in future courses. It is your responsibility to return this equipment to a designated staff member or location immediately after the simulation. Caring responsibly for this course gear and returning it promptly is part of your job as a “victim”. Replacing this gear is expensive and time-consuming for the WFAC and we cannot afford to have it misplaced or discarded with the trash. Near the end of the Friday dinner break there will be a victim pre-briefing at which we will discuss the details of managing the course simulation equipment.

Before signing in first thing in the morning, please identify yourself as a “victim” to the WFAC staff member who is signing in participants. Remember to bring clothing that can be discarded since it is likely to get cut up or become stained!!! If you have questions about what is expected of you, please contact Steve on his cell.