Squad leader Wei-jen Chen was appointed the drill conductor to direct the standby colleagues in carrying out a drowning rescue. The drill conductor depicted the scenario as follows: A civilian suddenly drowning in the swimming pool was rescued by the lifeguard.
The drill focused on preliminary assessment, artificial respiration with Ambu bag and secondary survey onboard the ambulance en route to the hospital. Besides reinforcing the colleagues’ level of sophistication during the procedure, more emphasis was placed on the precautions for conducting drowning rescues. Drowning is when liquid-air interface is present at the entrance to the victim's airway, which prevents the individual from breathing oxygen. For unresponsive patients, immediately check for signs of breathing and carotid pulse. If he is not breathing, check for signs of blockage and immediately deploy the Ambu bag to open his airway and perform artificial respiration using the EC hand position. Check for signs of airway blockage. In addition, remove the patient’s wet clothing or dry the patient’s body before covering him up with blanket
When faced with a drowning victim, the colleagues must remember that lung damage can occur several hours after drowning, thus even if the patient is conscious and shows signs of effective cardiopulmonary function, he must still be transferred to an “adequate” hospital, while the ER department should be notified in advance to raise the quality of out-of-hospital emergency care for patients.