Creating a Medical Response Team

In some medical emergencies, minutes can mean the difference between life and death.  Is your church ready to respond?  In some churches there will be the occasional member who is a nurse or doctor that can be called upon to help in a medical emergency.  In other churches without medical professionals in the membership, the church will give their security team additional training in basic first aid. 

If there is a large enough congregation I recommend there be a separate medical team and security team, in case the emergency is large enough to keep the team members busy.  So, let’s look at the requirements for putting together a medical team.  It doesn’t have to be more than 3-4 members, or more if a very large church. 

If he’d intended to add a dramatic note to his presentation on a church building addition, Gus Sideris couldn’t have done a better job.  While explaining financing plans, he slumped to the floor in front of some 300 people attending a business meeting at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Warsaw, Indiana.  His heart had stopped beating.

Sideris, the church’s coordinator of outreach ministries, was on the floor only a few seconds before two physicians and several nurses at the meeting rushed to his side.  One doctor performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation; another called an ambulance.  Emergency medical service personnel arrived within minutes and revived Sideris with their defibrillator, then took him to a local hospital. “If I hadn’t received medical attention almost immediately, I would have died on the spot,” he says.

Fortunately, Sideris recovered from the event, but it caused his church to consider what emergency medical programs it should have in place.  If you visit the church today, you’ll find an automated external defibrillator (AED) mounted on the wall of the foyer.  Further, there’s now a designated team of volunteers in place to handle medical emergencies, and key staff members of the church and its preschool receive annual training in emergency medical procedures from EMS personnel.

Episodes of sudden cardiac arrest, like the one that almost claimed Gus Sideris’ life, cause about 325,000 American deaths each year.  With many churches seeing an increase in the number of their members over age 65, the risk of a cardiovascular emergency of some kind happening during a church event is on the rise.

Sideris’ story highlights the kind of medical emergency that churches should be prepared to handle, said Steve Edmonds, risk control specialist for Brotherhood Mutual.  “In fact, churches should have a comprehensive emergency preparedness plan which encompasses every foreseeable ‘worst-case scenario’ that might happen,” he said.  

I suggest that churches take these steps to develop comprehensive emergency preparedness plan:

First, churches need to develop a volunteer medical response team, preferably composed of medical professionals such as physicians, nurses, and emergency medical technicians.  The team should include several people as backup.  Just when something really serious happens, your top people may be on vacation.  Ideally, the list of emergency medical volunteers would include enough to allow at least two people present at all regular services, in addition to any other church events or activities. 

For churches without medical professionals, you should ask for volunteers and offer them classes in first aid, CPR, and AED use.  Remember that the team’s role is simply to provide basic emergency care and stabilize victims until the professionals get there.  You could have the emergency response team seated together in a specially designated row of seats.  With the team worshipping together they could be easily located in case there was an emergency.  If the pastor needed them, he would know exactly where to look.

At some churches, the emergency medical team is part of a larger mission.  The Avalon Missionary Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, offers a health and wellness ministry, led by a team of eight nurses. In addition to emergency response, the ministry offers church members a variety of health-related services, ranging from educational seminars to counseling and periodic health screening services.

Once an emergency response team is established, churches should let the congregation know that it exists and who’s involved.  Avalon Missionary posts team members’ names in various locations in the church so that they can be quickly summoned in the event of an emergency, and it also gives the list to ushers.

Second, you will need to procure the right equipment.  AEDs are becoming standard safety equipment in many public places, which should increasingly include churches.  AEDs work by analyzing the heart’s rhythm and prompting users to deliver a defibrillation shock if one is needed. Early treatment with an AED can increase the survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest victims tenfold, according to the American Heart Association.

In addition, churches should stock first-aid kits.  I recommend not buying them from the local department store.  Instead, you should purchase an institutional first-aid kit, which is larger and more comprehensive.  Contact a professional first-aid kit supplier, such as Cintas, Mfasco, or Zee Medical, for assistance.  Also buy a CPR kit, which includes protective airway masks to help prevent mouth-to-mouth contamination.  

Finally, line up volunteers who regularly carry cell phones to serve as designated emergency communicators.  They can provide critical help by dialing 911 or other emergency numbers.

Be sure you budget for training.  One of the most critical things you can have in an emergency is a cool head, which comes from knowing what to do and practicing it.  Consider enrolling key staff members and volunteers in training for first aid, CPR, and AED skills. Classes are offered at little cost by a number of organizations around the country.  In addition, training helps responders know what not to do.

While it’s never possible to know exactly what might happen, churches can take several important proactive steps to manage almost any emergency medical situation.  Many churches just want to do whatever they can to help their people.  They understand that means creating the safest possible environment in church.

For Gus Sideris and countless others each year who suffer a medical crisis at church, that’s a powerful—possibly even life-saving—commitment.

A well-stocked first-aid kit can help you respond effectively to common injuries and emergencies.  Store your kits someplace easy to get to and out of the reach of young children. 

A first-aid kit might include these basic supplies:

• Adhesive tape
• Elastic wrap bandages
• Bandage strips and "butterfly" bandages in assorted sizes
• Super glue
• Tourniquet
• Nonstick sterile bandages and roller gauze in assorted sizes
• Eye shield or pad
• Large triangular bandage (may be used as a sling)
• Aluminum finger splint
• Instant cold packs
• Cotton balls and cotton-tipped swabs
• Disposable nitrile examination gloves, several pairs
• Petroleum jelly or other lubricant
• Plastic bags, assorted sizes
• Safety pins in assorted sizes
• Scissors and tweezers
• Hand sanitizer
• Antibiotic ointment
• Antiseptic solution
• Eyewash solution
• Thermometer
• Sterile saline for irrigation, flushing
• Breathing barrier (surgical mask)
• Syringe, medicine cup or spoon
• First-aid manual
• Hydrogen peroxide to disinfect
• Celox to stop bleeding

Medications

• Aloe Vera gel
• Calamine lotion
• Anti-diarrhea medication
• Laxative
• Antacids
• Antihistamine, such as diphenhydramine
• Hydrocortisone cream
• Cough and cold medications
• Personal medications that don't need refrigeration
• Auto-injector of epinephrine, if prescribed by your doctor
• Pain relievers, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others)