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OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

Against the ropes (part 2)
Training and Personal Challenges in Adventure Work Chiropractors: helping those who help others

A team of rescuers practice lowering a patient from the second floor of a four-storey building. Photo Credit: Ric Henderson

By Dr. Emily Roback, B.Sc., D.C.

While equipment, training, and experience are critical elements in assuring safety in rope rescue and ground searches, clear communications between team members is also essential to an efficient and injury-free operation.

Many hard-of-hearing and deaf rescue volunteers are reluctant to inform their team members that they require additional assistance in ensuring effective communication between them and other members. Some of the most challenging situations that health professionals and amateur rescue volunteers can encounter in their interaction with other members of the rescue team are when: i) a teammate tells a deaf rescue volunteer that their team leader has told him/her not to continue working with him because the leader does not believe partnership is beneficial; or ii) a team leader tells those who are learning to become rescuers to avoid touching all equipment because they could potentially endanger themselves.

Often, hard-of-hearing and deaf people are concerned that the team leader will attempt to dissuade the hearing volunteers from teaming up with them. This is more likely to happen if the team leader hears about the miscommunication from the hearing member instead of the non-hearing member. That is why new hardof- hearing and deaf rescue workers need to provide the team leader a notification of effective communication letter outlining their condition, results of their auditory assessment, and recommendations to help get things off on the right foot.

It is also helpful to realize that these reactions usually stem from a lack of information. Most team leaders, even those who regularly work with rescuers with special needs, say that they don’t know how to communicate with a hardof- hearing/deaf person. Others may have never met, spoken or “signed” with an amateur rescuer who is hard-of-hearing or deaf in their professional careers. For many, the search and rescue profession is shrouded in mystery and misinformation. Taking the first step to provide objective, accurate information benefits all members of a rescue team over time.

Hard-of-hearing and deaf rescue workers who have encountered these situations offer the following advice:

• Call your team leader. Explain that you cannot hear and ask if you can have a work buddy with you while performing searches. Explain how having a buddy would help you complete specific verbal tasks. Move from generalities about not being able to hear to the specifics of what your needs are in order to work effectively as a team member. Establishing a common ground for good communication creates an opportunity for you to demonstrate your expertise in a context to which the team leader and other team members can relate.
  
  
• If you do not connect with the team leader by telephone, send a note by e-mail offering to spend a few minutes addressing your concerns. Advise the leader that you will keep him or her informed of your ability to contribute to the teams’ goals. Remember, most leaders never learn the outcome of how a group of individuals share the work load in rope rescue or a ground search. Many hard-of-hearing/deaf volunteers also feel left out of the loop because they have no idea what is expected of them.
  
  
• Do not be defensive or confrontational. Approach the conversation as an educational opportunity.
  
  
• If the issue is communicating over large distances without the use of a radio, provide the team with a hand-out containing all the relevant hand signals for rope rescue and ground searches. If the team members still wish to obtain further information, offer to put them in touch with the Canadian Hard-of-Hearing Association, who can more fully address the miscommunication issues that often occur while working with hard-of-hearing and deaf rescue workers.
  
  
• When calling another team member via radio, speak slowly and clearly, in a normal tone of voice. The recipient may either be hard-of-hearing or is trying to write down what you are trying to say.
  
  
• Never assume that the other person understood you. Always ask the other person to repeat what you just said to ensure that the message has been understood.

Miscommunication between team members could be significantly reduced by making oral and sign language mandatory. For instance, in rope rescue, have one trainee belay for a lead climber while the second trainee watches the leader descend 400 feet. The second trainee can provide the leader instructions via voice and hand signals to overcome poor hearing circumstances due to large climbing distances. The first trainee (belayer for the leader) can watch and listen to the instructions coming from the second trainee who is observing the leader climb down the side of the cliff.

My previous rescue training experiences have included learning the basics of rope rescue at Rattlesnake Point, a cliff located 30 kilometers south of Toronto, Ontario. The challenge of this operation was that I undertook this outdoor course without any hearing. As a deaf chiropractor, I had to live with a hearing loss, which constantly fluctuated every passing year. For five to six months, I would hear with my hearing aids perfectly. For the remainder of the year, my hearing would drop to ‘nil’, which forced me to rely on lip reading and body language to communicate. What I enjoyed most about this experience was the fact that my rescue teammates used hand signals to communicate with me as I applied chiropractic care into their daily training regimes.

Dr. Emily Roback, president of Chiroback Trekker, provides chiropractic, sports therapy, and injury prevention seminars for search and rescue teams in Alberta. Dr. Roback can be contacted at roback@doctor.com and/or (403) 872 – 1599.

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