Autism rescue: Firefighter teaches how to help autistic people in emergencies

http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/01/10543990-autism-rescue-firefighter-teaches-how-to-help-autistic-people-in-emergencies

 By Lisa A. Flam

 

As an experienced firefighter and a devoted father to an autistic son, Bill Cannata is combining the two worlds he knows so well to help protect others.

Being in a fire can be confusing and overwhelming -- especially for someone with autism, says Cannata, a fire captain in Westwood, Mass. And autistic people may react in a way that seems combative to emergency first responders. His mission: teaching first responders around the country how to identify someone with autism and how best to help them in an emergency, when every second counts.

Cannata knows about autism first-hand: His 21-year-old son, Ted, who has the disorder, is unable to speak and is highly sensitive to sight, sound and touch.

“They’re going to react differently,” Cannata told TODAY. “They're going to resist rescue because of the confusion. They may have extreme behaviors because of the situation.”

That could mean getting out of control, acting aggressive, or simply shutting down, Cannata says.
“People with autism follow a routine and if that routine is broken, this is where the confusion begins with a lot of them and they don't know what to do,” Cannata says. “People with autism have left a burning building, but because of the confusion, went back in because that's their safety [place], or some people will run away just to get away from all of the noise and the confusion.”

The fire/rescue autism program has educated more than 15,000 first responders, as autism spectrum disorders affect a growing number of families each year.

An estimated 1.5 million Americans may have autism, a developmental disorder marked by impaired communication and social skills. An estimated one in 110 children have an autism-spectrum disorder, making the first-responder education more crucial than ever.

“There's such a need,” Cannata says. “I'm getting calls pretty much every day for training requests.”
His work is paying off.

Shortly after participating in a training session with Cannata, emergency responder Bill Turner encountered an autistic boy who was out of control at a house fire.

“I go to grab the young boy and I got him and he started pounding me on the chest and he was just beating me like he was going to beat me to a pulp,” Turner told TODAY. “And I remembered that the class had taught me that if I put my arms around him and put him kind of in a bear hug, that he will simmer down.”
Turner did the right thing to keep the boy safe until his parents could care for him, Cannata says, adding, "It was perfect."

For all of the teaching Cannata has done, the person he learns the most from is close at heart.
“He's my best teacher,” he says of his son Ted, “and what I do is just convey that message to other first responders.”

DHS. Newsletter. Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS)

Contents Nuclear and Radiological Lessons Learned How do I find an After-Action Report on LLIS.gov LLIS.gov Exclusive Content Joint Field Office Operations: Assigning Liaison Officers to Assist Local Government Officials Emergency Public Information: Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire and Rescue’s Use of Social Media to Engage the Community After Consecutive Snowstorms Mass Casualty Incidents: The Missouri 1 Disaster Medical Team’s Deployment of a Mobile Medical Unit After the Joplin Tornado LLIS.gov Outreach

Newsletter March 2012 Did You Know? In 2011, the National Capital Region (NCR) launched the National Capital Region News and Information Website. The site serves as a news feed for NCR jurisdictions as well as provides emergency alerts and weather, traffic, and utilities status information. In addition, NCR residents can sign up for daily updates. Many other jurisdictions have established similar public information websites including, NY-Alert, Alert LA County, and NotifyChicago. Nuclear and Radiological Lessons Learned Featured Topic for March LLIS.gov remembers the 1 year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. On May 11, 2011, at 2:46 p.m. Japan Standard Time, an undersea megathrust earthquake with a 9.0 magnitude (M 9.0) occurred off the northeast coast of Honshu, Japan. The earthquake generated tsunami waves of up to 38 meters, which resulted in over 15,000 deaths, 5,600 injured, and 4,800 people missing across 22 prefectures. The Great East Japan Earthquake also caused the automatic shutdown of 11 operating reactors, including the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Forty minutes after the earthquake, several tsunami waves inundated the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. As a result, several units experienced explosions that caused a major release of radioactive materials into the air and the ocean. The Fukushima nuclear power plant released approximately 10 percent of the radiation released during the Chernobyl accident. The Japanese tsunami and nuclear disaster demonstrates the need for jurisdiction to prepare for similar events. LLIS.gov provides members with the Nuclear and Radiological Lessons topic-specific page. This page includes a variety of reports in addition to LLIS.gov exclusive content documents. Examples of these documents include: Mass Evacuation Reception Planning: Overview of Planning Issues After a Nuclear Incident, an exclusive LLIS.gov Best Practice; Ventura County, California, Nuclear Explosion Response Plan Version 3.0, Ventura County, California, Department of Public Health; IAEA International Fact Finding Expert Mission of the Nuclear Accident Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: Tokyo, Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP, Fukushima Dai-ni NPP and Tokai NPP, Japan. Preliminary Summary, International Atomic Energy Agency; and Fukushima, Japan Radiation Tabletop Exercise After-Action Report/Improvement Plan (AAR/IP), Florida Department of Health For more information about this and other nuclear incidents, please visit LLIS.gov’s Nuclear and Radiological Lessons topic-specific page. To share experiences related to nuclear and radiological incidents, please submit your documents from the Submit to LLIS.gov page. How do I find an After-Action Report on LLIS.gov LLIS.gov Tutorial LLIS.gov provides the After-Action Report Resource Center to help you access all after-action reports in the Document Library. The page provides access to after-action reports from exercises and real-world events from all levels of government, international partners, and private sector and non-governmental organizations. To access this page, please follow the steps below: Log into LLIS.gov. Click the AFTER-ACTION REPORT RESOURCE CENTER link on the "New LLIS.gov Content" tab. You can also find the page by using the keyword search bar on the top right of every LLIS.gov webpage. To narrow your search, the filter bar enables members to search for specific words in the title of the AAR. Click on the hyperlink to access a PDF of the document. If you have any questions about accessing or submitting AARs to LLIS, please contact LLIS.gov at feedback@llis.dhs.gov. New LLIS.gov Exclusive Content The LLIS.gov team continues to post new Lessons Learned and Practice Notes to the system on a regular basis. Weekly updates about new original content that is exclusive to LLIS.gov can be found in the NEW LLIS.GOV CONTENT tab on the LLIS.gov homepage. LLIS.gov recently posted the following exclusive documents: Practice Notes Emergency Public Information: Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire and Rescue’s Use of Social Media to Engage the Community After Consecutive Snowstorms The Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) used Facebook, Twitter, and a blog to request that the community uncover fire hydrants buried in snow after consecutive February 2010 winter storms. MCFRS personnel used social media to share information with, and provide guidance to, the community. This effort resulted in the effective participation of the community in recovery operations after the snowstorms. Mass Casualty Incidents: The Missouri 1 Disaster Medical Team’s Deployment of a Mobile Medical Unit After the Joplin Tornado The Missouri 1 Disaster Medical Team (MO-1 DMT) deployed an 8,000-square foot, 60 bed Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) to Joplin after the May 22, 2011, tornado destroyed the St. John’s Regional Medical Center. This deployment enabled St. John’s personnel to begin providing assistance to patients in this facility 6 days after the tornado. Lesson Learned Joint Field Office Operations: Assigning Liaison Officers to Assist Local Government Officials Joint Field Offices (JFOs) should consider assigning a dedicated Liaison Officer to assist senior local government officials. This can ensure that the local officials have a single point of contact into the JFO to facilitate information sharing and facilitate Federal assistance to the impacted locality. LLIS.gov Outreach In 2011, the LLIS.gov team traveled around the country speaking and exhibiting at over 15 various conferences and events. Did you visit the LLIS.gov representatives at these events? Please share your feedback and comments with us by emailing outreach@llis.dhs.gov. If you would like to request an LLIS.gov presentation at your next event, please email the Outreach Team at outreach@llis.dhs.gov. To view a list of all emergency management and homeland security events, please visit the LLIS.gov Events Calendar. For more information, please visit the LLIS.gov Outreach page.