New police-fire program to teach life-saving skills

By Jay Turner

United by their shared commitment to saving lives and serving the local citizenry, the leadership of the Canton Police and Fire departments are teaming up to present “Canton Responds” — a new, two-night civilian course focused on emergency response and preparedness.

The free program, which is open to Canton residents, will cover a variety of basic skills that can be useful in an emergency or crisis situation. The first session will take place at Canton Police headquarters on February 20 with session two scheduled for February 27 at Canton Fire headquarters. Both sessions will run from 7-9 p.m. and will include a brief overview of each department and their philosophies as well as a station tour.

The idea to host the program grew out of conversations between Police Chief Ken Berkowitz and Fire Chief Charles Doody concerning ways that they could better equip and connect with the public. Berkowitz, having recently returned from a homeland security trip to Israel, relayed an observation shared by Dr. Isaac Ashkenazi, former surgeon general of the Israel Defense Forces and an expert in disaster medicine. Whereas many governmental agencies in the U.S. have adopted the post-9/11 slogan, “If you see something, say something,” Dr. Ashkenazi noted that in Israel, the emphasis is more on “See something, do something.”

While acknowledging that the United States and Israel are “apples and oranges” due to differences in size, geopolitical challenges, and other factors, Berkowitz said the remarks by Dr. Ashkenazi got him thinking about ways that Canton officials could better prepare their citizens to be able to respond when the need arose.

“I started to think about what kind of tools we could give the community to help them better respond,” he said. “And I’m not just talking about terrorism or catastrophic events, but everyday, normal occurrences, such as someone having a heart attack or someone experiencing an overdose.”

Doody described the skills that participants will receive from the program as “street level skills,” ranging from how to administer CPR to how to apply a tourniquet — or even make one if necessary. Participants will also be trained in the administration of Narcan (an opioid reversal drug), the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), and the basics of the “Run, Hide, Fight” active shooter protocol.

“You’re not going to come away from this program with any kind of certification,” said Doody. “But what you are going to come away with are the basic skills to save someone’s life in a variety of situations.”

While both chiefs agreed that almost anyone could benefit from these skills, they said the program is primarily geared toward older teens and adults, or roughly ages 17 and up. Doody said they have tentatively scheduled two instructors per class, but they could always add more if the number of sign-ups warranted it. “We can accommodate a small number or a large number of people,” he said.

Also assisting in the development of the program is Dr. Dan Muse of Canton. A board certified emergency physician, Dr. Muse has worked extensively with local law enforcement agencies and school districts to educate people about Narcan administration as well as concussion and substance abuse awareness and prevention.

Berkowitz said Dr. Muse is enthusiastically on board with the new program and has talked about potentially using it as a model for other communities after it has gotten off the ground in Canton.

“We like to be innovators,” noted Berkowitz.

For now, the primary goal is to have a successful initial offering and then hopefully repeat the program on a semi-regular basis, perhaps twice a year or quarterly, depending on local demand.

At the end of the day, said Doody, it’s all about helping residents help one another, and he’s a firm believer that the proper knowledge “really can make a difference” and potentially save someone’s life.

“As firefighters, we know that in many cases a victim survives because a bystander initiated CPR before we got there,” he said. Berkowitz added that several victims of the Boston Marathon bombings were saved by quick-thinking citizens, and those same skills, he said, are transferable to “everyday situations” such as motor vehicle or household accidents.

“And the more people who are trained,” said Doody, “the greater the likelihood that someone is going to have a good outcome.”

To register for the two-part Canton Responds course on February 20 and 27, send an email to CPDTraining@town.canton.ma.us.

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