EMS Bikes on the Bayou

If the citizens of East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, are feeling grateful for the fast, flexible protection their local EMS bike team provides at their special events, they can thank Pope John Paul II. The late pontiff indirectly inspired the creation of the department's team.

     The year was 1993, and the Pope was visiting Denver to address a rally celebrating World Youth Day. Some providers from Baton Rouge were in town, and saw their Denver counterparts, atop two wheels, navigating the crowds with relative ease. "That," says Tom Harris, the Louisiana agency's public-service coordinator, "was basically what prompted us to start a bike team down here."

     Now, a decade and change later, EMS bike teams have proliferated widely, and this year, East Baton Rouge Parish EMS will become the first EMS agency to host the International Police Mountain Bike Association's (IPMBA) annual conference.

A First-Response Resource
     Today, prospective cycle-medics can turn to IPMBA-which was formed to promote the creation and use of law enforcement bike teams, but has become a champion of their spread to EMS as well-for instruction and advice. Back in '94, Harris and his cohorts didn't have that luxury. IPMBA had formed in 1992 but was still fledgling, and EMS bike teams were few and far between.

     The Baton Rouge group started with no real budget and unclaimed bikes from the police lost-and-found. It took a high-profile accident two years later to really give the effort legs.

     "During our big annual Mardi Gras parade," Harris recalls, "we had a float drive through the crowd. The bikes were the first to respond, and we got a lot of good media coverage. People recognized the value of the bikes. After that, the department provided us a larger budget."

     Over the next decade, Baton Rouge's team grew into maturity. It now has 24 members, all ALS, who are chosen via a selective process that sets the participation bar high. Applicants must be medics in good standing, with at least a year in the department. They need recommendations from their supervisors and letters explaining why they want to be on the team and what they can bring to it. They must demonstrate basic riding skills and the necessary fitness and endurance. Then, having cleared those hurdles, they're put through IPMBA's 32-hour EMS training course.

     In Baton Rouge, the team works mostly big-draw special events: Mardi Gras festivities, LSU football games, etc. In 2006, it worked 150 events. Members are issued their own uniforms and bikes, and work in teams of two: One bike carries trauma equipment-everything from Band-Aids to traction splints for fractured femurs. The other carries medical gear: AED, oxygen, intubation equipment, ACLS drugs.

     "Basically, that team can do everything from a cut finger to a cardiac arrest," Harris says. "They're designed to stand alone for 10 minutes in a cardiac arrest situation. We'll have carts and other vehicles out at these large festivals, so they're basically a first-response resource. We can have other equipment to them in less than 10 minutes, but that's what they're designed to do."

Benefits and Considerations
     The Baton Rouge team's growth paralleled a similar expansion nationally. In 1994, Harris could only find three or four other EMS bike teams. By 2002, according to an IMPBA official, 52% of EMS agencies in the nation's 200 largest cities reportedly had them.

     The benefits aren't hard to imagine. For officers, bikes balance speed and mobility with the need to connect personally with people on their beats. For EMTs and paramedics, they can represent a way to respond quickly and flexibly during rush-hour gridlock or amid the teeming throngs at special events, which is where most are typically utilized.

     Just as important, bike teams are a PR tool. They generate interest and questions from citizens, and humanize medics who aren't walled away inside ambulances.

     "Typically, you're not running from call to call," notes IPMBA president Jim Bowell, a firefighter/medic who heads the Troy (OH) Fire Department's bike program. "You're pedaling along at an event, and somebody will stop you and ask you about the bike. You're so much more accessible than sitting in an ambulance with the windows rolled up and the air conditioner on."

     "Our team is probably the best public-relations tool we have," Harris agrees. "People on bikes are much more approachable than people sitting in ambulances."

Hot Tips: Building a Bike Team
For an EMS organization weighing the merits of a bike team, here are some steps to take and considerations to keep in mind.

• Consult the experts: "The first thing I'd recommend is contacting IPMBA-we have a complete startup packet," says IPMBA President Jim Bowell. "That covers things like team and equipment selection, and it actually has three sets of bike-team policies from different departments."
• Buying bikes: IPMBA recommends spending what it takes to get good bikes-if you skimp on something cheap, you could end up replacing it soon. Ask local dealers about police or public-safety models.
• Uniforms: Team members will need bike-specific uniforms. Look for something using CoolMax or some comparable fabric that's more breathable than polyester or cotton/poly blends.
• Equipment: To the extent possible, use what you already have. Says Bowell: "You don't want to buy an AED or monitor specifically for the bikes if you already have one sitting on a reserve ambulance or somewhere you can just use it." You'll also need saddlebags-aka panniers-in which to carry your tools. There are panniers now made specifically for EMS cycling; IPMBA's website (www.ipmba.org) has links.
• Ongoing costs: Things like tires and brake pads will regularly need to be replaced, and maintenance (e.g., oiling chains) shouldn't be overlooked.
• Training: IPMBA's EMS course focuses on riding in crowds. It isn't as easy as you might think. "The EMS cyclist," Bowell notes, "has to be able to ride a half-mile an hour, carrying 30 or 40 pounds of gear on their bike, in a crowd of 10,000 people, and not hit any of those people. So a lot of the training is geared toward slow-speed skills and techniques."

     If you have more questions, the 17th annual IPMBA Conference is scheduled for April 14-21, with most activities to be held at the Baton Rouge RiverCenter. Offerings include training and certification courses, workshops, on-bike sessions and public-safety cycling's largest product exhibition. For information, see www.ipmba.org.