Speaker 0 00:00:00 This, this is the count's fire podcast, where we introduce our members and our mutual aid department members while educating the community and bringing value to the fire service. And now here's another episode of the Coutts fire podcast.
Speaker 1 00:00:23 This is Kevin Billingsley, firefighter engineer here at Cox fire. And today I'm speaking with Matt quota check Lieutenant Matt Matco to check from the crumb point fire department, Mac. Thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 2 00:00:33 I hear thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 00:00:34 We'd like to talk to everybody in the area about their fire service experience and your, you didn't start in crown point. You started elsewhere before that, but how many years have you been in the fire service?
Speaker 2 00:00:44 So I've been in the fire service, uh, 22 years. I started in 1999 around lake Hills, uh, fire department over by, uh, Sharewell St. John area when I was a senior in high school. Um, I got in the fire department cause my brother was on the fire department previous. Um, he had just kind of moved to outdoors, Valparaiso when I was coming on. And then before that my dad was on the fire department, um, lake Hills when I was a kid. So I kinda grew up down at lake Hills going there as a kid, um, and hanging out. So it was just kind of a natural progression. It was something, you know, my dad did and my brother did it. It's just something that I kind of always wanted to be part of. And how long have you been on crown point? So I got on crown point, um, as a volunteer in 2004. And then I've been full time since 2009. So I'm, this is my, uh, finishing up my 12th year I'm completing and then, uh, got promoted in 2020 to a Lieutenant. Another
Speaker 1 00:01:43 Thing I like to ask everybody is in the time that you've served in the fire service, has there been a lot of changes that you can note? Oh,
Speaker 2 00:01:50 Definitely. I mean, uh, you know, again, starting in 1999 and that was pre you know, um, nine 11, you know, I was kind of on that cusp of, you know, a lot of the technologies like thermal imaging camera was brand new, integrated past devices. Even when I started in 99 didn't exist. We all share, you know, there was only so many STBA mass. It was a lot of that old technology from the mid nineties and all that into the early two thousands. So yeah, I've been pretty fortunate to see it, you know, I'm only, I just turned 41, but I feel like, you know, um, I kind of age myself at like, you know, the first fire trucks I wrote in were open, you know, open cabs in the back, like, and it was still there manual, you know, you know, manual, um, transmissions, you know, we, I had to learn on like how to double clutch, you know, when I was like, you know, an 18, 19, 20 years old, you mean? So I, I feel a, kinda like an old, like an old timer to tell, you know, don't talk about that, but you know what I mean? Like, yeah, they weren't, you know, we didn't have, you know, automatic firetrucks, you had to know how to drive, stick, you know, and you had to, yeah, in my career, you know, so far in my, in my, in my tenure, my career, I've seen a huge amount of changes into modernizing the fire service.
Speaker 1 00:02:59 I know you, you brought up, uh, past the vice. Now there might be someone listening that doesn't understand what that is. Could you describe that a little bit for them?
Speaker 2 00:03:05 So the past device is basically the way it works is if a firefighter goes down and is motionless for a certain amount of time, it, it alerts when we start, you know, when I started in the fire service, it was carried like the pirate, the past devices were individual and they were carried on the firefighters and their bunker code and they had to manually turn them on. But as time has gone on, they've all been integrated into the actual SCBA units that they like, it's automatic, like th there's no turning it on or turning off. Um, but yeah, the, um, the past device, that's a huge technology that, you know, unfortunately due to light duty desks, you know, that really forced the fire service to, you know, step up their game and place those, make those more integrated. Um, compared to when I, when I started in the fire service,
Speaker 1 00:03:53 If you look at videos of when we train, you'll see guys standing there shaking and moving, and it's not because they're cold or because they're having an issue. It's because when, when they stop moving their past, the vice will go off and it gets kind of annoying after a while everybody's standing there, you know, but when a fireman goes down and he's motionless, um, that's our way of being able to find them in the dark, in the thick smoke and understand that there's an emergency there, here recently, you came by the county fire department gave a really good presentation about Ben's blue bags. Would you mind explaining what Ben's blue bag is, how you, uh, came up with idea when and, and why? Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:04:28 So, uh, Ben's blue bags is a program that I developed, um, and it's about educating and supporting first responders with bags, containing sensory stimulation items that help, uh, deescalate, autistic and special needs patients during an overstimulation and emergency situation. I was inspired, um, to, to create Benzley bags. After I saw an article in like in journal of emergency medical services, like they called gems, um, just, you know, it's like a fire magazine, but for more on the medical side and there was a firefighter paramedics, I'm gonna myself out. His name was Eric Henry and he was out in Ohio and he, they did an article on him about doing century bags on an ambulance and having my son, Ben, who I named the Bentall bags program after basically my mom actually went to me and said, Hey, you know what, why don't you put these bags at crown point?
Speaker 2 00:05:21 I think they'd be really good. So I kind of, I talked to, um, Eric, I talked to the, their administration and I don't know HIO. And they basically sent me, this is what the bags are and like what's in them. So I created a, you know, I basically, I copycat the bags off them at first, but when I went to, you know, set these bags up for my fire for Crownpoint fire, I realized that there was no like formal training. There was like, okay, here's a century bag, but there was nothing there to actually train, you know, the firefighters, the paramedics, you know, and even now police officers up on it. So that's what inspired me. I, you know, I looked at a couple of different presidents, you know, power, uh, PowerPoint or presentations. And I just kind of morphed those initial, you know, uh, things into what I've turned Ben's blue bags into now.
Speaker 2 00:06:12 Now Ben's blue bags is a, you know, two hour presentation where we cover different, um, things with back-to-back. So we go over the definition of the disorder. We cover population statistics and understand how autistic people see the world, how to interact with an autistic person. We discuss real life scenarios, um, and then go into the Benz blue bags initiative, evaluate how well first responders are, um, managing patients with a ASD. And then at the end, I do a 10 question test. And that's what the programs turned into. Now, the difference between this program and anybody else I've, I've, I've searched out. And I have people now contact me is nobody is really doing a program where like it coming from a first responder and yet a parent that also has a song on the spectrum. And I stumbled across this. This was something I'd never was like, there was never the plan, never the idea of bends blue bags. It was just, Hey, I want to do these bags on the fire department. I want to train up my, my coworkers or my, you know, um, you know, my, my brothers and sisters with the fire department that they understand how to use it and how to, you know, how did, how did you know, treat somebody? And that was it.
Speaker 1 00:07:19 One of the interesting things, where did the blue color come from? Why is it blue?
Speaker 2 00:07:24 So the reason why I want the blue, it's kind of, it's a multiple things. One Ben's favorite color is blue, and he's always loved the color blue and Ben's blue bags. My BBB goes, it really kind of rolls off the tongue there. Thing was, is when I was looking at the bags because the original backs I saw from Eric Henry in Ohio was he just had some green bags and I would just kind of pull string bags. So I looked at the colors, I actually brought the bags up on Amazon. I'll show them then the different colors. And he was like, point he's like blue. He wanted, and he liked the blue. And I went with this. I tried to go with like a brighter blue or teal blue. Is that it? I didn't want it to look like any other bag that we carry, like at the EMS or on the ambulances and firetrucks or police departments. And I thought about like, um, like the pedo two bags, a lot of the departments had where they're like a bright orange, it just sticks out. So I went in a bag that didn't look like anything else. So didn't get kind of mixed in the bag, you know, you know, in the, with all the other EMS bags or different stuff and carry, I wanted something that stood out.
Speaker 1 00:08:22 Right. And I mean, definitely we have them in the chief's truck and whenever you walk up, I mean, there's that blue bag. Yeah. You see it. I mean, you don't even try to see it, you see it, you know what I mean? So,
Speaker 2 00:08:33 Yeah, because like, when you need it, I want you guys to be able to find it. I want, I want you to, you know, like, like recognize you, see that color, you know what, you know, it, you don't have to like go ruffling on, if it was a black bag, it probably would get mixed in with a bunch of, you know, another black bag or, you know, something other, you know, darker colors we have. So having some of that stuck out, like I wanted, you know, that it was just when you needed it. It's easy for, to find
Speaker 1 00:08:56 Now you've, you've trained up quite a few different fire departments and police departments. And, uh, what, what kind of numbers do you have there?
Speaker 2 00:09:03 So since the program, um, I've been to over three, uh, 30 different fire slash EMS departments. Um, three police departments now, um, have came on board with it. Uh, we've done over 40 presentations have been completed. Uh, 85 bags have been donated and to date over 601st responders have gone through the program. And how does,
Speaker 1 00:09:28 How does it bags get donated? How does that work?
Speaker 2 00:09:31 So the way the bags, um, or the program has been, I've been able to cover. So many departments is I had so many personnel is the original, like bags were donated to crown point fire department. And then from there I had St. Anthony's, um, EMS academy. When I, I worked there, I worked there as an EMT instructor and, uh, teaching different EMS classes and Rob darling, who is our EMS educator coordinator. So we're doing a crown point in felt strong enough that every, you know, any, any of our agencies that fall under the St Anthony's system, he wanted me to provide the class and the, you know, the bags up to them. So then that, that helped bring on departments like Schererville, Valparaiso, Cedar lake, uh, anybody that fell on the St Anthony system. And then from there, uh, there was an article that was done about the program, and I had this local family in crown point. Again, they have to re uh, remain anonymous, but they, um, this, you know, this family reached out to me and they had a foundation and they liked what I was doing.
Speaker 2 00:10:42 They liked what I was doing with the program. And they, you know, they kind of asked me, you know, w what do you want to do with this? You know, where do you see it going? I said, you know, my, my initial goal is to do district-wide. So in, you know, in Indiana district one, that's a five county area, and that makes up lake county, Porter county report county on the top. And then you have Newton Jasper. And with that, you know, we, we figured out there was over 150 different fire departments. And, you know, I said, I'd like to be able to go out and present, and we shot them. Uh, we shot them a quote around 20,000, and we said, we'd do so many bags, so many presentations. And so, and, and work on like getting the presentation updated. Like I, from something I wrote on PowerPoint, you know, with my, with my limited skills, um, to, you know, being a more professional.
Speaker 2 00:11:29 And they, she, they basically, um, sent me a check and said, you know, um, it had to be through a 5 0 1 C3 T3 had to, you know, it wasn't like, Hey, Matt, quarter check taking the donation. So we set it up through the, through the district the way, you know, we kind of get grant from the state because the districts have 5 0 1 T3. And the district one training council was kinda made a line item, has been two bags currently. And, um, we took the donation in and it's allowed me to go out and make the presentation better, do so many bags and do so many, you know, do so many presentations. So, um, just last week I was in Maryville, I did, uh, Maryville, fire and police, and I even talked to them about from the foundation. They said, you know, I want originally, I thought we were just going to kind of just do fire departments.
Speaker 2 00:12:14 They're like, no, we don't care. As long as it's first responders and you're going out and training them in, as long as it, it has to be an in district one for them to do it. We're fine with that. And they allowed me to, you know, do so many bags. So, um, yeah, so it was pretty cool doing, you know, you know, and the bigger departments, I would say we could donate more bags to than the smart departments, but what's been amazing is the smaller departments are the ones that like, kind of jump on, like, you know, coming to Coutts, um, just in Westville where like, here, like, like I was able, you know, smart department here, I just sum up with one bag and they immediately were like, we want three additional, like that parts I'm amazed every time that like the smaller departments, one I'm like, I'm more than just one apparatus. Like, it's, that part has been really cool.
Speaker 1 00:12:57 Now, if you could give us a quick rundown of what's in the bag, like, what makes the bag actually work? How does someone use it to, to either communicate or to keep them calm? Or how does that work? So
Speaker 2 00:13:12 The bags are designed to once you've attended the class and learn the why and learn why, like somebody that's on the spectrum, um, does certain things and, and, um, and can be overstimulated. The bags are there to help you. It's, it's a tool. It's a, it's a, it helps, it helps you as a first responder to help calm them down. So the stuff that falls in the bags is we have a set of fidget spinners, early sounds, autism is spinning of objects. You know, like if you remember the picture I, you know, I put up, when we talk about, you know, what's early signs, spinning objects, they love spinning of objects. So train wheels, gears, a fidget spinner, you know, it goes right along with it. The next thing is the ear muffs, you know, the ear most are great for canceling out white noise when they're overstimulated, you know, having a hard time, you know, too much noise that your most were great for that.
Speaker 2 00:14:05 The next thing after that is the dry eraser board and the markers, you know, on the dry eraser board, if somebody is nonverbal, but they can write or communicate, um, we use, you know, it works great for that on the opposite side is, um, Ben's, you know, Ben's teacher was the one who taught me or came up with the idea of put, where it hurts on the back, you know, make it a two, two for one there, and that's worked out really good. I've utilized that on calls. And like I told police and fire departments, like, it doesn't even have to be a, uh, somebody that's on the spectrum or special needs. You might just have somebody that just doesn't speak English or can't communicate, you know, and you can utilize that like, so it has, you know, multiple, um, multiple things. And then once we get into stuff like the Rubik's cube are great solving stuff.
Speaker 2 00:14:52 Um, we have rubber worms are great, just bold kids, toys, deescalating, uh, you know, I talked about the soybean, the level, um, the, you know, it's a little soy soybean thing, you know, the marble mesh, you know, the, the bendy call it the bendy state, a snake or bracelet. They liked that because they can shape it and do, you know, different stuff. And then there's just some other, like just sensory stuff in there. I give you the bag, here's the inventory list of all the stuff in it. So it's easy to then go, okay, yeah, we should have this. Or we should have the stuff, and then they can go on Amazon and they can order new sensory kit, or they can order, you know, more earmuffs or fidget spinners or whoever they, you know, decide to do. Um, you know, I try to validate it all the time, like, and I'll ask people and, you know, the, the biggest validation I've gotten is from some other, you know, from like volunteer firefighters I've came across, um, or end career firefighters that, um, either worked in special needs or special needs teacher or their wives have that special needs teacher.
Speaker 2 00:15:48 And they've said, that's everything my wife has in her desk. That's everything. Like I had a, uh, a firefighter told me, like, I, I teach special needs. It was over in the poor county and goes, Matt, that's everything I have that I give my kids. Oh, that's cool. So like, so like that helped validates, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 00:16:06 Well, you brought up that dry erase board and I thought that was pretty neat because you actually have a picture of like a, an outline of a person, you know, it's like a shadow, I guess you would say anything, you know, they could circle or point, um, there's even a place where you can ask certain questions and, and say, you know, your address or phone, or, you know, things
Speaker 2 00:16:24 Like that, that all come from, uh, that all came from, uh, Ben's um, teacher Ms. Curtis at a school. Um, she's on again, like when I kind of had the Dem, like, what I got from Ohio was kind of a rough, you know, thing of what they were doing. And then I would, I would, as I kind of build, I call them like my demo packs suppose of building the first ones I took it to, to Ben speech therapist. I took it to his ABA therapist or the OT therapist, or his teachers and said, Hey, you know, when you work with children that are on the spectrum, does this, how does this line up? And they're the ones that were like, yeah, that's really good. And you could add this, or, you know, or, you know, change this around. And it was Ben's teacher was the one who she goes, you know, you should put where it hurts on the back.
Speaker 2 00:17:05 So the original drivers reports, I was just buying from Amazon. I was laminating. I was printing those off myself, limiting those myself and print point in crown point was, Hey, I bet we can make these up ourselves. We have the materials. And they literally merged that two that I no longer had to laminate it. They made them in a box of 50 and I just put it in. So that's what makes Benz bags kind of that trademark or by our own thing is nobody else has that. Like, nobody else is doing the, where it hurts on the board.
Speaker 0 00:17:35 Want more good. The cow's fire podcast, we'll be right back after this. Did you know, for 100 years, the Coutts fire volunteers have responded to every request for service. They have continuously upgraded and maintain their tools and apparatus to ensure prompt and professional response. All of this would not be possible without the generous contributions from the community and beyond. If you would like to help support the callous fire department, go to Coutts, fire.com backslash donate, or by mailing your donation to counts fire PO box three to five Coutts, Indiana 4, 6, 3, 4, 7. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. And every amount helps from all of the volunteers at Coutts fire. Thank you.
Speaker 1 00:18:34 You speak about Ben's blue bags and you come out and you'd give us presentations about the bags, but what is the why? What's the, what's the reason.
Speaker 2 00:18:42 So the reason and, and do the presentation is I want to teach first responders. You know, the why, why do, why is it so important to know about what, what autism is? So what is autism? So we go into, it's a, it's a neurological disorder, it's an umbrella disorder, it's spectrum, and it's lifelong. And like I tell people what I mean, like when it's lifelong people with autism, don't outgrow autism. It's not, it's associated as a pediatric, you know, um, disease or something. That's diagnosed in the, in, in, in the young as three years old. But like I tell everyone, like these kids, these kids that are on the autism spectrum at 18 years old, they don't stop being autistic is something that's going to, that's going to be lifelong. Um, that's coming with them, but with stuff like speech therapy, occupational therapy, and even applied behavior analysis therapy, they can, uh, better learn on how to cope with these improved behaviors.
Speaker 2 00:19:35 And one thing I was talking about, and some people granted, some people just kind of look at me, but, you know, estimate lifelong costs for care is 60,000 a year per, uh, per child in the U S um, that that's huge. You know what I mean? So if you don't have good insurance and, you know, and can't get a waiver, you know, like that, that's, that's pretty a pretty big financial burden on a family. Um, you know, statistics, um, as of, you know, 20 18, 1 in 59, uh, children, um, his diagnosis with autism, uh, four times, uh, males and females. So w you know, with our population, with, with stats, like 1 59, the chance of an encounter are going up all the time and then knee or them needing something in an emergency situation, um, goes up all the time. So it's better for us to, you know, understand how they see the world and how they think when I talk about it being a umbrella disorder autism before, you know, years ago, were, was kind of by itself as a diagnosis where now it could be under, um, autism.
Speaker 2 00:20:43 It could be Asperger's, it could be pervasive development disorder or otherwise specified pervasive development disorder. So a lot of those diagnosis were kind of by themselves, and that all falls under the spec all under the umbrella of autism. Um, when you talk about being a spectrum, everybody on the spectrum falls different. So when we talk about their measured IQ, they can be highly gifted. I'm talking like doctors, engineers, professors, you know, highly educated or very severe were just basic measured IQ is really falls, low social interaction. Um, they could be active, but odd or, uh, passive or aloof, you know, their motor skills we talk about, they can be very agile or gross, awkward, where, you know, the gross, awkward, um, they need counsel assistance of just walking and stuff like that. Or very agile where, you know, they're, they could be, um, Olympic, you know, train athletics, like, because they they'll take stuff to a mastery level.
Speaker 2 00:21:40 And they, in lot of times they don't always understand their strength and their endurance, you know, motor skills. It could be very coordinated where you give them, um, a puzzle, a Rubik's cube, anything like we're, you know, hand, eye coordination, video games, stuff like that. They're off the charts, or it could be very uncoordinated where a simple occupational therapy task could be just taking a straw and putting it into like a pop can or a soda can. Um, and then there's century, we talked about hyposensitive versus hypertensive. And I was asking, you know, the first responders I'm like, what do you think is more, what should be more concerned about hype the hyposensitive or the hypersensitive, and then explain that, you know, hypersensitivity, we need to trade our patients as hyper-sensitive. And, um, until we understand, you know, if they, you know, can, can tolerate touch or not. And then we go on from there.
Speaker 1 00:22:29 Now, when the first responder gets on scene, how can they identify some of these triggers or issues for us to be able to understand that we need to use the bag, or that this person may be, uh, autistic or on the spectrum.
Speaker 2 00:22:42 So, firstly, the responders need to understand that everyone on the spectrum is different. So what one person's trigger is, is not always going to be the same as somebody else's. Um, but the consistency is you should be able to see the way they're acting as something is causing that trigger now where you have to be a detective and where you have to kinda look around is what's what that trigger is that trigger could be as simple as like a slight, you know, lights and sirens, or as complicated as just white noise. But with these triggers, once you recognize that they're they're triggered or they're, they're having a hard time is to eliminate those things. And then like re you know, recognize they're stemming. If they're stemming is lie, that, that hand flapping that twirling, it it's their way of calming down. Uh, they have, uh, they have a greater chance of something happening because they don't recognize danger. They don't recognize hot. They don't recognize coal. They don't recognize if a house is on fire.
Speaker 1 00:23:37 No, for me being able to talk about autism and the different levels of the spectrum, if you will, for a lot departments where a lot of people, I should say, it's not something that they normally just sit down and talk about. It's not something that they look and say, I need to learn about this. So you coming in and having this presentation actually brings that knowledge to the guys that would normally not have these conversations. And they would not normally be able to identify these certain things. And for, you know, for me, uh, for example, just sitting through your class, I learned a lot, the presentation that you give is, is very, um, well put together. It's, I'm very knowledgeable. What are some of the things that you hear as far as feedback from the departments or from the first responders that you talked to as far as this program?
Speaker 2 00:24:27 So the, the feedback I'm getting is, is they actually enjoy it. They're like, Hey, you really, you know, they kind of like, um, I, I was like, you know, you come with some credibility map because you have a son that's on the spectrum, but you're also a first responder. And that's kind of like, like the credibility, uh, um, that, uh, again, it just kind of comes naturally because, you know, I've learned stuff from Ben, but I've also, as I was learning from Ben, I was going on these calls. And that's like, one thing that when I talk about the scenarios was it was man, like I was going on these calls and were having, it might not have even been like, the patron was actually on the spectrum, but it was like their parent, like their parent got in a car accident and they're like, so worried about their car or they just, they can't process that.
Speaker 2 00:25:15 They're like, oh yeah, my son's autistic in the backseat. Can you do something? And I'm like, you know, if it wasn't for understanding the way Ben acts and things and being with Ben, you know, 24 7 that I probably would not be as a good first responder. And then that kind of segwayed into, like, I got to teach her, I felt like the need of like, man, I would really need to help all first responders step up their game. Um, you know, the state, you know, makes, made everyone from yours, go do like a mandatory autism training. And at the time it was good, but it really has not kept up to what we need. And I, you know, I've definitely, you know, taken it to the next level. Um, because like I said, because I'm on two sides, I'm a dad, you know, whose son is on spectrum, but I'm also a first responder what, you know, for the last 22 years.
Speaker 2 00:26:00 So seeing both, you know, having that, that having both sides is huge. I mean, and I know, and being in, you know, their thing is being an instructor, like, you know, being a fire instructor, being an EMS instructor, I I've had to better understand how people learn. And I did my best to make this program where it was as interactive as possible show videos, show, you know, it had different graphs of more than just me just speaking. So having like the videos in there, you know, I feel like we could talk, you know, like one of the videos that I talking about dangerous situations, and I talk about like drowning being the leading cause of children with autism under 90%. And then I have a news article you'll want to chose it. You, I mean, I think that that brings it home more like that, that makes it real versus just, you know what, I just had a news clip where it's actually, you know, it's the sister, you know, or the aunt talking about, you know, um, a five-year-old boy, you know, perishing up in Michigan, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 00:26:55 Like that hits someone like, I want to hit home. I want you guys to feel that because I want it to resonate with you. You know what I mean? Like, and that that's my goal was I went to resonate with the first responders. So it's not something they just brush off and I, and I can time it. And I've even like tackling some of these police departments, um, they'll come in with like, yeah, we're we didn't think we were going to learn anything new because they'd been showing them the same video over and over again. And they're like, you come in and you give like a real life story and stuff like that. And they get it. You, I mean, you, you know, my goal is, I just wish I could get more people to do for Jeanette. You know what I mean? Like, like I said, take the Benz blue bag names off of it, just to be able to present this program has been the hardest part. You know what I mean? But again, like, nobody else is doing this. Nobody else is going out and doing a program. And at the end of the program, here's a back nail for you to use. Right. It's something, like I said, I stumbled across it. It was never the original intent of the program, but I just kind of keep running with it until, um, till it runs out right now,
Speaker 1 00:27:58 Not during an emergency situation, how would someone possibly act, would they just, I know what, when you talk about it with the first responders itself, it's during an emergency, they may resist you or they may come to you. One of the two, you don't really know. Um, could you explain that a little bit?
Speaker 2 00:28:14 So during, you know, like I talked about a segment about dangerous situations and we talk about water, um, you know, the first part I talked about the water part and about drowning into leading cause of death in children with autism, with 90% ochre under the age of 14. And as I was doing that, um, what came out was I had first responded to asking him about the, why w why Matt and the, what the why with water is that number stimulated so associated with the water, it hits all their senses. It's the fuel of the waves. It's a sound, it's a, uh, of the water, it's the splashing in the light, reflecting off the surface. Um, and even the smell coming Tyson to them. And as I, as I really like, like start thinking about this, um, you know, where do we all go on spring break?
Speaker 2 00:29:00 Where do you go? Where do you go on spring, break the beach, right? The Florida, are we not all kind of attracted to water? Does not everyone like, you know, talk about living life at the beach is better and all that stuff. But, but again, but we understand that, like, we don't go in cold water, like, you know, like, like they, don't under, you know, a lot of times that cold water, th they could care less, you know? I mean, they'll go to any water or you don't attracted. Right. And the other thing, you know, I talk about also is, um, there's another group of people that are also seem to be attracted to water and it's dementia patients, right? Absolutely. I'm
Speaker 1 00:29:34 On the search and rescue team, and that's, we have a book called lost person behavior, and it's all the statistics. And when look in the autistic spectrum, are you looking dementia patients? Um, they always recommend water. You know, that's, that's where they're attracted. It's like a magnet. They, they, they always want to go there.
Speaker 2 00:29:51 And my, and the joke I tell in class, I go, but what do you, what do they build around every assisted living facility and nursing home ponds upon
Speaker 3 00:29:59 It's like, and I know
Speaker 2 00:30:00 That because of storm water or something like that, but it is, it is kind of like ironic that, you know, we, we, we put these, you know, dementia patients in these rooms, in these buildings, and then you build a pond around it. Right.
Speaker 1 00:30:11 I guess it's one way to keep them right, right there. I mean, they're attracted to it and it's, they're protected, at least, at least it's the first place you just go look, right. Well,
Speaker 2 00:30:19 Dangerous situations. You know, we talked about fire and about with people with autism may continue to resist and restrain during a fire emergency. You know, I really hit home with firefighters, must stay with a person with AST or hand them off to another caregiver. They may try to go back into a building. And the Y is all adults with autism are just as likely as children to hide in a fire situation. So checks should be done in closets, under beds and behind furniture during a search and rescue. And then the video part I play is, um, it was an Arizona, a 12 year old boy, um, smelled, smoke, um, woke the family up, got, you know, the family got headed out the door and got them up or was heading out somehow they lost track. And the boy ran back inside and was an, a puddling next to the dad's bed.
Speaker 2 00:31:09 And the, the house went up really quick. And, you know, the first couple of times it was really hard to present that you don't think about that. And for me, it's got a little bit better, but I want to hit home every time with every firefighter that, you know, that's the last thing we ever want to happen. You know, we don't, you know, we've always like everything since I was a brand new firefighter, when I've taught fire prevention stuff, you know, we teach people, get out, stay out, you know, I can remember being a kid. You know, my parents told me, you know, Hey, you know, if there's ever a fire in the house, you get out, you go by the mailbox, you go by the big tree, you know? So to think that somebody would run back into a burning building because they, you know, not recognizing danger is kind of a hard, you know, hard thing to wrap around your head as a firefighter.
Speaker 1 00:31:55 No, Matt, if someone wants to get in contact with you to have you come out and do a presentation or even possibly, um, give to your program that you guys are doing, how would they do that?
Speaker 2 00:32:06 They can email me, um, Ben's blue
[email protected]. They can send me a message on Facebook, um, at Ben blue bags. Um, my cell phone, uh, two one nine, eight oh eight four two three. Oh. Um, uh, the contact crop point fire, even like on our city website, they put like a bay, uh, page now for Chrome, um, for Bentall bags that can, you know, just leave me a message at the fire department. Obviously I'll get back to them as soon as I can. And, um, if they want to donate like anything, rather like they to donate like say they want a bag or something like that, they can write checks right. To Ben's blue bags.
Speaker 1 00:32:44 So Amanda, if someone that's listening right now would like to get a bag donated to their fire department or their police department, how much is each bag to, for that way, they can make that donation. So
Speaker 2 00:32:54 Each bag is a hundred dollar donation, and again, I'll set them up with a bag with, with all the items in it, the inventory list. And, um, and then, you know, they're good to go. And then, um, like I said, through the training, um, as long as the dish run department I'll come out and present, um, I saw, uh, you know, I have departments all the time. It's just kind of working out my schedule and lining up their training nights. Um, and like I said, it doesn't matter to me. I've gone on Saturday morning, Sarah, you know, you know, Tuesday afternoons I'll present, you know, as long as it's not my shift day, like I'll come out and present. So,
Speaker 1 00:33:27 So any an organization that's listening right now that would like to have been blue by come out. I have to tell you that this program and the way he presents it is absolutely worth having him come out. Matt, I appreciate you sitting down and talking with me today. If there's ever anything that we could do more of this, let us know. Thank
Speaker 2 00:33:42 You so much, Kevin. And I think this is awesome. What you guys are doing and, uh, just kind of help spread the word. Absolutely. Well again, Matt. Thanks. Thank you Kevin.
Speaker 0 00:33:52 For more information about the county fire department, visit <inaudible> dot com. Thank you for your support.
