A bit of a research question...

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Let's say a pretty severely autistic person was injured in a car accident.Let's assume for the sake of it he is a pretty beefy proportioned 18 year old male.Let's also say that:

A) He won't let anyone touch him or the injuries.

B)He keeps scrambling away from approaching paramedics / police/ other people.

C) they've tried pretty much everything ( tazers, bribing with food, ETC)

What would paramedics/police do?

I'm putting something like this in my story, and i need it to be as accurate as possible.The country that this car accident would happen in is Canada, if that helps at all.

Based on the EMT training I received in the U.S. 5 years ago, I think the typical way to handle that situation would be to restrain the person. This would be done as safely as possible with regard to the injuries he obviously has or could hypothetically have.

This situation is actually not unusual for anyone involved in a car accident, autistic or not. Brain injuries and shock can make anyone disoriented and combative.

Paramedics have to treat anyone involved in an accident as though they have brain injuries and spinal injuries because these things cannot be detected conclusively outside of a hospital. Therefore, if the accident is bad enough to cause these kinds of injuries, a person may not have the right to refuse care - they could be disoriented due to a brain injury.

The procedure that would probably be used is called a "standing take-down" (or something like that, someone else correct me if I'm wrong). The paramedics place the board that is used for all patients with potential spinal injuries behind the patient. They methodically strap the patient to the board while standing. If the person needs to be restrained, stronger straps would be used. While this is being done, someone would be holding the person's head still and placing a cervical brace around the neck asap. This prevents any existing neck injury from being made worse during transport.

If a paramedic (as opposed to an EMT) were on the scene, they might be able to administer a sedative. (Paramedics are trained to administer drugs when necessary). However, I think this would most likely be done at the hospital after a doctor had performed a basic exam. It is important to monitor the patient's level of alertness / consciousness; sedatives obviously interfere with this. I think this patient would be sedated at some point, though.

Since the story's set in Canada, the paramedics would give him a beer, tell him hunting stories, and complain that the americans are conspiring to steal canada's water resources.

Then they'd give him a toque to wear and a hockey stick to hold.

After that, he'd feel entirely comfortable.

cant help on the canadian part of it,and am not profoundly autistic,but am on the severe end/LFA,a danger to self and others in emergency situations and when being fussed around by people who are not in regular routine.
when staff/family need to get am to hospital-and depending on how quick it needs to be,they use 'physical intervention',phone for the police or ask community support police officers for help if theres any around at the time,or can request an emergency sectioning as it is against the law for paramedics to take am away without that.
they also use 'chemical restraints' -using prescribed PRN medication,as it works quick and calms am down a lot.

with physical intervention [thats what the staff call restraining] they have to have every restraint type they use on am approved by the home/councils specialists and they also have to go for regular training.
am have been injured more by some physical restraints than in the accidents.
during restraining,if am in a bad way,they put am on stomach,wrap legs up tight enough with quilt and then pin body and arms down and hold head down to stop banging,when am used to have very strong staff,they were able to restrain am without a quilt.
not sure how that would work in a car accident as have never been in one that required ambulance/police.. before,they would use the pin down restraint on the ground/concrete as they already do that.


What if contacted the police in canada,and asked them how they deal with autistics in that situation,as they give the police side of it?

thank you all for your information, and KOR, no contact ill be needed.I live in canada, all i have to do is look it up in the library.^^

Thanks for the offer, though.

I need a bit more though.

When I took first aid I was told that the injured person ALWAYS has the right to refuse treatment. If the injuries are life threatening, you wait until the person passes out, then do whatever is needed to save the life (and nothing more). I would expect that in the case of potential spinal cord injury, wrestling with the person would make things worse. Best to let them say no and just give them time to calm down. If I were restrained or drugged, I'd sue (or want to - I don't know if you can in Canada).

The only case where I think it is justified to restrain is if the person is unable to control his behaviour and is putting himself or other people in danger. But maybe they tell paramedics something different from what they tell civilians.

The psychological damage from restraining/drugging someone who is only stressed and not dangerous is nasty.

Unless the person was an immediate danger to himself or someone else a tazer would be out of the question. Generally if you do not chase someone they will not run. Just with any patient who is scared you have to build some level of person contact. It is the same with a child or someone who is in shock or chemically impaired. His size only matters if you resort to physical means and this is always a last resort for many reasons. Once they know you are there to help and they trust you I have never had a problem from someone with cognitive issues. Of course there are always 5-10 firefighters around to help if things go bad.

bookwormde

I should have been more specific, although the information given helps alot.

Let's suppose he is being...a bit dangerous.Not to anyone else but himself, of course.Since he is autistic of course he has some sensory issues.There for when the police came with their sirens..he freaked out.

Not sure as to what he will do yet but it involves smacking/violetnly shoving away anyone that tries to come near.

Actually in the US, it's now a requirement that emergency personnel and first responders be trained in Autism Spectrum Disorders, so they should know to speak quietly and reassuringly to a person who is displaying off or unusaul/non typical behaviour. They also should know that you should approach an ASD person with non threatening body language and NO grabbing. They are also supposed to be looking for cards that identify the person as being on the spectrum. Most autism support groups are handing out cards that tell about behaviours, etc. There are also forms that you can keep in your car that tell first responders your information. I keep these things because my son and I are both on the spectrum and if I am incapacitated in a car accident, and he's whigged out, he can just give them the form.

There is good training out there for first responders. Hopefully, in times of stress and emergencies, they remember what they learned.