THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407260126
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Linda McNatt
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
Reba Clayton thinks that every family, from the youngest child to the oldest adult, needs to know a little something about first aid and what to do in case of an emergency.
She thinks that families should have a tape near the telephone, ready to play in case a call to ``911'' is necessary. So often, she said, people in a situation where it's necessary to call that number forget to tell the operator what the problem is, where they are, who and what the emergency involves.
A simple message that says, ``This is John Doe. If you are hearing this message, it means that we need emergency help at 555 Doe Court.'' Whoever is placing the call and playing the tape, whether it's a child or an adult, can simply state the emergency: fire, illness, injury, break-in or whatever.
And she thinks that small companies, even those with just a few employees, need to have somebody trained in basic first aid and emergency action.
That's why Clayton, an active volunteer and trainer with the Windsor Volunteer Rescue Squad and a certified instructor for the National Safety Council, has started her own company to help families and small companies prepare for emergencies.
``I can teach your child what to do until the rescue squad gets there, how to call 911,'' Clayton said. ``I can help you learn how to feel safe. The first few minutes in an emergency situation are critical.''
Clayton has named her company Basic ABC Inc. She has an office in the heart of Windsor, and she's willing to work at the convenience of those who need her expertise.
That expertise includes training as an emergency medical technician, a shock trauma technician, a cardiac technician, a paramedic. She's certified by the state to teach CPR, first aid, emergency medical techniques, advanced cardiac life support.
She's done it for years through the Windsor Volunteer Rescue Squad, and she's offered free classes, in CPR, for example, there. But she's had little response, she said.
``And then I started thinking,'' she said. ``I think there are people out there who don't necessarily want to be certified, they just want to know enough to get by until help arrives. They just want the knowledge.''
That's one of the reasons she started the business.
The other reason was obvious when Clayton was shopping in a local department store a couple of years ago. She heard the manager, running through the store, shout that he had called the rescue squad and that squadmen should be sent upstairs when they arrived.
Clayton said she told the man she was a member of the rescue squad and offered to help until the ambulance arrived. He gladly accepted the help, she said, and immediately presented her with gloves and a packet mask (used for administering CPR).
``They had the equipment, but they had nobody in the store who knew how to use it,'' Clayton said.
She assisted in that emergency, but she knew that it would have been a better situation overall had just one store employee known what to do.
``Immediate treatment gives anybody a better chance, especially if they've stopped breathing,'' Clayton said. ``If somebody is not getting oxygen, they have about six minutes before brain cells begin to die. If CPR is started within that six minutes, they have a very high rate of survival.''
Clayton's office includes a small training room and audio/visual aids from the National Safety Council. She's willing for her clients to come to her, or she will go to them. She even offers lectures and demonstrations. The office is opened from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week. But Clayton is flexible.
Because she works so close to her home in Zuni, and because she has two able assistants - her daughters, Carolyn and Cynthia - she can accommodate most any hours.
``This is allowing me to spend time with my daughters, too,'' she said, smiling.
And the new business venture still allows her to devote time to the local rescue squad. By being in town, just a few doors down from the squad, she's available to make daytime runs. Daytime hours, when most volunteers are working their regular jobs, are hard for any volunteer squad, Clayton said. This way, she's there and on call during the time she's most needed.
And don't think for a minute that Clayton can't do what she says she can do. She's taught dozens and dozens of EMTs, etc., locally. And a couple of years ago, she started working with Operation Smile.
Her first assignment with that organization was to teach CPR in Panama. Even though she didn't speak Spanish when she left Panama, she left behind 25 CPR instructors. Her second year in Panama, she successfully taught an EMT course.
This past January, she went to Nicaragua to train EMTs, and she's planning to return to that country in September. Despite the language barrier, her efforts have succeeded, and she's proud of what she's done.
``In Nicaragua, the ambulance drivers are trained to drive,'' she said. ``They have no medical training. Doctors from that country have been trained in America, and they found out about our emergency medical training.''
That's how Operation Smile got involved, she said. Because she wanted to help, and because she's good, Clayton got involved.
That kind of thing is important to her. She knows how much difference just a little knowledge can make.
Clayton wants to fill a health need in her community. She wants others to know the basic ABCs of saving lives.
If any of Clayton's knowledge is something you'd like to have, you can reach her at 242-3437.
That's Basic ABC Inc. It's basic knowledge or more. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
Reba Clayton, with her daughters Carolyn Clayton and Cynthia Cofield
as assistants, started her own business, Basic ABC Inc.
by CNB