First responders get training on treating special needs patients

Mentor CARES, an educational and resource facility for children and young adults with autism, is set to host a class to train first responders and medical professionals on treating and communicating with special needs patients.

The class is March 27 from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. and will feature instruction from Mentor CARES staff.

Lake Health paramedic Rollin Pachinger of Mentor spearheaded the event.

“It’s just trying to get a sense of comfort level for the first responders with these patients, to better treat them,” Pachinger said. “And who better to teach us than the people that deal with them every day.

“We’re just trying to come up with a class that’s hands-on that any first responder, EMT, paramedic (or) nurse — because they’re going to be dealing with these patients as well in the ER — can come and they can get continuing education hours.”

Pachinger said that this continued education opportunity for professionals will help them maintain their certifications.

“I talked with Lake Health... to try to set up a class that’s a hands-on class for learning about special needs patients,” Pachinger said. “So after I got approval for that, I went and reached out to (Mentor CARES director) Christy Lapaglia, kind of explained my idea and where I was coming from, and we were able to develop the program that way.”

Pachinger mentioned that his twin sisters have autism and that Lapaglia was their teacher at one point.

Pachinger said that he is also a firefighter paramedic with three departments. Part of his drive to set up the class was wanting to help both of his families — his biological family and the first responder family.

In addition to the class, Lapaglia also mentioned other events involving a common goal of first responders and people with autism learning more about each other.

“Our whole goal was to be able to get our students more comfortable with EMS and firefighter(s) and the whole process, so that they’re not so nervous and scared if something does happen,” Lapaglia said.

Such training would familiarize students with firefighter equipment using hands-on activity. If students are able to experience such activities in a calm state of mind, Lapaglia said, they might be more likely to respond positively to it in the event of an emergency.

“On the flip side, we want to give as much knowledge about how people with autism think, learn, respond — to the people who will be caring for them in an emergency,” Lapaglia continued.

Topics expected to be covered by the class include:

• Sensory systems and people with autism

• Communication differences in people with disabilities

• Tips for deescalating problem behaviors

• How to use visual support.

The class will be at Mentor CARES school, 5028 Forest Road.