Road Guardians

Keith Smooth Lefebvre July 8 at 9:57pm

Driving down the interstate today at the 90/94 split in my company car and came upon an accident, a family pulling an RV trailer somehow lost the trailer and rolled their truck into the ditch, was told it rolled 3 times. I arrived within a minute of it happening. I was able to respond with everything you and Tony taught at ASMI……I used PACT instinctively… got EMS called,treated a 3 year old girl with a head laceration, a mother with leg lacerations and calmed a scared father. When State Police showed up, I told them extent of injuries, he let me continue to help, Fire and EMT’s arrived, I told them what they had and went on my merry way.

After reviewing what happened as I was back on the road I was really impressed with what you guys had taught me and how it came into play.
Just wanted to say Thanks.

Overview of CMI:

Critical Medical Information (CMI) was founded to enable members to easily maintain their medical information on a secure server where they have complete control over content and who can view it.  Members can share information with medical personnel on any web enabled PC via a view only option controlled by a password they set.  Some membership levels also include the ability to download all information to a flash drive.

Members can store emergency contact information, medications, allergies, surgeries, doctor visits, medical & legal images, and much, much more.  In addition they can create state specific living wills for all fifty states, generate missing person flyers, print wallet cards and plan doctor visits to make sure they are comprehensive and effective.  In the event of an illness or accident the information available through CMI helps assure informed medical treatment and could save your life.

There are several membership levels.  Individual memberships enable the storage of information online (with view only access for medical personnel) and to print a wallet card with information needed in an emergency.  Family Memberships cover up to six individual members and have all of the functionality of the Individual membership plus the ability to download medical information onto a flash drive and an Emergency Capsule that is weatherproof and contains a system generated insert that contains information needed in an emergency.  The Sport Membership (recommended for riders) has all of the features of the Family Membership plus an additional Emergency Capsule and a wrist band containing a flash drive with all of your medical information. The Emergency Capsules are small enough (red with EMERGENCY engraved on them) to be attached to the zipper pull on riding gear where medical personnel will be sure to find them.

CMI was founded by John Boyd, an avid rider, five years ago.  The company markets primarily through organizations whose members could benefit from the product.  Memberships are available to Road Guardians at a discounted price at www.criticalmedicalinformation.com/assoc/rdg.

I have yet to meet anyone who is not a supporter of motorcycle safety. I always ask, “Do you support motorcycle safety?” The resounding answer is “yes I am?”

What is “Motorcycle Safety”? When I ask people this question I get a variety of responses. Many people tell me about Rider Education. Others will tell me about what a person should wear to be safe.

What IS motorcycle safety?  Motorcycle safety is made up of 6 distinct areas:

1. Rider Education – Every state has a rider education program that not only teaches new motorcyclists how to ride but many programs also teach enhanced skills. Wild Prairie HOG Road Captains are required to take both classes – new rider and skilled courses.
2. First Response – Efforts to not only train motorcyclists how to properly respond but also to place trained riders in places where they can be of most assistance. Training also includes educating EMS in proper response. Wild Prairie HOG Road Captains are requires to take both the Basic and Advanced Accident Scene Management courses.
3. Apparel – Typically Rider Education will also include education about protective apparel that can reduce injuries in the event the person goes down. Wild Prairie HOG Road Captains wear reflective vests on group rides.
4. Laws– Educating the motorcyclists and general public on current laws such as right of way issues, laws on apparel and MC standards, Government studies on motorcycle safety and funds appropriated for motorcycle safety. In my last article I shared some of the findings from various studies. I’ll continue to monitor and share additional findings as they become available. Wild Prairie HOG Road Captains always review riding formation and hand signals – focus is to keep us legal and safe.
5. Impaired Riding – Programs and education on the effects of riding impaired and ways to recognize and reduce impaired riding
6. Motorist Awareness – Programs and efforts aimed at drivers to encourage them to look for motorcyclists. Many programs are surfacing that deal with this issue from bumper sticker programs to enhanced penalties for drivers who violate right of way to encouraging motorcyclists to be more visible.  Question for you: as you ride down the road, are you watching a car/truck as a vehicle, or are you keeping your peripheral vision on their front tire?

As Safety Office, I want motorcycle safety to be top of mind for all our members. HOG is all about riding and having fun… and safely of course.

Keep the shiny side up.

Chris