Published: 10/01/2011
Of course Seth Hyman wants to make Broward County a safer place for his own children. But while he’s doing that, he’s making it a better place for your family, too.
Hyman, of Weston, is the parental force of one behind the new emergency medical form known as Broward Emergency Critical Care Assistance, or BECCA. It could very well prove to be a life-saver.
The form — which can be downloaded from the Internet to document your child’s medical history — is named for Hyman’s youngest daughter, Rebecca, an extremely fragile 5-year-old with a severe genetic disorder and special needs.
“Becca is non-verbal, can’t walk, can’t sit. She is completely dependent on us 24 hours a day,” Hyman says in the matter-of-fact tone of someone accustomed to reciting an inventory of his child’s afflictions. “She is fed through a feeding tube and has to be watched around the clock because her life is always at stake.” If that’s not enough, Becca has as many as 200 to 300 seizures daily. Often these episodes can become life-threatening.
Because of Becca’s delicate condition, the Hymans frequently have to call 911. But each time a rescue crew arrived, the Hymans would lose precious minutes as they conveyed Becca’s medical information to emergency personnel.
“Every time they came, we had to answer all the same questions,” Hyman says. “Even if it was the same crew that had come two days before, we had to answer all the same questions.”
It was a source of great stress for the family. “If you’re a parent and your child is not breathing and turning blue, lying on the floor of your home, are you in a normal state of mind to answer questions?” Hyman asks. “You’re not in a normal state of mind, you’re in la-la land.”
There’s no question that information such as medications, allergies and previous procedures is important. There just needed to be a more efficient way of providing it.
After yet another harrowing trip to the hospital last year, Hyman vented his frustrations to Dr. Nabil El Sanadi, the Chief of Emergency Medicine at Broward Health, as well as the EMS Medical Director for the Broward Sheriff’s Office. They teamed up with BSO Capt. David Erdman to develop a form incorporating all the info needed by emergency personnel, then instituted a protocol within the Sheriff’s office for it to be used throughout the county.
Now all parents have to do is download the form, fill it in, print it out, and keep it handy for emergencies. The information stays with the family, not the department, and it can be easily updated. Parents can even make copies for school and camp.
Hyman, who advocates for families and serves on the special needs committee of the Children’s Services Council, gives BSO a lot of credit for being willing to listen to the concerns of a parent.“The form is useless if you don’t get the cooperation of the responders,” he says.
The BECCA program is particularly useful for children with special needs, but it is not meant solely for them. It could benefit any child, say the Hymans, whose older daughter, Melissa, is healthy and in middle school. “We did it because it will be helpful to save lives,” Hyman says. “If we can save even one life with this form, it’s worth it.”
The form is proof that individuals can make a big difference, says Dr. El Sanadi, who remains impressed with Hyman’s initiative. “He seized the potential and the opportunity to do something about a problem,” Dr. El Sanadi says. “He’s bright and effective, and he saw it through with passion.”
Dr. El Sanadi says the system is so smart, Broward County’s EMS department is trying to expand it so that senior citizens also take advantage of it. In emergencies, seniors can’t always convey the specifics of their condition or medications, which can be dangerous. Having a pre-filled form taped to the refrigerator can prevent errors. “It’s a very simple idea, but it can make a big difference to paramedics,” he says. “Combining the wrong medications can hurt people.”
Dr. El Sanadi is not so surprised that a parent like Hyman came up with such a smart concept. “He is the expert as far as his kid is concerned,” El Sanadi says. “We are helping him take care of his family, but the parent is the expert.”
The key, however, is for people in Broward County to download the form and use it. “The paramedics already know about it,” El Sanadi says. “But we need parents to know about it.”
To learn more about the form, or to create one for your family, see www.sheriff.org/about_bso/dfres/becca.
