WIFMS

Every DT4EMS presentation has a WIFM (What’s In It For Me?). This serves as a medium for you to not only understand the WIFM in each presentation but also to deliver it in your own way. Doing so ensures that instructors avoid the tendency to “try to be Kip.”

At the end of our program, we want participants to leave with two key takeaways:

1. A solid understanding of “reasonable”
2. The physical skill “The Parry”

This is triaging self-defense in medicine. Our focus is on safety tactics, not techniques. If participants grasp the tactics, they will rarely need the techniques.

Recognizing Emotional Cues

In every PowerPoint presentation, look for subtle cues that signal the emotion you need to elicit in your audience:

• Humor
• Anger
• Sadness

These cues will help guide your delivery style. Keep adjusting your approach until you observe class engagement with the WIFM.

Engaging the Class from the Start

At the beginning of each class, have participants introduce themselves one by one. Lead them by asking:

• Their name
• A little about their background and family
• Their hobbies
• Why they got into EMS, Fire, Nursing, or their respective field

This exercise is essential for understanding your audience. It allows you to identify allies who will be receptive and skeptics who may need more convincing. It also sets up a key moment later when you can say, “Not one of you mentioned that you got into this job to fight or hurt people.”

Building the Need: The Opening Presentation

The opening presentation is designed to:

• Establish the need for training
• Define key terms and concepts
• Demonstrate what happens when staff are not trained

If participants buy into the WIFM early, they will trust you for the rest of the class.

Overcoming the “It’s Part of the Job” Mentality

For anyone with six months or more of field experience, whether in pre-hospital or in-hospital settings, we must retrain their mindset. Many have been conditioned to believe:

• “Being assaulted is just part of the job.”
• “If someone gets aggressive, just whack them with an oxygen bottle.”

Both mindsets lead to either too much or too little use of force.

We build the need gradually:

1. Present studies that highlight the dangers healthcare providers face.
2. Show news reports of medical staff being assaulted.
3. Emphasize that assaults on medical personnel rarely make national headlines—but people are being arrested and convicted for these crimes.

By the end, participants should feel a sense of outrage—not at you, but for themselves. They must see the problem before they accept the solution.

Assault Response Guidelines (ARG) Demonstration

During the opening presentation, we introduce Assault Response Guidelines (ARG) for the first time.

• Briefly explain each level of force (keep it under 5 minutes).
• Conduct a demonstration using the largest male and the smallest female in the class:
  • Have the male simulate a grab to the female’s throat.
  • Ask the class: “Which level of response is reasonable?”
  • Let them debate without interference.
  • Reverse the roles and ask again.

This triggers an “aha moment.” When most participants correctly assess reasonableness in the second scenario, they begin to internalize the concept.

This exercise leads directly into a video showing staff using excessive force. Ask: “Was this reasonable?” and let them debate.

Instead of giving them the answer, you are teaching them how to evaluate reasonableness themselves.

The Six Steps PowerPoint

Under stress, people process information differently. We don’t want them thinking about 50 different things at once. Instead, they need to focus on one step at a time:

1. Ask the group: “Do you stage for unsafe scenes?”
2. Show them statistics:
   • 52% of healthcare staff are assaulted.
   • The assault rate is 22 times higher than in other private-sector industries.
   • If they’re following agency policy and still getting attacked, where is the real danger coming from?

WIFM: Most assaults occur by surprise on supposedly “safe” scenes.

RACE to REACT: Teaching the Reflex Response

To introduce RACE (Recognize, Assess, Control, Escape), conduct a simple physical demonstration:

1. Hold out your arm and have someone grip it tightly.
2. Attempt to lift your arm while they resist.
3. Suddenly touch their forehead with your other hand.
4. Observe their automatic reaction—their grip loosens.

Ask the class: “What just happened?” Someone will say, “You distracted them.”

This is an entry point to explaining RACE:

• Distraction resets the attacker’s thought process.
• Under stress, reflexes override conscious thought.

This technique resets an attacker’s RACE and allows for escape.

Potentially Violent Calls: The 6 D’s

Start by asking: “Name any call where there is a potential for violence.”

1. Collect 6-10 examples.
2. Show the Six D’s on-screen, demonstrating how all their examples fit into these categories.

WIFM: By understanding the 6 D’s, they can proactively identify and avoid violent encounters.

Graham v. Connor Case Study

Tell the story of Graham v. Connor, a landmark Supreme Court case on use of force.

• Ask the class, “Were the officers right or wrong?”
• Reveal that Graham sued and lost because the officers’ actions were deemed “reasonable”.

WIFM: In both medicine and law enforcement, we are not required to be perfect—we just need to be reasonable.

General Management and Teaching Tips

• Safety is the top priority. No horseplay.
• Constantly ask, “Can a confused patient grab me like this? Can a drunk or drugged attacker grab me like this?” to reinforce why techniques are taught a certain way.
• Emphasize, “No other profession has to decide in a split second whether someone is a patient or an aggressor like we do in medicine.”
• Escape is the goal, not “winning a fight.”
• Use role changes frequently to prevent students from becoming complacent.
• TV and movies distort self-defense expectations. Our goal is escape, not domination.
• If there is a martial artist in class, frame the training as “helping them understand reasonable use of force on the job.”

Sidestep: The First Skill They Learn

1. Have participants stand in rows and watch you first.
2. Demonstrate with hands behind your back to isolate footwork.
3. Start slow, facing a side wall.
4. Introduce the concept of weight distribution.
5. Have them practice in a controlled setting.

WIFM: The sidestep is fundamental—it is used in every takedown and defensive maneuver we teach.

By refining the clarity and flow of the content, this version ensures the material is engaging, effective, and easier to teach while maintaining all the key principles of DT4EMS. Let me know if you’d like any further adjustments.