Helping you to rescue me. The rescue of people with ASD: guidelines for firefighters

Introduction. Rescuing a person on the autism specrtum in a dangerous situation (i.e. collapsed or burning buildings) could be a challenge both for the person herself, who lives an unexpected critical situation, and for... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction. Rescuing a person on the autism specrtum in a dangerous situation (i.e. collapsed or burning buildings) could be a challenge both for the person herself, who lives an unexpected critical situation, and for rescuers who are not aware of the person’s characteristics and cannot understand his unusual behaviors. Firefighters and other emergency response agencies need specific knowledge about autism and the best strategies to relate to people on the autism spectrum, in order to assure them help and assistance in dangerous situations. Method. An analysis of criticisms about standard safe operations in relation to people on the autism spectrum was previously done. Afterwards, experiences, problems and needs of firefighters about rescuing people with an autism condition were collected. Considering the needs of people on the autism spectrum and the lack of information and training on autism of rescuers, a partnership was built with the local fire department in order to adapt usual safe operations to autistic people. This collaboration ended to the design of some guidelines and operational instruction with the purpose of organizing actions, expertise and knowledge of people involved. Results. Operative guidelines suggest firefighters how to manage emergency if a persons on the autism spectrum is involved helping them to attain the person’s collaboration and to avoid crisis. Conclusions. Considering the peculiarities of autistic people and the importance of assuring adequate protection to each person, there is a need of a collaboration between professionals experts at autism and professionals experts at rescue people from dangerous situations in order to develop protocols adapted to the specific characteristics of people on the autism spectrum.