Medical - MAJOR RANT

[CharlieH]

Off topic posts removed

[ATF]

I recall there is a Westerner in Pattaya who goes out with emergency medical teams, understand he has built a good reputation with the Thai teams. No idea if he has influenced policy / protocol for emergency medical responders.

I understand he's in jail now for battering someone close to death.

[liddelljohn]

Some people would see a consulting opportunity in this. Odds are those guys you see on the news paper have very few opportunities to be exposed to best practice or don't have complete sets of equipment due to funding.

A few free volunteer sessions, you never know what it could turn into. You could also volunteer with the charity ambulances who would probably love the assistance of someone like you.

problem is you will need a work permit ,, a few years ago there was an Australian paramedic who was doing voluntary training of sawang Boriboon emergency guys in pattaya ,, but he was arrested , for not having work permit ,fined 200k and deported .

[Crazy chef 1]

what do you guys expect? we have dozens of topics running about shabby workmanship,service,education,traffic and so on...though why do you assume there is a difference to public medical service? if i see our local "bush" hospital OMG...once they tried to relocate my dislocated shoulder without anesthetica and after i asked for it they just admited they forgot it...

[philw]

Some people would see a consulting opportunity in this. Odds are those guys you see on the news paper have very few opportunities to be exposed to best practice or don't have complete sets of equipment due to funding.

A few free volunteer sessions, you never know what it could turn into. You could also volunteer with the charity ambulances who would probably love the assistance of someone like you.

Thank you Samran.

I know plenty of people whose lives have been saved by Thai emergency first responders.

In 25 years living here, I don't know of any incident where their involvement was anything other than beneficial.

Sometimes poorly equipped, sometimes under trained, sometimes over enthusiastic, always trying to save life.

They should be applauded not belittled.

Instead we get the usual farang "body snatcher" nonsense.

[philw]

Some people would see a consulting opportunity in this. Odds are those guys you see on the news paper have very few opportunities to be exposed to best practice or don't have complete sets of equipment due to funding.

A few free volunteer sessions, you never know what it could turn into. You could also volunteer with the charity ambulances who would probably love the assistance of someone like you.

problem is you will need a work permit ,, a few years ago there was an Australian paramedic who was doing voluntary training of sawang Boriboon emergency guys in pattaya ,, but he was arrested , for not having work permit ,fined 200k and deported .

Any evidence or this, any ???

Max fine for WP offence is 20k and only deported if on tourist visa.

[The Snark]

Thank you Samran.

I know plenty of people whose lives have been saved by Thai emergency first responders.

In 25 years living here, I don't know of any incident where their involvement was anything other than beneficial.

Sometimes poorly equipped, sometimes under trained, sometimes over enthusiastic, always trying to save life.

They should be applauded not belittled.

Instead we get the usual farang "body snatcher" nonsense.

If a check is made of my original posting, the reference to the Thairath newspaper, 2 incidents will be found where incompetence threatened to compound the injury. This was the point of this thread.

Poorly equipped. I and numerous others from the Boy Scouts to international rescue teams, are more than happy to tell laypersons how to make their own emergency equipment, bandages, splints and so forth. First aid and first responder courses are taught the world over and documentation given, often for free. The Red Cross commonly provides such services and are well represented in Thailand. Over enthusiastic. In the emergency business we call this 'red light fever' which commonly causes tunnel vision which can easily produce the reverse of rescuing a trauma victim.

I have surveyed 14 of these volunteer rescue entities in the greater Chiang Mai area as well as around 100 volunteer rescue services elsewhere. The 14 came up severely wanting in all aspects. Volunteer rescue is by no means unique. The vast majority of rescue entities in America are volunteer, called Volunteer Fire Departments. Many undertake to become fully qualified EMTI of their own volition and expense. Can you please produce documentation where Thai first responders undertake similar training efforts?

I reiterate. The two basic rules of rescue are invariable. Get oxygenated blood to the brain and don't compound the injury.

In that newspaper I cited are two photographed incidents. Two victims of forcible blunt trauma with obvious head injuries. They are both being moved without C Collars. This borderlines criminal negligence. There is absolutely no excuse for this. A web search will turn up hundreds of how to make your own C Collar. Basic rescue training usually includes how to become a human C Collar if you don't have one.

Edited November 19, 2014 by The Snark

[The Snark]

Anecdote! Danger danger!

A logging company brought in a logger to the ER in their pick up. The victim had a tree dropped on him and had a severe head injury. One by one the nurses and 2 doctors read the loggers the riot act for not obeying basic rescue operations and transporting the victim instead of waiting for an ambulance. The obvious big gripe was no C Collar. As it turned out the victim did have a C3 fracture. With head injuries there is often a copious amount of bleeding. Though it looks terrible, this is venous bleeding and not life threatening but things like bleeding tend to cause red light fever in untrained and unexperienced rescuers.

As a CPR, EMT and ACLS instructor I took the abashed and ashamed loggers aside and offered them a CPR and first aid first responder course, for free. (Many many many thanks to AHA for your wonderful efforts over so many years). On their days off, Saturday and Sunday, every single member of that logging crew showed up to our course, unpaid and voluntary, and very eager to learn.

It was a serious crash course. I crammed a full CPR single and 2 person rescue and an abridged EMT 1 course into those 20 hours, 7 AM to 5 PM. Included in the course I focused on how to make ones own first aid and rescue kit. From compression bandages where a clean roll of tissue paper can be substituted to using a plastic bag to restrict a sucking chest wound to half and full back boards, sand bags, C collars and so on. At the end of the course I handed out CPR certs to all and felt a job well done.

Less than a month later a friend who runs the local ambulance service called me and we got together. The whole ambulance service was chuckling and laughing. The same logging company managed to drop another tree on one of theirs. This time the ambulance company was called. As my friend explained, there was a logging truck at the bottom of the road to escort the ambulance. When they arrived at the logging cut there was the patient on the side of the road 2 loggers attending, watching his vitals. There were 4 huge home brew first aid kits evident. The patient was strapped to a home made back board, An excellent C Collar made of stiffened foam rubber on him. His head was also supported by several home made sand bags. He was so bound to the back board with duct tape the only thing he could move was his fingers. Every bit of their extensive first aid gear was home made but outstanding workmanship was evident everywhere. The back boards, 3 of them evident, were made with AA 7/8ths marine plywood with 4 hand grip holes on either side.

The medical staff at the ER was also very impressed. Collectively they, the ambulance service, and myself wrote them a glowing complimentary letter on their outstanding rescue efforts.

PLEASE NOTE: Many operations like American Heart Association, the Red Cross/Crescent, the Boy Scouts and on and on offer rescue training for very nominal fees or free. There is absolutely no excuse to have a rescue truck with a scattering of haphazard equipment, if any, then go blasting up and down crowded highways claiming to be an underfunded undertrained volunteer rescue operation. The best of the best rescue operations in America, the Seattle area, relies heavily on entirely volunteer unpaid first responders and rescuers.

Edited November 20, 2014 by The Snark

[colinneil]

Health care after road accident does not exist in Thailand.

I had a motorbike accident. I was dragged by my shirt to the side of the road by so called emergency specialists .No neck brace no back board.

Now i am bedridden paralyzed from the chest down .

Theo nly concern those idiots had was i insured ,so they would be paid by my insurance company.

I was thrown in theback of a pickup taken to hospital. My wife came to hospital , they chased her around for 10 minutes until she could produce money or insurance document . Bloody animals. Me boken 4th 5th vertabrae/hip/pelvis/leg, collaspased lung, torn dyaphram, plus several cuts etc.

I will never walk again. How much damage did those idiots cause???

Plese excuse any mistakes ,not easy using computer lying on your back.

[The Snark]

Health care after road accident does not exist in Thailand.

I had a motorbike accident. I was dragged by my shirt to the side of the road by so called emergency specialists .No neck brace no back board.

Now i am bedridden paralyzed from the chest down .

Theo nly concern those idiots had was i insured ,so they would be paid by my insurance company.

I was thrown in theback of a pickup taken to hospital. My wife came to hospital , they chased her around for 10 minutes until she could produce money or insurance document . Bloody animals. Me boken 4th 5th vertabrae/hip/pelvis/leg, collaspased lung, torn dyaphram, plus several cuts etc.

I will never walk again. How much damage did those idiots cause???

Plese excuse any mistakes ,not easy using computer lying on your back.

My sincere condolences. Not just to you but to so many others as well. Victims of the rescue as much as the initial incident.

DON'T COMPOUND THE INJURY!!

[The Snark]

Let's beat the dying horse some more. Take colinneil post as a VERY COMMON typical example.

As a trained rescuer I come across him on the road and do a basic 10 second assessment. Mechanism of injury. Degree of force. Physical appearance and position. TEN SECONDS is all it takes. World wide standardized rescue procedures then dictate the next operation. This patient should not be moved if it can possibly be avoided. DIRECT TRAFFIC! Get help with that. Protect the patient.

Powerful forcible trauma, abdominal and thoracic. Patient must be immobilized before any further rescue takes place. Anything less is almost certainly going to compound the injury.

Is this so complicated? Do we need to read about complimenting rescuers that don't obey this procedure, even if their rescue efforts were successful?

Edited November 20, 2014 by The Snark

[liddelljohn]

Some people would see a consulting opportunity in this. Odds are those guys you see on the news paper have very few opportunities to be exposed to best practice or don't have complete sets of equipment due to funding.

A few free volunteer sessions, you never know what it could turn into. You could also volunteer with the charity ambulances who would probably love the assistance of someone like you.

problem is you will need a work permit ,, a few years ago there was an Australian paramedic who was doing voluntary training of sawang Boriboon emergency guys in pattaya ,, but he was arrested , for not having work permit ,fined 200k and deported .

Any evidence or this, any ???

Max fine for WP offence is 20k and only deported if on tourist visa.

I have personally seen this happen to the australian man , and in pattaya 200k for work permit infringments and T money is not unusual seen it many times ,

a friend who owned a large motorcycle business here and 3 restaurants has had many hits even after getting his work permits ,,,,

when i worked for a major japanese electronics company here a few years ago the company had to pay fines of 200k in Chonburi for several other foreign engineers including japanese managers for ''so called work permit violations'' they looked on it as just cost of doing business here .

The company i now work for moved its main ops out of Thailand to Singapore as most employees need to be westerners due to the subsea technology , getting the work permits in Thailand was a nightmare of obfuscation and B/s , in SG we dont need work permits even when deployed back to thailand on offshore operations .

[IMA_FARANG]

I worked for5 years in the 1980[s in Saudi Arabia.

On more than one occasion I saw traffic accidents where "on-lookers" came to "help" the victims.

The natural instinct of such "helpers" seems to be to get the victims out of the car as soon as possible.

Unless there seems to be a real reason to suspect the possibility of a fire danger you should NEVER move a victim that might have a neck injury.

Even trained medical emergency workers can forget that fact.

Bottom line: even trained people do things without thinking when they are in a stressful situation.

[The Snark]

I worked for5 years in the 1980[s in Saudi Arabia.

On more than one occasion I saw traffic accidents where "on-lookers" came to "help" the victims.

The natural instinct of such "helpers" seems to be to get the victims out of the car as soon as possible.

Unless there seems to be a real reason to suspect the possibility of a fire danger you should NEVER move a victim that might have a neck injury.

Even trained medical emergency workers can forget that fact.

Bottom line: even trained people do things without thinking when they are in a stressful situation.

Yes. Red light fever can easily turn any functional person into homo erectus. Even at our ambulance company we had two guys, both EMTII with years of experience that would hype each other up to the degree where they would forget the basics. I watched an ER nurse go frantic communicating with one of them on the radio. The guy was doing a field procedure and had forgotten the basic first step. Radio protocol prohibited spelling out the miss. So there we sat, nurses, EMTs and even an RT crowded around the radio gritting our teeth. It came out pretty comical when we finally heard they were transporting. The nurse on the radio theatrically slammed the microphone down while rolling her eyes, turned on her heels and walked rigidly into the office, slamming the door behind her so hard it echoed all over the hospital.

To counterpoint. One EMT heard an assist request call while at work. Her boss came dashing in to her office to reiterate the alarm was going off. She just sat there, taking deep breaths and getting collected in her thoughts. Emergencies where you can't take a few seconds to get yourself together are extremely rare.

A new EMT came to work at our ambulance service. Us senior pros were assigned with her to assess her. Her and I get a call for a high speed head on. She was assigned as lead. We arrived at the scene, the FD and CHP controlling. One vehicle had 2 walking wounded, seat belts worn, the other vehicle a raw meat case, no restraints.

New EMT does scene survey. She points at the fire fighters and yells EMTs?? Two nod response. She points at the walking wounded. 'Sit on them!'. She then walked up the the other vehicle and turned to the fire fighters. She knocked on the window of the vehicle and commanded, 'BREAK IT!' They did and she climbed in the window. Lying on her stomach on broken glass and mangled seat interior she started patient assess and immobilization, calling out to me for equipment.

The FD were outstanding. They got out the Jaws, pneumatic cutters and come along. They winched the steering wheel column forwards folding it over the hood then cut the top of the car off at the front and folded it back. New EMT continued her work without any interruptions, completely ignoring the vehicle being torn to shreds around her. Half back board and restraints she orchestrated the FD personnel and we finished the patient wrap and package and were off.

The next day another senior was with the new EMT on a code blue. After the call he conferred with me and we took her off probation status. Solid as a rock pro.

I've always preferred working with a female partner. As a rule a little less prone to red light fever, a little more methodical, and when assigned a job they focus a little better. Slowly, carefully, no panic. Emergency doesn't mean you have to be in a screaming rush.

Edited November 20, 2014 by The Snark

[The Snark]

Vehicle fires are very rare. But this is what a coordinated EMS, as Thailand sometimes tries to emulate, is all about. An ambulance call to a Traffic Accident always rools the FD and PD if available. You can never have too much manpower. The PD does scene and traffic control. The FD puts out the fires, carries the heavy equipment and is trained to minimize the scene hazards. The ambulance crew is then able to focus on the patients.

A typical, one of many, accident calls I was on. TA 40+miles from a hospital. One phone call activated the EMS. The response was Highway Patrol x2, a local fire department, EMT trained personnel from a local lumber mill, Calif. Dept of Forestry fire crew, the Coast Guard! and an ambulance. The coast guard was notified automatically due to the response distance and they sent a chopper over. That is real EMS, all dispatched in less than 1 minute.

[wilcopops]

Response time is crucial in victim survival rates.

[The Deerhunter]

Not sure if this is on or off topic. We drove along a busy arterial road yesterday morning between 7 & 8am. Rescue pickups everywhere, perhaps loitering in wait for work. I asked my wife were they paid by the hospital or the patient? What happens if a teenager on a m/b in sandals & no wallet gets himself skittled?

Her answer was: "They all officially work for free but they will empty wallets & take gold off necks and watches off wrists like they did to (her brother-in-law) last year." I was horrified at the answer & queried her. "Oh. some of them are well-meaning but a few of them are just in it for what they can steal. Even the well-meaning ones have assistants and sometimes while the well meaning ones are busy giving care, the dodgy ones are liberating anything they can. It sometimes takes a while before even the good guys realize some of his volunteer staff are stealing."

I was horrified. I ask a reasonable question. Has anyone else heard these stories? Is it really this bad in this Buddhist "Land of Smiles?"

I must say that the sticker they all seem to have in several places on nearly each vehicle makes me think of the C Collar every time I see it. (I had some experience as an ambulance assistant many years ago) The sticker I refer to has the silhouette of a rescue worker carrying a young woman in his arms, her legs & head lolling everywhere as if she is dead or unconscious. It is probably meant to look caring but that is no way to carry an injured person!!!!!

Edited November 20, 2014 by The Deerhunter

[The Snark]

Rescue is not tossing someone in a vehicle and transporting. Rescue is a coordinated effort eliminating the need for dumb luck keeping the patient viable - as much as possible.

Probably the hardest rescue I was ever on.
We were heading for a restaurant for lunch when the call came in, person over a cliff. Arriving at scene. Rock and scree near vertical cliff, approx 300 feethigh. Patient is about half way down wedged between 2 boulders. FD and an SO unit present. Our unit is out of radio contact in the canyon. Only SO radio can contact dispatch. I assess scene and ask SO to request any available assistance - a multi-agency coordinated effort is definitely in order.

FD has some climbing gear. I rappel down and check patient. Stuck like a cork in a bottle mid thighs to upper abdomen. Request gear. First I get an X sling on his upper body and tie him to myself. Then C Collar and check vitals. They sucked. He's in shock, CAO 0. I relay to the So I needed every rock climber in the county.

More ropes come down. I get my IV rig and do a cut away, getting it started. Someone attaches an SO radio to me, mic clipped to my shoulder. Don't have to yell anymore. I want a back board but we have to get the guy away from the rock face first as there was no room. More personnel come down. I get an ECG tied to my chest. They could work on one of those that is smaller than a compact refrigerator or so it seemed.

We have become a small crowd. Another rescuer starts giving extrication directions. All while dangling from ropes we've got about 5 people using hands to try to immobilize the upper body as we slowly apply traction to pull him out. We get a little space between his back and the rock. A creative EMT slides a full length leg splint behind him as a temporary back board. Some fancy duct tape work, the mainstay of extrications as well as holding half the planet together and we feel it is reasonably safe to wrestle him out, a millimeter at a time.

Meanwhile, I've neutralized myself to medic role only, as well as supply traction from my sling link with the patient. A doc wants a trend. I check and
reply. As suspected, spreading vitals. Doc wants a second IV, both wide open. Gee, if I had about 6 arms... Another EMT gets another IV in after playing darts for a few minutes. Veins are collapsing.

Extrication continues. I relay to the doc the trend. Slowing but not stopped. Doc wants Epi. I want shock trousers. I get about 4 rescuers below me trying to get the trousers on. They won't go up all the way as he is still jambed in the rock at his upper thighs. We finally decide to inflate them anyway. His vitals were P 160, BP 80/50 and sliding.

Another EMT tandems at my side to assist with the vitals monitoring (and get in everyone's way. Can't be helped). Maybe 15 people are dangling on ropes by then. As luck would have it, early on a pair of rock climbers had stopped at the scene. They lent their expertise and a lot of climbing gear. They also had the SO relay a call to the local college and in turn the mountaineering class. Most of the class including instructors came out, a 1 1/2 hour drive.

Hands and arms from every direction into my field of view, trying to keep the patient immobilized. Someone had a bright idea topside and sent down a long heavy board. Some more splints and then the board get stuck behind the patient and they slowly pried him out from between the rocks. A full back board comes down. More duct tape. The place looks like a spiders web of ropes. Thank the powers that be for the pro rock climbers who knew how to coordinate them.

We get the patient turned to horizontal at my orders, feet a few inches higher than his heart. Vitals were at P180 BP60/40. Near death. As the stokes basket came down they went mercifully back down to P160, BP inching up a little. I'm constantly toying with the EPI doing a balancing act. It's obvious he's bleeding internally, probable ruptured spleen.

And up the cliff he went. A chopper had tried to come down earlier but all it did was sand and gravel blast us. The CDF chopper was parked at a nearby turn out, the PD had the road completely blocked for it. Ready for transport. A local hospital was on surgical stand by, ER personnel at the helipad.

I go up just about last. Adrenaline rush subsiding my muscles are quivering. I'm completely exhausted. A husky young woman tandems me to her sling to help me haul myself up. I've got her bottom in my face and am operating the brakes between her legs. How nice. Once on the road I discover I can't stand up. It's sun down. I spent 5 hours down there. My privates were completely numb for several days after from the sling I was never able to adjust. All totaled there was easily 75 people involved in the rescue. The patient survived for 7 days, using up all the whole blood our county had in the banks before he passed.

Rescues are all about teamwork and coordinated efforts. There is no place in them for rogues.



Teamwork. Relayed to me by a reputable source. A vehicle collision near a US Military base. An officer had a group of soldiers out on training exercise and witnessed a traffic accident, a vehicle going off the road, rolling and ending up in a ditch upside down. He ordered an APC to crush the fence around the base flat and sent the soldiers over. By hand they rolled the vehicle out of the ditch getting the wheel under it then carried it up to the road to deliver to the extrication and rescue team. Keeping with the training theme the officer ordered an air evac. 2 UH-1's came in to assist patient transport. And additional pair of Hueys and a Chinook came in after to take the soldiers back to base.

[The Snark]

Not sure if this is on or off topic. We drove along a busy arterial road yesterday morning between 7 & 8am. Rescue pickups everywhere, perhaps loitering in wait for work. I asked my wife were they paid by the hospital or the patient? What happens if a teenager on a m/b in sandals & no wallet gets himself skittled?

Her answer was: "They all officially work for free but they will empty wallets & take gold off necks and watches off wrists like they did to (her brother-in-law) last year." I was horrified at the answer & queried her. "Oh. some of them are well-meaning but a few of them are just in it for what they can steal. Even the well-meaning ones have assistants and sometimes while the well meaning ones are busy giving care, the dodgy ones are liberating anything they can. It sometimes takes a while before even the good guys realize some of his volunteer staff are stealing."

I was horrified. I ask a reasonable question. Has anyone else heard these stories? Is it really this bad in this Buddhist "Land of Smiles?"

I must say that the sticker they all seem to have in several places on nearly each vehicle makes me think of the C Collar every time I see it. (I had some experience as an ambulance assistant many years ago) The sticker I refer to has the silhouette of a rescue worker carrying a young woman in his arms, her legs & head lolling everywhere as if she is dead or unconscious. It is probably meant to look caring but that is no way to carry an injured person!!!!!

That sticker is as cute as it is asinine. I prefer the one of the medical staff with 2 snakes wrapped around it, commonly seen on beat up pick up trucks. 1 snake, paramed, 2 snakes is the caduceus, the symbol of a fully qualified medical doctor. Over the years they have been correcting themselves to one snake. Personally, after seeing numerous rescue efforts here I'd suggest an earthworm wrapped around a candy cane.

[samran]

You had me at 'husky young woman'...

[simple1]

I recall there is a Westerner in Pattaya who goes out with emergency medical teams, understand he has built a good reputation with the Thai teams. No idea if he has influenced policy / protocol for emergency medical responders.

I understand he's in jail now for battering someone close to death.

Missed that news - got a link?

[ATF]

I recall there is a Westerner in Pattaya who goes out with emergency medical teams, understand he has built a good reputation with the Thai teams. No idea if he has influenced policy / protocol for emergency medical responders.

I understand he's in jail now for battering someone close to death.

Missed that news - got a link?

No link but I presume you're talking about someone whose name sounds like hammer?

[The Snark]

You had me at 'husky young woman'...

Made it that far without falling asleep?

Was I ever dragging going up that rope. Had to pause a couple dozen times or so. Near the top she went mountain goat and dragged me the rest of the way.

[WitawatWatawit]

You had me at 'husky young woman'...

Made it that far without falling asleep?

Was I ever dragging going up that rope. Had to pause a couple dozen times or so. Near the top she went mountain goat and dragged me the rest of the way.

"...My privates were completely numb for several days ..."

Sex always sells a good story. Kidding mate. But your thread does have everything - how I wish it could be translated into Thai, and many other languages, and quietly slipped into buletin boards all over the place. There's always a hope that it will strike a chord with someone who matters, if you know what I mean. Thanks for taking us into the heart of the matter. It means a lot.

(Nominated for post of the year.)

[The Snark]

You had me at 'husky young woman'...

Made it that far without falling asleep?

Was I ever dragging going up that rope. Had to pause a couple dozen times or so. Near the top she went mountain goat and dragged me the rest of the way.

"...My privates were completely numb for several days ..."

Sex always sells a good story. Kidding mate. But your thread does have everything - how I wish it could be translated into Thai, and many other languages, and quietly slipped into buletin boards all over the place. There's always a hope that it will strike a chord with someone who matters, if you know what I mean. Thanks for taking us into the heart of the matter. It means a lot.

(Nominated for post of the year.)

A couple of Thai friends who spoke competent English tried translating some of my 'war stories' and showed them to the volunteer responder group over by Wat Jed Yot. JUst washed over them, uncomprehending.

Tried the same thing, a one page hand out flyer citing the NFPA info sheets as to what gasses, poisons, are created when plastics are burned. Same uncaring shrug from the locals. CO, HCl gaseous, Hydrogen cyanide, PolyChlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), and what effects each has. Mai pen rai response,

Oh! I even have a good SEX story. Just like that sticker of the rescuer carrying a limp nude form! At a house fire, just cooling our heels on standby for the FD, a firefighter brings a naked young lady from the house and dumps her into my arms. Not breathing. Smoke inhalation but still had pulse. Got some breaths in and she fired back up. Zapped her off to the hospital and she was fine. One of my code blue saves.

Edited November 21, 2014 by The Snark

[simple1]

I recall there is a Westerner in Pattaya who goes out with emergency medical teams, understand he has built a good reputation with the Thai teams. No idea if he has influenced policy / protocol for emergency medical responders.

I understand he's in jail now for battering someone close to death.

Missed that news - got a link?

No link but I presume you're talking about someone whose name sounds like hammer?

Worked with Sawang Boriboon rescue teams, can't remember his name, vague recollection he was Canadian / Irish?

[ATF]

No link but I presume you're talking about someone whose name sounds like hammer?

Worked with Sawang Boriboon rescue teams, can't remember his name, vague recollection he was Canadian / Irish?

Had a huge head on him, trained in martial arts spoke Thai fluently could have been Canadian/Irish sounds about right.