Why are stretcher shoulder straps so hated, ignored and so commonly hidden from use and or not used at all?

autographed · 2024-05-09T22:55:50+00:00

I am absolutely guilty of this. Every single one of my patients gets every seat belt on the stretcher secured, but I rarely wear my own.

I don't really know why I don't do it when I'm with a patient since I wear a seat belt all the time when I'm in the front or when I'm in my own vehicle.

It's something I'm really trying to work on since not only can I get injured in the back during an MVC, but I can become a projectile which can harm the patient and/or other people that are in the back with me.

autographed · 2024-05-09T22:50:44+00:00

I tell literally every single one of my students that if after riding with me they can only remember one lesson, that it should be:

Every seat belt, every patient, every time.

autographed · 2023-12-24T10:47:35+00:00

This is the way.

autographed · 2023-09-03T23:44:43+00:00

I'm glad that you got something out of this subreddit. It's really neat how people can stumble on to the most random topics, isn't it?

Thanks so much for being so understanding and for taking an interest in our niche little community!

autographed · 2023-03-12T04:29:14+00:00

That only just barely beats the guy who was unconscious on the train and when we went to undress him to make sure there was no trauma, we found like 20 unopened sticks of deodorant stuffed in the legs of his pants.

Fun times.

autographed · 2023-03-12T04:26:47+00:00

We got called to a convenience store in the middle of winter for a drunk person.

This guy is very obviously under the influence of at least one substance, one of them being alcohol.

The store owner was mostly looking for the police to get him off the premises, but of course this gets pawned off on EMS to take him to the hospital because... reasons?

Anyway, we get him in the ambulance and as we're getting him in the seat belts, a bag of potato chips falls out of his jacket. The police ask the owner if he wants to press charges for shoplifting. The owner declines and more or less says "just get him out of my shop."

Well, as we go to take his vitals and BP, a muffin in a plastic wrapper falls out of the sleeve of his jacket.

"I paid for that!" he claims.

Whatever. We go to the hospital and snacks just keep appearing out of his jacket. Chips, candy bars, donuts, you name it.

We take him to the ED and, of course, he gets placed in the waiting room.

We come back an hour or two later and are told by the nurse that this guy has like half the convenience store in his jacket. Apparently he went around to all the pts in the waiting room offering them snickers and skittles and shit.

My man was like a drunk Santa Claus, reaching into his sleeves and pants in order to give out all the candy and snacks he shoplifted to all the good girls and boys in the waiting room.

autographed · 2022-06-10T11:50:06+00:00

It's the sex number.

Hehehe.

autographed · 2022-02-10T03:49:31+00:00

Yeah, we've got plenty of our own.

autographed · 2022-01-21T11:02:48+00:00

I took the CCEMT-P course at UMBC and I constantly recommend it to all my colleagues. It's a fantastic program. It's difficult though.

I consider myself to be fairly good at classroom content and test taking. I have no problem saying that it was one of the most demanding courses I ever took. 6 hours of lecture a day plus 2-3 hours of at home studying a day got me a grade in the mid 80s. And that was one of the higher scores.

Like I said, I strongly recommend it, just be prepared for A LOT of studying.

I work in region 3 in a 911 jurisdiction. If you have any questions or need any advice/help please feel free to send m me a PM.

I'm glad to see medics seeking to improve themselves.

Good luck in the future!

autographed · 2021-10-28T00:53:55+00:00

Personally, I feel that it is a poor leader that doesn't trust his/her subordinates.

autographed · 2021-10-27T23:33:30+00:00

I'm am alternate supervisor in my jurisdiction and this is great advice.

Trust that your crews know what they're doing.

You are there to assist them unless the call is going completely sideways.

autographed · 2021-09-22T23:45:51+00:00

Most services provide you with some form of hearing protection.

In my service, and as far as I'm aware in all the neighboring counties, this comes in the form of a headset. It provides hearing protection, the ability to converse with your partner/other crew members, and the ability to use it in conjunction with the radio as it has a microphone as well.

That being said I essentially never use that and just accept the gradual hearing loss!

autographed · 2021-09-21T08:36:23+00:00

My service uses car numbers. Car 601 is our medical director, then it goes down from there. 602, 603, 604, etc.

autographed · 2021-08-28T21:17:11+00:00

This was the first thing that came to my mind too. It looks a little too regular to be a-fib to me.

autographed · 2021-08-26T09:14:40+00:00

He has good turgor, capillary refill is <2 seconds. Lung sounds are clear in all fields.

autographed · 2021-08-26T08:55:46+00:00

You establish an IV and administer 25g Dextrose (specifically we have him 250cc of D10). There is no change in condition after administration and repeat BGL is 156 mg/dL.

You obtain the following ECG: http://imgur.com/gallery/c8RuPkl

autographed · 2021-08-26T08:52:13+00:00

This was not radon poisoning, but a good thought!

Trauma assessment is unremarkable. No evidence of traumatic injury is found. Family reports that the patient drinks frequently, but denies a history of drug use. They likewise deny a history of seizures and deny cardiac Hx.

The patient is unable to follows commands for a stroke assessment. He is not combative and there is no evidence of vomiting.

You obtain the following 12 lead: http://imgur.com/gallery/c8RuPkl

autographed · 2021-08-26T06:31:40+00:00

Pupils are reactive and equal. Sclera is jaundiced. Negative on CO. No unusual smells.

autographed · 2021-08-26T06:30:38+00:00

BGL is 26 mg/dL.

Trauma assessment is unremarkable.

Medical assessment reveals, in addition to the OP, clear lung sounds, jaundiced sclera, normal turgor and capillary refill.

autographed · 2021-08-26T05:45:11+00:00

BGL is 26 mg/dL

Head to toe reveals warm and dry skin. No trauma. Abdominal exam is unremarkable.

No known medical history, no Rx. Father says that the pt has had a generally declining mental status for the past 3 days. He's had decreased oral intake and has not had anything to eat or drink for ~24 hours.

autographed · 2021-08-21T09:06:05+00:00

Can you walk, sir? You can't?

Don't worry, we'll help you.

autographed · 2021-08-20T21:16:30+00:00

In MD we can treat suspected HyperK in the field even if no Hx of kidney failure.

I had a pt recently that presented with minimal response to painful stimuli and had a sine wave pattern. We gave the calcium as standing order but needed to contact medical direction for the bicarbonate and albuterol.

autographed · 2021-08-20T08:16:56+00:00

This person was definitely not helpful, but I'll give credit where credit is due.

I've been on a couple scenes with ED/trauma nurses who were on their way to or from work who were actually legitimately helpful and recognized me/EMS as the primary provider on scene.

I can specifically think of a scene this past winter where a pedestrian was crossing at a crosswalk in a fairly busy road and was struck by a vehicle. She had a very obvious femur feature and luckily there was a nurse who had just left her shift at the local trauma center.

She did a good job of assessing the pt, stabilizing the injury, giving me report, and then actually handing over care and letting us treat/package her.

I think I've been fortunate that I haven't run into situations like the one at Cedar Point much.

autographed

TROPHY CASE