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Hey guys, I am curious, what should a EMT basic carry during the shift? I am a new EMT in New York state. I wanted to know so i can purchase some stuff ahead of time. Thanks a lot gang!! Any answer is always appreciated.

I remember many EMS providers initially questioned the actions of the paramedics who responded to MJ. (Not necessarily on this site.) After watching the testimony today, I believe there are a couple of points to consider: 1) There is often much more to the story than initially assumed. 2) Good documentation that is as objective as possible is critical because it can come back to haunt us.

Man...I'm not sure exactly how to describe it exactly, just clear and concise. Though I use very few abbreviations as I don't find that it saves me a lot of time doing computer PCRs. I'm not pretending to be good at PCRs, only to be happy with the information they contain and the order it's contained in, but I'll play and paste one below.. Hell...looking through this I really, really want to change it some, but that seems like a bullshit move for some reason...so here it is, as submitted. Called by neighbor to the the residence of a 46 y/o female. Neighbor states that patient is having difficulty breathing x three days. Neighbor warns that pt is combative and uncooperative. (Note:smell of alcohol and behavior of neighbor causes medic to regard her comments with suspicion) Pt states that she has had a 'little cough' for the past three or four days. Pt denies sob, productive cough, rhinorrhea, tinitus, h/a, throat pain, c/p, dizziness. Pt states to feeling well other than noted cough that she says "probably comes from my smoking." Pt states that she is home bound secondary to "being retarded." Pt denies PPHx other than noted, -Meds. Pt refuses transport to the ER. U/A pt is found to be supine in her bed. Her room is comfortably warm and appears well kept and sanitary, her clothes and person appear recently cleaned. Pt's affect is mild, of good humor, cooperative, but that of a much younger person, perhaps a pre-teen. Pt is AAOx4, appropriately aware of sounds and actions occurring around her, speech is clear/concise/appropriate, PERRL, HEENT unremarkable, neck pliant without pain to palp/ROM, L/S full/equal bilat with very light localized wheezes in R lower lobe, no significant change in sounds with prompted cough, cough unproductive, SPO2 97% r/a, 100% 2L O2, P 84/full/reg, B/P 128/76, skins p/w/d/afebrile to touch, pt appears atraumatic globally to clothed inspection. No s/s of emergent pathology reported or discovered during physical exam. Wheezing without sob, likely chronic. O2 2L n/c placed by Fire prior to medic arrival, vitals, SPO2, historical exam, physical exam. O2 removed, SPO2 falls to 97% and remains there throughout remainder of pt contact. Pt continues to refuse transport. Though pts mentation is well below that expected of a normally developing adult PD states that pt retains her right to refuse, living autonomously with periodic checks from an off site aid. Police report that reporting neighbor has been known to make false EMS activations in the past, stating, "When she gets like this she wants to be a good Samaritan." Based on historical and physical exam medic can find no reason to warrant transport against her will. Medical control contacted and based on medic report agrees. Refusal created, signed by pt, witnessed by PD. Pt reminded to drink plenty of fluids and to reactivate EMS (Call 911) should she feel unwell in any way. No transport. A couple of things about writing PCRs. You may see that there is a lot more to this report than simply medical stuff. The reason being is that when I saw the neighbor, and then after just a few minutes with the patient, I'd decided that I was going to allow her to refuse if she still wanted to after my assessment. I also knew that honoring her wish to stay home, as a patient with special needs, was almost certainly going to get me jammed, and possibly fired when this PCR hit QA/QI. Not because I believed that I was wrong, but because I knew what every other medic at this service would have done. I assumed that they were going to come unwound based on the liability of leaving a special needs patient at home, but was unwilling to, (what I believe would have been violating her rights), brow beat her into my ambulance to cover my ass. which I certainly could have done, as I can do with any child. So you can probably see that my PCR is slanted in that direction. I don't believe that there is anything wrong with that as the decisions being made here were not strictly medical but involved the thought process involved when I made my decisions so I tried to paint the picture that the girl cared for herself all the time, seemed to be doing a fine job of it now, and shouldn't be mugged simply because the drunk neighbor wanted to hang out with the cops and firemen. Not to be confused with Lying on a PCR of course, which I couldn't be more opposed to... Anyway, it's not pretty, and it's far from perfect, and the smart providers here can say more in half the space, but that's the way I do it, give or take a bit... Dwayne