Chief1C

Wait for the police to arrive... If you fight him, and he injures himself; you've 1: Not accomplished anything; and 2: Opened a legal can of worms. Suggest he sit down and relax, and you do the same. If he were to become unconscious.. Treat him. If not, you're safety always comes first. I'm in a rural area too, we don't have police on duty at night. They're all "State Police", but they have to respond from home, like us; "On Call". But I'm not going to injure myself, or help someone to premature disability, just b/c they made a bad choice. I'm usually pretty good at convincing people they need to go. But I've been hit, spat upon and kicked a few times; and it's just not worth the fuss. Tell the cops to step it up, just try to convince the person to sit still, and chill.

I know a great salesman for PL.. Took us to a steakhouse in Sea Girt, NJ; out of this world steak sandwich. Forget the name.. Hook up w/ Wheeled Coach too, ask about their Winter Park, FL factory...... In like February. We're purchasing a new ambulance, and they flew us down in September for a two day factory tour. HOWEVER. I've been in a dozen demo units, and I like the PL quality much better than WC. Allow me to quote myself, the salesperson brought up a NJ Spec ambulance, all aluminum inside, steel body.. So, it was a heavy mother, built like a tank, rode like a tank. He asked how the ride was. I bluntly stated "Have you ever been inside a derailing boxcar? Neither have I, but I think I may know how that would feel." It had an LED Night / Shock light. I haven't seen an ambulance with a shock light since we had a 70's rental back in '99. The guy switched it from blue to red, and I about lost my dinner, it made me horribly motion sick. Anyhoo... No, new ambulance, will ever be as perfect as any you've had in the past. All I've ever worked in, were Horton Ambulances, and these things are built like, and ride as good as a Cadillac. When we switched from Horton to Marque, I was seriously pissed off. The older unit, we were running a medical, and I yanked down on the nasal cannula hose at the ER, and the WHOLE oxygen wall thing pulled out. It was almost like dry wall. The compartments were so small, and non adjustable, that we could no longer have organized containers, stuff had to be shoved in loose.. which sucks b/c I like my ambulance organized. The newer one, we call the Love Boat. It's an air ride, and it floats down the road, swaying like a train car.. or a boat on rough sea. First call it was on, I was in the back, thankfully the patient was unresponsive, b/c I spent a lot of time with a vomit bag cuffed to my face. If I could go back to my F250 Horton, I would in a heartbeat, it was such a great, smooth ride. Comfort is big, if the ride makes the patient worse, or the crew ill, it was a waste of money.

Media wise, and I can only speak for my locale... Post 9/11, they group us all together as "First Responders". I only see the term "Ambulance Driver" used in EMS related literature, when someone is ranting.

I am king of sarcastic humor as a defense to stress.. But even I wouldn't laugh at this, it goes beyond Gallows Humor, and falls just before being a sick bastard. Mental illness is a disease, which may be able to be treated. It sickens me that you'd admit to laughing at the mentally ill. Whether or not you meant it that way, that's how I perceived your demeanor, after reading the post. Intent and Impact is a key term, when deciding what to share from the depths of your mind.

I value the spelling, medication and simple translation portion of the booklet we carry, otherwise I haven't found use. Typical call for us, is a bag of meds, unconscious and no history to go on. So... Look up the most common use for said medication. It's not an exact thing to go on, but it's a start. Also had to buy one of those Spanish for EMS pocket guides. But it's like brain surgery to try and figure out what their reply is.

Rant On. Directing this at "Scanners", not the OP. The one thing that I cannot stand, being a deeply rural provider.. Is "The Scanner". One o'clock this morning, we had a structure fire. Amidst the fire, came a life threatening medical emergency, a couple miles away. We decided to allow our 1st due truck leave, and have the 2nd due truck respond to the fire scene. I waddle down the road at a fast pace, on ice, in bunker gear, to get the ambulance. (Cross trained/low staffed) Pull out, lights on.. get the whistle going.. b/c the road, which is one way, is fricken packed with cars. Everyone and their brother heard there was a fire, and despite the population of the whole township, which is HUGE, only being about 600... About two dozen, which don't care to show up to help their neighbors, showed up to block the fire company in. Literally, stuck, block them in. Had people not gotten off their ass to move the last car, which was stuck, I'd have pushed it into the lake. B/c as the Common Law states, fire apparatus and ambulance cannot strike vehicles, but we can push them. So anyhoo, all scanners do in rural households, full of people w/ nothing to do, is create rubberneckers. In fact, I call scanners, Freelancer Factories. But alas, I have one, and actually registered on that site shortly after you built it. Rant Off.

NJ FAC

Just ask if you can have the green Cadillac that sits outside PL's plant.

I'll have to try that.

I've always felt that if a patient feels comforted, they just might have a better outcome. I could go on, but that line alone is just personal perception.

I was generalizing, to justify my position.

All it takes is one parent to scream "Stop, you're hurting him/her/it"... and the policy becomes a novel idea.

Orange or Pink Stethoscopes. Whichever one is closest when I sit down inside the ambulance, is the best choice for me... All of them are either Orange, or Pink. So we know when someone steals one.

As a general rule, we only allow one person to ride w/ a patient; and they must be belted, in the cab of the ambulance. There are few reasons why this would change, or unless the patient requested it. If there's a medic getting on, said family member goes back to the front seat.

Station A-Unit 1: Trauma Bag - First Aid Stuff; Immobilization Bag - Collars & Cardboard Splints; Medical Bag - Adult & Child Oxygen & Resuscitation Stuff Station A-Rescue: Kit - First Aid, Resuscitation & Oxygen Stuff, Battery Suction Unit, Collars, etc. Station A-Engine: Kit - First Aid, Resuscitation & Oxygen Stuff, Battery Suction Unit, Collars, etc. Station A-Wildland: Trauma Bag - First Aid Stuff, Collars, Assessment Stuff; Oxygen Box - Masks, Airways, CPR-O2 Flow Mask, Demand Valve Station B-Unit 1: Trauma Bag - First Aid & Adult Resuscitation Stuff; Collar Bag - Collars; Adult Medical Bag - Adult Oxygen & Resuscitation Stuff; Pedi Medical Bag - Pedi Oxygen & Resuscitation Stuff Station B-Unit 2: Trauma Bag - First Aid & Adult Resuscitation Stuff; Collar Bag - Collars; Adult Medical Bag - Adult Oxygen & Resuscitation Stuff; Pedi Medical Bag - Pedi Oxygen & Resuscitation Stuff "Resuscitation Stuff" - Airways, BVM's, etc. "Oxygen Stuff" - Masks "First Aid Stuff" - Trauma Supplies, dressings, etc. Prolly carry much the same thing that everyone else does, except maybe QuikClot and Mechanical Tourniquets And everything has one of those huge yellow burn kits; A-Unit-1 has a Water Jel kit; and all the "Units" have MCI Oxygen Minilator Kits.

I seen that in a regional newspaper, terrible shame. I have the greatest respect for our WWII Vets; and all vets and active military personnel.

We had to do the two pike pole/two fire coat stretcher in essentials of firefighting. I guess just to see if it was possible. Use oak pikes, not fiberglass. Bad bad bad idea.

Actually, if we have a really in depth search going on; extended operations, we have several CAP Squadrons available to us, with in 50 NM. Including air support from the CAP. Since HAM and CAP go so well together, it has become quite an active organization again around here.

Rural Assumptions: SO - Sheriff's Office?; DEA - Drug Enforcement Administration? Are there any skin burns? (AA) Since I live near METH Valley, USA.. We've trained extensively in this. Whatever they have on them, you don't want on you. If it's just exposure to anhydrous ammonia, that's one thing. But if contents of the lab have made contact with him.. You need an actual Haz-Mat trained crew to be notified. But the NFPA required Haz-Mat Ops course that, likely, most firefighters have, is good enough for now. Oxygen and ALS. First, consider your cuff and possibly stretcher straps a write off and bill him for it.. Second, yanno those PPE kits that they make ambulances carry? Use them. Third, take the patient out of the ambulance, strip him to his birthday suit; have the firemen wash him off with a lot of water. Like 200gal, not per minute, ha ha, but in like a gentle fog pattern. Then put a tarp on the stretcher w/ blankets. Lay patient on blanket, and wrap the whole mess around him. Probably going to want to take the victim to a something a little bigger than the common fork in the road band aid station.

I do a lot of Wilderness and Trail, Search-Rescue. Rarely, in SAR, do we improvise for patient stabilization. It would have to be something that we're just absolutely not prepared for, at all. Perhaps multiple patients. It's hard to pack in with short manpower, and inability to determine needs with no other information than "Person Lost" or "Person Down". I think of a six man crew, as a walking rescue truck and ambulance. Everyone, whether it's chest pain or a rolled ankle, gets a backboard, so they won't fall out of the rescue basket if we have to transverse something. As for materials, you're limited as to what you can carry, vs what you want to carry. The traditional EMS style splints just don't work, the boards, framed devices, etc; there just isn't anywhere to store it. If they tell us, it's a fall victim with a femur fracture, we'll carry in a HARE or REEL; or MAST.. Whatever the info is. If there isn't any info, we just take our medical bag. You can't have enough SAM's. I hate SAM's.. on the street. They bend too easily. I'd rather use one of those "FOX" Full-On Extremity Splints w/ the padding and velcro straps. But in the woods, you can use them for anything. Fracture kit; 1 x KTD, Kendrick Traction Device. It's a folding traction splint in a pouch, made for the military, great for SAR. It employs the same theory as using a ski pole for a traction splint. 10 x SAM, 36" x 4" 5 x Extra Large SAM, 36" x 5" 20 x Cravats 2 x "X-Collar" 4 x 3" Elastic Wrap 4 x 4" Elastic Wrap 2 x 6" Elastic Wrap A shit load of 3" VetWrap (The cheap version of Coban, still made by 3M, but sold at Tractor Supply for $8 less than moore medical sells the exact same thing) Dressings, bandages, etc. Loads of stuff, in a nice, easy to carry back pack. Everyone always says they can't find our "EMS Pack" in any catalogs. EMS. Eastern Mountain Sports. Sarcastically cute. If it's open, the fx, irrigate, dress and wrap with the plastic from a large dressing; then wrap again and splint. It's gonna be a bitch to extract someone, without SAR, if they have an open fx of a leg. An arm, you're probably okay, a leg, no way. Straight sticks, clean the bark off, make sure they're not infested w/ anything; wrap in clothing if possible. Like slice the toe end of socks open, and slide the stick through it, esp. if there's any wounds. You can, in theory, of course, put anything over the splinting device if it "should be clean". You can use condoms if you have to, why you have enough to do that, we'll never ask. Camping should be fun after all. ha ha. Pack frames can be bent, some have rigid inserts, long slats of bark, with strips of a shirt.. The sky is the limit, use "KISS", Keep it simple stupid. You can't always be prepared, as a hiker; but we're expected to be reasonably prepared; so if something looks like it could work. Use it. You really can't go wrong, when you have to create your own options. Well, you can go horribly wrong, but you never know, till you try.

I didn't read the whole thing. The furnace is off in the station, and it's about 42 degrees in here. ... I would have refused to transport the patient. I've done that before. I'm a fireman. Egress. How will that person get out, if their home is on fire. If they can't walk, they have no means to do so with an alternate method; and they have no 'round the clock aid... How will they get out? They won't. That's my argument every time I'm faced with a patient who is either being transported home; or called 9-1-1 and is refusing. I see it as a liability upon the service. It may or may not be, but still, it eats on my conscience.

Pennsylvania tacks a $10 fee onto traffic citations for the "Emergency Medical Services Operating Fund". Keep speeding people, either way, we'll get your money. I'd rather see them pulled over.. B/c when they pile it up real bad, due to our geographic location, we usually only get about one loaded mile in... from the scene to the LZ. And this year, the reckless idiots have been treating us real well. Kept us out all X-Mas Day, shooting good money into EMS, AeroMedical Fire(Rescue) and the Funeral Home. (Sarcasm)

I look pretty snazzy in my white coveralls. Only thing is they attract bloody hands.