ALS using Lights and Sirens back to the hospital

[Traumaking07]

what ever !!

Every state in the US has different protocols for the usage of lights and sirens in responding ..

[spenac]

ok let me ask a controversial question. Which I'm sure will bring some wildly heated and probably angry responses.

Should bls ever be dispatched emergency?

Being dispatched L&S is one thing but if found to be BS they should not transport L&S.

I noticed a newbie already made a stupid remark.

[VentMedic]

Florida and Alabama (the 2 States I was familiar with at the time) also had many time management studies back in the 1980s. We had standard norms for everything from IVs, intubating to assessments. For codes we stayed a little longer depending on what we started with and the response during the 1st round. For CVAs and other medical emergencies we streamlined the on scene time down to where it seemed like we could take the scenic route by the beach to the ER and still be way ahead of the average dispatch to ED times. A calm transport, paper work in order, thoughts collected for a good report and you're back in service.

There are times now when I hear a ground crew get dispatched, I have time to read my email, clean the office, make another pot of coffee, call a few friends and the crew is still on scene. Finally they call it in as a Code 3 enroute. On arrival to the ED they pat themselves on the back for getting a CP or CVA patient to the hospital just under the critical time. However, they forget that the hospital, that had been awaiting their report, must scramble to get things started. The ED staff could have gambled on the dispatcher's information when the call was initially dispatched, but, calling a team together to find that is not the actual situation is not always a good idea either.

For inter-facility transports, if we are the team picking up, we try to make sure the referring hospital knows what we prefer as far as paperwork and pre-transport instructions.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Traumaking, was that Whatever smart ass remark to me?

I hope it wasn't.

[Traumaking07]

a question was brought up.Should Bls be dispatched to Emergencies,The answer is yes bls is the first line in for prehospital care. In my area there are a heck of alot more bls than als .Without Bls alot of people would die.

[EmergencyMedicalTigger]

To answer the original question...

Yes, we should have the ability to run hot with MIs and strokes. Anyone who thinks it doesn't save much time, even in an urban setting, has never had to transport an active MI/stroke to the appropriate hospital on 59 inbound in 8am rush hour traffic. Our service is pretty strict on reviewing all reports that are run code 3 to the hospital. We have been told that well over 90% of transports could have been done non-emergent at no detrement to the pt. If a medic's run reports show more than that 5-10% code 3, then they are reviewed and might have to explain some calls.

For the BLS question...

I hate saying it, but at least in my service's case, yes, even BLS calls should be responded to emergency, b/c our dispatchers are a bunch of non-medically trained boneheads who don't ask appropriate questions of the callers and dispatch erroneous info. Half the time what we're dispatched for isn't even what's really going on. I would hate to leave the initial triaging decisions up to dispatch; they'd end up killing more ppl than they already do. :shock:

[Just Plain Ruff]

that was my question that I asked.

i have a number of colleagues who believe and some of those colleagues are on this site, they do not believe that a bls ambulance has any business being dispatched L&S unless there is an als ambulance behind them.

That's why I asked my question.

so again, I ask you, was the What ever !!! comment directed to that question?

[EmergencyMedicalTigger]

Oh boy...people starting to make rude remarks. Just as long as Dust doesn't get involved you might have a chance to survive. May God have mercy on your soul.....

[spenac]

a question was brought up.Should Bls be dispatched to Emergencies,The answer is yes bls is the first line in for prehospital care. In my area there are a heck of alot more bls than als .Without Bls alot of people would die.

A legit question was asked. No need to blow a gasket. It would have been just as easy to say, I think all responses should be L&S. And please don't start start the BLS saves lives crap again, please search and enjoy the many discussions on that subject. Have a nice night.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I am not in the arena where bls should not be dispatched emergency.

I also agree that (brent forgive me) many dispatchers couldn't claw their way out of a paper bag let alone get a correct history from a caller.

I thing that bls calls should also have ALS behind them for just the above reason.

How many times have you gotten called to a sprained ankle and it be something more? Or called to a man down but conscious and it really is a code.

And don't get me started on nursing home calls. OY VEY.

But I think that ALS should be dispatched with bls on all calls until the bls crew calls and cancels als. But if you don't have the resources and all you have is 1 als unit and several bls units then that's a moot point I believe.