Your personal preferance in splinting???

[Timmy]

I experience with cardboard. I had a party one night and after everyone had left fell over and dislocated my knee in the backyard. Being drunk and in pain i figured i must have broke my leg so i splinted it with a pizza box, my belt and strips of cloth from someones shirt that was laying on the ground - got some funny looks from the ambos

LMFAO... Trust you to do somthing like that ay! Good thing everyone went home.

Well anywayz were buying Ferno FracSplints and SAM Splints... Should be good, thanks for the advice everyone.

[BushyFromOz]

With the SAM splint Timmy, just make sure your guys arn't throwing an expensive sam at everything when a bit of cardboard will do

[skibum]

Just my $.02 for what it's worth about cardboard splints. As it seems the consensus, I also like cardboard splits for their simplicity, price, etc. (Personally I carry SAM splints in my jump bags).

In addition to working on an ambulance, I also ski patrol and use the cardboard splits, but herein lies the only pitfall I have discovered with the cardboard splits. When working in such an environment the splints will sometimes become waterlogged/soggy and will need to be re-splinted when the pt. has been transported to the ambulance, or someplace else (first aid room) out of the elements.

-skibum

[Dustdevil]

With the SAM splint Timmy, just make sure your guys arn't throwing an expensive sam at everything when a bit of cardboard will do

How expensive are SAMs in Oz? :? I think they are $10 in the US, give or take a couple of bucks. About the same as a good c-collar, or less. Doesn't seem that expensive to me, unless you are just saying they are expensive in comparison to a fifty-cent piece of cardboard.

I love SAM splints! I use the heck out of them. Some Army medical unit moved out of here a few weeks ago and tossed all of their unused equipment and supplies into the dump. Some scrounger found it all, put it in the back of a pickup truck, and drove it over to my clinic. There were about 6 cases of unopened SAM splints in there. Now, mind you, I'll never use that many SAM splints, even if the war lasts another ten years! But I hate to see them go to waste either!

But yeah, between SAM splints, pillows and blankets, I can splint most everything. I wish that guy with the pickup truck would come back and haul my vacuum splints off to the dump.

[AZCEP]

Come now Dust. The vacuum splints are great once you get the learning curve managed. Oh, and don't let a receiving facility try to cut them off.

Styrofoam pellets everywhere. Almost worse than cutting through a down lined coat.

[BushyFromOz]

For some perspective Dust..

Disposable BVM - $35

Reusable BVM - $240

Stiffneck - $35

Stiffneck Select - $44

Sam splint between $14 and $20

Its crimimal, and of course laerdal and ferno are to blame :? main reason is there is very little market for this kind of equipment outside of government contratcs as there are very few first responder or people with whacker kits, the public market is infinantly less than the US

[p3medic]

I'm with kev, a little analgesia and re-allign to the best of your ability, then splint it.....

[etfink]

I'm with kev, a little analgesia and re-allign to the best of your ability, then splint it.....

Remember we are in a BLS thread, although I agree with you. SAM splints rock. There is not much I cant splint with SAM splints blankets and tape. As for the cost, The pt's insurance or medicare pays for it.

[DCMed124]

disposable CID works great for compound tib/fib.

[BushyFromOz]

Remember we are in a BLS thread, although I agree with you. SAM splints rock. There is not much I cant splint with SAM splints blankets and tape. As for the cost, The pt's insurance or medicare pays for it.

i hear ya, but in timmys case, the equipment is supplied by his volunteer first aid organisation, and the cost comes out of their donations, so cost is a factor - its is possible to use more gear than you make in donations somtimes and at 16 bucks a pop, SAM's can send you broke fast