How to parachute strap.

[mrsmall]

I have always used the hi-lo strapping technique. On my last call I was strapping along with a FF and he had parachute finished on his side, I don't remember how it's done so I had to have someone else finish. I have the general idea, but I think I'm not getting part of it correct.. is there anything on the internet that shows how to parachute strap?

[Just Plain Ruff]

this is a word to the wise

If you are doing some type of strapping or technique that requires a second person to do the same on the other side you better ask that 2nd person if they know how to do what you are doing.

Case in point - the first cardiac arrest I worked with a new partner was a GI Bleed that bled out.

The other medic started putting in a Internal Jugular Access while I was doing the rest of the care (re: tubing, periph iv, fluid replacement, medications) while fire was doing CPR.

When we got both iv's and put the guy in the ambulance the 2nd medic who put the IJ in started driving to the ER. I had never really seen a IJ before and knew not to knock it out, hey I was pretty green (and really really blood red after this call).

We transported the dead guy to the ER and the doc called him 5 minutes later.

But I asked the medic who was actually in my wedding how he did what he did and he helped me get into a ATLS class so I could actually learn the technique and many others. He has been my mentor ever since. He apologized that he did the procedure without telling me or showing me what he was planning.

But the moral of the story is if you know a new technique that might not be out there mainstream then you owe it to the other person to let them know what you are doing. And in the case of the parachute straps, the FF obviously knew how to do this technique but the poster did not so they should have asked if you knew how to do them.

Now after re-reading all this I realized that my headache has gotten worse and I'm goin back to the hotel to take some Oxycodone for it. I hate headaches

[paramedicmike]

is there anything on the internet that shows how to parachute strap?

I was going to simply say, I don't know. Have you looked?

To be fair, I've not heard the term "parachute strap" before outside of the context of a strap used in a parachute.

-be safe

[Just Plain Ruff]

searching under how to parachute strap in google produces multiple pages but nothing about EMS.

I went thru 7 pages and found nothing.

[Dustdevil]

The only thing I can think of is that technique of using web strapping to zig-zag a patient to a backboard or scoop, instead of standard belt-buckle cross straps. Heard of it, but never seen or used it. It sounds like a potentially good solution, albeit more time consuming. And it would very definitely be dependent upon the users knowing WTF they were doing to secure it properly. Patient security is not something you want to just make up as you go.

[reaper]

If it is done correctly, parachute strapping is the best way to secure a pt on a LSB. You can turn the board upside down or stand on end and the pt will not move at all. It is something that you need to be taught in person, you cannot learn it online.

To me, this is the only true spinal immobilization. All other methods I have seen allow the pt to slide around on the board.

[AnatomyChick]

So, can you explain to us how it's done... I haven't ever heard of it either, but wonder if it's what our guys call "cocooning".

[fiznat]

Draw it in paint and post it up!

[Dustdevil]

So, can you explain to us how it's done... I haven't ever heard of it either, but wonder if it's what our guys call "cocooning".

I take it back. When I did a refresher two and a half years ago, some of the students were doing that during immobilisation practice. You just take one ten-foot (I think) nylon web strap, secure it in one of the hand-holds at the end of the board, then start zig-zagging that strap across the patient at every hand-hold, until he is secured from head to toe to the board. I don't remember specifically what pattern they were using, nor do I remember what type of knots they were using to secure the ends.

It does make sense, as it does not leave large two to three foot gaps of patient unsecured to the board, like using two or three straps does.

Supposedly, this is something being taught at Fort Sam to military medics, but I haven't seen anybody using it in Iraq, where pre-made straps are abundant.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I FOUND IT

Here's a picture of a patient who is successfully parachute strapped.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293208,00.html