How long does it take you to clear the hospital?

[AnthonyM83]

I imagine because it's implied that an ALS patient often (though not always) needs more complex assessments, procedures, and monitoring. They also have a higher chance of being unstable. In case it comes up, I don't think this he's asking whether the crew is ALS or BLS, versus what type of patient we classify them as.

[Kiwiology]

I imagine because it's implied that an ALS patient often (though not always) needs more complex assessments, procedures, and monitoring. They also have a higher chance of being unstable. In case it comes up, I don't think this he's asking whether the crew is ALS or BLS, versus what type of patient we classify them as.

I know it's just I get ticked off when I see people say things like "oh its a BLS patient, I won't transport them I am ALS, I will call another truck to do it for me" or "Oh education is fine coz all EMTs handle are BLS patients" etc etc

Just a real pet peeve of mine

[Eydawn]

At the service I used to work for it was anywhere from 10-30 minutes. We transferred patient care with verbal report and immediately left a paper "short form" with demographic info, basic assessment, our vitals and any treatments we may have initiated. This short form also had our call reference number (CRN) on it. Carbon copies are great- one went right into the patient's chart at the ER, one went back with us. If we had to book it immediately (no units left but you) then we'd wait until we got back with the next patient and make sure both "short forms" got into the correct patient charts.

We would then fill out our ePCR and submit it online, either en-route back to whichever station was vacant or sitting at the ER if it was our turn to be "central posting." Our paper shuffle included a basic "run sheet" with time records, nature of call and CRN, and this was stapled to the carbon copy short form and chucked into a collection box... not sure where it went from there, although I suspect it was to QA/QI.

As far as restocking/cleaning, the ambulances were rarely cleaned thoroughly in my experience. We stocked heavily at the beginning of shift, often enabling us to run 4-5 calls between needing to re-stock important supplies (including drugs, as our go-bag contained duplicates of our drug kit on-board the ambulance).

As far as having to go to the next call before you were ready... closest unit to the location dispatched was supposed to jump on the call, but units would cover for each other if someone was completely discombobulated. You could also call in to dispatch and make yourself unavailable temporarily in order to deep-clean, and that would cause the next closest unit to start drifting towards your location in order to better cover your calls.

I will say that the "short form" with the bare bones important stuff was a great idea. It allowed the doc to know what drugs had been given and the basic gist of why you did what you did, and had the CRN on it so they could access the ePCR later if needed. Now, if only the medical practice out there had been good! Lol...

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[strippel]

It depends.

At my full time (government) we are "allowed" 30 minutes for a BLS call and 45 minutes for an ALS call. About half of that time is waiting on a bed and nurse. We have to hand write our pcr (sorry, report) before we leave. I have good partners, and the ambulance is usually ready within 5 minutes of getting a bed. Of course, I write while we are waiting. My average time is about 30 minutes.

At my part time, we are available as soon as the patient is off our litter. Hospitals are located in our district, and we do computerized charts back at station, or on the way back in the ambulance. Charts must be written within 24 hours. We rarely wait on a bed or a nurse, and have a station at the hospitals for restock.

[Mateo_1387]

I know it's just I get ticked off when I see people say things like "oh its a BLS patient, I won't transport them I am ALS, I will call another truck to do it for me" or "Oh education is fine coz all EMTs handle are BLS patients" etc etc

Just a real pet peeve of mine

Yea, but Fiznat did not say that. Anyways, his question probably was weather or not the patient was a high acuity patient, which typically require advanced skills, or a low acuity patient who does not require all the bells and whistles. Calm down bro, Fiznat is one of our finest posters, give him a break.

(Edit was to fix the last word from beak to break, maybe it was a Freudian slip...)

Edited January 12, 2010 by Mateo_1387