EMS Bag Configuration

[bryan20w]

Our agency currently uses carries an Iron duck BLS bag which carries all trauma dressings, Basic Airway adjuncts, BVM, NC, NRB's, and Blood pressure cuffs. We also carry a ALS bag that contains our IV needles, syringes, Meds, and Intubation equipment. We are currently at a cross road in trying to decide whether or not to go to a ALS bag that also contains all of the basic airway equipment ie. adjuncts, NC,NRB, and BVM. and a truama bag, or to keep the same configuration we have but switch to back pack style bags. After saying all of that, the purpose of this is to find out what bag configurations the rest of you out there are using either to let me know what is or is not working in other areas of the country/world. Also we staff our ambulance with one EMT and one Paramedic, if you could include in your response how you staff your ambulance that would be helpful. Thank you in advance to all that respond.

[emtannie]

I can only speak for the area I work in…

Our ambulances are staffed with either EMT/medic or medic/medic… and all of our ambulances are stocked identically so they can be switched with another unit if necessary…

We have 2 kits… one kit we refer to as the assessment kit, and it contains our IV supplies, all meds, and BP cuff, thermometer, SpO2 monitor, and small sharps container. We use the Pacific Emergency Products A-500 trauma bag for this kit.

The second kit we refer to as our airway kit, and this one contains a D size O2 tank and regulator, and all airway adjuncts we use (OPA’s, King LT’s, intubation kit) as well as nasal cannulas, NRB’s, BVM’s, nebulizer masks.. The only meds we carry in this bag are salbutamol and combivent. We use the Pacific Emergency Products A-1000 bag for this.

It seems to work for us. We also have a D size O2 tank on our stretcher (Styker Rugged) and the attachment on it that has nasal cannulas, NRB's, and extra gloves, so if we didn't grab our airway kit initially, we still have O2 until we can grab that kit. I can't think of a call in recent history where we have gone "damn, I wish we had brought the airway kit, and you, go get it NOW." When in doubt, we bring it with us to the patient anyways...

We use backpack style bags in our helis, but not on our ground units.

Any questions, let me know!

Annie

[Chief1C]

An Iron Duck Breathsaver holds all the Assessment, O₂ and Airway supplies; and a Moore Trauma Bag has all the first aid supplies. ALS wise, the oxygen and various delivery devices are in a small tank bag. The Airway and Drugs supplies are in one bag; then another bag has larger bags of trauma fluids and various first aid supplies.

The ALS Trauma bag also serves as the Peds ALS bag.. Just b/c it's fricken huge.

[HellsBells]

We have two main bags that we carry:

Our main bag/jump kit contains:

Main Compartment:

- Oxygen Masks: cannulas, NRB's, NEB's, simple face masks

- Meds: all ampules and vials, RSI meds, and preloads

Front Compartment

- IV kit

- Saline bags: 1 100ml, 4 50ml, drip sets

Rear Compartment:

- Trauma dressings

- BGL kit

- Thermometer

- pen light, gloves, cold packs

side compartments:

- various BP cuffs

- Sharps container

The advanced Airway kit:

- Intubation Kit

- Cric Kit, PTTV kit

- 1 adult, 1 ped BVM with inline filter and various sizes of masks

- set of 7 OPA's

- LMA's

- second set of airway masks

- Ventolin MDI's, PEEP valve

- Battery powered suction

Personally, I don't like the layout of our advanced airway kit, it is so full of eqiupment that it barely zips closed, and its often a pain to dig through all the stuff inside it when on a call.

We also carry a D size O2 tank in by hand, and use the LP12 monitor.