Expired Drugs Found on Ambulance

[Kaisu]

Damn!

Those are some balsy supervisors. How does stuff like that go over with the crews? Do you have good relations?

good point. Something like that would get an officer fragged around here.

[FireMedic65]

good point. Something like that would get an officer fragged around here.

Your boss isn't your friend, they are your boss. The sooner people realize that.. the better they will work with each other.

[Kaisu]

Your boss isn't your friend, they are your boss. The sooner people realize that.. the better they will work with each other.

I never suggested he was.. there are sound management principals and their are bad management principals. The tactics I was commenting on are bad ones.

[Ravemtech]

I work for a state wide organisation which is the start of our Service's problems (over 600 vehicles).

In the station I work, we have a sign off chart for every vehicle, drug kit, drug impress, and store. On the last two days of each month, each is checked and signed off so that on the first of the month, every item is in date. This spreads the workload over 4 shifts. Most staff are good, but sadly some staff are slack and sign off the sheets without checking (one of the repeat offenders actually being the station manager). In saying that, most vehicles that come in from the major centre for changeovers have significant expired stock including drugs and fluids ranging from 1 month to 5 years in general. Despite many incident reports over 12 years trying to get management to address the issue, nothing changes. On one occasion, we required drugs urgently and were sent drugs from another station's drug impress to find these were out of date. Another Station then sent us the same drugs and these were also out of date. It was only when we received drugs from the third station that in date drugs arrived. Action ... managers laughed it off. There are no statewide procedures to enforce monthly drug checks.

Anthony

Edited March 31, 2010 by Ravemtech

[FireMedic65]

I never suggested he was.. there are sound management principals and their are bad management principals. The tactics I was commenting on are bad ones.

Yea, my bad. I hit the wrong "reply" link. That wasn't directed towards you directly.

[Kaisu]

Yea, my bad. I hit the wrong "reply" link. That wasn't directed towards you directly.

no prob... and you do have a good point.

[FireMedic65]

I see it too often. The 'boss' makes the employee do something they do not like/want to do. They get all pissy "my boss is a dick!" type attitude. But in reality (usually) the boss has to make hard decisions that won't make them popular. It would suck to be a boss in many aspects. I suppose you could find a fine balance between friend/boss though.

What I do see, that pisses me off, is the boss makes you mop the floors, clean bathroom, take out trash every shift... while they surf the web. That does not make a happy work place.

[Kiwiology]

Drugs are inventoried at some point during a shift. I say "at some pont" because sometimes it's done before starting and other times if you turn up and it's straight into a job then it might be an hour, two hours, or like my last it was probably ten hours into the shift before a full drug check was done.

Each vehicle has a register for morphine and ketamine but the station drug safe register is for all drugs.

When drawing fresh stock to replace used ampoules the drug register must be filled in and when replacing expired stock the expired medication is flushed down the sink and ampoule discarded.

The drugs in the drug roll are audited each day as is the drug safe and register at the station.

I would bet that some of the procedures are not followed e.g. the requirement to obtain a second signature when drawing drugs is not possible if you are working single crewed as no second Officer is present.

[Dustdevil]

Okay, so you come on duty and the last name on the tags is yours. You were the last person to check and tag that cabinet. Do you bust the tag and perform an inventory anyhow, or trust yourself and let it go.

Just FYI, I have seen "trusting yourself" come back and bite people BIG TIME in the arse. You are no more infallible than anyone else. I saw one medic take that long, lonely, unpaid flight home from Iraq for trusting her own inventory signature.