Vial Of Life

[boeingb13]

How many of you carry printed Vial of Life papers to pass out to anyone who comes to your station, or stops your ambulance if you stage in different places.

Theres so many people that dont know about these sheets that not only make our jobs easier but they can prevent possible mistakes from being made due to the pt being unable to speak for whatever reason, or a mother who is losing it and cant tell you what is wrong with her child. Something to think about.

Get them printed and get them out there, its a free 1 page print of the vial of life website.

[Don1977]

I wish we did, very helpful...but got to get the people to fill them out

[Chief1C]

We have been using our own version for nearly ten years. It works very well.

[Medic One]

Its standard usage here...we have had several types in the past.

We have the pill bottle type with the form kept inside and advise all patients to place the vial in the freezer or on the door of the fridge. We also have a sticker that is placed on the fridge.

The other type (less expensive) is a magnetic sleeve that sticks to the fridge.

Problem is they are issued and 50% of them are filled out. I think it would be best to have your PIO go door to door and assist them being filled out...yeah it would be time consuming but it is good pr.

[speedygodzilla]

Vial of Life

Not a bad idea. I'm gonna make some copies and start handing these out. Heck if time provides I'll just fill the darn thing out for them. This would be so handy if people had this or something to its effect. Thanks for the reminder of such a handy tool.

[EMS49393]

One of our local hospitals supply cards that neatly fold up and fit in a wallet. They give us a stash when we need them so we can hand them out to our patients. If I have a patient with multiple issues, medications, and allergies, and they do not have a card, I will give them (or a family member) a card and explain it's importance. In addition, I offer to assist them in filling them out once they are discharged. I give them the number to the station and tell them to call and leave a message for me. I will go and visit them, take my PCR with me, and conduct a nice, thorough interview. I'll ask to see any discharge paperwork as well, to make sure their form is as complete as possible. Many are grateful for the help, and I think many are grateful for the company.

I'm lucky that I work in a pretty small area now with a call volume around 4000 a year. I've gotten to know my regulars, and I've had a lot of patients that I've grown fond of. We have several multi-residential buildings for elderly and disabled people and I try to make rounds to them every so often to check on my most frequent fliers.

Our community knows us, and they support us very well with donations. I really believe it's these small acts that help the community understand who we are, what we do, and that we want to be there to take care of them when they need us.

[Doctor_Phil]

Okay, we got Boe out of the negatives. Two questions remain. How does a sweet heart, though smart ass, like Boe get 9 negatives... and secondly. Why hasn't anyone mentioned the search function. That'll be $85

[joesph]

Okay, we got Boe out of the negatives. Two questions remain. How does a sweet heart, though smart ass, like Boe get 9 negatives... and secondly. Why hasn't anyone mentioned the search function. That'll be $85

negatives is the new black

[FireMedic65]

We do several of these a year. We set up camp at various locations. Such as supermarkets, walmart, and other places likely to see many people. We offer a vital sign check and include that in their vial. We hand out pamphlets on medical conditions as well.

We also have quite a few on hand to give out to people coming into the station and on the ambulance.

(fyi, this is all at a Volly station. At work, we do similar things too)

edit: seriously? A negative for that??

Edited April 1, 2010 by FireMedic65