What does your department carry in your ALS or BLS bag.

[Richard B the EMT]

We keep the Mark 2 kits on the trucks, and do not open therm (sealed number tags), unless and until ordered by a "General Order" from OLMC at the MCI.

[Bieber]

Its not about preference. I do agree about working up the patient in the back of the Ambulance (while transporting) but you need to have all of the drugs and supplies. In Urban Areas; where there are buildings with elevators. Pt living greater than the 10th Floor; elevator stuck or you're stuck in the elevator car with the pt & the pt is in Status Epilepticus or Asthmaticus, Exacerbated COPD. Respiratory Failure RT APE or Tension Pneumo, FBAO, etc. Reason(s) why first line drug bag is a bad idea; this can lead to Malpractice and/or Lawsuit.

Remember its better to have & not need, than to need & not have... All the best...

That's a good point and something I've personally not been exposed to yet, for me the truck has pretty much always been just a little ways away. I think I've only ever had to go up seven floors total while working so far, it was a parking garage and we took the stairs (it came out as a possible code blue so we left the cot behind for the moment). We definitely don't carry every piece of equipment we could possibly need with us on every call (I've already mentioned the IO, but now that you mention tension pneumos I recall our pneumo kits stay in the truck not in our box and I don't think our protocols allow for us to use an IV needle to decompress). I would agree with you that we should carry every drug and treatment that we might possibly need to treat all of those possible conditions, and with the exception of a few pieces of equipment I think we do. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to make policy around here to change the storage policies on those pieces of equipment we don't bring in on every call.

[Richard B the EMT]

Paramedic ALS crews in NYC go in with a "Jump Kit", Defibrillator, Drug Bag, O2 Bag, and, unless we know we have the space to bring the cot in, the carry chair.