Pillows

[tcripp]

How many of you carry pillows on your ambulance for patient comfort?

[usalsfyre]

Supposed to be two, but they have a habit of walking off here. Not only are they a comfort item, they work great for ankle splints and can be an important adjunct to intubation.

Edited February 14, 2011 by usalsfyre

[uglyEMT]

Carry two per rig. One always on the cot the second on the crew bench held down with a seat belt.

We usually switch them out at the ED if they are particularly bad, ie bloody, but if they are not that bad we pull the cloth pillow case disinfect the plastic and put a new pillow case on.

[Eyegor]

NY State requires 2 on each truck. In practice, these are normally sealed and stashed away in the bottom of cabinet somewhere to pass inspection. In day-to-day use, pillows are a hot commodity. We try to get them from the ER, and they attempt to get them back. While not the intention, our cots often do not have pillows available.

[HERBIE1]

We are required to have 2 just as NY, but no ER's use them anymore around here, thus we cannot get them replaced. We use rolled up blanket or sheets PRN. We also use blanket rolls for c-spine immobilization- commercial products are expensive and hard to keep enough on hand, so blanket rolls are used as pillows as well.

Spelling edit.

Edited February 14, 2011 by HERBIE1

[DwayneEMTP]

How many of you carry pillows on your ambulance for patient comfort?

We always had two on the ambulance when we could, but like others have said, having them had a lot to do with your ninja like ability, or lack thereof, to spirit them out of the ER. The two I have now are for me to sleep on. I just have my jump bag/spinal gear here, no ambulance.

What caused you to ask this question? I'm betting you butted heads with one of the, "That's bullshit, if they need a pillow then the don't need an ambulance!" crowd?

Dwayne

[FireMedic65]

PA requires two per ambulance. Usually we take them from linen closet at the ER and replace them. They are uber cheap ones that are covered in a plastic bag.

The good pillows somehow always end up in the crew quarters.

[Kiwiology]

In the left hand top lockers we keep linens (pillows, blankets and sheets)

They are really handy.

[Linuss]

We do. We also don't use the crappy throwaway blue sheets, but actual hospital sheets. When we drop a patient off, we get new sheets and new pillow. Tit-for-tat.

[fakingpatience]

We are supposed to have them, but as mentioned above, it often depends on their availability in the ER, for us to replace them. Lately we have been having trouble even replacing blankets in the ER, with the RNs there stashing them in hidden places so EMS can't get them. I actually had a nurse take one of two blankets off my stretcher the other day, telling me that we don't need them and they are running out...