Cameras are prohibited and pictures will get you fired

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

It's a little redundant as the points have been made but here are my two cents. I find pictures of exceptional value when you are breaking in a new doctor. They don't know me yet and have their own ideas. So, while he is taking the collar off my patient before doing x-rays I can explain that I think on this particular patient that is a bad idea and show them the picture to drive home the description I have already given them. The collar stays on x-rays and CT are done and I gain credibility with the doctor. Do I erase the pictues? Only ones that could identify my patient, the rest I keep for education, but never to publish. I would like to continue making my mortgage payments thankyou very much.

[Richard B the EMT]

Some years ago, I had a call for a woman who had, as it turned out, been kidnapped, beaten, and had a scalp "Glove" injury, who was left in an open lot, near the Rockaway boardwalk. When I was describing the scene to the Trauma Center doctor, he seemed to fixate on the mention of the boardwalk, asking how high the boardwalk was, when the geographics were that the patient was dumped 45 feet FROM the boardwalk. As I couldn't get him to follow the mention of the "boards" as just reference to location, and not otherwise connected with the patient's condition ("NO, she didn't fall 10 feet from the boardwalk, she was 45 feet away from it") in that instance, perhaps a picture would have helped.

On a mention, the cop who rode in with us used to be my overtime partner on the ambulance that I was assigned to, that night.

[DwayneEMTP]

From another thread...http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3408114

...Dr. Jonathan Dreyer, an emergency room physician at the London Health Sciences Centre, co-authored a report on the incident at the request of Niagara Emergency Medical Services...

...Dreyer suggested paramedics carry cameras so they can take photographs of the wreckage. That way, he explained, emergency room doctors would have a better understanding on what injuries might have occurred.

"A picture is worth a thousand words," he said.

[Richard B the EMT]

This might have been addressed, but shouldn't the EMTs and Paramedics be taking care of their patients, not taking the time to take pictures? Food for thought...

[AnatomyChick]

Within the scope of my Class, I DO NOT let students take photo's of MVA's, MCI's, Patient Wounds etc. It's based solely on them being in my class though. We DO discuss that in some areas physicians might need a "look" at what kind of incident/accident/illness you found on the scene.

Of course with all rules, there is a reason that I don't allow my students to take photo's. I had a student once..great kid, but didn't think about what he was doing..was showing univolved classmates, friends, family, etc pictures of the cool stuff that he got to see in the ER. How did I find out? The Director of ER called me after she found him taking a photo.

Pictures have their place, and they are helpful...but not within the scope of an EMT program.

Just my .02

AC

[Just Plain Ruff]

NO PICTURES IN THE ER without patient permission. PERIOD. He should have been removed from your class and his phone should have been scrubbed and any pictures deleted.

Personal experience - was working at a hospital in delaware over a 2 week period supporting the ED at a EMR conversion. Had a very overzealous new support tech who had never worked in an ER nor had he been in many.

Each time a trauma or code came in he bootscooted over to the trauma/resus room. One particular patient was a 90% burn. The proverbial crispy critter but still breathing on scene and quickly coded on EMS arrival. They worked this patient.

I caught him taking video and still pictures of the patient care. I went to my supervisors and they confronted him. He denied taking pictures but he did give them his phone for the hospital to review. He had a hidden photo folder(thought is was unfindable) that he had been saving pictures to for 4 days. They found the photos, reset his phone back to factory settings and relieved him of his duties.

He told one of the other ED support staff that he was posting the nasty photos to a couple of internet sites.

So because of this Asshole, each person working on the conversion had to surrender their phones for the duration of the assignment and we got them back at the end of each shift.

I do not support photos in the ED nor on scene unless they provide some sort of value to the patient care experience. If they don't provide value - do not take the picture.

Plus I do like the above posters comments, why are medics taking pictures when they should be taking care of the patient?

[tcripp]

Plus I do like the above posters comments, why are medics taking pictures when they should be taking care of the patient?

Educational purposes and ONLY if there are enough hands to take a picture of the necessary information. Example, the other night we had a car vs. tree...tree won. Easier to convey to the ER doc what the damage was via one or two pics.

We had 2 paramedics and an EMT on scene...while loading the patient in the truck, the captain on scene took a quick pic.

And, in a number of years or so, I'll be able to use that picture in some DWI course. I think it should make a point...

[DwayneEMTP]

This might have been addressed, but shouldn't the EMTs and Paramedics be taking care of their patients, not taking the time to take pictures? Food for thought...

Yep...been addressed....

[DwayneEMTP]

Yeah, again, not talking about snapping photos while a patient is circling the drain. The vast, vast majority of the patients that I've treated would not have been harmed if I took 15 seconds to take a pic...Though of course the vast majority would have realized any benefit from the doc seeing a picture of the nursing home or the little dent in the bumper either.

And for those that would be, a picture really isn't necessary. They're fucked up, it will be obvious upon arrival from all of the IVs, broken bones and bloody bandages. In this case a picture of the ruined car isn't going to provide any add'l useful information...

But, when I've got a patient with a tiny lac on their head that self extricated from a destroyed car, looking doe eyed and just a little too happy, saying, "Whew...that was close! I can't believe I didn't get hurt!" it might give the doc some idea of the transfers of energy to rule out predictable, late show, injuries, right?

Or am I the only one that's had those calls?

Dwayne

[tcripp]

Or am I the only one that's had those calls?

Dwayne

23yof - her tiny car kissed a tree...there is no more front end. Driver's side windshield shattered with a hole in it; no evidence of anything going thru it. She's got some scratches on her left arm and a busted lip. That's when a pic helps the ER.

So, no, you aren't the only one.