Checking temp 'to touch.' What part of your hand do you use?

[chbare]

Maybe I've misinterpreted this question; however, I didn't think we were talking about an actual quantative body temperature assessment, rather a qualitative assessment of the skin. Is it cool and clammy, warm and dry, cool and dry and so on. This does not necessarily have anything to do with the patient's body temperature.

[flamingemt2011]

In the age of C-Diff and MRSA you guys are still letting your bare skin touch a patient ???? I just looked up thermometers in our supply catalogue, you can buy digital thermometers for less than $5.00, you can by a box of 100 tempadots for $10.00. Sometimes you have to band together and demand that your cheap bosses provide you with the tools to do your job.

[Just Plain Ruff]

In the age of C-Diff and MRSA you guys are still letting your bare skin touch a patient ???? I just looked up thermometers in our supply catalogue, you can buy digital thermometers for less than $5.00, you can by a box of 100 tempadots for $10.00. Sometimes you have to band together and demand that your cheap bosses provide you with the tools to do your job.

OH MY GOD, lock up the women, sequester the boys and girls, I let my bare hand hold an old ladies hand or better yet, I picked up a 3 month old baby the other night without gloves on.

Call OSHA, Call my bosses. I touched a patient with my bare hands. Oh the humanity.

Get a grip Flaming, there is nothing wrong with letting my bare hand touch a patient's bare skin within reason.

so do you use gloves to open doors in public or turn on sinks in bathrooms? Those are sometimes more infectious than many of my patients I see on a shift by shift basis.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Captain Kickass

[medic 4]

I would also have to agree with akflightmedic the forearm and rist are the most sensitive in illinois we are taught in medic class to use the forearm i dont know how other medics are trained around the world we even train are emts this method.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Actually I never was trained on this technique, I thought it was just common knowledge that you didn't use your hand to check temperature.

My mother and my grandmother always used the back of their hands or their forearms to check my temps, so that's how I have always done it and trained people to do so.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Captain Kickass

[flamingemt2011]

Actually I do not use public restrooms or wash my hands in them. I carry hand sanitizer. And if i did use a public restroom, I would not wash my hands. If you use a public restroom, you have only touched your penis if you do not wash hands. When you wash your hands in a public restroom, you have touched everyone's penis (or worse). Every shift, I wipe down everything that could have been touched by other employees including the clipboard and radios.

[DFIB]

Actually I do not use public restrooms or wash my hands in them. I carry hand sanitizer. And if i did use a public restroom, I would not wash my hands. If you use a public restroom, you have only touched your penis if you do not wash hands. When you wash your hands in a public restroom, you have touched everyone's penis (or worse). Every shift, I wipe down everything that could have been touched by other employees including the clipboard and radios.

You mean you don't touch strangers with your bare skin? Ever?

How long would you have to know someone before you will share a bathroom with them?

I have to return to the fact that although moms and grannies have used this method since hands and kids have existed, it remains in the literature for EMT's and is probably the place we aquire the practice.

Edited December 29, 2011 by DFIB

[flamingemt2011]

Other than a handshake, no, and then I whip out my sanitizer and fix the germs.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Dang, Flaming, paranoid or something? jk

I don't use public restroom sinks either, I use hand sanitizer but unfortunately that's not always available and I don't carry a bottle around with me in my pocket.

I sometimes will use the sinks in public restrooms but I always turn on the sink using a papertowel. Then turn off the sink with new towel after drying my hands with a different towel.

But let me ask you this, do you go out to eat in restaurants?

And there is a more personal question I have but I'll leave it un asked,

[flamingemt2011]

Yes, I eat out at restaurants, but I always ask my waitress to palm my plate, and not touch the top. And to your other question, I do not have sex with strangers. I am not a germophobe like Monk, but you have to know that the human hand is the nastiest thing on this planet.