Infant/Child Restraint - Techniques and Equipment

[Arctickat]

Bieber, check the link I posted earlier in the thread.

[croaker260]

That's a great point that I hadn't even considered, and an important one at that. Are there any particular techniques in general (aside from the usual) that you use to help comfort kids or to facilitate IV access?

Hmmm, define "the usual"? Distraction, play, music, singing, conversation are all useful.

I am not sure that there is anything that will make IV access more comfortable for a small kid. In fact, I usually take a small kid that is compliant and just lets me do anything I want as a very bad sign.

For older kids (4 +, kids you can communicate with....) , from experiences with my own kids, I find the unknown and the poorly understood are far more scary that the procedure itself. Letting them know that:

1- I wont do anything without warning them first is VERY VERY Important.

2- Telling them what I am going to do, and telling them the truth about it ("It will hurt a little bit honey, but we need to do it to make you feel better") is also essentential...

3- telling them that the hurt/scary part of the procedure will be over (have an "end" and wont be "forever") is often overlooked. Especially for small kids, the cant see past the next scary step. Telling them it will not last long and be over soon takes away a huge part of the anxiety.

Also, at all times, let them know they are loved and that they wont be alone at any time. This also takes a lot of the scary away. For use it seem obvious, but for a young kid...these are legit fears they may never let you know about.

Edited May 6, 2012 by croaker260

[Bieber]

Ah, okay, Arctickat, I clicked that link earlier but didn't even pay attention to the name.

Croaker, those are all great pieces of advice and I'll have to remember them on my next pediatric call. Pediatrics is an especially unique specialty of medicine due to the incredible challenges peds present besides their unique physiology with the emotional care that can be so much more challenging than attending to the emotional needs of an adult.

For those of you who have kids, did having your own children make dealing with pediatric patients easier? Harder?

[croaker260]

uhm..both...easier to interact with kids AND parents. Harder to deal with after the fact.

Also harder to deal with the normal parental fears.

For me , its the fear of my kids drowning and getting hit/run over by a car in a parking lot or street. I am sure others have their own special phobia's by proxy from this job.

Edited May 7, 2012 by croaker260

[Arctickat]

+1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

[Aprz]

I work on a dedicated critical care transport unit for an interfacility transport company, and we've had infant/pediatric patients that have not been in the best of conditions, and we still use 'em. They are really easy to use. If you took your time putting it on, it'd probably take a minute or two. There are three black seatbelts that look like gurney straps. You seatbelt it to the gurney. Then there are three gray straps that is used on the kid.

Boring Youtube video:

By the way, for the top part of the stretcher, make sure it is behind the bar so it doesn't stretch out/loosen when you adjust the head.

Edited May 8, 2012 by Aprz

[Kiwiology]

Mum or dad usually sits on the stretcher and holds them

I don't know of anywhere (except the front passenger seat) you could attach a car seat; the stretcher has a seat belt but I wouldn't want to attach it there.

Unfortunately it's rather basic here; the basic design of our ambulance has remained virtually unchanged for thirty years and this piece of absolute crap "turnkey" Londonesque barf box being introduced is not a whole lot better TBH

Edited May 8, 2012 by Kiwiology

[Kim_Possible]

Has anyone ever had the issue in position of comfort come into view. We do our best to secure properly, but what do we do if the patient feels better in a fetal position or recovery position because of pain. Now I loved the pedi mates because they can secure onto cot, child seats good for infants as they get bigger becomes more difficult, and if child is bigger restrain seat in jump seat might be too small.

As for securing child seat onto stretcher, we rearrange the straps and put head of stretcher in full fowlers position. Torso strap goes behind seated and can be thread through two openings in the back. The hip strap gets moved up so strap can be secured to the front of the car seat. There are two slots on the front of the seat, that would go over the lap of the child. We do have our own child seats that were donated by Kiwanis or something like that. Just bulky.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Kim_Possible

[WestMetroMedic]

We added these with our new fleet.

http://serenitysafetyproducts.com/

They ring in around $4k, but from a legal sense, they are about the best option.

We also have the PediMate, but my feeling on it can best be summed up as "Blegh."

The Idea of bringing the child in a car seat makes a lot of sense also, so the parents have a safe way to transport the child home. Plus a loose Cheerio may come out...