What equipment do you bring with you on calls?

[Kiwiology]

Don't take the patient to the equipment, take the equipment to the patient esp if it is a cardiac arrest. Moving the patient is really good for that high quality uninterrupted CPR!

We have everything in a big green backpack and I mean everything: airway, drugs, first aid bits and pieces, bag masks, LMA, everything and it is not unreasonably heavy that you cant bring it in. It leaves your hands free to take other stuff e.g. the cardiac monitor/defib

Here is the backpack

[Vorenus]

We have four "pieces" I might take with me on a call:

- Monitor (with Defi ait`s unnd pacemaker)

- Emergency Respirator

- Jump Bag (Everything that`s needed, i. e. airway stuff, meds, syringes, bandages, etc.)

- Suction Unit

If it`s unlikely to be a possible airway/resus/cardiac scenario I don`t take the respirator and the suction unit, in those cases I only take the monitor and the jump bag. For known minor trauma (tripped and fell on knee, etc.) I might only take the jump bag and get the monitor if I need it.

[c9b5]

I'm on a volunteer BLS squad. We have two main bags - trauma and O2. On many calls, I'd like to just be able to bring in the trauma bag, but our BP cuffs are stored in the O2 bag. So we generally bring both bags on all calls.

[Chief1C]

Usually bring the ambulance.

[Kiwiology]

Usually bring the ambulance.

It is often difficult to fit through the patients front door .....

[BillKaneEMT]

It is often difficult to fit through the patients front door .....

You're not driving hard enough Kiwi!!

[Mateo_1387]

For most calls I go on, the jump bag, the Oxygen, and monitor are brought in.

If the patient is visible from the ambulance, such as sitting on the porch with their bags packed, I usually don't take everything right to them. Same goes for wrecks, I figure out whats going on with the scene before dragging a bunch of equipment, that is, until they figure out backboards need to go to the landfill...

I actually prefer to have the equipment taken into the home. There is nothing worse to me than having to send people to get a vital piece of equipment, while I stare at the patient, waiting on said equipment. I personally think it looks bad, and I think it looks unprofessional to not be prepared. Also, I get this pit in my stomach having to wait, almost like what I would suspect the family/friends feel when they have to wait on the ambulance.

Bieber asked if anyone has been burned by not bringing equipment in, and for me, the answer is yes. Fortunately nothing became of it. On the other hand, I've had patient's with dispatch complaint of weakness, where I walk in the door, and wasn't expecting to be walking out with things like pacing going on. I have been certainly happy on those calls that I brought in the equipment.

Another reason I bring the equipment in is it sets a standard. I work with people that have a less is best mentality. When you bring a clipboard into a call for a cardiac arrest, which happened in my area, its pretty sorry. I think the crew did not know it was a cardiac arrest, but still, how great did it look not being prepared?

That being said, bringing the equipment in, and using it proficiently, takes practice. For instance, it makes better sense for me to quickly place a patient on the stretcher, and then take a 12 lead, rather than do it where they sit, have to move them while connected to the monitor, or disconnect then reconnect the monitor. Using the equipment and figuring out how to combat the pitfalls of the equipment makes my bad calls run smoother.

Another aspect I'd like to discuss, is I ride the high horse on this subject and like the standard of carrying the cot, main bag, and Oxygen. At the same time, I hate absolutes, and am enjoying reading what other are posting. On top of it, I wonder how much damage I do to my body lugging this stuff around. There are a few people I talk to who say their knees just can't handle that kind of stress all the time. It makes me wonder, is the high road the right road? Are they just lying to be lazy (which wouldn't surprise me), or am I on my way to joining them...?

I know it gets old lugging around equipment, but I feel it is a part of my job. Maybe we can do a senseless study and find out that bringing in the equipment doesn't improve outcomes...

[MikeEMT]

Since 90% of what I do is IFT, we bring just the stretcher. The sending facility will let us use their "vitals tree" if we need to take a set of vitals. Oxygen is attached to the cot so if patient needs O2 we have it.

On 911 or inbound medicals we take in our BLS jump kit.

Special equipment comes in as needed.

We don't do ALS, but we can do ALS transports when the sending facility has an appropriate provider accompany us. In these calls, we have an ALS jump kit, advanced airway kit, drug box, and zoll monitor that we will load onto the ambulance for the provider.