BLS WITH OUT PULSE OX AND OR AED. SHOULDNT THEY HAVE ONE ?

[VOODOO MEDIC]

The company i work for doesn't allow bls to carry a pulse ox or even a AED, something seems really wrong about this considering they do back up the 911 system contracts, plus do general transports across state...

[Just Plain Ruff]

What does the State say about the minimum equipment in your ambulance? Is an AED or a pulse ox on the minimum equipment list and if it is, then your agency is more than likely in violation of state rules and should be reported.

Not saying you should, but someone should.

[island emt]

So your saying your licensed ambulances don't have an AED ???

Can't imagine any state not requiring at least an AED on a transport ambulance

Even fire trucks are required to have them.

Do you work for the empire by chance???

[Just Plain Ruff]

He might work for the one that just shut down today.

[island emt]

which one was that ruff?

[MikeEMT]

We don't carry pulse Ox onboard our rigs either. Treat signs and symptoms not a machine. I have never missed a pulse ox, though it does anger some of the nurses.

I do wish we carried glucometers on board. Not sure why we don't.

AED should be a state requirement. That said, while AED's are effective and have lots of clinical evidence to support their use, they are no replacement for effective CPR and rapid ALS response.

[MariB]

Actually, give me an AED over a rapid ALS response any day. Early defib!

Getting the defib on a shock able rhythm key.

Good quality CPR and rapid defib can hold it over for als

[uglyEMT]

We don't have pulse ox either. rather treat the patient then a machine anyways. never missed it even after working on crews that did carry it. I even have a story about a CO poisoning patient that the EMT swore was OK because the machine said it was 98%.

As far as the AED, are you freaking serious?? I don't know any place that doesn't have one on a working rig. Hell most PD, schools, shopping malls, even the grocery store have AEDs in my area. That sounds like a certification violation if I ever heard one.

Oh BTW the company that went belly up overnight was First Med.

[emt2359]

Based on all the new textbooks and AHA standards, oxygen administration is based on Sp02 readings. If the patient is below 94 give them oxygen and titrate to 94%. I also read somewhere that you can increase the damage in an MI by administering too much oxygen by causing coronary artery constriction and increasing the activity of free radicals.

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From the AHA site: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/122/18_suppl_3/S787.full

EMS providers administer oxygen during the initial assessment of patients with suspected ACS. However, there is insufficient evidence to support its routine use in uncomplicated ACS. If the patient is dyspneic, hypoxemic, or has obvious signs of heart failure, providers should titrate therapy, based on monitoring of oxyhemoglobin saturation, to ≥94% (Class I, LOE C).³⁶

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So if the above is true, your company is not adhering to the "Do No Harm" mantra of professional healthcare.

Edited December 11, 2013 by emt2359

[ERDoc]

AEDs should be standard equipment on all ambulances that carry patients. Their benefits have been proven over and over. They may not be used often but they are one of the few things that actually will make a difference.

As for the "treat the patient, not the machine," mantra, that is just used by people who don't understand how to use the machine properly. If the machine didn't serve a purpose, it wouldn't be created.