EMT'S AND MVA'S

[emtb169]

I am an EMT/FF and have been for 18 years....In Jan of this year I was involved in an MVA on the job and may never be able do a job that I love because of a a** hole who was in a hurry to go no where :evil: .Any way the question I have is I have been doing research for devices in the back of the amb (besides seat belts)to hold emts in but still give them the capability to move around and give proper PT care,does anyone know of or heard of anything like that?Any info would be greatly appreciated

[medik8]

First of all...I'm very sorry about your accident. I feel for you, as I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't work anymore, I love my job so much.....

Wow....I don't think anything exists like that..but I could be wrong. As for me, I just try to be as safe as possible. I keep my drivers from getting overly excited and speeding, or disobeying the regular traffic laws/rules. In addition, seatbelts always on the way to calls, seatbelts on the way back from the hospital...and as far as during patient care... I try to stay seat-belted as much as possible, and also keep my patient as belted as possible for their protection, as well. However, as we all know, sometimes it's just not possible to do this as much as we should. It really does hinder patient care at times. After I get the general care portion of my run completed, and I'm simply gathering more info or checking on my patient, or calling the hospital...I put the seatbelt back on. It's a pain to put it on and take it off...etc...but I would hate to have to look back on a serious crash and regret that I didn't try to take those few seconds to be safe.

Yes...sometimes I forget too... All we can do is our best. :roll:

Be careful everyone...

xoxoxo

8

[emtb169]

Thank You.

[nsmedic393]

Try this link

[Dustdevil]

Like you, I too suffered career ending injuries in an ambo wreck. So I have spent considerably more time pondering this issue than most medics. One key principle I have come to realise is this: anything you can invent, an EMT can screw up. Tonnes of them still refuse to wear a seatbelt in the cab, much less in back. Look at previous threads about body armour or crash helmets and you will see the high refusal rate that exists in EMS, which is overpopulated with complete idiots. Consequently, it isn't as simple as just inventing a better mousetrap. We have to employ smarter medics and supervise them more effectively too.

The Winter Park seat is a good step. Shows that somebody is using their noodle. But I'd like to see Winter Park put hidden cams in their ambos and see just how widely disregarded the seat quickly becomes. I guarantee you it will be. Despite the fluffy news piece, there is simply too much you cannot do for your patient from that seat. Not to mention, if you have two patients your seat is gone, as is your access to that equipment. Ultimately, I think it's a stupid plan.

For me, it all comes back to a ceiling mounted harness, as is used in helicopters. A tracked hook runs the length of the module, and the medic locks into that hook wearing a body harness. There would be a locking mechanism. such as that in shoulder belts, that locks up on sharp deceleration or shearing impact. That would prevent the body from being thrown into a wall in most cases. It would have saved me from four years of physical rehab for a broken neck. But alas, again, nobody would wear it without being forced to.

The so-called "nurse catcher" nets are a good idea. I do, however, think that they are terribly overrated. A 200 pound body travelling at 55 mph will rip that thing right out of it's mounting hooks. It might stop you in a very, very low speed crash, but it's only going to slow you down a little at highway speeds.

There are plenty of people thinking about this issue. Unfortunately, there are probably few if any Professional Engineers involved in the process. Typical EMT mentality -- "we don't need anybody else's help." It's going to take somebody thinking way outside the box to put this all together into a workable solution or two.

[JakeEMTP]

I saw this on another site whilst surfing. I think it is a step in the right direction. Albeit, I'm not sure how one could transport more than one pt.

http://www.merginet.com/index.cfm?pg=vehic...p;fn=conceptamb

[AZCEP]

The problem as I see it is the matter of everyone wanting more space in the patient compartment, moving everything away from the provider. An individual's arms are only so long. Once they are properly restrained, the ability to access equipment/patient's is all but eliminated.

The restraining belt/harness system that Dust mentioned was tried for a while by some of the area departments, and it was a huge waste of effort. It was somewhat ad-libbed, so it wasn't destined for success to begin with. It was basically seat belt retractors mounted on the walls and ceiling of the patient compartment. Once you were tied into it, even the slightest movement would lock the retractor, and you would be held in place.

Currently, it is more likely to get yourself knocked in the head with the clasps, than it is to be restrained by it.

[Nate]

We have two AEV's with the nets at the end of the bench. They stopped a 220 lb. guy when the ambulance impacted at 45 mph with no signs of failure. :shock:

[Dustdevil]

We have two AEV's with the nets at the end of the bench. They stopped a 220 lb. guy when the ambulance impacted at 45 mph with no signs of failure. :shock:

That's comforting to know. I would definitely like to know to what standard these nets are tested to, if at all.

I know in my wreck, the patient was semi sitting on the cot, and when we impacted (somewhere between 60 and 75 mph), the 180 lb patient's weight and momentum snapped the metal rod that holds up the head of the cot smooth in two, where he ended up supine instead of upright. And I was figuring that rod was a lot stronger than any little clips holding the nets in place.

[emtb169]

Thank you to all who replied...we had a net but unfortunately. I was thrown to the back and pined between the back door and the foot of the stretcher he hit us twice and I was knocked after the first hit.They said if I was wearing my seat belt he probably would have killed me because of where he actually ran over our rig he would have also ran me over.It has been very frustrating for me with this research...they can invent the smallest and most useless products but can't invent protective equipment for emt's/medics.