Seatbelt Usage

[hammerpcp]

Front yes, back no.

[Scaramedic]

Front yes, back no.

Absolutely no comment on that. :shock:

I have to admit I rarely wore mine in the back, in the front I always wore a seat belt though. That didn't change even after I was injured. I was standing to get meds out of the cabinet, when my partner slammed on the brakes I grabbed the cabinet frame to hold on. The impact was so hard and my grip so tight I actually ripped the frame, mounting brackets and all out the cabinet. I flew forward to the bulkhead and banged the hell out of myself. Yet another time I was on TV getting wheeled away in C-Spine precautions.

I have never seen any numbers on injuries while attending a patient. They would interesting to see.

Peace,

Marty

:thumbleft:

[medik8]

It's my suspicion that most people who say they DO NOT wear the seatbelt in the back have never had an "incident" to make them put it on.

I used to roam freely too...until a quick stop (from someone who ran a red light who we were trying to avoid hitting) launched my small body backwards and halfway across the back of the ambulance, scraping/cutting my back along the way and coming to rest by slamming into the back doors and then hitting the floor. I'm thankful that the doors didn't open or it would have been..."Medik8...this is Mr. Asphalt. Mr. Asphalt...meet Medik8." Hmmm...... My mind races at the possibilities of what could have came after that...possibly....meet Mr. Dodge Ram....how about Mr. Goodyear...?? You see where I'm going with this... :shock:

You don't realize how fast and forceful objects move around until you see it happen. In a car...we don't think about our bodies continuing to move after the car stops because we don't really see it. As well, there's not enough space in a car to really visualize object flying through the air. In an ambulance, there's much more space, which is more deadly. I've had things whiz past my head before (not to mention what I said above about MYSELF; and the point Dust made about the monitor (for the record...mine is also seat-belted in on a shelf)).

It's not worth it. To each his own....you have to do what makes you comfortable. Whatever that is...PLEASE be careful. I don't want to be reading about any of you guys....

xoxoxo

Luv, 8

[Beagle189]

Front always, in the back depends on treatment in progress. Probably wear it 25% of the time on Emergency calls, 80% of the time on transfers.

[hammerpcp]

Absolutely no comment on that. :shock:

Peace,

Marty

:thumbleft:

Man, I must be losing my touch. Because in the middle of the night that seemed to be a perfectly innocent comment. :oops:

[Connie31079]

I always wear my seatbelt when riding in the front. Glad I do, because I was in an ambulance accident Feb. 1/2003, we hit black ice, left the highway @ 93km/hr and flipped.

I'm a firm believer that if both my partner and I didn't have our seatbelts on, we'd both be dead, because we'd have gone thru the windshield.

However, I have a problem with wearing a seatbelt in the back. I'm fine when sitting in the captain's chair, because the seatbelt fits, it's big enough to go around me. However, when sitting on the bench, tending to the patient, the seatbelt isn't big enough to go around me. I admit, I'm a bit rotund.

For which I've recently lost 55 pounds, and hoping to keep going.

So, maybe the seatbelt will soon fit around me if I sit on the bench in the back of my unit in the near future!!