EMT Clothing

[MrsRankin0510]

No MntSldr, it's not always "my way or the highway" here, certain topics just get people more wriled up than others. I hope you will still consider this a good place to ask questions. That is, afterall, how we learn. Work your butt of in EMT training once you get there, and don't EVER let anyone make you feel lowly for having a lower certification, or being "just a student". You're just as important as anyone else out there. The Fire captain is nothing without his crew, and the medics wouldn't have time to push meds if they had to also drive the ambulance. We may do the "grunt work", but as an infantryman you know the importance of grunts.

BTW, what kind of training are you doing? is the military providing it? My husband has never been through a formal training or certification for combat lifesaver, he's just joe-shmoe soldier/sailor, but they give him a med pack and a 10minute speach on how to use it. It includes a 14ga needle and they tell him to shove a cathater into someone with a sucking chest wound. I was looking at all his stuff in his pack and figuring out what it was all for and how it translates to the gear we carry and stuff, and I asked him "Which intercostal space do they tell you to shove this in?" He looked at me like I was speeking greek and said "Intercostal what?" I looked at that big ass needle, then looked at him and said "If I get shot don't you dare touch me with this thing." But the rules are different when you're being shot at, If you stab your buddy in the chest with a bigass needle that you don't know how to work he's not really much worse off than if you did nothing and let him get blown up. And no one's going to sue you for trying to save them in battle. Their contract sais they can't. Whenever my husband and I talk about anything medical we disagree, because his rules are COMPLETELY different than mine.

And for the record, everyone, I'm also aware of the rules of gun safety, and well read on the local and federal laws, and I know very well how to use and maintain each of my guns. If that weren't true I wouldn't even own a gun. And I wouldn't carry it if I wasn't licenced and couldn't conceal it carefully and abide by every part of the law. My husband is an NRA certified defensive pistol instructor. Now everyone sleep sounder knowing I'm not going to shoot any cameramen or stab the mailman. And if I do I will be completely prepared to explain myself to a jury and accept the consequenses of my actions. Anyone who isn't shouldn't be carrying.

Thankyou all for sharing your opinions, even the rude ones. I'm glad that hundreds of thousands of medics get along without knives every day, because otherwise they would be more expensive. The ones that ride with me get along well without a knife because they ask to barrow mine all the time. But the same goes with pens. I buy huge packs of black pens and bring 5 in my pocket at each shift and end up empty from handing them out to firefighters and medics who lost or forgot theirs.

okay, now bring on the can of worms I'm sure I just opened....

[mtnsldr]

MrsRankin:

No, I'm going after my EMT-B on my own. I'm just doing it for myself mostly, and because some day when I get back from the next trip to the sandbox I want to work as a fulltime Firefighter. I am not a member of a department, as I don't live in a town with a vollie squad right now, and the only close squad won't take me until I'm partially complete Basic. My plan is to do Basic before I deploy, and then complete I when I return, and see if I have the desire to become a Medic.

This conversation spurred me to pull my trauma kit from my deployment out of my truck. (Ever since I ran up on a scene where a kid I went to HS with got T-boned by an F350, I've carried some medical equipment in my truck, because nobody on the scene had any, and this guy was in bad shape. In fact, when I found him he was sitting in the passenger seat because he had no seatbelt on, and I was trying to find the driver because I couldn't believe that it could have been him, he looked so natural, like he'd been the passenger the whole time.) It consists of 4 rolls of 6 ply 4.5 in x 4.1 yd Kerlix, two of those bandage wrap deals with the little metal teeth clips, and 4 more packaged standard issue military bandages, and my personal micromask (I'm CPR cert'd.) Generally, while deployed, the injuries you faced required treatment of jamming shiatloads of kerlix into the wound and waiting for the helicopter, a far cry from the way EMS is done here. However, we were not given cathaters and needles to play with (just our NBC contaminant needles, the ones that speed up your heart rate, and then settle you off so you can die peacefully of exposure :roll: )

As Infantrymen, we also train often on the basic admintration of medical aid, the common soldier level tasks, such as treating shock, bleeding, and breathing issues, as well as scene size up. However, as it is a perishable skill, we have to train on it repeatedly, much to the chagrin of much of our soldiers... admittedly, EMS is not as much fun as throwing lead downrange for most of these folks.

Oh, and I'm a stubborn ole' bastard, it'll take a lot to scare me away. I was just surprised at the seemingly "this is the only way it is" responses. Not sure I've experienced that anywhere else.

[Ridryder 911]

mtnsldr, first good luck in your deployment, and pray for your and others safety. I honor those that are doing such, as well wish you success in achieving your professional goals.

There are those that have been active in this forum that has always tried to produce the " more than one way" and to "think outside the box"; this is why EMT City is so popular, however we attempt to do so with reason and education. Many of us here, see some very erroneous information given time to time, and as well some information that can be potentially dangerous to patient care, to the EMS profession and to one's personal career.

There are very many well educated, experienced, licensed clinicians on this forum that offer much information after performing and knowing the research, and have the knowledge that such information is correct. We attempt to share information, knowledge, ideas and that will promote this profession and to provide better patient care. We may debate, and even discourage advise from some of the novice area, it is not to be displeasing, or derogatory but to make sure that information given is as accurate and true as possible, so this forum can remain respected.

As well, there are many of us that are trying to promote the EMT image from the current Rickey Rescue image, to more a professional health care professional, since this is the primary goal of EMS is about ....delivering medical care.

We encourage questions (albeit, we do suggest using "search" prior) and comments, from everyone.... again, the best of luck and success.

R/r 911

[AnatomyChick]

Ok.. here is my 2 cents... Any knife larger than a standard "pocket knife" is meant for only one of two things... Hunting or as a Weapon (not including those that are used for industrial jobs).... if you're carrying something larger than the standard pocket knife with you, I'd have to agree that it is inappropriate.

I know a guy who likes to play the "guess how many knives I have hidden on me" game... he used to ask my students that all the time... and they would come back to class thinking that he was the coolest ... I spent HOURS explaining why it was not a standard that I wanted them to learn.

Here's the deal.. if you're carrying it "just in case" you have to protect yourself... well then it's a weapon. Weapons have NO place in providing care in EMS, that is why we ask the LEO to remove them from patients before we put them in the back of the ambulance...

Whew.. ok.. I'll jump down off of my soapbox now.

Oh, and no.. this site is not "my way or the highway"... My interest is in providing information for ALL providers, not just a select group who chose to step outside the DOT / SOP Guidelines. Best of luck to you...

Oh, and on the pants thing... Dickies Work Pants from Wal-Mart work well... you may not have a billion pockets to put things in, but you'll likely never really need those pockets anyway.

[emtkelley]

Aspen Mills makes a fabulous pair of pants. I love mine and although they were pricey, they are very comfortable and wash well.

A few years ago, I bought a few pairs of pants from Galls. Maybe I got a bum lot, but the zippers blew in every one of them in a matter of a few months and I had to replace them (the zippers). When I contacted Galls, they refused to stand behind their product so I was turned off by them. I purchase my clothing from a private uniform store which provides uniforms to the majority of departments in my area. They cost more but will do alterations while I wait for just a few dollars. I always feel confident with my purchases from them.

My husband likes Pro-Tuffs for the durability and ruggedness. They are comfortable and he loves all the pockets.

[NREMT-Basic]

Proppers also makes an excellant set of pants. They are what I wear. They are reinforced in everyway possible, have great sized pockets and also a little rubber strip inside the waist band which acts as a stay to keep your shirt in place, especialy good for me because i wear armor under my inform and that tends to make my shirts go all wonky. Proppers area little pricey but absolutely well worth it.

[Dustdevil]

Pretty much anything in my pants could be used as a weapon with the right motivation...

Say hello to my new signature line!

[SSG G-man]

MrsRankin:

No, I'm going after my EMT-B on my own. I'm just doing it for myself mostly, and because some day when I get back from the next trip to the sandbox I want to work as a fulltime Firefighter. I am not a member of a department, as I don't live in a town with a vollie squad right now, and the only close squad won't take me until I'm partially complete Basic. My plan is to do Basic before I deploy, and then complete I when I return, and see if I have the desire to become a Medic.

This conversation spurred me to pull my trauma kit from my deployment out of my truck. (Ever since I ran up on a scene where a kid I went to HS with got T-boned by an F350, I've carried some medical equipment in my truck, because nobody on the scene had any, and this guy was in bad shape. In fact, when I found him he was sitting in the passenger seat because he had no seatbelt on, and I was trying to find the driver because I couldn't believe that it could have been him, he looked so natural, like he'd been the passenger the whole time.) It consists of 4 rolls of 6 ply 4.5 in x 4.1 yd Kerlix, two of those bandage wrap deals with the little metal teeth clips, and 4 more packaged standard issue military bandages, and my personal micromask (I'm CPR cert'd.) Generally, while deployed, the injuries you faced required treatment of jamming shiatloads of kerlix into the wound and waiting for the helicopter, a far cry from the way EMS is done here. However, we were not given cathaters and needles to play with (just our NBC contaminant needles, the ones that speed up your heart rate, and then settle you off so you can die peacefully of exposure :roll: )

As Infantrymen, we also train often on the basic admintration of medical aid, the common soldier level tasks, such as treating shock, bleeding, and breathing issues, as well as scene size up. However, as it is a perishable skill, we have to train on it repeatedly, much to the chagrin of much of our soldiers... admittedly, EMS is not as much fun as throwing lead downrange for most of these folks.

Oh, and I'm a stubborn ole' bastard, it'll take a lot to scare me away. I was just surprised at the seemingly "this is the only way it is" responses. Not sure I've experienced that anywhere else.

Hey, I used to be 11b. Forced in 42 series (Long Story). IF all this intersts you look in Combat Lifesaver Course before you deploy. I thought the standard was at least 1 per squad. A lot of the course is common sense and a lot will go against your EMT training. Going for a tourniquet early in some situations for example. PM me if you want more info. I can also tal to you about Volunteer departments.

[Ridryder 911]

Now that is bragging!... This reminds of the old statements of James Bond movies...

[Just Plain Ruff]

I too when I was just an emt noob had all my pockets full of the latest and greatest gizmos. I even had 7 different sized hemostats.

After 6 months at a very busy urban system, I took a look back at how many times I had used each of the said above and found that the only ones I used were trauma shears, pen light and pen.

I took all that stuff out of my pockets, felt 5 pounds lighter, stopped snagging on doors and such and my partner said something to me that rang very true

quoting as best I can "It's about time you got away from being a Wanker!!!" but he had a couple of other words that would get me suspended here.

I urge anyone who has all that extra crap on their belts and pockets, when was the last time you truly used each piece of what you carry?

Can you remember the last time you used the small hemostat? or the last time you used the ring cutter?

So to make a long post short - get rid of all the extra weight and concentrate on doing your job, no one whos been around for too long thinks you are cool with all the extra junk you have on your belt and pocket. And get rid of the cell phone and extra pager while you are at it. You know who I'm talking about.