Question about a call I had

[Pro_EMT]

Backboard and C-collar both- pad the voids- apply oxygen- do investigation on the abdomen because that warrents attention to internal injuries.

The KED has betters uses.

Imbobilizing a Child

Hip Injuries

I would never use the KED unless the car has allot of room the spare and time on my hands. As long as you took proper C-spinal protection hold the head and etc. your fine document well becasue it may be used in court

[paramaniac]

Pro_ EMT, have you even heard of PHTLS, let alone read the manual & completed the course?

What's your rationale for NOT extricating a NON time critical patient with midline pain/tenderness by using the KED?

[tskstorm]

Pro_ EMT, have you even heard of PHTLS, let alone read the manual & completed the course?

What's your rationale for NOT extricating a NON time critical patient with midline pain/tenderness by using the KED?

simple...... "laziness" ......

[Dustdevil]

Backboard and C-collar both- pad the voids- apply oxygen- do investigation on the abdomen because that warrents attention to internal injuries.

Uhhh... all that is fine and dandy AFTER you have extricated them. You FAIL to address the extrication itself.

The KED has betters uses.

Imbobilizing a Child

Hip Injuries

Ever bothered to read the User Manual for this device? Apparently not. This is a very poor reflection of your professionalism.

I would never use the KED unless the car has allot of room the spare and time on my hands.

And you would be fired after your very first MVA run with any professionally operated EMS agency too. It is painfully obvious that you have never worked for one, which is exactly why so many of us here maintain that volunteer experience is NOT helpful to career development. It only instills and reinforces bad habits. Not to mention that when you give your professional services away for free, it pretty well tells everybody what you think they are worth. Nothing.

As long as you took proper C-spinal protection hold the head and etc. your fine document well becasue it may be used in court

Do yourself a favour and take college physics before you go to paramedic school. Your current knowledge is grossly inadequate to function in EMS at all, much less at an advanced level. Do this simple test. Hold your hands out in front of you as rigidly as you possibly can. Then have somebody place a mere 2kg into your hands and see if your hands move. I can assure you they will. Now, how in the hell do you expect to hold the head, neck, and torso of a 100kg human being immobilised with those hands? The answer is, of course, you can't, which was my original point above.

Having been one of the original PHTLS Instructors certified over twenty years ago, I can tell you that this is not new information. It has been a scientific and professional standard since before you were born. I don't know wtf they taught at your ITLS class, but either the instructor sucked, or else you are a poor student. Or just a lazy cowboy. Or all three.

[fallout]

While we are on the topic, is the short spine board a safe tool for the extrication of a time critical patient?

I was instructed to use one once during my early days as an EMT student, and it seemed an effective compromise between the KED, which takes time, and nothing.

[mediccjh]

While we are on the topic, is the short spine board a safe tool for the extrication of a time critical patient?

I was instructed to use one once during my early days as an EMT student, and it seemed an effective compromise between the KED, which takes time, and nothing.

If you have a time-critical patient, that is what the rapid extrication is for - removing a critical patient expeditiously.

[Happiness]

I love the KED and use it as much as possible. My rule of thumb with this equipment is if the patient is stable then the KED is appropriate, if unstable the back board or clamshell is used. Iv also use the ked on stable chidren they fit in it great and they like the secure feeling they get by being wrapped up in it. hope this helps

[Smitster_911]

I was taught that a KED is used on a seated, stable pt. Given that he was pinned and required extrication, that, IMHO, says that the mechanism of injury is there to classify this person as potentially unstable-rapid extrcation therefore, is warranted, and the KED should be forgone and a long board used.

[Dustdevil]

...that, IMHO, says that the mechanism of injury is there to classify this person as potentially unstable-rapid extrcation therefore, is warranted, and the KED should be forgone and a long board used.

Have you been retired for awhile?

I can't even remember how many years it has been since Mechanism Of Injury alone was justification for jeopardising a patient's life by forgoing prudent spinal immobilisation measures. This was news to me too when I came out of retirement, but medicine is moving far away from such cookbook approaches to patient care. If your patient is grossly injured or decompensating, that is something that you should determine by examining HIM, not his car.

I've seen more seriously injured people come out of lightly damaged vehicles than I have seen seriously injured people with no signs or symptoms on examination.

Treat the patient, not the car.

[Burnzonemt]

There was an excellent article on the use of the KED in a past JEMS magazine. Author Thom Dick had about a one page article in "Tricks of the trade", and was quoted as having learned how to use it from Kendrick himself. I couldn't find the article, it was about six months or a year ago. I believe he said it only took about a minute or two if you were efficient and had a partner to assist. Like everything else I think it would get easier with practice. So maybe five minutes max to put on the KED, is that too much to ask? I think this item is too often unused due to not enough pratice on it's use. It can make a bad mess worse if it's not used properly. But back to the topic, yeah I would have wanted to see the KED used in this instance.