Make my duty belt LIGHTER! (Please)

[NYCntg]

OK, I carry enough stuff, Monitor, O2 bag, drug bag, and chair, radio, flash light (have switched to lithium batteries) , sheers, knife / multi tool, metal O2 wrench (plastic just sucks), keys, glove case, phone… forget a window punch, the very few times I need one, the edge of my multi tool works great.

Ounces are pounds… at the end of the day I feel like rocks are tied to me.

Any ideas on going lighter (and no donut jokes please)

I'm serious, anybody see anything new and good out there?

Thanks.

NYMEDIC

:?

[somedic]

Ok Batman: Why do you carry so much stuff? How long have you been in EMS? You forgot to mention the hip side surgery set.

If you have to carry on your person at all times a monitor, O2 bag, drug bag,and a chair you might consider buying a pack mule or an emt-basic. The pack mule would be your first choice due to reliability and intelect.

Somedic sends.

[JakeEMTP]

Do you really carry a chair with you? :? Monitor, O2 bag, ALS bag on every call?

In all seriousness, can't you carry a penlight in your pocket? Scene lights on the ambulance work great. It sounds like you have more stuff on your belt than a LEO. My suggestion is to loose all of it. It smacks of wackerism.

[Ridryder 911]

Simple, tie the o[sub:2d47aa63d4]2[/sub:2d47aa63d4] wrench to the regulator, never seen the need in multi-tool in over the 30 yrs as a medic, leave the knife at home, never carried a "glove case" as well..a pair in the pocket or better yet, when you leave the unit put a pair on. Never carried a flashlight as well either, you should have a good one in the unit, charged and ready to go.

Don't need a window punch or ever used one, except to demonstrate on how to use one. That is why God invented hose draggers... they can be responsible for breaking the glass. Well so far, all we have left is the cell phone and keys.. key ring, cell phone in the pocket or case... There you go ...10 pounds lighter and wow! Now you can perform your job easier without that backbrace...leave the "special" tools to Batman.

R/r 911

[spenac]

Are you required to carry all that on your belt?

My belt is empty other than my cell. Pretty much everything else in jump bag.

[vs-eh?]

Simple, tie the o[sub:7396f67b14]2[/sub:7396f67b14] wrench to the regulator, never seen the need in multi-tool in over the 30 yrs as a medic, leave the knife at home, never carried a "glove case" as well..a pair in the pocket or better yet, when you leave the unit put a pair on. Never carried a flashlight as well either, you should have a good one in the unit, charged and ready to go.

Don't need a window punch or ever used one...

R/r 911

I agree.

[brentoli]

If you want a flashlight grab a 5 dollar LED light at walmart and throw it in your cargo pocket with the pair of gloves. Forget the rest of the stuff. Problem solved.

[pacman]

If you have to carry on your person at all times a monitor, O2 bag, drug bag,and a chair you might consider buying a pack mule or an emt-basic. The pack mule would be your first choice due to reliability and intelect.

Somedic sends.

On man, that was too funny! :joker:

[NYCntg]

I agree.

Oh where to begin, where to begin,

First lets dispense with the hostile put downs keep the batman comments to yourself. This was an honest straight forward question asking about new and better gear.

If you can’t carry on a civil discussion, McDonalds has lots of openings, go there and really save some lives. You never show how smart you are by putting someone else down, you just let everyone know how small and petty you are.

As for how long I’ve been doing this for, I got my BLS card in 1977, as a medic I’ve been through 38 protocol changes (you do the math).

Now for folks that don’t know, In NYC if you don’t carry all “That stuff” with you on every job, and a boss catches you, at best you’ll get an NOI, if patient care was affected, suspended or fired and if you haven’t had a call that was completely different then what was dispatched you haven’t been doing this for long enough.

Try running down 5 flights of stairs through two locked gates and back with a monitor and/or your drug bag and tube kit and let me know if the delay adversely affected your patient care.

If you’ve never had use for a multi tool you either don’t really work as paid EMS, or work in a very nice well maintained company, and have new or spare busses and equipment on call, in which case I’m jealous and would like to work for your company. I’ve had to fix things from my radio, siren, mirror, lights, down to carry straps on our bags, I think it’s a handy tool to have and always worth it when you need it. The only problem is it chews up the valve on the O2 tank, and leaving the O2 wrench in the bag doesn’t work either, because if it grows legs, or if you change bags to one without one, your SOL when you need it most.

I work in NYC, and everyone I know carries one AND a most add a separate knife (I don’t, the one on the multi tool is enough for me).

As for the gloves, I just don’t get why in this day and age, some people think they don’t need gloves, or worse just throw a few pairs in their pockets and think that’s OK. IF you don’t carry gloves in a proper holder, you might as well not wear any at all. The microorganisms that cause Hep A/B/C, MRSA and a host of other disease are just that, MICRO-ORGANISMS, as in micro, as in the holes that improperly stored (carried) gloves get. You wouldn’t think of bandaging a bloody head wound bare handed, why would you do it in gloves that came from a pocket?

As I previously said, I work in a system that does not avail itself to always having my bus nearby, (the comment about the lights on the bus was funny) so you have to carry a lot of tools with you, we do have flash lights in our busses, but if you’ve ever had to go back and get it, then please keep in mind we don’t have that luxury. As I said, I don’t carry a window punch, I think the surest sign that you DO have too much crap on your belt is if you do carry one.

I also know I don’t get to read and see all of the cool new stuff people come across, all I was asking was if anyone in this forum had.

(sorry if I ruffled a few feathers with my reply, be nice and you’ll get nice).

Thanks and be safe.

NYC MEDIC

:wink:

[EMT City Administrator]

Hey guys, KNOCK OFF ATTACKING THE NEW PEOPLE!