Are You Prepared or Just a Wacker?

[SeeNoMore]

Aha! This is a cool thread and one Ill have to read fully. I remember my instructors joking (but not meanly) about people they knew who had tons of equipment in their cars etc. However it seemed to make sense to me that if you were trained, and might choose to respond (or be required to) outside of work, that you would want some equipment.

 

[firecoins]

And keep a lawyer under the bench seat for those pesky liability issues!

Its allright. They just chase my ambulance

 

[SoOhArDsOmIcH]

Gloves and glasses..

 

[GR1N53N]

...doing a lot of volly med staff work for events such as the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk and the Ride To Conquer Cancer (which, here, is a bike ride from Calgary AB through the Canadian Rockies (total 600km; 2-day trip).

How was RTCC out in Calgary? I just rode the 2009 one here in Toronto (I also rode in 2008), and I loved it. I tossed around the idea of working medical for it and/or the Weekend at some point (some of the medical teams at ours rode their bikes, which would be kinda fun). Anyway, did you have fun?


As for the topic at hand: a pocket mask and pair of gloves in a little case (good old LSS and their insistence on me purchasing a mask ages ago for my NLS cert) are hanging around in my backpack, which is almost always with me in the car. One time, I felt like a cuff and steth would have been nice, but I feel like a mask and gloves are the only really essential pieces of equipment for trained bystanders in an urban setting.

 

[SoOhArDsOmIcH]

Almost forgot, Shovel!!! It should come standard with every car sold in Michigan..B)

 

[Scout]

I try to avoid the use of a shovel ????

 

[SoOhArDsOmIcH]

It's hard to during michigan winters. Espically for those who dont have 4wd.

 

[BLSBoy]

Jeeze. ........

 

[PapaBear434]

It's hard to during michigan winters. Espically for those who dont have 4wd.

4WD is for people that don't know how to drive in the snow. All it means is that you have four wheels spinning instead of two.

4WD is designed to get you unstuck after you screw up. It's not preventative.

 

[subliminal1284]

Yeah and not to mention better control in slippery conditions

 

[ClarkKent]

After passing my EMT-B class, I got this medical thigh pack because I take care of my 92 y/o grandma that has fall a few times and her skin is very frail. Last time she fall, she took a chunk of skin off 4x5 off her forarm. Thank god we were already at the hospital for one of her doctors appointment.

 

[Kookaburra]

4WD is for people that don't know how to drive in the snow. All it means is that you have four wheels spinning instead of two.

4WD is designed to get you unstuck after you screw up. It's not preventative.

My city got a couple inches of snow dumped on it this year. (Normally we'll get maybe one inch every few years)

I have a 2wd 94 Sentra. It was fun driving past all of the stuck Jeeps and SUVs that were all chained up and everything.

 

[subliminal1284]

I think its fun driving past all the 2wd cars that hit black ice and lost control and slid into a large snow bank

 

[MAEMT]

i have a jump kit in my truck with some basic stuff, gloves, pen light, bandaging, and a few ice packs. i also have 2 c collars behind my rear seats just in case...most of the time when i'm on call i go right to the scene because its easier than going all the way to the station so i carry just enough stuff to hold me over till the rig gets there.

 

[phabib]

I had a pocket mask in my backpack. I have a penlight on my key chain.

 

[NJN]

I have a service supplied Jump kit and O2, the only thing i bough was a bag better than the one they gave me. I do first respond to scenes in my POV which is why i carry these items.

 

[timmy84]

I have a "JustIn Case" That has a little first aid kit in it along with a tow strap, fix-a-flat, basic tools, zip ties, and jumper cables. I have a gigantic Maglight that my brother bought me for Christmas a few years ago for some reason. Somewhere under my seat, or maybe in the back I have the stethoscope they gave me in class. Ummm... I have a few gloves (at work they dont keep large glove in every room so I stuff them in my pocket and often forget to empty a few, they just pile up). When the lease was up on my TrailBlazer I had to get rid of the ECMO machine, it does not fit well in a coupe.

 

[Fir Na Au Saol]

Personally, I still believe in the Boy Scout motto: "Be Prepared".

I carry a pretty complete BLS kit. I do NOT carry any meds beyond FA ointments, sting-EZ and that sort of thing. If I'm not on duty and under medical control, I'm just a highly trained first aid provider. If I go beyond first aid, I'm not covered by "Good Sam" laws.

I also carry a decent, small FA kit on my bicycle. I needed it the other day when my girlfriend and I took a hard spill when she panic braked to avoid hitting a family of ducklings crossing the bike path. She wound up with a deep lac on her chin that I was able to easily deal with by being prepared.

I have to confess to having the impulse to be a "Ricky Rescue" when my first EMS license was new. But I thought better of it eventually.

 

[CAOX3]

I can admit that I am completely un prepared for any off duty emergency.

 

[guardian528]

After passing my EMT-B class, I got this medical thigh pack because I take care of my 92 y/o grandma that has fall a few times and her skin is very frail. Last time she fall, she took a chunk of skin off 4x5 off her forarm. Thank god we were already at the hospital for one of her doctors appointment.

that thigh pack made me chuckle. imagine running around with that thing on...

in regards to the post, i have a microshield on my keychain. pretty much it