One of the biggest EMS dilemmas of all time

[Veneficus]

Why is there no musical devices in the patient compartment of an ambulance?

Music to sooth the savage beast right?

Anyway...

Several of the people I worked with in my past ED employ would have Ipods with only one ear piece in. They were happier at work. They obviously would have to remove it in order to do things like listen to lung sounds, etc.

When you go to a doctor's office, there is often some background music.

Even when you are in a surgical theatre, one of the most important roles of anesthesia is to find something on the stereo everyone will agree on.

Music in the MRI machine.

Nurses walking around the wards and even ICU now plugged into their Iphones.

Nobody gets upset over the white noise in the coffee shop and I can assure you that my coffee being made right is matter of life and death.

What is the hold up with the back of an ambulance?

 

[JPINFV]

There were a few older ambulances at my first company that had the ability to play music in the back, but it was rare. Additionally, I've had a few patients ask to have the radio in the cab turned up higher.

Why? Probably because too many people think that it will be a distraction for all of the life and death decisions made in the back. [/sarcasm over the decisions part]

 

[akflightmedic]

Most of my units had speakers in the rear compartment...played music quite often.

Maybe just a service issue in your area? Or less budget?

 

[rescue1]

We have the option in the back of our ambulances. The volume is usually turned to nothing, but if it's turned up, the front radio will play all throughout the rig. We'll play music if the patient requests it.

 

[abckidsmom]

We crank it up in the front, it's loud enough.

It's embarassing, though, a little...I was driving to the hospital at 1615 last week. What's on? All Things Considered.

So I cranked it up a little, disappeared into Current Events I Didn't Know I Cared About, and kept on. A few minutes later, my partner stuck his head up front: "Mind turning off the rear speakers? The patient says she's tired of hearing about the arizona shooting."

Who's a dork?

 

[firecoins]

our rdio has speakers in the back. We adjust the balance of the speakers to adjust between front and back speakers.

 

[firetender]

It's ""Music has charms to soothe a savage BREAST"

The proper quote is above. It's spoken by Almeria in Act I, Scene 1, Shakespeare.

Now we've got a different thread, don't we...

The problem is not the music; it's those savage breasts! What is the proper protocol? 4-point restraints? Well, sometimes you can get away with 2-point, but now and again there's barely enough room for you to move, let alone soothe.

Music will work I suppose, but only to get them into dancing rhythm.

But wait, the author is saying only ONE is savage, What about the other? Protocol says if you restrain one you have to restrain the other. Does that mean the forcibly restrained one can SUE?

And that kinda eliminates the idea of use of pharmaceutical intervention because you can't administer meds that only affect one. BOTH would be affected, incapacitating the alert one in favor of the unruly member. (Maybe I shouldn't have mention members. Oh hell, go for it, Gals!) That would be like kidnapping, wouldn't it?

Well, it would if there was a kid attached to it, I suppose. Hey, wait a minute! You ever noticed how suckling kids put their Moms into a state of intoxication second only to the endorphins released from MS?

Maybe that's the ticket...turn off your radio and requisition a suckler!

It's not easy to be the problem-solver around here.

​

 

[WolfmanHarris]

Any truck in Ontario that I've been in has a knob for the speakers in the back to play the radio from the cab. It's usually set to off.

 

[C.T.E.M.R.]

We also have speakers in the rear of our trucks, But so far we have only used them to listen to music returning from the hospital.

 

[adamjh3]

We've got speakers in the back.

When taking kids from ESU (the local peds psych screening unit) I'll more often than not ask if they have a favorite radio station. The "you be cool with us, we'll be cool with you" routine.

 

[Hockey]

I know one agency that had all the radios removed out of the trucks.


They are no longer around.

Some of the newer truck have em. I dig it. I had a GSW one time (minor accidental GSW in the foot) ask if my partner to turn the country off and onto something else. So he did.

Papoose was on. Ambulance.

He asked if we could leave it on since it was one of his favorite older groups.

I listened to it and laughed at the irony of the song :lol:

 

[Lady_EMT]

We have speakers in the back of one of our rigs. If we have a kid who's nervous, we'll ask them if they want to listen to music.

I actually had someone ask if we could play his favorite radio station. We complied, and he really relaxed, and told us how awesome we were. Anything I can do to make the patient's experience a bit more pleasent.

 

[WTEngel]

When I was working for Children's in Dallas all of our units had DVD players, am/fm radios, and cd players. For the kids who weren't sedated it was quite an enjoyable ride.

Come to think of it, the kids who were sedated probably enjoyed it too...

 

[Canoeman]

I guess my age is catching up with me. Please -I would rather work in piece and quiet. I just seem to like to talk to my patients - kids and all.
When the sh-- hits the fan I also do not have another distraction to deal with.
Canoeman

 

[adamjh3]

I guess my age is catching up with me. Please -I would rather work in piece and quiet. I just seem to like to talk to my patients - kids and all.
When the sh-- hits the fan I also do not have another distraction to deal with.
Canoeman

I think it really depends on the TYPE of patient you're transporting.

If you're just doing BLS IFT like myself and many others on this board, I don't see the harm in it, but I do see a lot of good for it. Like I outlined with the kid psych patients, a lot of them do what they do to get away from a :censored:ed up home life whether they live at a foster home or crappy parents or whatever.

A lot of times they don't even want to talk to me (I dunno maybe I'm ugly or something) and the music keeps them focused on something that isn't "get out of ambulance, run away" and maybe even gives them a little bit of a mental escape from the whole situation.

Of course this is something that needs to be used in conjunction with the situation and your assessment of the patient. You don't dump morphine on every single patient you come across.

 

[mc400]

Our's have a speaker in the back it will not go very loud. However our newest rescue gets pretty loud and also came with a year of sirius/xm radio with the playboy channel so you gotta be careful

 

[medicRob]

We listen to the radio in the chopper and on the ground units. Well, unless it is sterile cockpit time of course.

 

[abckidsmom]

Our's have a speaker in the back it will not go very loud. However our newest rescue gets pretty loud and also came with a year of sirius/xm radio with the playboy channel so you gotta be careful

We've had xm for years and have never accidentally landed on playboy. Don't have to be too careful!

 

[medicRob]

We've had xm for years and have never accidentally landed on playboy. Don't have to be too careful!

You have to call in to specially subscribe to that channel. At least, that's how I had to do it... I mean, ... my friend.

 

[DarkStarr]

we have'm, and i hate it when the medic is listening to and singing away with the music.. granted, if im in back, its obviously not serious but have a little respect and dignity. just rubs me the wrong way.