That is totally different. Drivers normally do not continue with patient in nursing home due to insurance liability. If OP was regular driver he would likely been told to transfer care to nursing home staff and that is all.
Question regarding wheelchair van
- Thread starter jemt
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That is totally different. Drivers normally do not continue with patient in nursing home due to insurance liability. If OP was regular driver he would likely been told to transfer care to nursing home staff and that is all.
xrsm002
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Most of the supervisors I have had in my many jobs I've held in several fields, looked at me as a more responsible person for reporting something I did, I use to work for nationwide industrial supply company and I was picking some lights from the back and on the top shelf with our lift and I dropped the ENTIRE box of fluorescent light, I told my manager he was like eh it happens, and I didn't get written up or anything.
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I'm not sure if insurance liability is the true reason for why this occurs, but it sure seems like the chair car driver has a responsibility to operate the vehicle and its lift safely and not much else. If a wheelchair bound person will need to leave the wheelchair during an appointment or what have you and they are unable to do under their own power, they get an ambulance. The chair car driver is not trained in lifting (not that EMTs really are but that's another story), and is by himself. Transfer of care occurs at the door.
I know when I have to take chair car calls with the ambulance (out of chair car type situation), the patient is usually shocked that we take them all the way to their room and assist them to wherever they want to be.
JPINFV
Gadfly
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To be fair with that, the ambulance crew is also going to have to transfer the patient to the gurney, which depending on the situation, may occur inside or outside.
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Yup, which is why I hate those calls. It's demeaning to the patient to have to transfer them to the stretcher when they are independent in their wheelchair. It's the wrong vehicle for the job, and I shudder to think about an unsecured wheelchair flying through the back during a crash.
To clear a few things up.
This patient was 6'2 and probably weighed around 260 so I didn't want to just leave him at the foot of the nursing home entrance because it sits on a hill. I also saw the daughter and nursing home staff struggling to get him into a bed so I helped move him.
The line disconnected from his body. The nursing home staff asked me to call my company for a non emergent transport to the hospital to get it reattached but than the daughter said nevermind we don't have time to go today so I don't know how serious the line coming off was.
I also am not wheelchair van certified and this was my first time taking a patient by regular wheelchair. I only took one patient before by power wheelchair for a BLS discharge.
This patient was 6'2 and probably weighed around 260 so I didn't want to just leave him at the foot of the nursing home entrance because it sits on a hill. I also saw the daughter and nursing home staff struggling to get him into a bed so I helped move him.
The line disconnected from his body. The nursing home staff asked me to call my company for a non emergent transport to the hospital to get it reattached but than the daughter said nevermind we don't have time to go today so I don't know how serious the line coming off was.
I also am not wheelchair van certified and this was my first time taking a patient by regular wheelchair. I only took one patient before by power wheelchair for a BLS discharge.
ArcticKat
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While I applaud your initiative and selflessness to lend assistance,...see below...
So, your boss should actually be happy, you made him more money by generating a transfer back to the hospital...see below...
Now that we're below...what the hell are you doing conducting a service that you are not certified to do? Did your boss know this information? If so, what was he thinking in telling you to do something you're not trained to do? Certification provides you with the legal backing and protection to fall back on in events such as this.
If I understand the American legal system here...and I don't really...by doing this call without proper legal credentials, you've opened yourself and your company up to a whole world of litigatory hurt.
As to how serious the dislodged nephrostomy tube is....it'll depend on where it became disconnected from the body. If it pulled right out of the kidney, then it'll need to be replaced right away.
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Now we're getting somewhere. At the company I work for, EMTs and Chair Car drivers break off from orientation-- the EMTs review lifting/moving/EMS paperwork, the chaircar drivers are trained on how to use the lifts, CC paperwork, policies for moving patients, facilities, etc.
In general, EMTs aren't allowed to work CC for two reasons, 1) The company doesn't want to pay EMT wages for CC work, 2) EMTs generally haven't gone through CC orientation.
I don't know of any specific "certification" as a CC driver/operator, but it may be a place to make real $$...
AlphaButch
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Write the report. Mistakes happen and it seems like your supervisor knows this. I'd discuss working with the supervisor on a WC Driver Training program as well.
If anything comes of the incident, it may be years down the road before you are aware of it and you'll want the report as a referrence (especially since there is no PCR normally). Think about how it'll look if there is no written record of the incident and you end up with legal action.
I personally do not like and will not put EMS providers on a wheelchair van. It can put them into a catch 22 here in Texas. If something occurs during transport and they provide care, they are working outside their job description (which may cause them to not be insured against liability). If they don't provide care, their certification may end up under review and it can be a PR nightmare for the service.
If anything comes of the incident, it may be years down the road before you are aware of it and you'll want the report as a referrence (especially since there is no PCR normally). Think about how it'll look if there is no written record of the incident and you end up with legal action.
I personally do not like and will not put EMS providers on a wheelchair van. It can put them into a catch 22 here in Texas. If something occurs during transport and they provide care, they are working outside their job description (which may cause them to not be insured against liability). If they don't provide care, their certification may end up under review and it can be a PR nightmare for the service.