When doing IFT calls how do you report to the nurse?

ThatEMTGuy

Forum Crew Member
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Whats the order you go in? or what do you write. Someone told me to remember HAM (history, allergies, and medications). Thanks! and when you got all the information how do you repeat it to the receiving staff?
 

Ewok Jerky

PA-C
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Mr Soandso coming from some place, did you already get a report? Hx of blah blah, was admitted to some hospital for signs and symptoms with a diagnosis of whatever. He's coming to you for some reason. Had blah blah treatment and responded well, or not. En route yada yada yada. Do you have any questions? List of meds and allergies is in the packet. Bye!
 

Akulahawk

EMT-P/ED RN
Community Leader
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For IFT runs, I would ask if that particular nurse had received report from the sending facility. If so, then it's pretty much what beano stated.... mostly just an update from that report to now and last set of vitals I obtained.

If the receiving nurse had not gotten report, I go more in-depth. Something like: Patient was at some other place and was diagnosed with some problem(s) and while there the patient had (give quick synopsis of in-hospital course) and was discharged to you for whatever reason given. Here's how things went during transport and then I state whatever precautions the patient needs (hip, knee, non-weight bearing, etc), any meds given right before discharge, and advise that the patient's current meds, allergies, and in-depth history are in the packet and I provide the most recent vitals obtained, have the nurse sign my paperwork for receiving the patient and off I go.

I may even go more in-depth than what I wrote here, however my report can be (and usually is) done in less than 60 seconds unless it's something really complex.
 

chriscemt

Forum Lieutenant
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If the nurse claims to receive a report from the sending facility I will almost never give a complete report. My report might go something like this: "Have you received a verbal report from facility X? Yes? Great, do you have any questions? No? Okay, the patient's vitals were this during transport, and nothing/something remarkable occurred during transport. Do you have no questions?"

That's probably 98% of my BLS transfers.
 

MonkeyArrow

Forum Asst. Chief
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Just make sure you and nurse are taking about the same patient.
So true. And some non-medical people are here next to me trying to tell me that referring to patients (privately) by room number or condition/dx is dehumanizing. No, we just do that to keep our **** straight. Think about it as cutting out the middle man in the equation.
 

Ewok Jerky

PA-C
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I once witnessed two crews take each other's patient, granted they both left the same ED to the same SNF, but each crew was dispatched for the others patient and no one noticed until after the arrival of patient number two err one. Learned my lesson that day, could have easily been me.
 
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