# Sparky things you've done...



## NomadicMedic (Apr 29, 2015)

There's a lot of new EMTs out there, and some of the posts are making me laugh. 

We've all been so sparky and ate up with EMS that we've done some silly things. From the POV lights to duct tape stretchers to personal lifepaks and gigantic batbelts ... what's the most "sparky", newbie thing you've done, something that you look back on and shake your head about?


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## Flying (Apr 29, 2015)

"Sir, I am lowering your socks and exposing your ankles so that the paramedic can place his leads when he comes."

Hey, they are labeled LL and RL.


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## NomadicMedic (Apr 29, 2015)

I once drove with lights and siren blaring, from a nursing home... through a twisting series of parking lots, complete with numerous speedbumps ... to the hospital ED.

In the middle of the night. 

I though the hospital was a greater distance than the 500 yards it took me to get there...


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## OnceAnEMT (Apr 29, 2015)

My first wilderness SAR deployment I had my day pack including BLS gear. I also had my harness, helmet, extra technical gear, and 100ft of rope. 

We were searching farm fields.


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## Carlos Danger (Apr 29, 2015)

DEmedic said:


> There's a lot of new EMTs out there, and some of the posts are making me laugh.
> 
> We've all been so sparky and ate up with EMS that we've done some silly things. From the POV lights to duct tape stretchers to personal lifepaks and gigantic batbelts ... what's the most "sparky", newbie thing you've done, something that you look back on and shake your head about?



I did the bat belt thing......with a one-piece jump suit.


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## Ewok Jerky (Apr 29, 2015)

First day off probation we got a call for an IFT. I went outside an jumped in the closest unit and drove off. I didn't realize that individual ambulances were assigned to specific units until we found a purse and scope in the console.

*why my "experienced" partner didn't stop me is another thread.


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## Angel (Apr 29, 2015)

I worked at an IFT company and for some reason thought it was necessary to carry trauma shears and a roll of tape in the side pockets (they have little sections for it i guess) well after a couple shifts i realized the tape was beaten up and disgusting, and I literally had never used my trauma shears (maybe once to cut off a hospital bracelet)...
thats about as rickey rescue as ive got


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## redundantbassist (Apr 29, 2015)

A while ago in spite of my whackerism as a new emt, I bought a refurbished philips heartstart hs1 AED. A few weeks later, after suffering severe buyers remorse, I decided that the best thing to do with it would be to leave it at my parents house, as my dad is out of shape and has coronary artery disease. I now have the task of keeping the damn thing maintained, in addition making sure my family gets thier cpr recert when its due. But someday i guess it could save my old man's life.


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## Burritomedic1127 (Apr 29, 2015)

When i was a brand new basic, i rocked the tape roll on the stethoscope. The same stethoscope on around my neck on every dialysis call...just in case


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## OnceAnEMT (Apr 30, 2015)

Burritomedic1127 said:


> When i was a brand new basic, i rocked the tape roll on the stethoscope.



You went there.


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## Burritomedic1127 (May 1, 2015)

Grimes said:


> You went there.


I went there haha


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## nick Joseph (May 2, 2015)

First call I was ever lead on I told an african american gentlemen , " we have to transport you because you are a minority " yahhhhhhhhhhhh. i'm pretty sure I meant minor.


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## escapedcaliFF (May 3, 2015)

Drove unaware I left the lights on for a about 10 minutes thinking people actually where use the fast lane as designed as a passing lane. Got off the freeway and realized it when all the cross traffic who had the green light was stopped.


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## Carlos Danger (May 3, 2015)

escapedcaliFF said:


> Drove unaware I left the lights on for a about 10 minutes thinking people actually where use the fast lane as designed as a passing lane. Got off the freeway and realized it when all the cross traffic who had the green light was stopped.



I think I did that, too.


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## Giant81 (May 7, 2015)

When work found out I was taking the EMT class, they offered to pay for me to setup my own jump bag that I could use at work if something happened.  (mind you work is 2 counties over from the department I volunteer with).

So I spent a couple hours on amazon setting up a descent BLS jump bag to include OPA/NPA, BVM, gloves, steth, BP cuff, basic trauma supplies(4x4's, some rolled gauze, TQ, etc..), etc...  

Granted, I hadn't even started class at that point.  Come the 3-4th night of class and we go over legal to include scope of practice.  After that, the idea kind of waned.


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## cprted (May 7, 2015)

escapedcaliFF said:


> Drove unaware I left the lights on for a about 10 minutes thinking people actually where use the fast lane as designed as a passing lane. Got off the freeway and realized it when all the cross traffic who had the green light was stopped.


We've all done that


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## SeeNoMore (May 10, 2015)

Angel said:


> I worked at an IFT company and for some reason thought it was necessary to carry trauma shears and a roll of tape in the side pockets (they have little sections for it i guess) well after a couple shifts i realized the tape was beaten up and disgusting, and I literally had never used my trauma shears (maybe once to cut off a hospital bracelet)...
> thats about as rickey rescue as ive got



I have to say tape and scissors of some kind are some of the only items I carry, along with some pens , a sharpie and a few flushes. Whenever I don't have tape or shears I end up wishing I did. But not usually for dramatic life saving trauma care. Usually just cutting something random or securing something.


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## Angel (May 10, 2015)

shears are a must have in 911, but transfers? not really. I actually remember one time I got my leg caught as I was getting out the ambulance and they cut/ripped a gigantic hole in my right pocket. I had to get them re-sewn for like $20. Way more trouble than its worth


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## JeffT (May 11, 2015)

still in EMR class at this point in time, but I see some of you are mentioning gear...  I currently work as a Steward II in a Kitchen (basically the lead guy in charge of the dish pit and doing oddball jobs that the head chef doesn't want to get their hands dirty with like spending hours in a walk in fridge cleaning mold off of shelves or in the freezer scraping blood off of the floor and walls that bled from the meat locker next to it).  One thing I've found invaluable in working with pots and pans regularly 40-60 hours a week is my own personal set of cut gloves with an ansi rating of 5.  Before I got em my hands would be completely shredded with all sorts of oozy wounds, dish pan hands, and callouses and blisters galore... I've read on some forums and blogs that some folks use em to do weeding and gardening type of stuff. I plan to keep em handy when I pass the class and test since I suspect they'd be helpful for 'scene safety'. Would never wear em to test pulse or something, but I've tried it on myself just to see if it does work, and yep, I can feel my own pulse through em with rubber glove layer both above and below... but  I wouldn't dare try it on a real patient though.  However, for dealing with places that there could be sharp edges, like a car accident, accident in the wild, etc. it might be handy?


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## SeeNoMore (May 11, 2015)

JeffT said:


> still in EMR class at this point in time, but I see some of you are mentioning gear...  I currently work as a Steward II in a Kitchen (basically the lead guy in charge of the dish pit and doing oddball jobs that the head chef doesn't want to get their hands dirty with like spending hours in a walk in fridge cleaning mold off of shelves or in the freezer scraping blood off of the floor and walls that bled from the meat locker next to it).  One thing I've found invaluable in working with pots and pans regularly 40-60 hours a week is my own personal set of cut gloves with an ansi rating of 5.  Before I got em my hands would be completely shredded with all sorts of oozy wounds, dish pan hands, and callouses and blisters galore... I've read on some forums and blogs that some folks use em to do weeding and gardening type of stuff. I plan to keep em handy when I pass the class and test since I suspect they'd be helpful for 'scene safety'. Would never wear em to test pulse or something, but I've tried it on myself just to see if it does work, and yep, I can feel my own pulse through em with rubber glove layer both above and below... but  I wouldn't dare try it on a real patient though.  However, for dealing with places that there could be sharp edges, like a car accident, accident in the wild, etc. it might be handy?



Sure. I mean, any department you are with will be giving you protective gear for MVAs but no harm in having these on hand.


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## johnrsemt (May 11, 2015)

When I carried shears, I tucked them in my belt on the side; with the safety out.  that way if I snagged them it just pulled my belt,  didn't rip my pants


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## exodus (May 11, 2015)

johnrsemt said:


> When I carried shears, I tucked them in my belt on the side; with the safety out.  that way if I snagged them it just pulled my belt,  didn't rip my pants


Your shears had a safety?


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## NomadicMedic (May 11, 2015)

exodus said:


> Your shears had a safety?



I carry my shears cocked and locked.


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## DesertMedic66 (May 11, 2015)

DEmedic said:


> I carry my shears cocked and locked.


Do you have a permit?


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## NomadicMedic (May 11, 2015)

Permit? I don't need a permit. 

I open carry.


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## MonkeyArrow (May 12, 2015)

Now, you said that you have your raptor holster in the 3 o'clock position, ready for rapid access, but you haven't stated if you carry the shears unfolded and ready to save exactly 1.2 seconds, or whether you like to go high speed low drag and keep them folded until you need to deploy, single-handedly of course. 

But really, if your shears have a safety, I want a pair, just to say I have shears with a safety.


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## Tigger (May 12, 2015)

Level zero with five calls holding and a slowwwww partner. Partner gets in the rig and I go hauling out of the ED bay ready to go save the city. And clunk, out goes the airway bag onto the ground, someone forgot to close the side door.

This was last week. I still do dumb, sparky things now and again.


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## johnrsemt (May 12, 2015)

Shears with the blunt tip on one piece (where it is bent flat)


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## cruiseforever (May 13, 2015)

Watching my ambulance's tail lights disappear.  Always remove keys at the scene and carry a portable radio.


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## nick Joseph (May 13, 2015)

cruiseforever said:


> Watching my ambulance's tail lights disappear.  Always remove keys at the scene and carry a portable radio.


Lol you're not supposed to turn the ambulance off @ a scene , Why wouldn't you just lock it ? Your dept doesn't have more then one set of keys?


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## cruiseforever (May 13, 2015)

No extra keys.  We have a little button to push that let's us remove the keys while the truck is running.  And should the keys get locked in the truck we have a double secret button on the outside to let us in.


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## Jim37F (May 13, 2015)

One set of keys per rig here too, nothing fancy that let's us take the keys and keep it running..though we do have the super duper secret knob in the grill that'll unlock the rig if we happen to lock the keys in

Anyways as far as sparky things are concerned, not to long ago we ran a call, going to transport BLS, well when the medics closed the side door I thought they were done and clearing so I started to drive off, only for them to flag me down 'cuz they were still writing their PCR!! The ONE time I don't ask if everyome is good to go before I drive off too lol


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## CALEMT (May 13, 2015)

I still manage to drive down the road with my secondaries on totally oblivious to it. 
Once managed to drive down the road (from our main deployment) only to remember that I left the bag on the curb.


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## Leatherpuke (May 14, 2015)

I did the batbelt thing, i still think it's a good idea, but it turns into a pain in the butt. 

 The paramedics at my department seem to have a competition to see who can carry the most crap in their cargo pockets. Most of them have at least three different types of scissors and clamps.


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## COmedic17 (May 14, 2015)

cruiseforever said:


> Watching my ambulance's tail lights disappear.  Always remove keys at the scene and carry a portable radio.


Doesn't your truck have a "lockout" button that you can press to unlock the doors - so you don't need to turn the truck off?


I turned the truck off once and it wouldn't start.... And we had a pt in back. Haven't made that mistake twice.


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## DesertMedic66 (May 14, 2015)

COmedic17 said:


> Doesn't your truck have a "lockout" button that you can press to unlock the doors - so you don't need to turn the truck off?
> 
> 
> I turned the truck off once and it wouldn't start.... And we had a pt in back. Haven't made that mistake twice.


Ours don't. We have 2 sets of keys and a spare key hidden on the ambulance.


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## COmedic17 (May 14, 2015)

DesertEMT66 said:


> Ours don't. We have 2 sets of keys and a spare key hidden on the ambulance.


That's inconvenient


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## DesertMedic66 (May 14, 2015)

COmedic17 said:


> That's inconvenient


Whats worse is that the 2nd set of keys has our narcotic key on it and the keys are left with the EMT. So if I need the narcs I have to get the keys from my partner.


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## COmedic17 (May 14, 2015)

DesertEMT66 said:


> Whats worse is that the 2nd set of keys has our narcotic key on it and the keys are left with the EMT. So if I need the narcs I have to get the keys from my partner.


Our narcs have a punch code to get to them and EMTs are not allowed to know the code. 

The pro is you know know one can mess with your narcs after you sign for them.


But one huge con is its a pain in the *** when a patients seizing and you have a bunch of stuff to do- but your the only one who can punch the code to get the versed. I have resorted to climbing into the back and putting the narc box in my pocket on calls that might involve narcs to avoid this inconvenience. But it's still a pain.


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## squirrel15 (May 15, 2015)

I thought I finally escaped this but I guess I'll admit to it. First time at a hospital, fairly small spaces in the ambulance bay but still reasonable, was two weeks into my first EMT job and wasn't entirely comfortable backing in, so I nose in... Thinking I can live this down... Would've been ok, but I didn't think about the curb you usually have the back over, parked in the spot furthest from nearest gap in the curb, with a 400# pt...

I learned to back up anywhere pretty quick after that. Thankfully it was IFT BLS


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## ERDoc (May 15, 2015)

Yeah, I was one of those newbies, or buffs, as we called them.  I had a fully stocked jumpbag in my car with multiple sized BP cuffs and stethoscopes.  I had sugar in a bag (thankfully a cop never searched it as it looked pretty suspicious).  I even had a large MCI triage box that being thrown out from my VAC.  All of that was put together in 1992.  Pretty much everything I put in the bag back then is still there.  I used to listen to my scanner and/or pager (the original Minitor I) to see if I could buff a call.  I was trying to get some pretty sweet light setup for my car but could never afford it (thankfully) so I ended up with a simple teardrop.


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## RedAirplane (May 15, 2015)

Putting the patient in the gurney the wrong way. 

If they wanted to sit up, it would have ended up SUPER FOWLERS.


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## cruiseforever (May 15, 2015)

COmedic17 said:


> Doesn't your truck have a "lockout" button that you can press to unlock the doors - so you don't need to turn the truck off?
> 
> 
> I turned the truck off once and it wouldn't start.... And we had a pt in back. Haven't made that mistake twice.



We do have a lock out button.   But we also have a button that let's us remove the keys from the ambulance still running.


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## LACoGurneyjockey (May 16, 2015)

I'm starting to think we're the only ones who leave the truck running with the doors unlocked pretty much everywhere...


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## Jim37F (May 16, 2015)

LACoGurneyjockey said:


> I'm starting to think we're the only ones who leave the truck running with the doors unlocked pretty much everywhere...


unlocked, running, and with the high idle on here as well


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## Accelerator (May 16, 2015)

I didn't realize you could lock an ambulance.


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## Flying (Aug 18, 2015)

Another one: I didn't know the difference between patient registration and admission, so I used the terms synonymously. A sharp stare from an ER nurse quickly taught me that isn't so.


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