# Ambulance service adds DVD players for patient use



## Tincanfireman (May 21, 2009)

A private service in SE Michigan (Alliance Mobile Health) is adding DVD players to its units for patient use during transports. The company is upgrading its equipment in response to "cutthroat" competition in the non-911 transport business.  Read the entire article here.  Thoughts?


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## Sasha (May 21, 2009)

Tincanfireman said:


> A private service in SE Michigan (Alliance Mobile Health) is adding DVD players to its units for patient use during transports. The company is upgrading its equipment in response to "cutthroat" competition in the non-911 transport business.  Read the entire article here.  Thoughts?



For long transports, good. if the patient is stable then they should have something to entertain themselves while their EMT is texting or surfing the net.


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## CAOX3 (May 21, 2009)

Sasha said:


> For long transports, good. if the patient is stable then they should have something to entertain themselves while their EMT is texting or surfing the net.



Instead of texting and surfing the web maybe you should be doing something  constructive.......



Like taking a nap -_-


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## amberdt03 (May 21, 2009)

Tincanfireman said:


> A private service in SE Michigan (Alliance Mobile Health) is adding DVD players to its units for patient use during transports. The company is upgrading its equipment in response to "cutthroat" competition in the non-911 transport business.  Read the entire article here.  Thoughts?



our ambulance has one to help calm kids down during transports


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## JPINFV (May 21, 2009)

Some of my old company's dedicated children's hospital units had entertainment systems. I'll admit to thinking about using my personal DVD player to entertain patients on a few longer transports. Unfortunately for ped transports, I don't keep a stock of children friendly (mostly PG (non kid films) or PG-13) movies in my bag.


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## Sasha (May 21, 2009)

JPINFV said:


> Some of my old company's dedicated children's hospital units had entertainment systems. I'll admit to thinking about using my personal DVD player to entertain patients on a few longer transports. Unfortunately for ped transports, I don't keep a stock of children friendly (mostly PG (non kid films) or PG-13) movies in my bag.



So buy Finding Nemo and carry it around?


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## HotelCo (May 21, 2009)

Now I'm wondering how many times the EMTs will be in back watching DVDs haha.


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## daedalus (May 22, 2009)

I had to get creative once. I had a young girl having a full blown panic attack ( she thought she could not breathe, had a racing heart, convinced she was going to die, etc) on my BLS unit while I was in back, while up in the Los Angeles national forest mountains on a snowy night, about an hour from any ER at the very least. I had no meds obviously, so I got one of those stryker monitor table/stands (left in the rig from a CCT) and mounted my laptop on it, popped in Twilight (that vampire movie). Partner steps up the driving a little, and we watch the movie, which did wonders for her.

In case your wondering, she was on a 5585 with a known pysch hx, but I did not dismiss a medical condition. Anything that would calm her down would help regardless of the etiology. We had no radio or phone reception so ALS was out of the question.


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## JPINFV (May 22, 2009)

^
For those outside of California, a 5585 is a 72 hour psych hold for minors. It's the little brother of the 5150 hold.


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## flhtci01 (May 22, 2009)

Sasha said:


> ...should have something to entertain themselves while their EMT is texting or surfing the net.



I do long transports and would never think about texting or surfing the net while I have a patient.

One problem is people have lost the art of conversation.  This is just another way to avoid interacting with the patient.  

If the patient wants to sleep or rest, I let them which most of the time they do because they have been kept awake at the originating facility.


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## Sasha (May 22, 2009)

Good lord people, did I ever mention anyone on this forum specifically? No.

But from working IFT I know many EMTs don't pay attention to their patients and they are ignored. Granted, some don't want to be bothered, but some providers don't give the patient the choice to talk or not.


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## sdemtb (May 22, 2009)

Longest transport I've done was to Riverside County, about 2.5 hours 1 way with a pt. I was in back. I knew this womans life probably more than her own kids by the time we got there. She was fine with me taking vitals every 15 minutes, told me about her kids, Georgia, WW2, Vietnam, etc...Said she was there and saw JFK get shot. 

Our company specifically says NO DVD PLAYERS especially if plugged into our inverters that are there for CCT monitors.


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## mycrofft (May 22, 2009)

*I dunno, sounds ok but...*

One more item on the checklist.
One more item to go missing.
One more distractor for the crew.
Long distance transports...Eh, why not, but how will the cmopanies keep from imagining their crews watching it on the return runs and risking mishaps?


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## Sasha (May 22, 2009)

mycrofft said:


> One more item on the checklist.
> One more item to go missing.
> One more distractor for the crew.
> Long distance transports...Eh, why not, but how will the cmopanies keep from imagining their crews watching it on the return runs and risking mishaps?



What's wrong with the crew using it as long as there is not work to be done?? On return trips, you only need one person to drive.


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## medicdan (May 22, 2009)

I'd think they'd also be great for when posted... We bring one of our laptops up front to watch movies sometimes, whats the difference if we are in the back, and can still hear the radio...?


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## JPINFV (May 22, 2009)

sdemtb said:


> Our company specifically says NO DVD PLAYERS especially if plugged into our inverters that are there for CCT monitors.



Is there a time limit on the inverters that I haven't heard of or are your EMTs and nurses too incompetent to know how to unplug a DVD player?


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## NomadicMedic (May 22, 2009)

When I was working for a strictly IFT company, our rigs all had mounted DVD players with fold down screens. We only used them for long distance transfers. They were inventoried on the daily rig check sheet. 

One long distance trip that we did often was for a teen who had been injured in a motorcycle accident. When we would make the 3 hour trip back to his home following rehab, he always liked to watch a movie or BMX video. It kept him occupied and entertained.

I don't see anything wrong with a DVD player in a transfer truck.


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## CAOX3 (May 22, 2009)

JPINFV said:


> Is there a time limit on the inverters that I haven't heard of or are your EMTs and nurses too incompetent to know how to unplug a DVD player?



CCT battery power is different from regular battery power.


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## marineman (May 22, 2009)

We have them in all of our rigs. We have 3 or 4 childrens movies with them, but usually a crew will bring one of their movies for the return trip. If I'm not driving I usually just lay on the bench and take a nap on the way back anyway so there's no harm in throwing a movie in for some background noise since we don't have radio speakers in the back of our rigs. I've never seen the DVD players used while transferring an adult anywhere, they usually sleep or want to talk but I just can't come up with 2 hours worth of conversation material for a 4 year old.


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