Ambo Daycare center

[mikeylikesit]

So I had had a 36 y/o male patient in the back of my bus today and he was accompanied by his 5 year old son. I had the patient hooked up to the LP-12 and was running through my assessment when I hear…beep…beep beep beep. The guy’s son was pushing the buttons on my monitor. I kept my cool though and explained to the young lad that the instrument he was “playing with” was a tool of precision that I needed to use in order to take care of his father and that for his and his dads safety I couldn’t have him playing with it and that later I would show him how it worked. Thank goodness he stopped right then because I may have had a second patient by the time we reached the hospital. Do you guys and gals ever have more works on your hands when the patients’ family rides? The family and friend of the patient need to realize that everything they interfere with take valuable time away from the patient.

 

[Jon]

The 5-year-old would need to be secured in an appropriate booster/child seat. If I don't have one, I'm not going to put him in the rig if I can avoid it.. can the PD have a trusted neighbor watch the kid?

 

[mikeylikesit]

well the father was home by himself out in the boons and asked if we could take his kid with us...i said sure and straped him to the bench seat in lou of the front seat since i thought that it may be more dangerous to have him up front with the airbags...i never anticipated that it would cause this type of problem.

 

[Flight-LP]

Duct tape him to the bench........................

Agree with what was said above. Kids are not welcome in my unit unless they are secured properly.

Additional consideration taken to remove equipment from their reach may also be a decent idea!!

 

[firemedic7982]

I preffer not to take any passengers in my ambulance in the first place. But IF I had to take someones seed on the truck, I would prefferably use the car seat, secondly the inflatable one we carry, and thirdly just tied around the rear wheel with I.V. tournaquettes.

 

[mikeylikesit]

oh he was safety belted down...but i like the way your thinkin.

 

[BossyCow]

I'm not bringing a 5yo in the back of the rig with his parent as a pt. What if dad decided to do a drano with his 5 year old watching? Do you really want that kid's last memories of his dad, be you doing chest compressions, or suctioning, or tubing Daddy?? Then, you get to the ER and what? The nursing staff takes care of a 5yo in the middle of a dangerous environment? And what if Dad is admitted?

There is no good outcome on this one. I would either have called a neighbor, friend, whatever to come get the kid, or would have had law enforcement/support officers deal with the child. We are a volly agency so we generally have a volunteer or two who can remain with the child until family shows up.

You didn't say what was the cc of the dad but unless it was relatively minor and guaranteed to stay that way, I would not have done it. We don't generally allow family to ride in the rig unless its a healthy parent of a sick child and keeping mom or dad close keeps the kid calm. I use the excuse, "You will need a way to get home from the hospital after they are treated" as my reason for family following the ambulance instead of using it for transportation.

 

[Medic9]

When I was volunteering with a BLS agency I stayed with the kids at the patients house. Mom was new to the area and didn't know anyone that she could call in the middle of the night and her husband was deployed. One of her children was in obvious respiratory distress, I could hear her as we walked in the door. Normally I wouldn't do that but I felt so bad for her and her children.
As for transporting kids in the ambulance, I would rather not but sometimes there just isn't a choice. They get strapped in and given a stuffed animal to play with and with a stern voice told not to touch ANYTHING! That usually works and then they become a problem for the ER staff.
Adults that want to ride along can sit in the front seat if I say its ok, cause its always up to the EMT in charge.