Best-of-the-Best BLS Equipment

[climberslacker]

Hi All,

I am now in a position where I am making purchasing decisions for our BLS First Response agency. I've obviously only used the equipment that I had available at the agencies I had worked with. Is there any brand/type of equipment that is worth buying over generic? Things like those suction tips with the spoons built in, or other things that stand out as being best-in-category for their respective role?

Again, this is BLS only and we only place an order every few months. If you could buy any equipment what would you buy? Why?

 

[Flying]

http://ems.stryker.com/products/ambulance-cots/mx-pro-r3
http://ems.stryker.com/products/cot-accessories/smrt
http://ems.stryker.com/products/stair-chairs/stair-pro-model-6252

 

[Tigger]

First response, so probably not needing cots...

Honestly when it comes to BLS equipment I'm not sure there's that much in the way of make or break equipment. By a good bag I suppose.

 

[OnceAnEMT]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LR2LY2I/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cheap but reliable trauma shears. I prefer yellow, makes me feel faster. High speed, low drag, good to go.

As Tigger said, a quality bag is probably the best thing you could have. Not much in the way of competition for gauze quality. TQs, maybe.

SmartBag BVM?

 

[RedAirplane]

I've never had to suction a patient, but other EMTs tell me that the automatic suction is much better than the manual mechanical turkey baster.

Rapid application tourniquets are, by virtue of the name, faster than the DIY ones with cravats and popsicle sticks.

I don't know too much about AEDs, but I know that besides the price for the unit, the ongoing cost varies between models based on expected usage. It may be wise to dig into that.

Other than that, I'm not sure how far you could veer off course?

 

[Handsome Robb]

What type of equipment are you looking for exactly?

When you say you do BLS first response are you part of a transporting agency or responding alongside a transporting agency?

Are you a Special Events company?

The biggest thing I would say is if you're responding alongside a transporting agency is getting things that are compatible with their equipment. Example: defib pads. Most manufacturers connectors are not interchangeable when it comes to attaching pads to the monitor. Our hospitals and FDs use Zoll while we use Philips. The hospitals can use our pads initially because they have an adapter however with the FDs we have to remove their pads and replace them with ours, which at the end of the day isn't a huge issue but it'd be really nice to be able to arrive at the patient's side and disconnect their monitor/AED and be able to attach mine to the pads that are already in place.

Outside of that I can't really think of any compatibility-type issues that you'd run into.