Does anyone know where I can find a good , well - stocked BLS kit for under $ 100.00 ??
CERTGUY
stock it yourself. You know what you need. Get an empty bag from Galls and buy the insides yourself. You will do alot better on your own than a predesigned kit carrying stuff you will never need.
yea, thats your best bet, I got an old bag from my fire company, one of the iron duck ones, (really nice) and one duty night I asked my captian if its ok if I stock my bag and he said go ahead, now I have a fully stocked BLS bag, i still need the O2 but I have to wait until we get some spare tanks to grab one of those, but yea going empty and then stocking yourself is the best..
because i 1st respond as a fire company emt to the scene of ems calls in my fire district, its not bad during the daytime (paid squad crew) but its bad at night sometimes 5-10 minutes for a rig, so it helps to be prepared
well i kinda do both...its complicated here cause we are all volunteer..
Yes drugs need a prescription OR ( I stress the OR in the original post) a medical directors approval. Please note the OR in the above sentence.
I was just reiterating the fact the O2 is a drug as so many people forget that and believe it is totally harmless to handle, transport or administer.
If anyone is going to carry any drug in their POV, they better have medical directors approval and also have a plan in place per OSHA guidelines (if you are OSHA state) on the storage, maintenance and care of such cylinder.
You are also opening yourself up to a whole new area of liabililty. I know this seems like over reaction but you have to consider every scenario.
Are you going to keep a log showing daily how much O2 you have?
What size cylinder are you going to buy?
What are you going to do when you run out of O2 on scene and no unit is there yet? Now you have intiated a higher level of care and are unable to continue that level.
Who is going to pay for your refills? It can get quite expensive as O2 gets used up pretty darn quick.
Are you also going to ensure and pay a company to do testing on your cylinder annually so you have proof that it is not faulty and in good working condition?
How often does O2 given on scene really make a difference in patient outcome? The times that O2 would make a difference are generally (not always) times you're bagging/ventilating your patient. Atmospheric oxygen is normally sufficient for the time it takes the appropriate equipment to arrive on scene.
Also, from a liability standpoint you have a whole other can of worms. You become responsible for the care, upkeep, cleaning, and testing of they equipment. If something goes wrong with it, you're on the hook.