Do you ALWAYS wear gloves?

[fma08]

Ugh, after ended up chest down in pee and butt sweat on more than one occasiona transferring from hospital bed to stretcher my vote is bed transfers should require isolation gowns. ick ick ick ick ick.

Sasha's alive!!!!!!!

To the OP, if I'm going on a call, I have gloves on before I get to the patient.

 

[Sasha]

Sasha's alive!!!!!!!

To the OP, if I'm going on a call, I have gloves on before I get to the patient.

Yes Sasha's alive. Sasha's been sick, but she's back!

 

[medic417]

Yes Sasha's alive. Sasha's been sick, but she's back!

Sasha is a sicko.

 

[xgpt]

Depends

If dispatch says it's an assault or something we'll put them on in the Ambo on the way to the call before we get there.

Figure if the PT requires gloves it's wasted time to throw a pair on when we get there.

If they don't need it it takes <1sec. to pull off clean gloves and put them back in your pocket.

How long does it take you guys to put on gloves though?

 

[EMSLaw]

If they don't need it it takes <1sec. to pull off clean gloves and put them back in your pocket.

I'm sorry, you take off your worn-but-unused gloves and save them?

 

[lightsandsirens5]

I always wear them. I even wear them when I am putting the rig back together, taking the used linens to the laundry when we get back to the shack, swabbing the rig out, you name it. Just ask my partners, some of them think I am crazy.

 

[ah2388]

I always put mine on enroute

 

[adamjh3]

Yes because a foreign object or bio hazard (which could occur at any time) in the eye is much less serious than some blood on intact skin.

Point.

I never said I was a logical thinker

 

[xgpt]

I'm sorry, you take off your worn-but-unused gloves and save them?

No. but I grab a clean pair at the beginning of shift and put them in my worn-once-a-week station pants front pocket. i put worn-but-never-touched a PT gloves in my back left pocket so when I sit I feel a bump on my butt and remember to grab a new clean pair when I sit.

If they touched a PT they go into the waste bin. But if I'm not in my unit I'd rather have a pair of clean gloves on my person.

Is that terrible?

I'd rather have a cute little glove pouch but one of the medics just told me to keep a set in my pocket.

 

[reaper]

I like how everyone wears them all the time, but 50% of the vote were for "when needed"!

I wear them for "when needed". If the call is for something I think I need them on, I put them on in truck. If not, I carry them with me.

Now, if your old, you can remember back when gloves on a truck were a luxury! You just learned how to wash the blood off really good!

 

[CAOX3]

I also wear then when needed.

Not all the time.

 

[Veneficus]

I like how everyone wears them all the time, but 50% of the vote were for "when needed"!

I wear them for "when needed". If the call is for something I think I need them on, I put them on in truck. If not, I carry them with me.

Now, if your old, you can remember back when gloves on a truck were a luxury! You just learned how to wash the blood off really good!

I voted when needed, among my crazy ideas is that the level of PPE is elevated with the level of risk.

We are not working in level IV biohazard lab, and it is unlikely any of our patients are. Knowledge, sound judgement, and washing hands goes a long way.

When I am in a rheumatology ward, my fear of "catching" an autoimmune disease is absolutely zero. So unless I see open leasions on the patient or they are in isolation, breaking out all kinds of equipment is just waste.

In Surgery, the level of PPE is quite high.

In the rare times when I am on a truck, I always put gloves on on the way and make sure a disposable mask with a eye shield is close at hand. I am not very fond of glasses. I had an instance in field setting where my glasses fogged so bad I couldn't see anything. No sooner did I lif them up so I could see, the pt vomited in my face. The surgical face shields don't fog up, so there is never a need to take it off.

 

[Epi-do]

I wear gloves most of the time. 99.9% of the time, I start out with them on. I don't always leave them on though, depending upon what is going on with the patient.

 

[LucidResq]

I'm not going to wear them take your blood pressure or give an IM injection (I have never made someone bleed doing so) but will for any other task that involves wet warm sticky stuff.

 

[ExpatMedic0]

I'm not going to wear them take your blood pressure or give an IM injection (I have never made someone bleed doing so) but will for any other task that involves wet warm sticky stuff.

I would wear them for the injection.... But I agree if I am taking a blood pressure or talking a pulse I just do not see a need. I also use my general impression of the patient, scene size up, and judgment. Pt.'s hygiene, illness or injury are all factors to consider, along with what treatment you are providing.

Think of all the things you do when your off work with out gloves. Shaking hands, hugging, using a pen or pencil to write, talking on the phone, touching door nobs, ect ect... Do you wear gloves for all these activities?

 

[Aidey]

I wear them 99% of the time.

I will admit I don't usually put them on until we've made patient contact. This is honestly to reduce the number of wasted gloves. My company doesn't stock a lot of boxes in my size, so I like to be careful. If we are first on scene, or it's called out as a delta/echo I will usually put them on in the amb, but otherwise I wait until the FD on scene lets us know it's a transport.

The 1% of the time I don't use gloves is long distance transfers. I'm talking 3-4 hour trips with the same pt. If there are no isolation precautions I will take BPs and pulses without gloves on.

 

[Seaglass]

Dispatch includes bodily fluids: they're on enroute. Typically, I put them on as I approach the scene. I usually wear them all of the time, especially if I have no medical history on the patient, but I won't freak out about other people unless there's some reason, like touching a patient with visibly dirty hand. I'll admit to taking a couple BPs and so on without them, though.

I always carry three or so pairs in my pocket.

 

[mycrofft]

Bloody clothes were cool then!

Get the gloves on before your hands sweat, or they are NOT coing to cooperate.

 

[akflightmedic]

I do not wear gloves all the time. Yes I preach BSI when teaching as that is the standard so that does make me hypocritical...won't be the first time or the last.

I do expect some of my peers to "slam" me as well but I am quite comfortable in my life and career to take the beating. I am sure studies will be linked as well as numerous conditions I never considered and how I will die as will my family due to my lack of precaution.

I have said this before on a similar thread and this is directed mostly at those who say absolutely they wear gloves 100% of the time cause everyone is infectious.

I agree everyone IS infectious, but they are not only infectious in the back of your ambulance on this day because they have an illness or injury. They are infectious everyday of their life, healthy/injured or not.

So if you do not wear gloves EVERYWHERE, with EVERY human contact throughout your daily routine, then you are just as likely to be exposed to some illness or infectious by product as you are while on duty.

Let me clarify and please read this in its entirety before responding with some off the wall response. I am not advocating doing away with BSI. What I am stating is there are indeed times where gloves are simply not needed and all it takes is a bit of education/information and critical thinking skills to analyze and determine when and when not those times are. Will you always be accurate? No you will not.

What is it about a 911 call that makes the person whose hand you would shake in a grocery store without a second thought completely infectious once they have shortness of breath at home? What makes that old lady totally repugnant once she needs help getting up as opposed to crossing the street? I could go on with these lists but I think the point is made.

I value human contact, I think a sincere, caring touch is more warranted than prayer in most circumstances. People want to know you are human, they want to know they have value. When one over reacts based on lack of knowledge or misinformation in regards to disease exposure or transmission, I think on a psycho/social level the situation is worsened as well.

Most of my encounters will start off with a pair of gloves on or at the ready in my hands. However, should I determine (based on my acceptable standards) that the gloves are no longer needed, they will come off. I will take vitals without them. I will reach out and touch the person, whether it is helping them stand or get comfortable on the stretcher.

I will not freak out and refuse to touch someone based on lack of latex on the hands (caveat being active body fluid seepage). The majority of the calls, there are not active body fluids, there are not infectious diseases. Besides, your forearms, clothes, and equipment are just as likely to be exposed and able to transmit the funk as your hands are which you can aggressively wash or sanitize more easily than the other items.

I have tried to explain my position clearly and justify why it is ok for ME. Please do the same when responding and I will participate in an active discussion. I am sure there are more rationale I need to provide but this is enough for now.

 

[mgr22]

Ditto, akflightmedic.