EMT Seating

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goidf

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I understand that as an EMT my place in the bus while transporting is in the jumpseat by the head of the patient (unless there are interventions that have to be done and monitored). maybe its just a newbi thing but every time I transport, I have this fear of arriving and finding my patient has "gone". see from my place of honer in the jumpseat I have a great view of the top of my patients head, but not much more. I have taken to sitting on the bench just to assure that my patient is still breathing. I even had the idea of installing a mirror just above the back doors of the bus so that I could see the patients face from the jumpseat.
Am I the only one?
 
Safety says jumpseat, but I vote for bench.

Rear-facing seat is safest if you don't bash out your brains on the bulkhead ahead of you on frontal impact. Bench allows better eval, you can read the gauges etc on the side bulkhead, better patient contact, but you are not as well supported during vehicle abrupt maneuvers.
 
Working BLS transport - espicially if we were going to be driving a while, I'd often sit in the Airway chair at the head of the stretcher. This way, I could sit comfortably in a seatbelt, write my chart, talk with my partner, and still monitor my patient.
I'd switch to the bench seat every so often to do vital signs.

Working 911, I'm usually on the bench seat, because I'm doing an ongoing assessment, gathering Pt. information, etc. The ride is usually short anyway. I sit in the airway chair if I need to talk to my partner, or if I am precepting a new EMT... then I let them do most of the work and I sit back and watch.
 
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I'm always on the bench. There are too many reasons why the bench is best.

As for safety, they say the net isn't a primary restraining device. Pfft. Saved my *** plenty of times. Plus the bench has seat belts, most of the time. Use them and stay with the patient. I can't imagine the EMT has an assigned seat in the back if said EMT is indeed in the back and in charge of the patient.
 
After many, many years of riding in a truck I love to talk with my Pt. be close by I would always sit on the bench seat however if you have ever been "launched" off your bench seat and I have been quite a few times over the years only to fly into shelves and what ever might be in the way when I hit. I have smashed my hands and shoulders many times.
I still like the bench seat for pt. contact but I try to brace myself a little differently now.
Hands down the place for us is the command seat or "airway sea.

Look at the new trucks on the market they are trying to make better safer trucks with 5 point harness in them for us but again they will only work if they are worn. I have had a chance to ride in a few and they also limit you ability to move and are cumbersome to say the least.
It's up to you to keep yourself safe!
 
There are no assigned seats. That said, I generally sat in the airway chair. It's more comfortable, especially when writing the PCR for that transport, its safer (some of the ambulances my old company used had 3 point restraints for the airway chair), and you can monitor the patient. Now if the patient is serious, then I always sat on the bench seat. Between close monitoring (including V/S q5 minutes), finishing my assessment (critical patient=load and go from an EMT-B perspective. There simply isn't that much to do before we are maxed out on our interventions and I'm not going to stick around on scene doing things that won't change my treatments) and getting some work done on my chart, there really isn't enough time to justify going back and forth between the bench seat and the airway chair.
 
I generally sit in the jump seat for most patients...when I have children or I try my best to use the bench since it can be scary with some strange guy sitting above you if you're a child. I can do almost all my vitals from the jump chair it is just a bit harder. When we are driving down a mesa though...my safety is first and i am strapped to the jump seat and taking care of my patient the best of my abilities from my given location.
 
My time is split between the bench and jump seats for many of the reasons above. It depends on the pt, reason being transported and overall transport time. On longer trips, 30 - 40 minutes or more and when the pt decides to inspect their eyelids for cracks, I move to the jump seat. I can read their chart, do mine etc. I only need to stand up to look down and monitor the pt.
 
Hastings said:
As for safety, they say the net isn't a primary restraining device. Pfft. Saved my *** plenty of times. Plus the bench has seat belts, most of the time. Use them and stay with the patient. I can't imagine the EMT has an assigned seat in the back if said EMT is indeed in the back and in charge of the patient.
Click to expand...

I hate to break it to you, but the nets dont do much for you on a crash.

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I have never sit in the attendants seat much. Personally they could remove it and give me more space up front, then make in between the bench seat and stretcher a little wider. Personally I want to be at the side of the patient, and assess at eye level. As well if the head of the bed (HOB) is raised > 40 degrees, one usually cannot see the face from sitting behind.

R/r 911
 
No one has said anything about the "CPR" seat. Doesn't exist on vans but is standard on most boxes. the seat is next to the patient on the driver's side of the compartment. It is usually between the "action area" counter and the rear compartment. Those structures (after the truck manufacturer adds some cushioning and padding) keep you from becoming airborne if you don't use the seatbelt (shame on you). You have full face-to-face access to the patient, the action area and even some access to the cabinets. It's my seat of choice when transporting most patients.
 
for nonemergent routine transport calls i'll do my assesment from the bench, then move to the jumpseat and try to bang out my chart before we get there.

for the 911 calls, im pretty well bolted to the bench.
 
MAC4NH said:
No one has said anything about the "CPR" seat. Doesn't exist on vans but is standard on most boxes. the seat is next to the patient on the driver's side of the compartment. It is usually between the "action area" counter and the rear compartment. Those structures (after the truck manufacturer adds some cushioning and padding) keep you from becoming airborne if you don't use the seatbelt (shame on you). You have full face-to-face access to the patient, the action area and even some access to the cabinets. It's my seat of choice when transporting most patients.
Click to expand...

I like the "CPR" seat, but I find it a little cumbersome and usually not really at the chest level. Personally, I would love to see a whole redesign of an EMS unit. No sharp corners, chrome and diamond plate steel would be obsolete, and no external fixations or devices sticking out of the walls. Amazing, I would had loved to have as many cabinets as we do now, but we have several that are empty and we carry enough for several calls as a Paramedic unit. There is just so much one can carry without it being wasted or becoming out of date before it is used.

I always wonder why they (Ambulance manufactures) assumed we would have to sit directly behind the patient? If the attendant seat was moved to the side slightly and the head of the bed was brought more forward, it would allow more room and the ability to intubate better as well.

Ambulance manufactures need to consult with EMS providers.. they would sell more units.
 
Bench or jump seat, as long as I can get to my patient and provide care.....;)
 
MAC4NH said:
No one has said anything about the "CPR" seat. Doesn't exist on vans but is standard on most boxes. the seat is next to the patient on the driver's side of the compartment. It is usually between the "action area" counter and the rear compartment. Those structures (after the truck manufacturer adds some cushioning and padding) keep you from becoming airborne if you don't use the seatbelt (shame on you). You have full face-to-face access to the patient, the action area and even some access to the cabinets. It's my seat of choice when transporting most patients.
Click to expand...

CPR seat? No way. Unless you have one of those City Fire Department Ambulances (you know, the ones you can comfortably stand up in), the cot is positioned right up AGAINST the CPR seat, leaving no room for your feet. In fact, if I have to do CPR, I'm straddling the patient, to be honest.
 
I have limited experience on ambulances but the side seat on the driver's side seemed to be safest seat except for the stuff to my right (which was not secured well and could hit me if we braked suddenly). But I'm 6.1 and I didn't think i ha dthat much of an issue with the positioning of my feet.
 
It all depends like most people have said. But mostly I am on the bench seat. However I do use the jump seat or airway seat sometimes.
 
I've used the drivers seat to treat a patient once...(new EMT with a ton of questions and one very annoyed partner.)
 
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