Ever forget to put on your gloves?

i did and it was a good and bad thing. we had a wreck and i kinda ran outta the car cuz we were going to do a rapid extrication . we pulled him out and i got blood all over my hands arms and shirt. i was freaked out a little. so we got him in the truck and i was driving that call so i cleaned off my hands and arms the best i could and rushed the guy to the trauma center. after we got him in the trauma bay i talked to the medic on the call and one of the docs. they said it was no big deal but they did blood work and stuff anywho cuz my work required it. well it all came bakc fine. but the dr and medic asked me why i didnt put on gloves. i told thetruth and said i forgot and then we went out to the truck to decon and noticed i couldnt have work gloves anyway. there were no latex free in the truck for some reason and well i am allergic. but i have always carried my own since then and have not forgotten.
 
1. Lay off the caffine.
2. You being allergic or sensitive to latex should be the best reason to insure that you do a unit checkout at the start of every shift.
 
The number one comment from all my preceptors on my clinical papers---

"Very good at BSI"


Translation--- gloves were on my hand from the minute the call went out until we cleared the hospital. :P
 
Once, on a full arrest run. Was doing CPR in the back of the rig and the pt vomited (or should I say his stomach contents came out) all over my hands and arms. (Combi-tube puke deflector pointed in wrong direction!:wacko: ) Gloves wouldn't have helped much then, but I haven't forgotten again!
 
Linuss said:
The number one comment from all my preceptors on my clinical papers---

"Very good at BSI"


Translation--- gloves were on my hand from the minute the call went out until we cleared the hospital. :P
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Yes this is why I was so mad at myself because it was beaten into my head. Put them on at the start of the call. Guess I was excited about my first transport in the back. I'll never forget again. Only worked 2 days this month :sad:
 
Buzz said:
A lot of people will take vitals and move patients without wearing gloves. I occasionally forget mine when there's nothing blatantly obvious to remind me, but touching someone's wrist is probably a safer bet than touching a public door handle or most of the stuff you've touched on your way TO that patient.
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Great point.

Also - what's with all the brand new EMT's I see that put gloves on when we are RESPONDING to calls? I mean, we won't be onscene for 5 minutes still.

I believe that gloves are important for BSI... but we also need to remember to take them OFF. Once gloves are on, they are dirty. We shouldn't be touching our cell phones, or radios, or anything else we would want to touch with "clean" hands with our gloves on. I often go through 3 pairs of gloves on a call.

Therefore it aggravates me when someone insists on wearing the same gloves they were touching the patient with when they go to re-make the stretcher.
 
Linuss said:
The number one comment from all my preceptors on my clinical papers---

"Very good at BSI"


Translation--- gloves were on my hand from the minute the call went out until we cleared the hospital. :P
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I hope you actually change gloves after procedures and before touching other stuff. I hate when my partner with bloody gloves calls in report, or opens cabinets. And I'm talking blood just from IV start not like major trauma where you are working your rear off to keep them alive. I'm talking your every day really should have gone by other means call. Change gloves often.
 
Jon said:
I believe that gloves are important for BSI... but we also need to remember to take them OFF. Once gloves are on, they are dirty. We shouldn't be touching our cell phones, or radios, or anything else we would want to touch with "clean" hands with our gloves on. I often go through 3 pairs of gloves on a call.
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Only 3 pairs? I'll go through twice that on a stable IFT (pair on scene that comes off before pushing patient to ambulance, pair in the unit for exam and V/S, new pair when writing report/after patient contact [see below], new pair on scene). The way I was taught was that the gurney should be considered clean and not to cross contaminate it by wearing gloves when pushing, loading/unloading, and when raising/lowering the gurney.

As far as during transport, I'll change my gloves when I'm writing my report. This way I have a clean pair on to prevent cross contamination, but will still be able to render prompt patient care if need be.
 
A way to help keep clean for initial treatment is double glove. Then you can easily remove top gloves when they get bloody. I will do that on traumas to help keep from getting everything dirty and to avoid fighting with a new pair of gloves when hands get sweaty.

It is not uncommon for me to go through 10 pairs of gloves on a simple transport. And yes I often take vitals w/o gloves then use hand cleaner.
 
Although I agree with keep as clean as possible, remember they are NOT sterile gloves. Most only use examination gloves and does NOT mean they are truly aseptic. Even then there is much difference in aseptic and sanitized or clean. The terminology does NOT mean the same.

R/r 911
 
Jon said:
Also - what's with all the brand new EMT's I see that put gloves on when we are RESPONDING to calls? I mean, we won't be onscene for 5 minutes still.
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It takes me a while to get them on my big hands :P


But no, I don't use the same gloves on the PT that I do on other things. I just always have gloves during a call.
 
medic417 said:
A way to help keep clean for initial treatment is double glove. Then you can easily remove top gloves when they get bloody. I will do that on traumas to help keep from getting everything dirty and to avoid fighting with a new pair of gloves when hands get sweaty.
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Good idea! I have also found that if your hands are sweaty and you can't get new gloves on you can use some alcohol based hand cleaner (W/O stuff like aloe and moisturizer! Then it don't work.), let your hands dry (you can speed it up by putting you hands in front of the air blower) and the new gloves go right on. I've also used plain old alcohol pads, but it takes a few of them.^_^
 
I would venture to guess anyone that has been doing this very long has touched a patient without gloves on, some because they chose to do so and some because they forgot to put gloves on. I have done it under both circumstances. It does happen, and while it isn't something that you need to "freak out" about, it is something that you shouldn't do on a regular basis. Remember it is not only protecting you, but your patient as well.

(I appoligize for any typos. I am trying to do it with a rigid splint on my left wrist adn Epi is wanting to play catch, so she is dropping a tennis ball on my keyboard.)
 
medic417 said:
A way to help keep clean for initial treatment is double glove. Then you can easily remove top gloves when they get bloody. I will do that on traumas to help keep from getting everything dirty and to avoid fighting with a new pair of gloves when hands get sweaty.

It is not uncommon for me to go through 10 pairs of gloves on a simple transport. And yes I often take vitals w/o gloves then use hand cleaner.
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I've gotten in the habit because I like a clean truck is immediately after I have the IV in and flowing I pick up all the garbage and pull my first pair of gloves off keeping the garbage in it then toss it all together. Gets the garbage cleaned up quickly and keeps a fresh pair of gloves on top. I'm sure there will come a day that I forget but so far that works really well for me to get in the habit of doing it that way every time regardless if I have a messy IV or not.
 
I remember the first and last time. I was coming home from college. I didn't have my gloves once when I saw a car flip right in front of me on the freeway. I parked on the emergency lane, and ran to the car which was right on the offramp. All four occupants extracted themselves out of the car. A LEO fortunately got there and managed the scene. I managed my ABC and AOX4 on all of them. On the fourth pt. I saw she wasn't doing too well. Did my initial assessment then by some miracle a bystander had some gauze and I told her to apply pressure on her lower chin which was bleeding profusely. To this day, I regret touching her by moving her from the shards of glass she was sitting on by doing a sit pick. Some of the blood from the girl got on my jacket and hands. I washed my hands and used disinfectant right after.

Learned my lesson. Have some gloves and basic BSI in my car if I ever want to pull over and help anyone. At the time, I felt I needed to do something...i wanted to continue going, but my conscious started to bug me. This was my first time that the saying actually sunk in. Their emergency isn't my emergency.
 
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hyrisk said:
I remember the first and last time. I was coming home from college. I didn't have my gloves once when I saw a car flip right in front of me on the freeway. I parked on the emergency lane, and ran to the car which was right on the offramp. All four occupants extracted themselves out of the car. A LEO fortunately got there and managed the scene. I managed my ABC and AOX4 on all of them. On the fourth pt. I saw she wasn't doing too well. Did my initial assessment then by some miracle a bystander had some gauze and I told her to apply pressure on her lower chin which was bleeding profusely. To this day, I regret touching her by moving her from the shards of glass she was sitting on by doing a sit pick. Some of the blood from the girl got on my jacket and hands. I washed my hands and used disinfectant right after.

Learned my lesson. Have some gloves and basic BSI in my car if I ever want to pull over and help anyone. At the time, I felt I needed to do something...i wanted to continue going, but my conscious started to bug me. This was my first time that the saying actually sunk in. Their emergency isn't my emergency.
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Did you catch anything? I bet not. Just wash it off.

Lesson learned should be don't stop. Dial 911 and let the professionals take care of the patient.
 
No. Didn't have any cuts at all or anything on me. Even put rubbing alcohol on me to see if I had any openings.

Sometimes I still think I'd stop in that situation because its in my nature and our scope of practice has been instilled into me. Ironically enough, I remember seeing the baby seat dangling on that accident. I was so relieved when I knew all four passangers were accounted for. No infant. Different situations keep recurring in my mind at times, maybe the only thing I'd do is cpr/face mask if someone doesn't have a pulse or a child is bradycardic....but its something to think about.

In reality, the smart thing to do is just to continue driving and call 911.
 
What has been found & recommended here for th euse of glove is that to use them on every call, every day was increasing the number of people with allergies to gloves & the ingredients that make them up. What is recommended now is that we glove only when there is a chance we will come into contact with body fluids. That is a judgment call to each officer as they see fit.
 
I get made fun of for my insistence on gloves at all times. Never do anything patient related without them until I KNOW the pt. is clean. Usually, they don't come off until I drop them off.

I even wear them when starting IV's. Most people in our system only wear one glove during IV sticks, one for actual use around the blood, and the ungloved to help them find a vein. Me, I just deal and find one with it on. I don't want ANY chance of getting their personal petri dish all over me.
 
PapaBear434 said:
Usually, they don't come off until I drop them off.
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Do you change your gloves during the call at all, or is it the same pair of gloves from start to finish?
 
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