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Jimmie

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I apologize if this question has been asked before however......
I am new to EMS side of patient care, I have worked in our local ER as an tech for 7 and a volunteer firefighter for 9 years and am curntlly working as a EMT for our city/county EMS anf have workes their for for about 1 year. I am currently in a paramedic program at our college. So my question is what is the best ALS bag and equipment to carry for off duty response and patient care? Because of being on the volunteer fire department/rescue squad we are expected to provide medical treatment untill ems arrives. The whole county has the same medical director( volunteer fire dept EMT, BLS rescue squad, and ALS city/county EMS). Also the city/County EMS agency I work for encourages off duty response and is ok with use of some equipment and even medication with the exception of narcatis for person bags.
 
Narcatis??

Are you saying your medical director is ok with you carrying meds and sharps while off-duty, in your POV?
 
There is soo much wrong with carrying medications off duty. How on earth are you going to keep your meds within storage temps if they are just chilling in a bag in your car?
 
First of all, it's Narcotics, not narcatis

Now that we have that out of the way, why don't you wait until you finish paramedic school, before you start thinking about carrying a personal ALS bag in your POV?
 
This conversation has been had before ad nauseam, however I suspect that most of the members here would advise you to carry minimal supplies in your POV. There is a search function if you want to find them, but they are mostly whackers who are trying to justify why then need lights, sirens, and all the ALS getup in their POVs.

Does your agency actually have insurance and written policies/protocols for off duty response? Do they have a list of supplies that you can carry or is it a free for all? If you have a negative outcome with they back you up or throw you under the bus?

My fire department did require staff to stop and assist if they happened upon an emergency in district even if off duty. We were insured for this and had written guidelines in place. We carried gloves, very basic bandage supplies, and some staff carried CPR pocket masks. We did not carry radios off duty, we all had the county dispatch number and could just call in private line. We were not permitted to respond to incidents POV. If for some reason we needed to be able to respond from home or elsewhere not on duty we could take a utility (marked pickups and SUVs with lights and sirens that were maintained, registered, and insured by the department).

I have happened across a good number of medical incidents on my off time since leaving the department. I don't have any desire to carry more than what is in my work bag, but other than gloves most of it won't be very useful in EMS. I also don't have any desire to run a scene or anything like that in my off time, but I think that comes with wisdom and experience.

If your department needs people to respond from home they should be providing you supplies and at a minimum insuring your vehicle for emergency response, your regular insurance is not going to cover you. More importantly you need to enjoy your time off, part of being a professional is knowing when to have down time.
 
Meds? Epi and dextrose, maybe benadryl, probably not narcan. Fluid.
 
I think trying to convert your POV into a chase car by stocking equipment creates more problems than it solves. Medications and sharps in particular seem like they could cause problems with the department of health, or whoever certifies emergency vehicles in your area.

Personally, I have a few pairs of gloves in my "overtime bag" that stays in my car in case I'm called to work.
 
If an agency or organization expects you to respond POV and provide care, they can provide you with a bag and supplies.
 
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