You sure are one argumentative bunch of folks. Your collective desire to pounce on someone and call him wrong, insane and idiotic speaks to larger issues I'm not going to address. It also speaks to an issue I despise in EMS: calling others wrong simply because they don't do something the way you would or see it the way you do. In my experiences, those who are so quick to tell others how wrong they are lack more than those they call wrong.
I cannot believe I'm in a position to defend reasonable statements promoting the use of gloves in EMS. But then again, on another thread, I had to defend kindness and compassion, too :sad:. But I feel particularly up to a challenge, so if I have to, here 'goes:
While responding? That defeats the purpose of gloves, which can also be to protect the patient from the ickies you brought from the truck to them.
If I correctly recall a subject of another thread you started, whose safety comes first? The purpose of BSI is to benefit the EMT, not the patient. Would you also use a DuoDote on a patient???
1. BSI!=gloves.
2. Trained in BSI!=certified in the use of "gloves."
3. This entire line of thought exposes everything wrong with the piecemeal approach to interventions and knowledge that EMS has.
4. JPINFV is proud to introduce 2 new courses. Advanced Glove Life Support and Basic Glove Life Support. Sign up today to get your card! We're also currently designing an International Glove Life Support class too!
Am I supposed to believe that somehow by wearing gloves I am not taking BSI precautions? I've handled many body fluids with gloved hands and am still living to tell the tales.
your intact skin is a wonderful defense against blood borne pathogens. That's why we don't wear a full body condom. The issue with you hands specifically is that you skin is often non-intact due to microabraions and cracks from dryness (like the kind that comes from wearing gloves to much).
Every profession has its idiotic holdovers. Nursing has nursing diagnosis, we have this ridiculous notion that saying "scene safe, BSI" while waving our hands is a substitute for real education in these areas.
There are many levels of BSI and PPE. Gloves are simple and effective. If the situation dictated, wouldn't you wear gown, mask, goggles, etc.? Plus the fact that clothing provides a small measure of protection and our hands are always exposed. We've all been bled or vomited on and haven't contracted anything because our shirts or pants took the brunt of it. I think you're over-complicating a very simple concept here.
And I, for one, don't contend that the notion of drilling into our minds the concept of BSI and scene safety is ridiculous. Perhaps the cursory way of presenting it during our testing could be emphasized more, but the idea behind it is that it hopefully gets people to take the time they need to consider they myriad of safety variables at a call; to keep your eyes open; identify potential problems before they turn into real ones.
Any service worth its salt is going to give you the boilerplate "BBP" course "certifying" you in the use of PPE anyway. NR's hand wave is in a word, insulting. If they REALLY wanted to test whether you knew about BSI, they'd have someone start projectile vomiting blood in the middle of a scenario and see if you stopped to don glasses, mask and gowns.
Agreed, but they don't. You can spend time in the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" mind set, but you're only spinning your wheels. We've been given simple tools. Don't talk yourself out of using them.
If you guys want to analyze every call to the Nth degree, deciding exactly at what point to put on gloves, be my guest. But throwing a pair of gloves on shouldn't be the subject of a major debate.
