Patient with CCW

Akulahawk said:
In my case, I have a CCW, and while I might be carrying at any given time, I almost always have a knife on me, unless I'm going somewhere like the Capitol Building downtown or a commercial airport...
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I love that I can carry at my state capitol. :)

Sorry you don't live in the USA. :sad: ;)
 
Forrest, yes and no.

Yeah I'd complain about the gun museum. I appreciate your restraint with the post. You can change your avatar title, can't you, or do you have to get more posts? If so, then post away. (That'd be cool, I DO make people sick!).

I and the others were PM'ing about our firearms during my rant, by the way.

And if my suggestion were magically implemented, I'd have to shut myself off also, as I have not had to shoot at anyone on purpose (or accidentally, that I know of).

With the Guard, at our simulated medical stations, I'd teach my folks to clear and store weapons off casulaties. Trick then and now is how to safeguartd and establish a chain of custody for the weapon and ammo. The average EMS worker will never have this issue, but if they do, they will not have prerequisite training, gear, or protocols to back them up.

Mea culpa, but my attitude still stands. With it an a buck you can get a burger at McDonald's. Hope to keep seeing more of your posts and that change of avatar label soon!;)
 
Forget patients, I wish we had CCW here.

Hell i had to jump through 1000 hoops just to own a bolt rifle.
Don't even get me started on what it takes to legally own a handgun here.:glare:-_-
 
the_negro_puppy said:
Forget patients, I wish we had CCW here.

Hell i had to jump through 1000 hoops just to own a bolt rifle.
Don't even get me started on what it takes to legally own a handgun here.:glare:-_-
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[insert Australia penal colony joke here]
 
mycrofft said:
I'm just tired of the infantile tone most firearm posts have. And how does firearms tactics have anything to do with medicine except as a mechanism of injury?
Seriously, how realistric a fear or professional concern is it that someone will rise off the litter and cap you? Why don't we see this as a topic in every medical and EMS convention?
Other than maybe "Hollow Jacket sustained release copper, p.r., prn ad lib";)
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Try working in downtown Detroit for a while. There have been many cases where medics were responding to one call and heard a bunch of shots called PD and headed towards them to pick up the poor soul. If you are walking down the street in the neighborhoods and someone doesn't like your shirt and has a gun.... you get the idea. There have also been cases of gangs coming into hospitals to finish people off. They usually have two spotters at the hospital who find out if the person is going to live or not.
 
SOP for the two services I've worked with here in Houston are;

1. Ask that no weapons be brought into the ambulance (this is dependant on the patient's LOC) - They can secure it at home, leave it with family, etc.

2. Secure the weapon and release it to PD or Hospital security (Dependant on the facility, most of our hospitals have PD stationed there as part of their security).

Only one of the services had any firearm handling instruction. I really think that the current education programs should at least have a section on handling a firearm (enough to put it away safely) and a section on chain of custody (not just for firearms).

Ask your supervisor, or the facility you frequent, on what the procedure for your service/facility is.
 
If for some reason it is not found until en route, unresponsive is easy, drop mag, clear chamber, place gun, mag, (bullet if there was 1 in chamber) into a bag and given to police (Edit, I am certified to handle guns by Massachusetts). If the pt is legally allowed to own/carry he will have no issue. If it's illegal I insured scene safety. Responsive and on scene I would quietly mention it to police in case it's not legally owned, ensuring scene safety.

En route and responsive, it would depend. I would NEVER reach for a persons sidearm in a responsive patient unless I was unable to get out of the truck and it was unsafe. Now please understand I have many hours working on disarming knife/guns with experts and I would not expect anyone to try it without 2 things, knowledge on how to disarm and a fear of your life. The safest way to be safe is to run and cover. Now I have never worked on an ambulance, I am still in class, but that's how I would handle it.

NEVER handle a gun unless you know what your doing.
 
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Gray said:
If the pt is legally allowed to own/carry he will have no issue.
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I wouldn't let a random paramedic handle my sidearm. The only person I'd release it to is a LEO.

Even if it's a uniformed paramedic reaching for it, it'll be handled the same as a thug on the street going for it. Not a uniformed LEO, not getting my sidearm.
 
HotelCo said:
I wouldn't let a random paramedic handle my sidearm. The only person I'd release it to is a LEO.

Even if it's a uniformed paramedic reaching for it, it'll be handled the same as a thug on the street going for it. Not a uniformed LEO, not getting my sidearm.
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I think you missed some of my post. I would only grab a firearm in a unresponsive pt or a hostile one. Edit: The reason I would handle an unresponsive patients firearm is my safety and my partners safety. I carry as well as you do and I would not want someone touching my firearm. Grabbing my firearm is a hostile action and unless your the police your not getting it.

I think what it comes down to is that if your doing things correctly you should know if there's a weapon on a person before your transporting.
 
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Gray said:
I think you missed some of my post. I would only grab a firearm in a unresponsive pt. I carry as well as you do and I would not want someone touching my firearm. Grabbing my firearm is a hostile action and unless your the police your not getting it.

I think what it comes down to is that if your doing things correctly you should know if there's a weapon on a person before your transporting.
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Ahh, I missed that part. You do mention clearing the firearm, which means you'd take possession of it at some point. I wouldn't let a paramedic handle my sidearm at all.
 
Oh I agree 100%. I'd only clear it in an unresponsive pt. Just so no ND happened. I respect 3 things that a man holds dear, a mans wife, his french fries and his sidearm. :)
 
Ideally you'd gain control of the weapon in the holster and leave it there, no need to clear it that way.
 
Just remembered, on the side of the bench seat in all of our squads we have a little locket specifically for wallets, phones, and other personal belongings. I just don't know if Mr. Boss would be happy with us putting a PT's weapon in there and toting it around with us, or even worse accidentally forgetting about it.

I agree with most of you though, Unless I knew specifically how to operate that make of gun, I'd leave it be and contact PD. Thanks again for all the suggestions and replies!
 
You make a valid point Usalsfyre, keep it in the holster. The only reason I would clear it is I know how to make it 100% safe. What a great topic. Really makes us think and I am happy it didn't turn into a flame war.
 
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