Patient's family "riders."

[C.T.E.M.R.]

For us, it depends. Our rigs have only 4 or five seats other than the driver, and in most cases we have 2 or 3 techs in the back. and being that we do not have any medics on our staff, we get medic intercepts. So it usually only leaves 1 or two seats open. Obviously under 18 a parent will generally ride.

 

[CAOX3]

I don't have a problem letting a family member ride, they can ride in the back if they choose.

At time s this can be very comforting for a patient. There are times when they have been asked to sit up front.

I don't have any policy set in stone, its all dependent on the situation.

And I never separate the parents from a young child unless he s critical. Usually I have them sit in full view, not in the airway seat. In my experience its much more calming for a child to be able see their parent.

 

[tcripp]

In our service, it's up to the crew to make that determination. If we take a rider, we notify dispatch.

Typically, we'll have the rider up in the front. However, sometimes it just makes more since to have the rider in the back and I'm using that person to my advantage.

 

[EMS49393]

I don't generally take any riders. If they ride in back, they can become a distraction to me, if they ride up front, they can distract my driver. I prefer a "no riders" policy.

I will allow a rider in the back under very, very, very limited circumstances. If I'm doing a hospice transport, I'll often let the closest family member ride with them. If I'm transporting a sick, special needs child, I'll usually allow a care-giver or parent ride.

Other then that, I don't need the distraction. Most of the people I encounter that want to ride along are, from the first, a total PITA. It's the tachylordosis relative, the demanding spouse involved in the domestic, or the drug buddy wanting to ride with their BFF that I encounter more often then anyone else.

 

[Aidey]

I don't have a problem letting a family member ride, they can ride in the back if they choose.

At time s this can be very comforting for a patient. There are times when they have been asked to sit up front.

I don't have any policy set in stone, its all dependent on the situation.

And I never separate the parents from a young child unless he s critical. Usually I have them sit in full view, not in the airway seat. In my experience its much more calming for a child to be able see their parent.

For us, ambulance design plays a part in our crew policy. We have an airway seat and a bench seat. We do not have a CPR seat. Our LP is secured to the end of the bench seat at the patients feet. So you can see how putting someone on the bench seat puts them right in the way.

 

[CAOX3]

For us, ambulance design plays a part in our crew policy. We have an airway seat and a bench seat. We do not have a CPR seat. Our LP is secured to the end of the bench seat at the patients feet. So you can see how putting someone on the bench seat puts them right in the way.

Of course if the problem is logistical, the replies here seem to be that everyone sits up front. I really dont see the issue, unless its a patient care decision.

 

[LonghornMedic]

Of course if the problem is logistical, the replies here seem to be that everyone sits up front. I really dont see the issue, unless its a patient care decision.

No offense(and I really mean that), but as a EMT-B, you are not dealing with nearly as much equipment as a Paramedic. When I'm going back and forth getting IV's set up, airway equipment out of the airway cabinet, cardiac monitor with leads hooked up, moving to the airway seat to call the hospital, etc., the last thing I need is someone I'm trying to move around in an already cramped space. If it's a straight forward BLS call, the most you may do is put a NC or NRB on someone and sit on the bench while charting. It's a little more complex for Medics.

I also believe you may not get the honest answers you may otherwise get with the privacy of just you and the patient in the back. Patients deserve to have the privacy to answer questions without worrying what a relative, yes even spouses, may overhear. For the same reason you have to stand away from the counter at a pharmacy, is the same reason patients deserve privacy in the ambulance....HIPAA. Another reason to not have people other than patients and providers is safety. Riding in the back of an ambulance is inherently dangerous. Even if they are seatbelted in the airway chair, it is much more dangerous than if they were up front. Besides, I like to be in the airway chair when feasible, so that I can be seatbelted in for my safety.

 

[Hockey]

I know someone who doesn't care if the kid is 2 months, or 2 years, or an adult or some mentally challenged kid whose parent is needing EMS, he refuses to let anyone ride with him since its HIS office.

Luckily, I don't work with him