Personal protection on duty...

[Resqlife]

I was just on another forum and was reading about not being allowed to carry a weapon while on duty for personal protection ( i.e. handgun ect.). Many employers have policies against carrying even if you are a CCW permit holder.

I work for a private ambulance in Florida, and we recently had a crew that had a gun pulled on them while fueling the truck at a public gas station. Luckily they walked away uninjured.

How do you guys feel about carrying on duty and what are your employers policies? Also I'd love to hear any of your personal experiences where you felt in danger while on duty. Thanks and be safe out there!

 

[DigDugDude]

eh....

Having a gun on you at work for personal safety doesnt outweigh the chances of having it get taken an used against you Its just dangerous and thats why most companies dont want employees even with CWP to have them on site. Its bringing a deadly weapon to work whereas before there wasnt one there at all.

In my unit we have had ambulances stolen for meds in the past but never with the threat of a gun and in the instances where people have a gun and you show them yours they almost immediately will shoot at you for fear of being shot themselves.

The great majority of the public know that EMS is there to help and not hurt and even if being robbed dont usually inflict harm as long as you comply when in a hazardous situation.

people that carry guns get shot so i choose not to carry mine. even with a CWP. and for the record my job doesnt allow them on site either.

 

[medicnick83]

In ZA, you are not allowed to carry weapons but I know that some of the "volunteer" ambulance services allow their members to carry, that, or their members hide it very well.

I heard a discussion about how members walk in and out of hospitals carrying large knives and guns etc.

If it's true is another story.

I personally don't carry any weapons.

I think carrying them is asking Karma to come visit and when Karma comes, bad things happen.

 

[Aidey]

:deadhorse:

Do a quick search, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum and the threads generally never turn out well. They inevitably turn into an argument about gun rights in general and get locked.

 

[medic417]

It's stupidity to have a policy.

 

[mycrofft]

Yes, search.

We've polled and researched and the likelihood of dying due to bad ambulance driving is higher than being seriously assaulted by a patient or bystander.

 

[medic417]

We've polled and researched and the likelihood of dying due to bad ambulance driving is higher than being seriously assaulted by a patient or bystander.

So you are suggesting we allow the partner that is not driving to be armed? Then if the ambulance driver starts being stupid we shoot them?
That is brilliant. Solves the safety issue caused by idiot drivers and also helps creat new EMS jobs for those in need. Perhaps creates a shortage which leads to higher pay. Wow all EMS problems solved by allowing firearms on the ambulance. Good suggestion mycroft.

 

[systemet]

In ZA, you are not allowed to carry weapons but I know that some of the "volunteer" ambulance services allow their members to carry, that, or their members hide it very well.

I heard a discussion about how members walk in and out of hospitals carrying large knives and guns etc.

If it's true is another story.

I personally don't carry any weapons.

I think carrying them is asking Karma to come visit and when Karma comes, bad things happen.

Medicnick is in Cape Town, population 3.5 million, homicide rate 62 / 100,000 occupants (about 2,000 / year) . This is 12 times the US average, and about 40 times the average in places like Canada or New Zealand.

If he's not carrying, and the guys he's working with aren't carrying, I'm going to guess most of us probably don't need to be, either.

 

[Resqlife]

I didn't realize this thread could potentially turn heated and I apologize. However I am still interested things that have happened to ems personnel while on duty. If anyone has a crazy story about being attack by a pt or other person please tell.

 

[usafmedic45]

I was just on another forum and was reading about not being allowed to carry a weapon while on duty for personal protection ( i.e. handgun ect.). Many employers have policies against carrying even if you are a CCW permit holder.

I work for a private ambulance in Florida, and we recently had a crew that had a gun pulled on them while fueling the truck at a public gas station. Luckily they walked away uninjured.

How do you guys feel about carrying on duty and what are your employers policies? Also I'd love to hear any of your personal experiences where you felt in danger while on duty. Thanks and be safe out there!

If you want to be a cop, be a cop. If you want to be Rambo, have your medication be increased. There's no justification for civilian EMS providers to be carrying weapons. Hell, a large swath of this forum can barely be trusted with something as dull as a nasal cannula. What in the hell makes you think that we should be allowing people who struggle to pass a course taught at a fourth grade reading level weapons?

 

[firetender]

Searching does wonders here -- for you and for us.

 

[usafmedic45]

But someone, somewhere, at some time has reputedly had some form of vague threat made against them by unspecified individuals! We don't have time for rational thought. We need to arm ourselves to the teeth. Excuse me but I have to get back to trying to find a personal thermonuclear weapon capable of being concealed carried in the vast wasteland between my testicles and anus. You know...."just in case".

 

[bstone]

I never leave home with my 9mm Ruger. When I go on the ambulance I cringe as I unload her, put on the trigger lock and lock her in the glove box (locked, with a key). Cops have guns for personal safety.

 

[Tigger]

Medicnick is in Cape Town, population 3.5 million, homicide rate 62 / 100,000 occupants (about 2,000 / year) . This is 12 times the US average, and about 40 times the average in places like Canada or New Zealand.

If he's not carrying, and the guys he's working with aren't carrying, I'm going to guess most of us probably don't need to be, either.

Stop using such sensible logic, don't you know this issue is only driven by emotion?!?!


Sent from my out of area communications device.

 

[mycrofft]

That's it, shoot the driver, yeah...

That raises the question of data from co-worker.

I had someone in the back seat of an USAF rescue truck put his hands around my neck because he didn't like my driving. Squeezed when I went too fast (across a pasture), loosened when I went more to his liking. Since we called him "Big Swanee" (Swanson), I call it the "Swanee Governor".

 

[mycrofft]

I got it.

If you want to drive armed, join the armed forces.

 

[Ewok Jerky]

we were attacked by a hypoglycemic pt once. said the magic words "PD code 3 to our location"...4 cops were there in less than 45 seconds.

my partner's former partner got attacked in the pt compartment during transport...again "PD code 3 to our location" and probably 60-90 seconds before they were there.

if someone wants to rob me at gunpoint they can have whatever they want, my health/life is more important.

 

[medic417]

Requested law enforcement after attacked by a "patient". 45 minutes later they arrived to take custody, though by then their job was easy.

Not all services have cops around every corner.

As to robbery, most properly educated in firearm use would not attempt to pull firearm in close quarters.

As to other comments about patient seeing firearm on you and taking it. It's called concealed for a reason, they will not see there for they won't take it.

:deadhorse:

 

[RocketMedic]

For those of us in rural areas, dealing with firearms in the vehicle and home settings is common. A CCW and a mature carrier isnt a recipe for disaster.

 

[usafmedic45]

A CCW and a mature carrier isnt a recipe for disaster.

As I have said about protocol development, you don't write regulations for the smartest or most mature person you will be letting operate under those regulations.