Questions about home medical care

Lighhten up Vent. I was not being serious :>)
 
I take sharps boxes to the fd all the time. They give me a new one and take my info and I go on my merry way.


ResTech said:
Most local FD's and EMS station's have to contract and pay for bio-hazard waste removal so some may not like taking the general publics bloody trash. As a lay person, if you have some bloody bandages toss em in your trash can... its not a big deal. If EMS is there, kindly ask them to take them and they more than likely will.

As far as the removing bandages already in place prior to EMS.... if by chance the wound is already dressed and bandaged and a good description of the wound is provided by whoever bandaged it, more than likely Im not gonna undue what they took time to do, cause the patient more discomfort possibly, and break the clot formation and restart the bleeding.

Although, Pennsylvania protocols do allow for removing bandages once if bleeding continues to soak through to make sure direct pressure is being directed right over the laceration.

As far as fluids, unless they are hypotensive (SBP <90) I would start a line KVO (30-60mL/hr) and not "load" them with fluid. The body has a natural mechanism to adapt to low flow states at pressures of 70-80mmHg which is where permissive hypotension comes from. Unless of course the patient has a TBI than you never want to let your patient become hypotensive.
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I gave the ol' FD a ring today and identified myself as a Lay Rescuer, and then asked what to do with the waste from caregiving. They said, and I quote: "Toss the sh** in a burn barrel, dose it with kerosene, stand back and strike a match. Easy as could be. Be sure to stir it with a stick or something once in a while." I think that would work, as long as you get complete combustion. I will admit I used to be a bit of a pyromaniac when I was little, but the thought of burning it never entered my head. Why it didn't I have no clue. Hello! Hospitals burn their waste. Same concept should apply in a metal trash barrel then, shouldn't it?
 
paramedichopeful said:
I gave the ol' FD a ring today and identified myself as a Lay Rescuer, and then asked what to do with the waste from caregiving. They said, and I quote: "Toss the sh** in a burn barrel, dose it with kerosene, stand back and strike a match. Easy as could be. Be sure to stir it with a stick or something once in a while." I think that would work, as long as you get complete combustion. I will admit I used to be a bit of a pyromaniac when I was little, but the thought of burning it never entered my head. Why it didn't I have no clue. Hello! Hospitals burn their waste. Same concept should apply in a metal trash barrel then, shouldn't it?
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Many places don't allow you to burn trash in your backyard or at least not in city limits. You probably would also run into opposition just about anywhere in CA during the dry months which is about 12 of them.
 
VentMedic said:
Many places don't allow you to burn trash in your backyard or at least not in city limits. You probably would also run into opposition just about anywhere in CA during the dry months which is about 12 of them.
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Then again, it WAS the FD that told him :P
 
VentMedic said:
Maybe they were long over due for a workable fire in someone's backyard.
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I was just thinking that! The FD actually wants to show the public...see we do work, were not just there for lifting assistance :P
 
You are not going to have enough blood soaked bandages at home to worry about how to dispose of them, lest you are a murderer. Worrying about such a thing is like worrying about what tie you might wear if you were to become president of the united states. I do not sit at home thinking of contingencies to every issue I might run into in life.

At home, should a family member sustain an injury, the trash is the appropriate place to toss Band-Aids and the like. Should the bleeding be serious and you use multiple paper towels, the paramedics can take them.

Throw away the steri strips unless you wish to believe you treated a family member and they end up with infection later on.
 
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