Responding and Transporting Code 3

[CPRinProgress]

I have recently heard people talk about not wanting ambulances to drive lights and sirens to a scene and to the hospitals. I don't see why anyone would not want to get to places as fast as possible. Stroke as an example are time sensitive and if your having a stroke do you really want the ambulance stopping at lights and getting stuck in traffic. That is just the nature of the job. Police catch bad guys, fire men put out fire, and EMS performs CPR in the back of an ambulance while blasting sirens and breaking traffic laws. Plus its fun, first time I responded to a call I was in heaven.

 

[DesertMedic66]

Driving lights and sirens is extremely dangerous. We normally don't transport people with CPR in progress. The fun aspect goes away when you realize it's dangerous.

It's also shown to not have much of an impact as far as time goes. Some studies say only a couple of seconds to a minute or 2.

 

[Tigger]

I have recently heard people talk about not wanting ambulances to drive lights and sirens to a scene and to the hospitals. I don't see why anyone would not want to get to places as fast as possible. Stroke as an example are time sensitive and if your having a stroke do you really want the ambulance stopping at lights and getting stuck in traffic. That is just the nature of the job. Police catch bad guys, fire men put out fire, and EMS performs CPR in the back of an ambulance while blasting sirens and breaking traffic laws. Plus its fun, first time I responded to a call I was in heaven.

How is it fun?

 

[CPRinProgress]

How is it fun?

Well even if the person is in need of help you don't get an adrenaline rush from the sirens and responding to help people I find it fun.

 

[RocketMedic]

You should change your attitude now, it will help you go farther and will prevent some serious mistakes.
I transport emergency when there is no good way to avoid it. My job is potentially dependant on my adherence to policies, and since those policies state that some patients must go emergency due to condition, they are transported emergency. That being said, my partner has learned well that mh emergent is a casual, slow, deliberate beast.

 

[BeachMedic]

Well even if the person is in need of help you don't get an adrenaline rush from the sirens and responding to help people I find it fun.

After you get some time on the job the siren gets really, really, annoying. Driving code 3 gets old too. Plus, it's dangerous. You should probably read up on the statistics of ambulance fatalities.

Driving a van 15 miles per hour over the speed limit isn't as exciting as jumping out of a plane, riding a wave, rappelling down a wall, or bombing downhill on a bike.

 

[Rialaigh]

Well even if the person is in need of help you don't get an adrenaline rush from the sirens and responding to help people I find it fun.

Responding code 3 is dangerous. The benefit from time saved is almost nothing.

While (as someone with an economics background) you could argue that "fun" is a benefit to you it is not a benefit that can be provided at no cost. Other people should not have to "pay" for the expense of your fun.


That said, dispatch and response times are a major measuring piece for quality control in many EMS systems. Until we change the underlying problem we won't see policy change.

 

[CPRinProgress]

After you get some time on the job the siren gets really, really, annoying. Driving code 3 gets old too. Plus, it's dangerous. You should probably read up on the statistics of ambulance fatalities.

Driving a van 15 miles per hour over the speed limit isn't as exciting as jumping out of a plane, riding a wave, rappelling down a wall, or bombing downhill on a bike.

There are, according to an article I read says that there are about 52 fatalities involved with an emergency vehicles. This number I believe is not very big when you look at all accidents that that take place. How many accidents would ambulances be involved in if they just drove normally.

 

[VFlutter]

Stroke as an example are time sensitive and if your having a stroke do you really want the ambulance stopping at lights and getting stuck in traffic.

Please explain how saving 6 mins off a transport time by running L/S is going to make a meaningful impact on your stroke patient's outcome.

Have you ever seen a "code stroke" in a hospital? It is really not that exciting. No one is running around and sprinting to the med room for tpa. Even though it is an emergent situation it is actually a relatively slow process measured in hours not minutes.

 

[ffemt8978]

Depending upon distances, the time saved may or may not be insignificant.

We can save 15 minutes by transporting Code 2 or 3 on the rural highways and dropping to no code once we get to city limits.

 

[CPRinProgress]

Please explain how saving 6 mins off a transport time by running L/S is going to make a meaningful impact on your stroke patient's outcome.

Have you ever seen a "code stroke" in a hospital? It is really not that exciting. No one is running around and sprinting to the med room for tpa. Even though it is an emergent situation it is actually a relatively slow process measured in hours not minutes.

Yes I have but just because the hospital staff don't rush for these things doesn't mean the minutes don't count and impact the pt

 

[BeachMedic]

Depending upon distances, the time saved may or may not be insignificant.

We can save 15 minutes by transporting Code 2 or 3 on the rural highways and dropping to no code once we get to city limits.

If i'm on a rural highway and it's not busy chances are I will not light up. That's just me though.

I don't light up on the freeway either if i'm already going 75 mph and there are no cars in front of me. That's just me though. That is not my companies policy and not the way a lot of my co-workers drive.

Sometimes policy can be ....questionable...:unsure:

 

[CPRinProgress]

If i'm on a rural highway and it's not busy chances are I will not light up. That's just me though.

I don't light up on the freeway either if i'm already going 75 mph and there are no cars in front of me. That's just me though. That is not my companies policy and not the way a lot of my co-workers drive.

Sometimes policy can be ....questionable...:unsure:

But if you're on a highway in dead stop traffic you will want to get going depending on the condition of the pt

 

[BeachMedic]

But if you're on a highway in dead stop traffic you will want to get going depending on the condition of the pt

I know that already.:wacko:

 

[Milla3P]

What part of a stroke is fun? Ask a survivor. Or a stroke victim family member.

Responding/transporting with L/S puts the driver/providers at increased risk of death, dismemberment or other injury. Getting hit by a flying portable O2 tank sounds awesome...

After racing at breakneck speeds through unpredictable traffic to transport a moderately sick person take the time to look around your local ED. Does the ED staff drop everything and start running and yelling like on TV? Count the minutes from the time of your initial intake report to the next time the ED staff enters the room.

"Hurry up and wait!"

This Drive as fast as you can and put everyone on the road at risk of injury or death mentality puts everyone in our field back decades.

 

[VFlutter]

Yes I have but just because the hospital staff don't rush for these things doesn't mean the minutes don't count and impact the pt

I guess we will have to agree to disagree because I can already tell I won't be able to convince you otherwise. As you gain experience you will learn, or maybe not, that those minutes saved do not really count nor do they produce any positive impact for your patients except for a few specific situations. And strokes are usually are not one of them.

It is all about risk vs reward.... "Fun" has nothing to do with it

 

[Milla3P]

Side note: The original post makes me want to turn in all my training, experience and licensure as flip burgers for a living.

 

[NYMedic828]

Yes I have but just because the hospital staff don't rush for these things doesn't mean the minutes don't count and impact the pt

Allow me to offer the opposite end of that spectrum.

"Haste makes waste."

We are professionals (hopefully) and professionals don't get excited/high strung over certain events in which they are expected to have seen before and know how to do their job for. We don't rush to get the job done at excessive speeds because we know that slowing down and taking an extra moment to ensure the proper steps are followed is more valuable than doing a poor job at a faster rate.

 

[CPRinProgress]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree because I can already tell I won't be able to convince you otherwise. As you gain experience you will learn, or maybe not, that those minutes saved do not really count nor do they produce any positive impact for your patients except for a few specific situations. And strokes are usually are not one of them.

It is all about risk vs reward.... "Fun" has nothing to do with it

Well I will not argue due to my lack of experience and training but think that the minutes saved have a psychological effect on the pt and family and think about the EMTs and medics in the back with the pt, you have a critical pt and you are sitting at a red light. I feel this is unnecessary.

 

[NYMedic828]

Well I will not argue due to my lack of experience and training but think that the minutes saved have a psychological effect on the pt and family and think about the EMTs and medics in the back with the pt, you have a critical pt and you are sitting at a red light. I feel this is unnecessary.

Why is it unnecessary?

Haf an hour, maybe. But most lights/sirens trips save 1-3 minutes depending on where you are.