Self Defense Instruments

UnkiEMT said:
I think more to the point is one of the core concepts of EMS: "If you've seen one EMS system, you've seen one EMS system.". What works and is appropriate for BEMS doesn't have anything to do with anything as far as other systems.

There is, of course, a huge tradeoff to be had with carrying handcuffs. On one side, there are patients it'd be nice to have as close as practicable to an absolute restraint on. The flip side is that it then blurs the line in patient's perception between us and cops, a distinction we rely heavily on to do our jobs. Our patients have to trust us, to let us poke holes in them and fill them with drugs, to answer us honestly when we ask if they've taken anything, and indeed, to not get aggressive with us in the first place. Unfortunately, as much as in infuriates me, people don't trust cops the way they trust us.

I would worry heavily about that before I did anything to marginalize that distinction. Since I assume that the leadership of BEMS aren't morons, I'm guessing they did, too. They obviously decided that in the balance of concerns, handcuffs were worth the trade-off.

Doesn't mean it applies elsewhere, and it certainly isn't a step that should be taken lightly.
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I appreciate this mindset. I love to look at how and why certain systems operate the way they do. That said, there are certain parallels that can be drawn across the board. Boston is a big-city urban EMS system. There are plenty other cities like Boston. I think it is certainly viable to draw comparisons to similar systems in similar areas so long as everyone is clear that the comparison will not be perfect.
 
I carry a saxophone for self defense
 
Tigger said:
Wow. You're hyperbolic argument "strategies" are alive and well.
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no.... you have what we call "a flaw in your logic." your logic is "well, because no one else has them, neither should should agency X" or "because we have always done it this way, there is no need ot change." your logic is faulty, I am just using other examples of how your logic is faulty.

And it's still faulty logic, no hyperbolic argument needed (that would be me saying we should give guns to all EMTs, because it would make them safer, and no, I'm not advocating that), regardless of what you say.
Tigger said:
There is no replacement for CO monitors. More than a few agencies issue them (and we will too next winter).
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maybe by you, but they are still in the minority by me. hopefully that will change in the future.
Tigger said:
On the other hand there are many replacements for handcuffs that are much less dangerous. And as far as I can tell there are no other EMS agencies that are not police based that allow this practice.

It is more than possible that the reason that some practices are not implemented by more agencies is that the practice is stupid, outdated, or useless.

Being unique does not make you progressive.
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Please explain how they are dangerous. I mean, if you can train a cop, you can train an EMT, and I have to think that BEMS staff are trained in how to use handcuffs.

Years ago, providers at my agency stopped backboarding penetrating trauma victims, and stopped strapping everyone involved in an MVA to a LSB. back then, it was considered sacrilegious to do that, and they were one of the few big city departments to do it. now it's progressive.

Just because YOU don't think it's right, or because you don't do it where you work, doesn't make it wrong.
 
I will say this, out of the 2 EMS services I currently work for. One has standing orders for chemical restraints. The other does not even have the medications to do so let alone permission to do so. I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen soft restraints broken. It happens but it generally takes a pt that is jacked up on bath salts or something synthetic. I have used an officer to ride in the back with me on one of those special pts, said officer caused my partner to lose a tooth as it was knocked out trying to prevent the patient from killing everybody in the truck. The pt managed to get the officers gun out of the holster. The end result was the patient being physically choked out and I will never allow another LEO in my truck armed.. To each his own but an exposed firearm in the box is a disaster waiting to happen.

I wish they would make it a requirement that EMS professionals have the right to chemically restrain a pt when the safety of the patient or crew is at hand. It's safer for the patient and the transporting crew but sadly some services here in Ga are so against any form of chemical restraints, its just not going to happen...
 
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I'm at a more urban department and a more rural department.

On the urban department, we carry ballistic vests on the truck and are required to wear them on any sort of violent scene. The ones off the top of my head are for the dispatch codes of: injury from an assault, attempt (no matter what means), shooting, stabbing. "Unknown emergency" is a toss up and just depends on what the LT says. Basically, if you are staging for safety reasons, you should be putting one on. But just because of the area we are in, we generally stage if we're not sure on something.

At, the rural department I'm on, staging is somewhat of a foreign concept. It's getting better though. Those of us on city departments where it's the norm used to get made fun of a lot for staging, especially since it can take 30-40 minutes to get a deputy on scene or longer depending on how far out we are. That's starting to change after a few incidents. I've had a couple of chiefs on mutual aid departments who chewed me and others out on the radio for staging and one that "threatened" to call the third due agency to see if they had a transport truck if we weren't going to go in on a scene where the shooter's car was still on scene and they had no idea where the shooter was.

Fortunately, our chief has always told us that if we choose to stage, for whatever reason, he'll always back us up on it, no questions asked.
 
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