Splinting

It makes negative sense. It does not save time or money for the hospital since the license is supposed to oversee and supervise the technique being done; they cheat, however, and then fob off errors on the supervising licenses.
Rule #1 is Do No Harm, and even if a MD made the call, if something appears wrong or changing unexpectedly a tech cannot be expected to be able to recognize and act on that, just follow the order. Tech who do this are being shortchanged (if you want to start IV's etc., trust yourself, get your license and make a lot more money while you are at it), patients are endangered, and licenses who accept this sort of "supervisorial" duties (without supervisor pay) are ignorant or foolish.


Splinting though, just to get back on track, is pretty innocuous. Our entire county had (has?) ONE tech with a pager and a rolling trunk full of materials going between clinics and jails.
 
mycrofft said:
It makes negative sense. It does not save time or money for the hospital since the license is supposed to oversee and supervise the technique being done; they cheat, however, and then fob off errors on the supervising licenses.
Rule #1 is Do No Harm, and even if a MD made the call, if something appears wrong or changing unexpectedly a tech cannot be expected to be able to recognize and act on that, just follow the order. Tech who do this are being shortchanged (if you want to start IV's etc., trust yourself, get your license and make a lot more money while you are at it), patients are endangered, and licenses who accept this sort of "supervisorial" duties (without supervisor pay) are ignorant or foolish.


Splinting though, just to get back on track, is pretty innocuous. Our entire county had (has?) ONE tech with a pager and a rolling trunk full of materials going between clinics and jails.
Click to expand...

I definitely by no means agree with the policy. I agree that drug pushing and defibrillation should be done by a nurse. But, with the MD and nurse right there I can't say I'd say "no" if they asked me to do a task that I am trained to do and have done before as long as it's within my scope of practice. For example I have no issue with doing chest compressions. Many times they prefer the techs to do the compressions so they can focus on the root of the problem and getting the drugs/code going. I feel the hospitals require their EMT/ER Techs to have ACLS so it gets them more familiar with a code situation. My ACLS class included mock codes etc and I'm glad I took the course...During my first code I understood what was going on. EMT-P's are expected to do a lot of different procedures even beyond that if they work in an ER but, I have no intention of getting the EMT-P. By then my hope is to be applying to medical school.

This has all been interesting information....
 
ACLS training is not a bad thing, but I hope they pay for it. As I recall it required knowledge I did not have when I was an EMT (back with BArney and Fred at Bedrock EMS), but did get in nursing college.

"Scope of practice" is the slippery thing here. Theoretically, your scope is defined by what your CNA and/or other technical training included, and what is defined by law. The "if certified by the institution" etc etc loophole allows the hospital to get around that. It is tempting to go beyond scope if one had been trained (or for some people, present company excepted (;), if they saw it on tv once), and if it is expected, but watch out. Many verbal reassurances evaporate the moment a lawsuit or termination rears its ugly head, then it's every person for themselves.
 
mycrofft said:
ACLS training is not a bad thing, but I hope they pay for it. As I recall it required knowledge I did not have when I was an EMT (back with BArney and Fred at Bedrock EMS), but did get in nursing college.

"Scope of practice" is the slippery thing here. Theoretically, your scope is defined by what your CNA and/or other technical training included, and what is defined by law. The "if certified by the institution" etc etc loophole allows the hospital to get around that. It is tempting to go beyond scope if one had been trained (or for some people, present company excepted (;), if they saw it on tv once), and if it is expected, but watch out. Many verbal reassurances evaporate the moment a lawsuit or termination rears its ugly head, then it's every person for themselves.
Click to expand...

HeHe I recall a moment when I was asked by an RN to remove the drains from a patient. I got a good laugh...I knew better :) Some nurses thoroughly enjoy taking the scut work of their techs tooooo far. However, sutures are interesting :)
 
Unless CA regs have changed, Paramedics working as techs in a hospital can only do what the hospital certifies they can do. Paramedics can function as full-scope Paramedics only in "small and rural" hospitals, not all hospitals. Typically those facilities have their own hospital-based ambulances and the Paramedics augment the ED staff, but do not replace them because at a moment's notice, they could be gone doing a call...

"100145. Scope of Practice of Paramedic.
...
(c) A paramedic student or a licensed paramedic, as part of an organized
EMS system, while caring for patients in a hospital as part of his/her
training or continuing education under the direct supervision of a physician,
registered nurse, or physician assistant, or while at the scene of a medical
emergency or during transport, or during interfacility transfer, or while
working in a small and rural hospital pursuant to Section 1797.195 of
the Health and Safety Code..."
 
I beleive by "splinting" she's referring to ortho glass. That's s common tech skill on my side. It's a good bridge between aluminum splints and plaster. You still need a pretty extensive knowledge of splinting, especially hand configurations.

As far as I know all of that knowledge Is obtained on the job.
 
Thanks Akula and Doc, +1 each.
Splinting is also art (as in artisan, not artist) as well as technique. If your mentor is not correcting you very much, you are not learning enough. Ask questions, read outside materials, but always ask questions, don't challenge.
 
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