The whole acting off duty topic.

I am always calling 911 whenever I see anything needing a professional response
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Talk about travelling in different circles! I have never called 911!
 
For everyone that's "hiding" their name badge/tape... does your hospital include the PCR in the patients chart? Doesn't that have the name of the responding personnel?

I'm not too worried about it. I carry a sidearm everywhere I'm legally allowed which, in the fine free state of Pennsylvania, is damn near everywhere.

Also, I've mentioned this in a few threads but no one has given their thoughts...

If I've an alleged "duty to respond/act", aren't I bound by protocols? If so, my first protocol is "SCENE SAFETY" and my second is "BSI". If I drive by a traffic accident with no PD on scene, it's because it's unsafe. Stopping could be considered to be a violation of protocol. If I don't want to touch a patient because Ive no mask or gloves, I'm not abandoning or withholding care, I'm following my protocols.
 
thatJeffguy said:
For everyone that's "hiding" their name badge/tape... does your hospital include the PCR in the patients chart? Doesn't that have the name of the responding personnel?
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Yes and no. Patients also can't just grab their chart off of the counter, they have to put in a written request for it. Same as if they want their PCR straight from us.
 
Aidey said:
Yes and no. Patients also can't just grab their chart off of the counter, they have to put in a written request for it. Same as if they want their PCR straight from us.
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I wasn't familiar with the procedure. It seems that a patient, or their family, can easily find out who you are with minimal effort.
 
Aidey said:
Yes and no. Patients also can't just grab their chart off of the counter, they have to put in a written request for it. Same as if they want their PCR straight from us.
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Procedure and practice might be too different things though. 15 years ago when my Mom was in the hospital, my Dad had essentially complete access to the chart, to the point of the chief of staff telling the RN that it was ok.
 
Recently, I was traveling on a rural road, approximately 600 miles from the nearest Level I trauma center. I happened to come upon something...a truck with its hazards on by a curve in the road. Since I didn't know what was up ahead, I slowed down, and then I saw a biker who was doing poorly. I stopped, and one of the three bystanders said that the biker had wrecked, but that a relative, who was a nurse, was with him. They asked if I could help. I politely declined.* If no one else had been around, I would have at least comforted the poor sod while dialing 9-1-1.

In urban areas, I don't think there is much benefit in stopping for something of that nature, besides screaming that one is important. In some places I travel, it can be 6-12 hours before someone else notices an ill/injured person, so calling 9-1-1 can be important. That said, it's all about proper judgment. I remember a physician on a car scene that looked at an EMT who asked him if he was going to do something, and he said, "What do you want me to do, bring him a hospital?" It was amusing.


*Noting, of course, that I'd left my LSB, IVs, and portable X-ray at home.
 
medicRob said:
Don't get me started on that. We have a local first responder, you know the type... Personal vehicle with FF tag that has at least 4 star of life's on it, "Emergency Responder" on the back, and a bag full of OPA/NPA, collars, a KED (Yes, you heard me right, this dude has his own KED), and an AED he has some how saved up enough money to purchase between his time working with the volunteer fire department and changing the grease traps at McDonalds.

I am just so thankful that the AED will only shock if necessary, otherwise this kat would be truly dangerous.
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This is too much! Thank you for posting this. I know this guy "mikey" who fits this profile all too well. He did an EMT class and never even certified. Hes all super gun-hoe about FF in the same way. Stickers and shirts galore. Its totally douche-y, but to each their own I guess. Most of my friends that are medics barely even have a pocket mask in their car.
 
reminds me of a guy in our EMT class that would wear EMT shirts to class lol wonder if he passed the nremt!

MylesC said:
This is too much! Thank you for posting this. I know this guy "mikey" who fits this profile all too well. He did an EMT class and never even certified. Hes all super gun-hoe about FF in the same way. Stickers and shirts galore. Its totally douche-y, but to each their own I guess. Most of my friends that are medics barely even have a pocket mask in their car.
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medicRob said:
Don't get me started on that. We have a local first responder, you know the type... Personal vehicle with FF tag that has at least 4 star of life's on it, "Emergency Responder" on the back, and a bag full of OPA/NPA, collars, a KED (Yes, you heard me right, this dude has his own KED), and an AED he has some how saved up enough money to purchase between his time working with the volunteer fire department and changing the grease traps at McDonalds.

I am just so thankful that the AED will only shock if necessary, otherwise this kat would be truly dangerous.
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I LOL'd
 
On duty we are required to have on our person one of those face shields in the foil package. That is a reg from the hospital - all hospital personnel are required. It hangs behind my ID tag, so it is sitting in my purse when I'm off duty. That doesn't mean, however, that I would pull it out to use. If someone collapsed in front of me and CPR was needed I would do compressions only until a crew got there to take over. I honestly don't care if I'm in church or at a family gathering; the only people who will get mouth-to-mouth from me are my kids or my friend’s kids. I don't even think I'd m-to-m on my husband.

Oh and our ID tags have only our first name, a photo, our position title and the hospital’s logo. Yes our full name goes on our reports and since we are based out of a small town if someone wanted to find us it wouldn't be hard. It basically just deters the immediate crazies...not the people who invest a little bit of time into finding out who you are.
 
thatJeffguy said:
If I've an alleged "duty to respond/act", aren't I bound by protocols?
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If you are cleared by your medical director to work full scope off duty, then you are bound by protocols. If you have no duty to act, and are acting under GS laws, you are generally only bound by your scope rather than your protocols. I would think those would generally end up being the same thing, but since you aren't working under your services insurance when responding off duty, things like scene safety would be your choice.
 
On duty we are required to have on our person one of those face shields in the foil package.
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Yeah those are really gonna protect you when the patient vomits in your mouth :P
 
Archymomma said:
Oh and our ID tags have only our first name, a photo, our position title and the hospital’s logo. Yes our full name goes on our reports and since we are based out of a small town if someone wanted to find us it wouldn't be hard. It basically just deters the immediate crazies...not the people who invest a little bit of time into finding out who you are.
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In NYC, i have seen, most ems give out a # only on the street, to LEO, for the LEO's report, they generally write EMT # XYZ on scene...
 
Let's Gross Out the Kiddies!

You got me thinking and the truth is, I was using mouth to mouth in the field (when caught off guard) as late as around 1983...ten years into my EMS career. If I were to have been asked then how often I got vomit in my mouth I would have said once or twice; and only when I missed the obvious warning signs.

To be a bit more accurate, it would unfold something like all of a sudden, there we were, witnessing an arrest. While one grabs the equipment, the other "mugs" the patient for the first three breaths and begins compressions according to the protocol of the time. By then, we'd have access to Ambus, etc. and get on with it protected.
 
All you ever need in EMS...

I had a doctor tell me the only thing/s you need to "save" a life...is a "buck knife and duct tape" LOL. :D :P I loved it!!
 
slb862 said:
I had a doctor tell me the only thing/s you need to "save" a life...is a "buck knife and duct tape" LOL. :D :P I loved it!!
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You forgot the whiskey or rope to bite down on in order to kill (tolerate) the pain and boiling oil to quaterise any wounds.
 
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