Transport Advice, New EMTB

RhymeandReason

RhymeandReason

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Hello everyone I'm new to EMS and to the Boards, passed my NJOEMS cert with an 88 and I'm very enthusiastic and driven to create a career for myself in this field. But the question I have for the BLS board here is that I've been hired to a regional medical transport company, and I'd like any advice anyone can offer. I'm currently reviewing my knowledge basics (O2, patient assessment, ect.) but any info you guys could throw my way to make me even that much more prepared would make it that much better. Thanks!
 
Welcome!



Take the time you're with an IFT company to get good at taking vitals, especially taking a BP while in a moving rig.
 
Applicable "Laws of the House of God" (good book... read it when you get the chance).

2. Gomers go to ground. (When given the chance, patients will fall and hurt themselves. Don't let them fall.)

3. At a cardiac arrest, the first procedure is to yake your own pulse.
4. The patient is the one with the disease. (3 and 4 are related. You aren't sick. You aren't dying. Most importantly, you aren't of any help if you're too wrapped up or amped up to actually function and provide medical care. Now you almost certainly will have a call where you freeze. Recognize it when it happens. Calm down. Move on after the call).

8 They can always hurt you more. (Tied in with number 4. Show compassion to your patients. Develop professional relationships with your frequent patients (either regular IFT patients or 911 frequent fliers). However, your patients are patients first and are generally sick. You're no help to anyone when you're emotionally wrecked because one of your patients took a turn for the worst).

13. The delivery of medical care is to do as much nothing as possible. (Sometimes more is less, even in EMS).
 
And one that might possibly save your butt some day:

Every single time you move the pt, either from the cot to the bed, chair to cot, or whatever, put BOTH arm-bars up, and note it on your run report "Arm-bars raised x2" every single time. Even if a nurse says you can leave them down, you should put them up and tell her to take them down if she wants.
 
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From my experience for my hospital intern time, those rails should be put down while actually moving the patient right? Making sure they are up and secure before and after seems important and practical. The rails up could get in the way, IE having to lift a pt over them to get them into the bed.
 
that's a joke, right?
 
Geeezzz

He was just making sure he understood your answer! Being people on this board have more experience then he does, and maybe he's new to the health field; he's going to trust ur judgement on what you have to say! Be easy on him!!!!

But YES! you would want the side rails to be down while moving the pt. and put directly back up once the pt. is in bed. You never want to to leave them up while moving the pt. Hope that helps!
 
Moving the PT and not gurney (unless sliding up) = rails down.

While writing your report in the back of the rig when it's moving, place the balls of your feet onto a part of the gurney, and let the hells hang off, it lets your ankles pivot and absorb a lot of the movement, same with pulse / bp
 
You should be aiming your education one level above what it is currently. So when I was an EMT B, I would go to the paramedic CEs. If you are a paramedic you should find a way to get to the MD level CEs (grand rounds etc)

Check your rig out, top to bottom every morning. Nothing sucks worse than getting on scene and finding out that you don't have a backboard or that there are no more NRBs.

Don't let old timers bad attitudes infect you. There is a lot of "oh, we're supposed to wash the rig/check for expired meds/etc but don't worry about that"

And learn your company policies backwards and forwards. It's hard to learn the medicine if you keep getting yelled at about not checking box 25 on the run form,.
 
Hey thank you everyone for your input! And yes it may have seemed like a foolish question, but I'd rather ask it than continue to think I may not know what is going on. Thanks again and see everyone around!
 
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I apologize if anything I said insulted you. Sometimes I forget that everyone is entitled to their learning curve and lots of people put up with mine. Blessings!
 
firetender said:
that's a joke, right?
Click to expand...

Haha, I actually that he meant leave them up while moving as well; it's just the way it reads. I thought he had a bad experience moving a patient while the bars were down and now leaves them up AT ALL TIMES :rolleyes: Guys (and gals) don't forget us newbies don't get everything that seems like common sense to you all.
But we are told to leave them up under all circumstances; even if the pt. is obese and is "hanging" off the sides. We once had to transport 600 lbs pt and had to transport with arm bars down just because we couldn't fit her on the 'lil cot. But we used extra backboard straps to be sure she was secured to the stretcher and documented in the report what we did and why we couldn't use the arm bars. Good advice.
 
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