What have you packed or carried which was useless? What d'you leave OUT!

[mycrofft]

OK, lets' do it backwards:
Bossycow, Traumateam and Ryd have replied elsewhere that the longer you do this the less you really use. (Would you come talk to my nursing supervisor please?).
Mycrofft's List of Krapola to Leave OUT:

2X2's..."burn cream"...S-tube airways...scissors under four inches long and/or costing over twelve dollars...tape under one inch wide...Ace or similar cloth bandages (use ripable self-adherent bandage like MediRip, unless it's is GOING to get wet every time)...Minimag flashlights (you can't change their teeny bulbs in the dark after they burn out; but do have a small intense incandescent light)..."bite sticks" for seizures...combine dressings bigger than 5X9 except to pad splints, and consider forgetting that..any "bulk" supply (get individually wrapped, or pairs like gauze sponges)...chemical hot packs unless you are above the 50th parallel...pre-made ankle, wrist, knee or other braces unless they are for you...big bottles of sterile normal saline (carry ten of the little 3cc inhaler pillows of it, and a fresh unopened bottle of a name brand drinking water without flavoring etc)...v-blade knife (use the serrated shears)...etc etc.
I have used my ring saw once in twenty years, but tetrasnips just won't substitute.

So, what's NOT in YOUR "wallet"? (Any military vets or current members have input?

 

[MMiz]

I used my minimag flashlight all the time! My list:
1. Handheld Manual Suction - It sure sucked, and took up valuable space.
2. Cold packs - They lasted all of 30 seconds.
3. Tiny Medical Tape - Give me an inch or go home!

 

[firecoins]

I always took patients from scenes but I found that was alot of work. Now I just leave them there.

 

[ILemt]

the short board
and any commercial follower (example: KED)
MAST pants
activated charcoal (so unused, my state doesnt require it anymore)

 

[MedicPrincess]

Give me an inch or go home!

Oh boy.....

I always took patients from scenes but I found that was alot of work. Now I just leave them there.

You, sir, are my hero! LOL!

and any commercial follower (example: KED)

You consider the KED useless???? Whys that?


I too LOVE my Mini-Flash light.

I'd like to do away with Next-Hell. Some other form of more reliable communication would be fabulous.

 

[traumateam1]

Tape under 1 inch, chemical hot packs, and small trauma scisssors.. I'm sure theres more, I just can't think of anything else right now.

 

[BossyCow]

With me its a quantity thing. I don't need 13 nasal cannulas in a rig that can only transport 4 pts (if I pack them in like sardines). I don't need 8 acorn nebulizers, 250 2 x 2s, and 27 eye patches.

Ditto on the handheld suction!

Tape, just the 1" please, smaller than that is useless and if I need anything bigger, I'll use duct tape which in my opinion should be listed as mandatory equipment on all rigs.

I will never let go of my chemical hot packs. I see a lot of hypothermia. But, I prefer the little handwarmer packs to the bigger medical hot packs. They stay warm longer and seem to have a longer shelf life. Nothing worse than having a hypothermic patient watch you thump on some stupid paper bag whose chemicals have turned to concrete.

 

[traumateam1]

I'll use duct tape which in my opinion should be listed as mandatory equipment on all rigs.

Can I hear an AMEN?
We stock duct tape and I won't ever let it go.
I was a little confused there for a while, I thought we were just talking about jump kits but if we are talking about rigs then I got some more.
Handheld suctions, over stocking the ambulance with anything - a million 2 x 2 gauze, 17 packages of 1" tape, 50 chest seals, etc etc.
The only time over stocking, in my opinion is good, is if you are working a shift where you know you wont see much of the station due to a high call volume. But if you are working a shift where you have the time to go back and stock up before another call than do so.. don't try and pack everything into the ambo.

 

[MedicPrincess]

if I need anything bigger, I'll use duct tape which in my opinion should be listed as mandatory equipment on all rigs.

Can I hear an AMEN?

AMEN!!!!!

But about the 14 NC... overstock... ect....

I tend to have a little extra stashed is my special hiding spots, simply because getting to our HQ where our main supply room is or getting a supervisor around to us some days is impossible. There is nothing more nerve racking that getting down to my last bag of NS and only 4 electrodes and getting put on another call when we are in site of our supply room.

 

[JJR512]

Doing commercial BLS transports, I could pretty much leave the ambulance empty, except for O2.

 

[daedalus]

Doing commercial BLS transports, I could pretty much leave the ambulance empty, except for O2.

I felt like that before too. Just wait until a trached patient stops breathing and you need one of those french suction catheter doo bops. And than getting sprayed in the face with secretions when your patient "coughs" it all out in your face while you are searching for equipment.

Needless to say I would rather her just kept not breathing until I fixed it.

I like to keep a fully stocked rig and bag. I have had some time to calm my newbie whackerish tendencies, but even so I have found so many uses for tapes and finger splints and the whole nine yards.... on things other than patient care.... but hey.

 

[reaper]

but even so I have found so many uses for tapes and finger splints and the whole nine yards.... on things other than patient care.... but hey.

You do know that they make ED meds for that problem!:unsure:

 

[mycrofft]

Dear Lord IN Heavan, Make It STOP!!! (No, no it's fun!)


Hey, ambulances are just big kits you strap onto your fanny but with doors!

How about....
floppy polyethylene suction collector liners...umbrellas...opened but unused sterile supplies...the trash from the prior run...the FOOD from the prior run...a lone #11 scalpel, not in an OB kit..."build-a-board"...soft cervical collars...crib notes to use in emergencies in case you forget what you're doing... the twenty by seventy-two inch combine dressings they stuck in my trauma bags!

PS: I'm a KED fan also, I need a whole-body one with little wheels for snatch and runs in case of a riot./FONT]

 

[ILemt]

Let me clarify myself..
Im not a fan of the KED for its intended use.
(In fact some Med Directors in this area forbid their use and require the long board no matter what)
But I LOVE using it for something I see quite often: HIP TRAUMA
Everyone knows how painful a hip fx can be. Throw a KED around the hip upside down, cinch the straps TIGHT and bingo, 99 times out of 100 the pain is instantly relieved and granny starts calling me a hero.

 

[reaper]

I think you just don't get to use it much. It is an excellent piece of equipment, for exactly what it was intended for.

Those Md's need some training. You should use a LSB with the KED, unless the pt refuses the LSB.

 

[BossyCow]

Let me clarify myself..
Im not a fan of the KED for its intended use.
(In fact some Med Directors in this area forbid their use and require the long board no matter what)
But I LOVE using it for something I see quite often: HIP TRAUMA
Everyone knows how painful a hip fx can be. Throw a KED around the hip upside down, cinch the straps TIGHT and bingo, 99 times out of 100 the pain is instantly relieved and granny starts calling me a hero.

Have you seen the SAMS splint for this? Much cheaper than a KED, and designed to stabilize a hip fracture. I think there's a thread on it here somewhere.

 

[mycrofft]

Yes there is a thread now about hips

.................

 

[medicdan]

UGH, dont get me started. My service has it's annual OEMS inspection coming up very soon, so I have spent the last few days inventorying a LOT of ambulances, and have seen what I consider severe pack-rat-itis. The following are exact counts from various units:
You DONT NEED 32 boxes of Large gloves, hidden in different places on an ambulance, neither do you need 13 cloth chucks along with 26 blankets and 14 sets of flat sheets. When you have filled the "linen cabinet" and piled 3/4 of the bench with linen and 8 pillows (in varying places), there is something wrong.

There is something wrong when you have 116, yes, that is ONE HUNDRED and sixteen 4x4 packs (2 each) all in the same cabinet. What are you waiting for when there are 33 c-collars in varying sizes? How about 74 NRBs or SIX spare suction canisters (but only one set of spare tuning and one Yankour (sp?))?

I have a picture on my cellphone of three entire shoping cart-fulls of supplies I removed from one truck--- I will try to post it here.

</rant>

 

[Airwaygoddess]

WHY???????? I don't get it!

I have V-vac hand held suction in all of our jump bags, they work well and easy to set up. Now having every size of ace wraps, ( yes even the 2 inch size = worthless!) at least 5 of each that is as bad as the 1/2 inch tape! :wacko: 2x2's, burn gel, every type of bandaide, (please do we really need 3 sizes of each, knuckle and fingertip!) I guess it could always be worse....... ^_^

 

[mycrofft]

Where I work...

Metal finger splints.
(Duh-OH!).