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

Spare bulb for a minimag flashlight

As I've noted elsewhere:
1. Lights are out.
2. Turn on Minimag unless it is stolen.
3. Fails to work.
4. In the dark, fumble batteries out and change them.
5. Still no light.
6. Still in the dark, unscrew end of battery compartment, keep batteries in light, use fingernails (have some?) to extract end spring.
7.Switching to second set of tinier fingernails, extract tiny finned plastic spare bulb holder from endcap withot losing the spring, the cap or the bulb.
8. Without dropping or damaging the two little wires on the new bulb, and without losing anything else (see above) unscrew other end of light, then extract presumably used up bulb.
9. Find new bulb, insert two 2 mm wires into their tiny little socket holes without getting "dirt or oils from skin" on it and without bending or breaking the wires, dropping the rest of the assembly, etc.
10. Reassemble light head and butt end, and try it.
 
I see the aluminum foil as more of a hazard, if using around infants. - Plus for the price of a roll of foil, you can buy ten Mylar blankets. My earliest memory, of school, is cutting my index finger on the foil wrapped over my cup of grape juice. Gam makes a swaddler w/ an adhesive strip for putting around infants. We have our own packs made up for OB kits. Including the clamp device with the handles, clamp then cut type deal; swaddler, infant cap, wrist bands, etc.. Used one last year, my first delivery. Woot blue stork. It was then, I discovered that what's in the OB kit, isn't good enough. Throw out the scalpels, get some $2 OB scissors. Keep the preemie and newborn OPA's and BVM masks near the kit.

I find air splints to be undependable. I'm not a big fan of the SAM Splint either. I'm more of a corrugated plastic splint guy.
 
Tegaderms. We never use them. I use Venigards every time.

Hospital IV hubs (not loops, just the hubs). No one here uses them. It's a line 95% of the time, or a saline lock loop the other 5%.

Regular nasal cannulas. We use the Oridion nasal cannulas with capnography capabilities...yet we still carry the regular nasal cannulas. No one uses these, either.

We stock 21ga AND 22ga needles. Do we really need both? This is in addition to 19ga needles and twin-packs.

Things I WISH we had:
Transport ventilators
Quick-Trach
Real IV pumps (though realistically we hardly ever hang drips and we have 30+ trucks)
Adjustable CPAP...right now our CPAP only has 2 settings...5cm and 10cm. I want the one where I can dial it in exactly where I want it, from 0-20cm.
 
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Santa is listening...

Gotcha!
 
We have short backboards on the truck. I suppose you could rig it up with webbing/cravats/tape to make a shady looking KED. We never use it, ever. I saw one service (Washington County, Texas EMS) that kept them behind the head of the stretcher...if a patient arrested, they would just slide it behind the pt.'s torso for chest compressions. Not a bad idea.
 
Shortboards used to be de rigeur

KED much better but anyone with access to an auto junkyard, some 3/4 ply and basic tools can make short boards.
 
Oh, I know.

Scanners.
 
Fox800 said:
Hospital IV hubs (not loops, just the hubs). No one here uses them. It's a line 95% of the time, or a saline lock loop the other 5%.......
Click to expand...

My RN's appreciate it when there is a saline lock though.... Then they don't have to spend an extra 5 mins switching it over to a saline lock, allowing them to finish their online shopping... :)
 
I don't carry roller gauze/Kling whatever you call it.

Medirip I(lioke Coban but better and cheaper) is infintely more versatile as long as it isn't wet.
 
I don't carry roller gauze/Kling whatever you call it.

Medirip (like Coban but better and cheaper) is infintely more versatile as long as it isn't wet.
 
mycrofft said:
Medirip (like Coban but better and cheaper) is infintely more versatile as long as it isn't wet.
Click to expand...


how do you substitute that for kling when it only comes as wide as 1.5"? do you just use more?
 
MediRip comes in up to 6 inches width

https://www.medco-school.com/Supply/Product.asp?Leaf_Id=27506M
I like carrying three inch and one inch. Yes, use more wraps but it fits in a shorter space like my kit bag. The 1 inch is good for digits, making carpal tunnel grips on pens, nonskid feet on little fans, bundling computer cables...
 
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