Whats the last thing you stole from a hospital?

[GoingLoud]

i'm not talking about essential supplies...


for me...PBandJ dawg!

 

[EMT-G36C]

Don't steal from hospitals man.

Last thing I "stole" was an unguarded sheet lying on an already prepared bed. Only because we had run out.

 

[MrBrown]

pen off an ed nurse to do a run sheet

 

[GoingLoud]

thats all necessity stuff..i mean really goodies

 

[46Young]

I prefer the term "reappropriate". We're allowed to take a reasonable amount of EMS supplies, as well as gatorade and cereal bars.

Taking anything without asking or prior approval otherwise is just asking for trouble.

 

[EMT-G36C]

thats all necessity stuff..i mean really goodies

There is the xray machine sitting in my basement.

 

[GoingLoud]

theres my main man! right there!

 

[TransportJockey]

Hmm... *empties work pants* lets see... 3 lancets, 2 2x2s, 1 roll of tape (1" Transpore), 1 Peanut Butter, 1 flush, 1 tegaderm, 8 ETOH preps.

That would be all from a day at work at the hospital today. I usually empty all of my pockets out before I go home, but by the end of the day I couldn't remember what floor I was even on, so I just went home as soon as I gave turnover report to the oncoming tech

 

[medichopeful]

I don't see how bragging about what you have stolen helps the profession at all.

 

[TransportJockey]

I don't see how bragging about what you have stolen helps the profession at all.

Sometimes it's a running joke. For instance, with one of the charge RNs at the local lvl 1, we have a running tally of how many pens we wind up stealing from each other on any given week. Right now the tally is about even

 

[Sapphyre]

hmmm, EMTs and medics stealing stuff is why we're no longer allowed to use the staff restrooms at a lot of our hospitals. Not so great when you work nights and there's not much in the way of options for relieving yourself.

 

[HNcorpsman]

we call that "tactically acquiring" in the military... and we do tactically acquire essential stuff because corpsman are always left out of the loop... i have tactically acquired all kinds of things from the clinic and hospital... IVs, NPAs, fast 1 IO, syringes, sutures, King LT, ET tubes, a lot more..

 

[Scout]

Would a Nurse count


And other than clean for Dirty linnen and blankets, Never.....

 

[VentMedic]

Our hospitals have security and LEOs watching patients, visitors and EMT(P)s. They have no problem with arresting an EMT(P) who is caught stealing. Most in EMS would consider it a service to the profession by helping to weed out the stupid.

 

[Scout]

Would a Nurse count


And other than clean for Dirty linen and blankets, Never.....

I'm going to reword this slightly, the linen is not stolen, we have permission from the management, provided its a swap. The way it worded now looks like we load up on blankets.:blush:

 

[medic417]

We take nothing but what is authorized. If we run short and need something we ask. This topic is another example of why we are not considered medical professionals.

 

[Sasha]

We are allowed to take a clean bed sheet when there is a dirty bedsheet under the patient, unless it's a rare occasion where we are taking the patient to an out of system hospital. Even then, they usually let us have a sheet if we ask. There's also an EMS room in many of the hospitals with things like bottled water and graham crackers etc that we are allowed to take, but we never STEAL and I think anyone who would seriously admit to theft is foolish and needs to get the heck out of the profession, with the exception of pens (It's really not stealing, no one has ever TAKEN my pens and I have never taken their pens, they have either asked or been so busy we just walked away without a second thought.)

It's not cute to steal from the hospitals, only very depressing.

 

[el Murpharino]

It sounds like most here are using the word "STEAL" in jest, as in seemingly minor items. There is a line that can easily be crossed, especially when some of the ER's have taken measures against certain items being taken. For example, taping spoons to the top of pens, signs clearly stating that blankets will only be exchanged on a one-for-one basis, etc. It's as simple as asking the nurse you turn care over to if you can have an extra blanket, or if you can have a mini-can of soda/sandwich, etc. Once you cross into the realm of taking supplies/medications with ill intentions, you should be tarred and feathered. It ruins an already fragile relationship between hospital staff and EMS personnel, and knocks us down a few pegs.

 

[Melclin]

If its for a quasi-legitimate purpose then I'd be happy to nick most little things, within reason. On account of the fact that either way the government would be paying for it. I'd just be cutting out a middle man or two.

 

[Level1pedstech]

I know some of the hospitals here in the Portland/Vancouver area are trying to outdo each other with their EMS rooms. I have heard of some nice amenities and little things that make it nice for the EMS crews.

As far as what goes home with me after a shift in the ER, I would have to agree with my fellow tech on the flushes,2x2's and tape and throw in pulse ox leads and red dots and lots of pens. We change out of our scrubs and into street clothes so everything ends up in my backpack to be used next shift. Of course I have an extra pair or two of scrubs at home but now that our facility no longer provides scrubs to everyone its not a big deal.