when is it necessary to...

daedalus said:
No. The skin is designed as our first defensive line against infection. The multiple layers protect our insides, and sebum is slightly acidic and destroys pathogens. Tears and saliva contain enzymes which battle pathogens as well. The use of gloves on every patient drives up costs for your service and wastes supplies, increases your own risk of an allergy, makes patients feel like aliens, and is just unnecessary.
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Skin gets broken. My cuticles, for example, are always torn. Some patients don't have the best immune system. It is unnecessary in your own view, but do we have to name call and make wild accusations based on the fact someone chooses to be cautious when using gloves?
 
daedalus said:
No. The skin is designed as our first defensive line against infection. The multiple layers protect our insides, and sebum is slightly acidic and destroys pathogens. Tears and saliva contain enzymes which battle pathogens as well.
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People still get sick through out the year correct? Your skin is not only the first line defense, but also the habitat of many different species of bacteria, and in some people's case, other organisms as well. The gloves are not just for our protection, but protection for the patients as well.
 
fma08 said:
People still get sick through out the year correct? Your skin is not only the first line defense, but also the habitat of many different species of bacteria, and in some people's case, other organisms as well. The gloves are not just for our protection, but protection for the patients as well.
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That sentence looks oddly familiar.
 
fma08 said:
It was so good, I thought I'd go ahead and restate it for emphasis. :P
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Maybe someone will actually listen to it now.
 
The skin is our first line of protection from infection however if you do not wash your hands well, clean your equipment GREAT, and practice good general hygiene overall, I think you will find yourself getting sicker more than others.

I see a lot of medics run a call, keep their gloves on (the same ones they used to assess, load, and treat with) and drive to the hospital, never removing their gloves.

So when YOU get back into the truck and drive the truck, you're touching all of the germs your partner left for you from the last call.
 
Thanks for the advice, everyone.

So, I tried talking with that medic again. I got the same answer with a few more details. The new gloves make his hands itch, and overwashing or lots of hand sanitizer makes them dry and crack. He's not too worried about running into immune-suppressed patients, and never gets sick himself.

The immune suppression thing isn't true. We run elderly, HIV+, chemo, and all sorts of other people who get sick easily fairly often. But I wasn't going to make it an argument, since I'm new.

So, I talked with one of the basics who'd had the same issue with this medic. Then we talked to the supply guy. Long story short, stocking a box of latex gloves isn't going to be an issue. I'm also grabbing a little bottle of unscented lotion and putting it by the hand sanitizer. We'll see how it goes.

By the way... it's possible to be allergic to anything, but has anyone ever seen anyone allergic to nitrile gloves? He says he has no allergies, but if his hands always itch when he wears them...
 
Seaglass said:
Thanks for the advice, everyone.

So, I tried talking with that medic again. I got the same answer with a few more details. The new gloves make his hands itch, and overwashing or lots of hand sanitizer makes them dry and crack. He's not too worried about running into immune-suppressed patients, and never gets sick himself.

The immune suppression thing isn't true. We run elderly, HIV+, chemo, and all sorts of other people who get sick easily fairly often. But I wasn't going to make it an argument, since I'm new.

So, I talked with one of the basics who'd had the same issue with this medic. Then we talked to the supply guy. Long story short, stocking a box of latex gloves isn't going to be an issue. I'm also grabbing a little bottle of unscented lotion and putting it by the hand sanitizer. We'll see how it goes.

By the way... it's possible to be allergic to anything, but has anyone ever seen anyone allergic to nitrile gloves? He says he has no allergies, but if his hands always itch when he wears them...
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Are the gloves the kind with aloe on the inside, by chance? We have some crazy nitrile gloves floating around with aloe on the inside to keep your hands from drying out (It just makes them wet and oily!) that make MY hands itch for some reason.
 
Sasha said:
Are the gloves the kind with aloe on the inside, by chance? We have some crazy nitrile gloves floating around with aloe on the inside to keep your hands from drying out (It just makes them wet and oily!) that make MY hands itch for some reason.
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Nope--I've seen those, but we don't use them. Glad about that, since they are pretty gross. We just use plain nitrile, far as I know. Though I keep meaning to take a look at the box and make sure of that.
 
Sasha said:
Are the gloves the kind with aloe on the inside, by chance? We have some crazy nitrile gloves floating around with aloe on the inside to keep your hands from drying out (It just makes them wet and oily!) that make MY hands itch for some reason.
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I love those gloves!!! The green ones right?
 
When your partner gets pulled over with a patient in the back. (This happened last week or the week before)
When your partner forgets things excessively.
When your partner relies on GPS 100% (And it fails most the time)


I am no longer working with this partner as of Sunday :]
 
90% of US curreny has traces of cocaine. I must be an addict. Wonder if we should wear gloves when handling cash.
 
exodus said:
When your partner gets pulled over with a patient in the back. (This happened last week or the week before)
When your partner forgets things excessively.
When your partner relies on GPS 100% (And it fails most the time)


I am no longer working with this partner as of Sunday :]
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That's really bad. Did he get ticketed?
 
firecoins said:
90% of US curreny has traces of cocaine. I must be an addict. Wonder if we should wear gloves when handling cash.
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I guess only if the money called an ambulance to go to the emergency room.
 
Seaglass said:
That's really bad. Did he get ticketed?
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Nah, he got a lecture from the cop, and then from me. And then from the PT, and then from our Sup. He drove the wrong way down a road (He was following GPS, whaddya know), thankfully it was around 2am so nobody was on it...

EDIT: Since then I've taken GPS away from him.
 
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exodus said:
Nah, he got a lecture from the cop, and then from me. And then from the PT, and then from our Sup. He drove the wrong way down a road (He was following GPS, whaddya know), thankfully it was around 2am so nobody was on it...

EDIT: Since then I've taken GPS away from him.
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Non-critical patient, I'm guessing?

I hate GPS systems. They're helpful when they work, but when they don't, it can be really bad, and a few people I run with barely know how to use the book we carry for backup. A fire department I know had so much trouble when they switched over to GPS that they're now back on map plates, maybe forever.
 
Seaglass said:
Non-critical patient, I'm guessing?

I hate GPS systems. They're helpful when they work, but when they don't, it can be really bad, and a few people I run with barely know how to use the book we carry for backup. A fire department I know had so much trouble when they switched over to GPS that they're now back on map plates, maybe forever.
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Keep your GPS' maps up to date and it shouldn't be a problem. I used a GPS when I worked private IFT (Still cannot for the life of me use a map book.), and we went all over the state with no problem.
 
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exodus said:
Nah, he got a lecture from the cop, and then from me. And then from the PT, and then from our Sup. He drove the wrong way down a road (He was following GPS, whaddya know), thankfully it was around 2am so nobody was on it...

EDIT: Since then I've taken GPS away from him.
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I'm wondering what gives you the right, since I presume you are both basics, to lecture him and take things away from him?
 
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