MariB

I would know if my patient on a transfer had mrsa scrapped from their knee yesterday. It would be in their history paperwork. Not knowing what I walk into is one of several reasons to wear gloves upon first contact with my 911 response. Along with policy. I would know what I'm transferring my patient for on a transfer. I have the whole history work up. We aren't going from one major hospital to another here, ours are all one networked. So I have all the info on this patient. You are arguing for the sake of arguing, like usual

It affects Seth's coping mechanisms, that is why it is an issue right now. My suggestion was getting it under control first.

When we walk into a house on a 911 call, we don't always know what we are seeing, the patient fell? OK well they didn't mention the blood all over the place. Or the pt not feeling well that just had the mrsa scrapped from their knee yesterday. Its unknown. On a inter facility transfer, with no open wounds or body fluids present, there is no reason to treat them any differently that anyone you just shook hands with, even if they do have HIV or hep c.

No the op said we don't wear gloves everywhere we go, every time we go in public. Etc

It appears he/she is anxiety stricken and is trying to reason with themselves. I mean the posts here and the other place surely show concern and then to go and say you need repeated exposure to broken skin etc... well if that was the case, he wouldn't have been nervous. No we don't wear gloves in public to open doors etc, but we aren't cleaning open wounds while we do that. The blood on door handles if any are micro scopic, I wouldn't touch a door with blood on it without gloves!

We are talking about his mental health, not whether he will mess up or not.

Oh my goodness I'm truly speechless

I am a volly an have a vest, my pocket is not up against me and I keep those for switching out old for new to carry out equipment etc. Its a designated pocket just for that purpose. You don't have to dig around to grab one, you can pull one out at a time. With bare hands, not gloved hands. Gloves are kept on us, a few pair at a time because we have responded to scene from home. It is a little bit of a different situation as these gloves are grabbed with bare hands for equipment, and not kept in clothing pockets. However the advice is good and should be noted for people who wear uniform.

bwahahahaha Ouch, I think that would hurt.

I use gloves on every 911 call no matter what. However on transfers I may take them off depending on the situation. Closed skin fracture, heart pt etc with no nausea, I will take them off. I will wear them the whole transfer if there is bleeding or vomiting etc. Then I will disinfect my pens, clipboard etc, anything the pt even touched.

lol etc etc

Please remember you are number one in this business. Your health and safety come first and foremost. Hep C and HIV are not the only things you can catch from a patient. I keep gloves in my pockets to change them constantly. If I'm going to be grabbing our jump bag, k pop the used ones inside out and put new on etc as the straps are tough to clean. Cot straps will get removed and soaked in disinfectant after an exposure to any infectious fluid. Not just for future patients safety, but for ours too. Remember gloves protect you from all sorts of viruses and infections including but not limited to MRSA, hepatitis, HIV, c diff, herpes sores etc.

You must not have liked the responses on the other site where you mentioned you don't always wear gloves if you know the person etc. You were exposed, HIV exposure was small as it was dried and did not touch an open sore, but hep of all strains can live several days in dried form. Your exposure risk was low but it is there, you are hesitant to report it because you were in the wrong (I read the other thread) yes, you have exposed yourself. Your safety always comes first and was the first thing you were taught. Our protocol has is wearing gloves before we even set foot out of the ambulance. Let this be your lesson and I hope everything turns out for you. EMT,nursing and other health care professionals have the highest rate of non drug use or sexual contact hepatitis infection contraction rates there is. PPE is a must. Keep safety glasses , gloves and a face shield near you at all times. I am thinking of you and hope things are OK! he has stated elsewhere he doesn't wear gloves unless he knows the pt has an infectious disease. I hope this changes his way of thinking.

If you have doubts, why not wait a bit for a later date? It isn't going anywhere.

I believe everyone has told him he needs to get this under control. Anxiety can be managed very well with meds, therapy or preferably both. Hopefully he will get the help he needs and has the desire to do so. People with GAD will be compulsive over anything, job related or not. He should fulfill his dreams and goals but everyone agrees he shouldn't be on an Ambulance until he has it controlled and he has time to get that done before he gets his certification. Good luck to you Seth. Just remember your health, physical and mental are everything here. Someday, even someone without anxiety issues will run into that call where they wonder if there was something more they could have done. You want to be in the right mind set for that. Get a good psychiatrist and make sure he knows your intentions. Find a different medications and better coping skills. Hopefully you can achieve your dreams!

no, you really don't. Admin deleted it.

You obviously do not know the whole story about the "high" comment.

I was stating shivering was good brain function wise, not that she should be allowed to continue

Shivering is good. Anorexic? I would tone down the o2 a bit, post code patients should run around 94%. The rest is out of my scope as I haven't learned to read EKG etc I will watch this one unfold.

I'll. Have to take some. Just broke it in. A couple firsts tonight. Had an emergent transfer by ground and my daughter was the driver. So since we had an EMT with a nurse in the back I was her trainer. She's been driving a while but only other emergent transport was in town. We very rarely run lights and sirens and this one was 68 miles.

Got my hands on it today. It is a nifty little gadget. It works on all differet terrains and angles It charges the battery in the cot It has a manual override in case of power failure Very easy to use I give it a thumbs up. We busted ass to get it many times having 3 lighter weight women on and lifting heavier patients. The cot has a 700 point limit as most power cots do but the rep said not to worry about the system itself. I'm happy

I'd do a whole weekend at Bernie's if I had too

The people even in the service you work with may not even understand why that particular call hit you, but they should understand calls can bother anyone. I'm so sorry you are going through this. I understand the small area thing. I hope you find relief.

I see. It isn't so bad if you have to to loosen the straps and start wedging blankets under them to get them onto their side. However, it takes some practice. You can then pull them out to get them back on their back.

I think instead of supine, how about recovery position to help aid in letting secretions drain, then if you suction maybe you could suction his left cheek where it is draining and may not have to irritate the infected areas? I'm guessing his pharynx, tongue, and everything at this point may be affected at this point. .