Star09

I'm glad to see a debate on this as it's something I have been thinking about lately. Our service has no policy on patient family/friends riding other than acknowledging that it is our choice to let them ride. I generally have no issue with parents accompanying children. However, in the cases of adult patients I think some things need to be taken into consideration. 1. Is having this person on car going to affect my patient care? 2. Does this person seem physically healthy enough? 3. What is the nature of patient transport? (i.e Emerg.-hot, Emerg.-cold, Transfer - direct admit, Transfer-wait and return) Then I think we need to ask ourselves: 4. Am I making this decision because I am truly concerned about safety and patient care or am I feeling lazy or insensitive today? 1. I think the first one is fairly self-explanatory although it's probably the hardest one to evaluate. You just don't always know how someone is going to react. Having your loved one in an ambulance is a stressful experience. Personally I feel that family members deserve to have their questions answered, but honestly I'm not experienced enough to answer questions and manage a critical patient at the same time. 2. My partner recently agreed to let the elderly wife of an equally elderly patient come with us on a transfer between two hospitals. This was before we realized that the wife is blind and can't walk without assistance. She was also unable to get in and out of the ambulance without both of us to help her. To me this detracted from patient care and was really like having a second patient with us. It required making multiple trips with a wheelchair to accommodate the wife as well as finding and ordering lunch for her. She was a very sweet lady and very grateful for our patience but we would have returned with her husband in three hours tops. She probably should have hung back. On another occasion we had a family member who had health problems of her own and began complaining of SOB and how she was going to go hypoglycemic if we didn't stop for her to get food. Another person who probably shouldn't have come. 3. If I am driving hot I won't be comfortable having any extra passengers - especially not in the cab with me. That's my personal comfort level and I believe that is my choice to make at that time as I am responsible for the safe arrival of my patient and and my partner. However, flexibility is definitely an option in other cases. 4. Honestly, we likely all have days when we're not at our most sensitive or when we would prefer not to have to deal with an especially annoying family member. But if we're still being professionals we should try our best not to let that rule our decisions. Sometimes it seems to me like commonsense to avoid having more people than necessary in the unit. But then I also don't want to be insensitive to the patient and their family either. It's a bit of a balancing act.

I feel it's always appropriate if the patient asks you to, though not always appropriate for us to bring it up in between history and vitals. I pray silently for some every once in awhile. I figure my job is to do what I can for my patient, if praying with them is going to help them, then I would.

"She's a witch!" "How do you know she's a witch?" "Cause she looks like one!" ~Monty Python: The Quest for the Holy Grail

Epistaxis secondary to high blood pressure. That's it.

We work four consecutive 24-hour shifts. Four of those hours are spent at the office or bay. The rest of the time is on-call. We have to live within five minutes of the bay and when a call comes in we have five minutes to get to the ambulance. My house is just down the street, so I usually have time to throw on my uniform and walk or jog to the bay.

1. Yourself: bored 2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend?: absent 3. Your hair: ponytail 4. Your mother? annoyed 5. Your Father? working 6. Your Favorite Item: none 7. Your dream last night: unremarkable 8. Your favorite drink: milk 9. Your dream car: CRV 10. The room you are in: quarters 11. Your Ex: engaged 12. Your Fears: dentists 13. What do you want to be in 10 years: mother 14. Who you hung out with tonight? TV 15. What You're Not? sluty 16. Muffins: poppyseed 17: One of Your Wish List Items: camera 18. Time: 2150 19. Last thing you did? email 20. What You Are Wearing? uniform 21. Your Favorite Weather: springy 22. Your Favorite Book: Outlander 23. The last thing you ate: rice 24. Your Life: interesting 25. Your Mood: meh 26. Your friends: anniversarying 27. What are you thinking about right now? boyfriend 28. Your car: Cavalier 29. What are you doing at the moment?: survey 30. Your summer: warm 31. Your relationship status: tentative 32. What is on your tv? News 33. When is the last time you laughed? dinner 34. last time you cried? fight 35. School? over

I keep a first aid kit and roadside emergency kit in my car. That's where it ends.

cromhidrosis: isn't that a problem with the glands that causes coloured sweat? Epistaxis:

I'm 5'2 and 113 lbs. I've had to work really hard to learn how to compensate for my size. On one of the first calls I went on, before I started building my strength, my partner and I had a pt. about 300 lbs to lift from ground level. My partner's a big guy, we went to lift on three and I got about five inches off the ground when I realized I wasn't going to be able to do it. He realized it at about the same time, he said the look on my face was priceless. That was a big wake-up call. I know that typically my partner can compensate for me, but that's not good enough. I started going to the gym daily to strengthen my core and submit myself to monthly stretcher lift tests to evaluate my progress. My tips: 1. Strengthen your core. If you're not sure what excersises to do, find someone to show you. I also recommend having a gym partner, you can keep each other motivated on those days when it's hard to get out of bed. They're also handy to have as spotters when you decide to increase your lifting weight. 2. If you can tell it's going to be a hard, but do-able lift, take the foot end. The lower you are to the ground, try using the lower bar to allow you that extra bit of height. However, if you're new, make sure you're confident in the timing of the lever system and how to position your hands - if you're like me with small hands. 3. Take a moment to make sure you're ready. Don't rush to your partner's count. My partner's been doing this for awhile, so lifting is second nature for him and often he'll jump right to "on the count of three". That's when I say "Wait!". I'll check my stance, my knees, back, and grip and then say I'm ready. Either that or I take the count. 4. Know your limitations and don't hurt yourself on the chance that you "think you might be able" to do it. Your likely to hurt yourself, your patient, or both. Either you can or you can't. I feel much more confident in my lifting capabilities now and my partners are also confident in me since they see me working at it and have seen me improve. This is what has worked for me, it's probably a bit different for everyone, ask around and see, but don't put off getting stronger, it's a vital part of the job description.

Has she ever felt this way before?

That's all so true. I love being Canadian.

Taffy James

Not my call, but my partner's. A patient who said she "lost all time and space". She didn't remember falling asleep.

The Fray: How to Save a Life

Gone with the Wind, a classic that I've only felt the need to see once "You know what fine stands for?" "Freaked out" "Insecure" "Neurotic" "and emotional"