FireMedic65 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Newsflash- neither is wherever the food was made. HAHA, good point. I was just at a local eatery today. The guy making the food (hot dogs and burgers) standing at the grill, blew his nose, then went back to forming patties to toss on the grill. I walked out and went to Burger King instead. Not sure which was the better choice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatPack Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Have you even been present for an inspection by various agencies? If not, your company will be wise to educate you on the Federal and State regulations. This is all spelled out very clearly in any state statute for certification of an ambulance. Also, many states now do publish the list of ambulance violations on their websites just as when an EMT(P) has a violation of some type. This information is also made available to any facility when contract negotiations are being considered. Here are a few citations which the food products can also come under the blood borne pathogen safety violation. You can also find out more information by taking one of mandatory OSHA courses offered for other healthcare professionals. The issue is food in a patient compartment exposes the employee to infectious contaminants as well as the patient. http://osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_d...&p_id=10725 http://enviro.blr.com/news.aspx?id=15040 http://www.apsta.org/laws-fines.html http://www.isips.org/reports/Articles/MIC0106p14.pdf I understand this is an OSHA violation. I'm not arguing that point. It was stated that fines could be levied against a provider and certifications could be lost. I was just looking for an example of a case in which it happened, where food being in the pt. compartment was the cause of a fine or loss of certification. These articles dont address that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VentMedic Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) These articles dont address that. They absolutely do address that. Why do you think food is an issue in the patient compartment? Why do you think no one working in a hospital can eat in the patient care area? It's not because the patients won't like the smell of the food. OSHA could find a dirty needle or a hamburger in the patient compartment. With either one or both, the violation and fine will be given. Honestly, has so few in EMS not taken an OSHA class to understand the hazards that can affect both the provider and the patient? I already know from other posts that there are a few who are clueless about MRSA, VRE, C-Diff and TB. Do the schools and the employers not cover anything about such a crucial subject? Why don't you just contact your state's OSHA department and ask them if you can dine in the patient compartment of an ambulance? I'm sure they would be happy to send you and your ambulance service the information. They might even make a personal visit. Edited March 10, 2009 by VentMedic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireMedic65 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 They absolutely do address that. Why do you think food is an issue in the patient compartment? Why do you think no one working in a hospital can eat in the patient care area? It's not because the patients won't like the smell of the food. OSHA could find a dirty needle or a hamburger in the patient compartment. With either one or both, the violation and fine will be given. Honestly, has so few in EMS not taken an OSHA class to understand the hazards that can affect both the provider and the patient? I already know from other posts that there are a few who are clueless about MRSA, VRE, C-Diff and TB. Do the schools and the employers not cover anything about such a crucial subject? Why don't you just contact your state's OSHA department and ask them if you can dine in the patient compartment of an ambulance? I'm sure they would be happy to send you and your ambulance service the information. They might even make a personal visit. Someone sure is grouchy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolfmanHarris Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Most ambulances smell like a cross between ass and french fries, so what harm could a cheesesteak do ? Crotch man I don't know what Ambulances you were on, but they need to step up their cleaning. Every Ambulance I've ever been on, the patient compartment smells like virox from all the cleaning. Then again, only one area I know of has SSM, so no one ever eats their lunch in the Ambulance. Most I've seen is coffee and a granola bar (in case of stand-by), up front. Actually scratch that, as the student sitting in the back I've had a coffee with me on the way back to base. I'm bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief1C Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Newsflash- neither is wherever the food was made. That's true.. Your pen is probably more sterile than the hands of the lady grabbing your food and bagging it. She touches everyone's money, the counter.. Ewww.. We either sit on the back step, or eat inside. Don't eat in the ambo.. It doesn't have cup holders. Besides I have a strong, don't take it (illness, et al) home policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatPack Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 They absolutely do address that. Why do you think food is an issue in the patient compartment? Why do you think no one working in a hospital can eat in the patient care area? It's not because the patients won't like the smell of the food. OSHA could find a dirty needle or a hamburger in the patient compartment. With either one or both, the violation and fine will be given. Honestly, has so few in EMS not taken an OSHA class to understand the hazards that can affect both the provider and the patient? I already know from other posts that there are a few who are clueless about MRSA, VRE, C-Diff and TB. Do the schools and the employers not cover anything about such a crucial subject? Why don't you just contact your state's OSHA department and ask them if you can dine in the patient compartment of an ambulance? I'm sure they would be happy to send you and your ambulance service the information. They might even make a personal visit. Easy.... Your missing the point. Review my posts. I fully understand the OSHA guidelines. I understand this is a violation, I stated that in my first post. That wasn't my question. It was stated that this could be cause for fines or revocation of ones certification. I simply asked if you had a documented case where this was the outcome. Where a provider was fined or their certification revoked for eating in the pt compartment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VentMedic Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 (edited) Easy.... Your missing the point. Review my posts. I fully understand the OSHA guidelines. I understand this is a violation, I stated that in my first post. That wasn't my question. It was stated that this could be cause for fines or revocation of ones certification. I simply asked if you had a documented case where this was the outcome. Where a provider was fined or their certification revoked for eating in the pt compartment. I'm missing the point? Read the OSHA regulations. Violate any one of those and the penalty will happen. You can also look up the violations in you own state just as well as I can. I've presented a few examples. You can pull up each company and may find out the exact nature of the violations including the food found. It could even be something like a crew member's Chapstick left in the patient compartment. You can google for at least 50 more companies that have OSHA violations. Check your own state first. Call OSHA yourself and find out the FACTS. It really isn't that difficult. Edited March 11, 2009 by VentMedic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmeaner Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 So here's a question: What goes around in circles more, a race car or this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireMedic65 Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 That's true.. Your pen is probably more sterile than the hands of the lady grabbing your food and bagging it. She touches everyone's money, the counter.. Ewww.. We either sit on the back step, or eat inside. Don't eat in the ambo.. It doesn't have cup holders. Besides I have a strong, don't take it (illness, et al) home policy. Actually I read some where that your pen is probably the dirtiest thing you carry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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