What do you carry?

[Bernhard]

... just how many people that fall under your care that can actually speak are critical ? hint ZERO.

Had some patients talking with me before going into severe shock or intracranial bleeding...(one actually died just after I took his data, at least we were able to finish our office stuff completely soon after - to be not misunderstood, in that case I wasn't the responsible provider, just an additional aide for collecting patient data, getting the job done just at the right time).

Back to the initial question, I carry following emergency related things...

...ON DUTY:

• gloves
• sometimes trauma scissors and a pen light (if I don't forget the holster somewhere, the stuff is in the jump kit anyway)
• shift pager
• gloves
• handkerchief
• some gloves
• pen

Not to forget the gloves! All the other stuff (plus spare gloves) are in the ambulance and/or jump kit.

...OFF DUTY:

• 0-2 pair of gloves (depending on actual clothing)
• a face shield mask on the key ring
• vollie pager
• small swiss knife mainly for tracheotomy because it has a toothpick inside.

To be honest, things changed (and got far lighter) over my past 25 years in EMS. I know the "phases" of having everything on the belt and jacket until the point, when the belly alone is far enough to fill the belt and jacket.

My private car is packed with

• first aid kit required by traffic law (sealed in foil and never touched until replaced when due, police will control this and give you a fine if not carried or over due time)
• a very light jump kit including mainly gloves, sterile swabs, an i.v. set, a cheap sthetoscope and sphygmomanometer (which is handy when visiting relatives) and gloves. Used this (especially the gloves) a lot of times giving first aid. Did I mention gloves?
• a whole lot of emergency scene commander stuff (non-medical), too, but that is related to the fact, that they don't issue off-duty cars to us volly scene chiefs. Since last year we have a large command van in our county, so the load on my private car will be reduced sometime. Most probably I will stuff in more gloves instead.

[ShockDoctor]

Her husband looked like he wanted to start something after that, so he got a face full of OuchMaster 5000 Extreme Burn OC Spray (one on my belt, another in my left cargo pocket) After that he fell out of his wheel chair, and would not comply with my demands that he back the f**k up, so I tazed him good.

You just never know when shit is going to go down...

Actually, you don't want tase somebody after you've doused them with OC. Many makers of OC use flammable propellants, so if a shock is delivered in a place that is drenched with OC, you may light the patient on fire. Learned this in my TASER certification class.

I obviously mistyped. The majority of scenes don't turn out deadly, just the majority of deadly scenes appeared safe at one point. Your story did give me a good laugh, though.

Here's a real story, where I was glad that I took the precautions that I did:

My partner and I were dispatched to a dog bite call. The patient was a 17 year old girl who was walking with her mom near her home. Apparently a neighbor's dog (a Dalmatian of all dogs) became aggressive and attacked her, biting through clothing and clawing her body. She was able to get away from the dog, but she suffered some pretty good clawing and bites so her mother called 911.

Low and behold! My partner and I were dispatched before the police or animal control. Wonderful system...

We arrive and scene and make contact with the patient. She informs us of what happened (we figured the dog had been secured, the scene looked safe). As I was cutting through some clothing to examine her wounds (her clothes were already tattered), her mother began to scream, "THERE HE IS! THERE HE IS!"

I quickly turned around expecting to see a dog, but instead caught site of the biggest douchiest/white trash looking people I've ever scene WITH a Dalmatian by his side. The mother began screaming, "FUCK YOU. I hope the kill that fucking thing you..." then the man started screaming at the woman (apparently there was an existing rivalry between them).

I jumped in and tried to calm the mother telling her to step out of it, my partner did the same to the man. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my partner go flying back, and it appeared as if the man had pushed him. OC time came as I sprayed both him and his dog (I later found out that the type of OC I was carrying wasn't dog friendly, and caused the dog to tear itself nearly to death. Meh, I'm a people EMT not a dog EMT, I don't know these things). The man came running at me, I dodged him and we all stayed clear. He was holding his eyes in pain and still cussing us out. Animal control soon arrived and yelled at me for spraying the dog (then they detained the man). The Sheriff soon followed, though my partner didn't want to press any charges.

Had I not had my OC, that could have ended very differently.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Just curious. What does your service say about you carrying OC? Do they have a problem with it on a liability front?

What does your service say about you carrying a taser?

What happens if you tase someone and they continue to come after you? and you are injured? Would your service pay for your medical bills for OC'ing someone and then suffering the consequences of your actions?

I'm just curious because my service I worked for Pre-retirement said that absolutely no OC or tasers allowed on duty.

[tniuqs]

This just gets funnier and funnier.

[cprted]

Actually, you don't want tase somebody after you've doused them with OC. Many makers of OC use flammable propellants, so if a shock is delivered in a place that is drenched with OC, you may light the patient on fire. Learned this in my TASER certification class.

I obviously mistyped. The majority of scenes don't turn out deadly, just the majority of deadly scenes appeared safe at one point. Your story did give me a good laugh, though.

Here's a real story, where I was glad that I took the precautions that I did:

My partner and I were dispatched to a dog bite call. The patient was a 17 year old girl who was walking with her mom near her home. Apparently a neighbor's dog (a Dalmatian of all dogs) became aggressive and attacked her, biting through clothing and clawing her body. She was able to get away from the dog, but she suffered some pretty good clawing and bites so her mother called 911.

Low and behold! My partner and I were dispatched before the police or animal control. Wonderful system...

We arrive and scene and make contact with the patient. She informs us of what happened (we figured the dog had been secured, the scene looked safe). As I was cutting through some clothing to examine her wounds (her clothes were already tattered), her mother began to scream, "THERE HE IS! THERE HE IS!"

I quickly turned around expecting to see a dog, but instead caught site of the biggest douchiest/white trash looking people I've ever scene WITH a Dalmatian by his side. The mother began screaming, "FUCK YOU. I hope the kill that fucking thing you..." then the man started screaming at the woman (apparently there was an existing rivalry between them).

I jumped in and tried to calm the mother telling her to step out of it, my partner did the same to the man. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my partner go flying back, and it appeared as if the man had pushed him. OC time came as I sprayed both him and his dog (I later found out that the type of OC I was carrying wasn't dog friendly, and caused the dog to tear itself nearly to death. Meh, I'm a people EMT not a dog EMT, I don't know these things). The man came running at me, I dodged him and we all stayed clear. He was holding his eyes in pain and still cussing us out. Animal control soon arrived and yelled at me for spraying the dog (then they detained the man). The Sheriff soon followed, though my partner didn't want to press any charges.

Had I not had my OC, that could have ended very differently.

Couldn't you have just taken the patient into the ambulance, locked the doors and updated police as to the fight in progress?

[ShockDoctor]

Just curious. What does your service say about you carrying OC? Do they have a problem with it on a liability front?

What does your service say about you carrying a taser?

We're allowed to carry OC, provided it's under 5% in concentration of active ingredients. The higher the concentration, the longer the effects last (and that obviously provides problems in a care situation). For example, my 17% Streetwise burns for about 45 minutes (I've tested it on myself) and it's side affects last for hours, whereas my Fox Labs burns for about ten minutes (also tested it on myself) and within an hour it's like you've never been sprayed. In a professional situation, you don't want somebody screaming for 45 minutes (that's just overkill); you just want to stun them, secure them, and move on. We're also required to take an OC certification class in addition to an eight hour "Power to Arrest" class.

As for TASERS, they're not allowed at all. I petitioned to make them allowed, but that didn't go anywhere. I don't know why, they're perfectly safe (more safe than OC, I'd argue). The TASER is for personal use, and I don't carry it on duty.

As for liability, OC is perfectly safe. In addition, it's only used when a direct and specific threat of violence is presented against us (the EMTs). The alternative would be for us to throw punches, which is far more dangerous than spraying something that only temporary blinds. Furthermore, in our power to arrest class, they made it very clear when we can and can't detain people.

As for somebody coming after us after we've sprayed them... you have to figure that in order for us to spray them, they were coming after us BEFORE we sprayed them. If we get injured, it had nothing to do with the OC, and everything to do with the jerk trying to attack us.<br><br>EDIT:<br><br>

<br>Couldn't you have just taken the patient into the ambulance, locked the doors and updated police as to the fight in progress?

<br>

<br><br>Then we'd have two, possibly three patients, wouldn't we?&nbsp; Plus, I'm not one to cower.&nbsp; I would have a hard time sleeping if I would have done that.<br> Edited July 13, 2011 by ShockDoctor

[cprted]

We're allowed to carry OC, provided it's under 5% in concentration of active ingredients. The higher the concentration, the longer the effects last (and that obviously provides problems in a care situation). For example, my 17% Streetwise burns for about 45 minutes (I've tested it on myself) and it's side affects last for hours, whereas my Fox Labs burns for about ten minutes (also tested it on myself) and within an hour it's like you've never been sprayed. In a professional situation, you don't want somebody screaming for 45 minutes (that's just overkill); you just want to stun them, secure them, and move on.

Then we'd have two, possibly three patients, wouldn't we?&nbsp; Plus, I'm not one to cower.&nbsp; I would have a hard time sleeping if I would have done that.

Or you and your partner may have gotten the crap kicked out of you and then there would have been five patients and no EMTs versus three patients and two EMTs. Edited July 13, 2011 by cprted

[Timmy]

I’m sorry but none of this makes sense at all… Your occupation states you’re a “medic” yet on page 2 of this thread you state you run on an outreach first aid team? You state you carry pepper spray, tazers and handcuffs and you’re not a police officer? I’m sorry but I’m sure if a paramedic in Australia was carrying this sort of equipment they would be unemployed within 5 minutes.

I you cant walk into a situation and at least have an inkling that there’s even a small risk of people “throwing punches” then you should take a class on incident assessment. While I do admit on the RARE occasion someone can take you by surprise it surely wouldn’t warrant carrying all that around to every call…

[ShockDoctor]

I'm sorry but none of this makes sense at all… Your occupation states you're a "medic" yet on page 2 of this thread you state you run on an outreach first aid team? You state you carry pepper spray, tazers and handcuffs and you're not a police officer? I'm sorry but I'm sure if a paramedic in Australia was carrying this sort of equipment they would be unemployed within 5 minutes.

I'm a medic by day (work for county in an RA), and by night (and by that I mean my days off) I'm a volunteer for my church's outreach group and am a part of the first aid team (which consists of me and a bunch of people with zero training).

The US and Australia are very different places. In Australia, I believe it's illegal for anyone to even possess pepper spray; in the United States, sixteen year old girls carry it in their purses.

Scene safety is an utmost concern of mine. It's not uncommon for a supposedly innocent scene to turn dangerous.

Or you and your partner may have gotten the crap kicked out of you and then there would have been five patients and no EMTs versus three patients and two EMTs.

Highly unlikely. I'm a trained martial artist, and I've gone through nearly every combat training class that is offered.

[cprted]

Highly unlikely. I'm a trained martial artist, and I've gone through nearly every combat training class that is offered.

Thinking you're invisible is only going to get you and/or your partner hurt one day.