Equipment checks

[irish_emt_in_tx]

I show up for shift half an hour to forty five minutes early. I check out our airway bag, ALS bag, drug box, AED, IV bag, PulseOx and LifePak. I sit in the breakroom and check everything in all bags, the batteries on the PulseOx, LifePak and AED, exp. dates on all drugs both in the drug box and ALS bag. I then clock in at fifteen minutes till start of shift, check out our truck, pager, cell phone mapbook. I then check the batteries in the pager and the cell phone.

I then run a check of the truck with my partner. Fluids, tire pressure, lights, siren, horn then the inside. If the cabinet is sealed, the seal is broken and the contents are checked and then the cabinet is resealed. If the cabinet is not sealed, it is checked, restocked if need be and the missing item(s) are documented and turned into the On Duty Supervisor. The cabinet is then sealed.

Call me OCD if you must, but we activate our unit usually within ten minutes of our scheduled activation time.

[JPINFV]

I wouldn't work off the clock.

I was talking the other night with an ex-EMT from another company in my area. He meantioned that his company didn't give them the choice of being in units that worked (lights in the patient compartment working, for example). I agreed with him. The company doesn't have a choice. I'm not going to work with a half-stocked, half-working unit. I don't care how many dialysis calls are stacking up or how long I've been/will be in the bay. I'm not going to work for free, either.

[1EMT-P]

I usually check the unit before the shift starts.

[Acosell]

I do a detalied bag check, o2 levels, defib self check, then make sure the cabinets have "a bunch" of everything. Not to concerned with numbers there. Tire pressures, and glucometer checks get done once a week, and we do a deep clean twice a month.