Do you properly secure patients to the cot?

[brentoli]

[web:ea0fbbb2a5]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=OSHA+Ambulance+Cot+Straps[/web:ea0fbbb2a5]

Nothing is leading me in that direction?

[Dustdevil]

Nothing is leading me in that direction?

[spoil:16ef8a35c6]Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see how long Khanek would actually spend looking for a regulation that doesn't exist. [/spoil:16ef8a35c6]

[brentoli]

Did I get you on a spolier binge Dust?

I was really hoping I could do an "I'm feeling lucky" and something funny come up. It didnt happen though.

[Dustdevil]

Did I get you on a spolier binge Dust?

It's like a new toy!

I swear, you learn something new every day here!

[chaser]

i did not ask to be claustrophobic. ... i wish i could wear mine...

I am wondering if you are ok in car as long as you have no seat belt on? If you don't want to answer thats cool.

I'm not being sacrastic or making fun of you in any way, I am just curious.

[Dustdevil]

I'm not being sacrastic or making fun of you in any way...

Good.

That's my job.

[chaser]

Good.

That's my job.

It certainly is. I will give you a gold star and 1K points

[mackeydad]

I am wondering if you are ok in car as long as you have no seat belt on? If you don't want to answer thats cool.

I'm not being sacrastic or making fun of you in any way, I am just curious.

i do not mind answering. anyone desiring information about my claustrophobia, ask away.. my condition is such that whenever i find myself in tight quarters where my freedom of movement is restricted, it is like a signal is sent to the brain saying, "we have got to get free. everything, even life itself, will cease if we fail. worry not about anything else. every available sources of energy--your mission is to prevent restraint at any cost." at this time the "trigger' for lack of a better term, assumes complete control and is concerned with nothing else but stopping and getting free from, the restraint. NOTHING ELSE. NO OTHER THOUGHTS EXIST. if my own mother were attempting to hold me down, apply restraining straps to me, etc.., i would fight her, bust her head with a brick, anything to stop her with ABSOLUTELY NO THOUGHT GIVEN OR ANY CONCERN FOR her safety. i admit and fully realize that this is extreme. hard to believe, yes i admit that too. impossible, oh i wish that were so. unfortunately, it is nightmarish reality!! i offer this information to attempt to help you understand my situation and my actions. if any medical provider, police officer, or anyone else, tried to apply restraints to me they can expect the same result. it doesn't have to involve an actual restraining device either. if i am a passenger in an automobile and there happen to be two other people occupying the bench seat, crowding me where i cannot move freely, the trigger kicks in. i had to undergo cardiac bypass surgery and before i even consented i made my surgeon aware of my situation and he said he would pass the information on to staff who would be treating me. everything was okay until post op in recovery, i began to regain consciousness. immeadiately, i became aware of the respirator down my throat. not fully realizing its purpose my hands rushed to rid myself of it. but my hands did not respond. i tried again only to discover both my wrists were restrained, and the trigger was activated. with whatever energy left to me i began an agitated struggle to free them. my nurse heard the commotion, came over and tried to calm me. when my struggling increased, alarms on my monitors started going off. my blood pressure rose, as did my heart rate, oxygen level, and anxiety. the nurse sedated me, i became calm again and went back to sleep. i must be sedated to tolerate any medical test requiring me to be in close quarters. this fact completely rules out some tests, and make all the rests very difficult. i am completely fine anywhere as long as i can move my legs and arms, raise my body and sit up, and have ample room. i am fine in a car as long as there is ample room and i am not restrained. finally i wish to comment on a few things some of you have wrote. yes i do have a medical problem, but it does not make me special or to feel that way. i know i am not superman and yes, i know i am not being safe. i do not want nor expect EMS responders to break the law or inhibit their safety. i am simply a person with a medical problem that severely limits my options, who wants to be treated for whatever injuries i may have, in a way which is tolerable to me AND SATISFIES ALL OTHERS. based on your comments i feel the simple solution is for me to be sedated. then i am able to be restrained as i should be, and my providers did not have to put themselves in any danger. i realize this is long, but i both welcome your comments and repeat my willingness to answer any other questions you may have. thank you.

[katbemeEMT-B]

[spoil:fb9d243f9d]Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see how long Khanek would actually spend looking for a regulation that doesn't exist. [/spoil:fb9d243f9d]

Well Dust, I hate to spoil your fun, but I didn't do a search. Been waaaay too busy. Just wasting a couple of hours before I have to start running kids again. I'm going on what we were told during a recent lecture by a representative from OSHA. What he stated was this:

"In the state of Minnesota ALL patients must be properly restrained during transportation using ALL straps on the cot. It is a safety precaution for both the patient and the Medic. If an injury occurs as a result of the lack of use of straps OSHA can fine (as well as law enforcement) and/or cease the service until proper education has been administered to all personnel at which time the service will be put on probation and watched closely."

He said a bunch of other stuff but I am not going to quote all of that. I don't know if it is an actual OSHA regulation or just an extention of the MN seatbelt law. I do know that they are strictly enforcing the seatbelt law so it could be that. All I know for sure is that our manager bitched at three medics the following week for not securing the patient with the shoulder straps. I think the bigger picture here is patient and medic safety. We have had several accidents in Minnesota involving abulances and maybe this is why OSHA has stepped in (fotunately none have been ours).

So if it's not a regulation, I'm sorry about that. This sometimes happens when a person doesn't fully listen, which I tend to do when I'm tired.

[CBEMT]

I will seatbelt in my patients properly for every transport while in my care. BTW, we only have two straps on our litters; one chest and one leg.

Then you need to tell your bosses that your patients are not properly restrained, and then document the date and time you told the, and who was present. In writing would be great.

We have spider straps but we don't like using them because they are time consuming and a pain and the ER is scissor happy. easier and more secure IMO with cravats. cheaper too.

Umm...... You may want to check on that.

I can secure a patient to a board with 4 nine-foot straps such that the patient may be stood up, inverted, or rolled over and they will not move. I haven't seen any arrangement of a similar number of cravats that will do that, and not as quickly either.

I've also never seen a backboard strap cut by an ER. Are they really that dumb?

Can you please give us an exact quote from OSHA regulations that states this?

Chapter and verse, please.

Not sure if it's OSHA (doubt it), but it is definitely part of the KKK standard and the subject of at least one court case resulting from a fatality in my state (which the ambulance company lost).