So what do you carry on your truck/ambo for BLS? Looking for a good checklist for a medical and trauma bag.
I'll try to list everything we carry in ours.
- B/P Cuff and Stethoscope
- Pulse Ox
- Trauma Shears (well, they're supposed to be in there)
- Various gauze
- Cling Wrap
- NC and NRB's
- Glucose Meter
- Hot/Cold Packs
- Various sizes of medical tape
Ok. so I'm sure there's more, but its too early in the morning to think this hard. I think I'm actually going to suggest the squad but some of THESE
bags to take in the house so we can quick carrying those huge bags.
Scissors
tape
burn sheets
OB kit
roller gauze
4x4 gauze
OPs
NPs
suction device
turnquets
oral glucose
BVM
Cannulas
peds NRB
Adult NRB
Infant NRB
petrleum gauze
MCI tags
stethoscope
BP cuff
trauma dressings
and a dozen other types of dressings an bandages
"Let's use the word "I" instead of "You" or "They". Okay?
(and "PLEASE", Mycrofft! <_<)
Asystole is a symptom or syndrome. It will not be corrected by CPR if it is due to infarct, trauma, or poison. CPR buys your patient time to defintive care.
"An essential quality of the clinician is interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring FOR the patient" -Peabody, MD
I'm extremely bored so I'll bite. In our service issued BLS kit we have an adult section with adult bvm, NC, NRB, OPA's, and NPAs. A section for peds with an infant mask, peds mask and NC, and a bvm for each. We have a trauma section with the following:
1 Trauma Pad
series of 4x4s
sterile water
1 ladder splint
1 of each 'adult' size collar and 1 ped collar
4inch gauze rolls
2inch gauze rolls
emesis bags
pocket masks
shears
pen light
oral glucose
bite stick
tape
1 of each (hot and cold packs)
eye shield
annnnd I think that's it. It's pretty much everything we have on the ambulance but fewer in quantity.
Oh and thrown in wherever we have a flashlight, ped cuff, adult cuff, large adult cuff, glucometer, a small IV start kit (1 20ga 1 18ga, and the start pack with 2 flushes), and a crappy 2$ scope. (I'm not kidding our company issued scopes are 2$ each with our medical discounts).
And this is why I carry my own kit, my bag is the same size as the company issue but weighs 1/2 the weight.
So what do you carry on your truck/ambo for BLS? Looking for a good checklist for a medical and trauma bag.
I'm taking a stab in the dark to assume this person wants a personal bag and may or may not work in EMS yet.
With that out of the way, my state does not have a checklist for required BLS bag items. For all my state cares you can make a BLS bag out of two sticks and a piece of chewing gum. I have worked for a service that DID NOT have a BLS kit of any sort.
I'm taking a stab in the dark to assume this person wants a personal bag and may or may not work in EMS yet.
Just looking for an opinion of what to carry in a bag in my car. I dont work in EMS yet.
Just looking for an opinion of what to carry in a bag in my car. I dont work in EMS yet.
All you need then is a basic first aid kit such as:
http://www.cargogear.com/OneItemInfo.aspx?partnum=LLAAAPITSTOP
Note: I am not endorsing the above kit. I just Googled "car first aid kit" and it was the first one I saw.
Why don't you need a bag?
1. You aren't in EMS yet.
2. You shouldn't be jumping calls in your POV anyways when you do enter EMS.
3. If your agency wants you to respond to calls in your POV (volunteer or paid on call) then they should be providing you with the equipment that you need.
Why don't you need a bag?
1. You aren't in EMS yet.
2. You shouldn't be jumping calls in your POV anyways when you do enter EMS.
3. If your agency wants you to respond to calls in your POV (volunteer or paid on call) then they should be providing you with the equipment that you need.
It isnt like I go hunting for these things and thing "WOW IM AN EMT NOW! I CAN DO IT ALL MYSELF!"
I've seen car crashes, roll overs, bicycle accidents, even shooting accidents. Ive been in situations where I and the people I knew were the only people on the scene until EMS arrived (response times in the valley are remarkable though)
Correct me if Im wrong, but it almost sounds like you are telling me I should feel no obligation to help in these situations.
I want to be prepared for situations where I am the only one with the training and supplies to help until ems arrives for the same reason i want to be in EMS, instead of keeping my cozy desk job as a server admin which is alot safer, less stressful and certainly better paying: to help people.
Sorry if this post seemed blunt or rude, and I am certainly sorry if I misread your's.
I'm not saying not to help, albeit be careful if you do. The truth is that, yes, a lot of people do have the intention that you said in your first sentence. There really are a lot of people who go to Galls, spend a ton of money on a bag so that they can be EMT-Hero, and so forth. Even so, I think that anything more than a basic first aid kit is overkill as a private jumb bag. However, let me go through your scenarios that you listed.
Car accident: Unless the patient is going to die immediately without being yanked out of the car (either due to something drastic or an unsafe scene. Most scenes are safer than they appear), you will have limited access to the patient since you shouldn't be removing the patient. In the vast majority of car accidents, unless the patient is throw free, the only thing you can do is hold c-spine until the first responders arrive (be it fire or EMS).
Bicycle accidents: Again, the priority is going to be inline stabilization if major. If it's minor to moderate, then ice packs and basic bandage materials are going to be the most useful.
Shooting accidents: Occlusive bandages (aka, the gauze wrapper) for sucking chest wounds and gauze dressings for direct pressure.
The only thing that probably should be suplemented to most first aid kits is a CPR mask. Personally, I like the design (although, addmittedly, I've never used a pocket mask) of the MDI pocket masks since they come with a pair of gloves in them and have a little extension akin to half an OPA on them.