Re: Fwd: Watch yourselves!!!

[Guest guest]

Phil,

Very good advice. That is a very interesting article. I'm glad the medic is ok, but just goes to show, we should all watch out for ourselves and especially our partners. Have a good day. Stay safe.

PPeaches

[texasems-L] Re: Fwd: Watch yourselves!!!

Hey gang...I'm forwarding this from another

listserver of which I am a member. The original

letter was edited for content, but my entire

reply is included. I don't know anything about the condition of the

medic, except that the original said the medic

was treated and is recovering in the hospital.

By the way, the website below is a fairly

interesting site, and includes a listserver with

members from all over the US and several from

overseas. You might check it out.

stay safe - pr

> Paramedicine.com Announcement List -

> http://www.Paramedicine.com

> > > Up in Indianaplis which is about an hour from

> > > me a Paramedic was shot. Wana know why?? A > > patient he had brought in to the ED was tired

> > > of waiting and figured it would be a good

> idea > > to start shooting people. Well why not shoot

> > > the person that was helping you out? > > > It made me think about how many scenes I walk

> > > into and really don't take notice to my > > surroundings. > > DO NOT INTERPRET THIS AS SECOND-GUESSING THE

> MEDIC. However, this incident emphasizes the

> importance of performing a secondary survey,

> head-to-toe exam, or whatever you call it, on

> EVERY patient you see. > > There are two very good reasons for this.

> > The first, and in my opinion, most important,

> is

> that in some cases, there is a very fine line

> between a " head-to-toe exam " and a " frisk " . I

> have found weapons on several patients,

> including

> guns, knives, saps, and brass knuckles. I have

> found syringes. I didn't particularly feel the

> need for my patient to have any of these items

> on

> their persons while in my care, so they stayed

> on

> the scene. > > I have transported police officers as patients,

> but their weapons (ALL of them, and I

> checked...)

> either stayed on scene with another officer, or

> they rode in the front seat of my ambulance. > Nobody can guarantee that the police officer

> who

> got his bell rung in a fight is not going to

> take

> a short step off a tall sanity ladder and start

> shooting me. This is what we experienced

> medics

> refer to as A Bad Thing. Head injuries are

> wierd

> things to deal with, especially when the

> head-injured patient is armed.

> > The second reason to do a complete head-to-toe

> exam is that YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH

> THE

> PATIENT UNTIL YOU CHECK. Especially with adult

> patients, I have occasionally found that their

> " chief complaint " is not necessarily their most

> life-threatening problem.

> > Once, when I was a rookie, I thought I knew

> everything there was to know about this

> particular patient. I was very proud of the

> care

> I had rendered, until the ER doc found a bullet

> hole that I didn't know about. I remember that

> incident like it was this morning. What did I

> do

> wrong? I didn't do a complete head to toe. > Fortunately, that particular GSW wasn't the

> most

> life-threatening one this lady had sustained,

> and

> she survived the incident IN SPITE of my

> skillful

> treatment, not BECAUSE of it. Believe me, the

> lesson was learned that day.

> > For you FTOs out there, one of my FTOs used to

> enforce the eyes-in-the-back-of-your-head

> training by making us write a short description

> of what was in the room with the patient,

> including colors of the upholstery, pictures on

> the wall, etc. It's a neat technique, and

> after

> a while it becomes second-nature to notice

> things

> that get medics hurt.

> > One last safety thought: Just when you're

> absolutely positive that nobody on your scene

> has

> any weapons, the cops show up. Cops have

> weapons. Even good cops have had weapons taken

> away from them. Again, with experience, you

> will

> learn to recognize this as A Bad Thing.

> > The lessons here are: (1) Always always always

> do

> a head-to-toe exam (or frisk, if you prefer);

> (2)

> Keep your head on a swivel. Look at

> everything,

> not just your patient; (3) just because there

> are

> Good Guys everywhere doesn't mean the scene is

> safe. Watch your back and watch your partner's

> back.

> > stay safe - pr

=====

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