quickie for the emt's...

[tcorns]

just curious as to what all of you guys do for storing your IV supplies. equipment such as start kits, caths, tubing, blood draw kits ect. no fluid storage. we use a generic bag under the seat and cannot find anything when you need it. it lead to a bit of an issue when i was trying to prepare my equipment to administer morphine through a j loop and could not locate a flush. we have alot of people who get extra stuff or not enough when in the er and then we have no way of looking through the bag with out dumping it everywhere.

trev

[fastone]

I work two places in KY as a medic, one full time and one part time. If you send me an email address Ill send you pics. Full time place had two new squads built with special cabinets for all our supplies, part time uses a container that looks like what you would use to carry cleaning supplies in for your house. Both places have IV warmers also, something I think every place should have..... Also, Ohio just passed a law, or cleared up a law, EMT's are no longer allowed to do blood draws! Just FYI

[89notch]

http://www.gandermountain.com/assets/images/products/large/31334_L1.jpgAt one place I worked part time they used these and it worked pretty well


Where I work Full time we have small bags that are setup for one patient at a time. Each bag has a bag catheters extension sets drip sets a couple 1 3 and 5cc syringes etc. So when you need to set one up just grab a bag open it up and your good to go.

[89notch]

Also, Ohio just passed a law, or cleared up a law, EMT's are no longer allowed to do blood draws! Just FYI

Isnt this only for police requests. I think you can still do them for the hospital if your protocol allows.

[tcorns]

pics can be sent to tcorns@cinci.rr.com.

our current setup is a small soft sided toolbag. the old unit we used had a drawer that had little bins to hold everything and it worked great. they bought a new squad just before they hired me and they specked it with no drawers... just cabinets. so the powers that be decided to use a soft toolbag. now the thing is so full of junk and it is such a pain in the butt to locate anything.
it took me over a year to get a few of the small iv bag kits. and then they could not understand that you only needed the absolute basics in them (just enough to start a line and hang a bag).
the really crappy thing is there is no accountability in this set up for either the equipment or the people restocking it. the flush that i mentioned in the op is because we were out of flushes... no big deal right? just hang a bag and then set it to TKO. well you can't do that when the person ahead of you forgets to restock any drip sets. i ended up using a needle and did the one thing that would scare the hell out anyone and accidently stuck myself trying to draw fluid. a clean needle and everything was pitched. so i am happy about that. but i did stand on the assisstant chiefs desk for a bit the other morning, and finaly got him to let me look at different options. so here i am trying to find something that allows accountability and organization.

trev

ps. i will look into the blood draws. we do them per protocol now, but we have had the same prtocol since about 2000 they tell me.

trev

[fastone]

Isnt this only for police requests. I think you can still do them for the hospital if your protocol allows.

Since I don't work in Ohio, I didn't look hard at the paperwork from Ohio. I still carrying my Ohio number since getting them when I went to UC for medic class. I know I got something in the mail the other day talking about it. I think blood draws in the hospital were ok. I just looked really quick at the Ohio website and didn't find anything. I remember for sure you are not allowed to do blood draws for police...... I will take some pictures tonight and send them to you tomorrow..... We also have IV bags on our ambulances too..... here is a website to see what they look like... http://www.allmed.net/catalog/item/94/1738 there is also this kind, http://www2.mooremedical.com/index.cfm?PG=CTL&CS=HOM&FN=ProductDetail&PID=11144 I have had both for personnel bags, and either one works fine for one pt. But I like to leave these set up for inside the house, and use stuff off the shelves while inside the ambulance...