Emergency Medical Equipment and Supply Companies

[lawnmowertech37]

Calvin, Not disrespecting you in any way, but I am curious, wouldn't your size and weight preclude you from being on a helicopter flight crew?

Also, if you have any way to make a living as am EMT, why are you screwing around going broke hawking old lawnmower parts that nobody apparently wants? I mean geeze, you should be more than able to make a living as an EMT. Doubling as a fireman should only add to your value. I can't say from any position of knowledge so I'm just asking.

im not paid ems or fire strickly volunteer have been volunteer for 21 years

 

[appalachianarbo]

All of my department's trucks carry celox and a tourniquet. I haven't has to use either yet, but it's nice to know they are there if elevation and pressure don't work. Our EMS units also carry them.

Here is a copy of our EMS protocols. Page 32 of 50 is our celox/tourniquet procedure.

Here is a video that show the effectiveness of celox on an arterial bleed in a pig. It's not pretty, but it's a very effective demonstration.

 

[HS Climber]

i took the first responder class about a year ago and here in oregon they teach you not to apply a tourniquet no matter what just direct pressure and pressure points. so i would check with your local fire department to see what they do. because i know the fire department i am on we dont do them at all and if we do we get in big trouble.

 

[appalachianarbo]

because i know the fire department i am on we dont do them at all and if we do we get in big trouble.

They just added it to our protocols last fall. They won't get used a lot, but they can come in pretty handy. I think it's a good idea for tree guys to carry both celox and a tourniquet. Even though we carry them on our fire trucks, by the time we get to you it may be too late. We can get a unit on scene within 5 minutes and 12 seconds from dispatch at least 70% of the time), but that doesn't include the time it takes you to call 911, talk to the dispatcher, and for them to type the call info into CAD, build a call, and dispatch us.

 

[Buckethead]

i took the first responder class about a year ago and here in oregon they teach you not to apply a tourniquet no matter what just direct pressure and pressure points. so i would check with your local fire department to see what they do. because i know the fire department i am on we dont do them at all and if we do we get in big trouble.

Yep, I understand your situation. If I have to apply one at work I must have a damn good reason to do so and I probably should have called the medical control doc to get permission first. This is because of the rules/protocols that EMT's and Paramedics have to abide by at work. While my protocols do get updated, they by no means attempt to keep up with all of the changes/improvements in the field as they happen. In fact there was a time the the state medical director in Boston would not recognize a "wilderness rescue" course as being of any use for a Mass. EMT...even though the entire western part of the state is mountains and woods.

Now, if I am off-duty (or a civilian) in the woods with my saw and I or my partner have a "worst case" injury I will do everything in my power to ensure a positive outcome. That includes using tools and techniques that may not be recognized by the protocols that I must follow while I'm at work. I guess it amounts to a "it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission" attitude.

Does this mean that I'll try field surgery with a pen knife?? No, but I would certainly apply a tourniquet or a clotting type bandage to control the bleeding until I could get more help.

Sorry about the rant..:angrysoapbox:

 

[lawnmowertech37]

They just added it to our protocols last fall. They won't get used a lot, but they can come in pretty handy. I think it's a good idea for tree guys to carry both celox and a tourniquet. Even though we carry them on our fire trucks, by the time we get to you it may be too late. We can get a unit on scene within 5 minutes and 12 seconds from dispatch at least 70% of the time, but that doesn't include the time it takes you to call 911, talk to the dispatcher, and for them to type the call info into CAD, build a call, and dispatch us.

actually i think mast would work better than a tourniquet would
if it is a fractured femur then what do we use if there is no open wound but closed ?

also the air splints can be used as a option too

 

[appalachianarbo]

We don't carry MAST anymore. Use a traction splint for a closed fractured femur.

 

[masiman]

If you're talking about Celox, it's not a drug, it's an emergency clotting agent. For severe lacerations you pour it into the wound, apply pressure until the bleeding stops, then wrap the wound and transport to the hospital as fast as you can.

I'm not a medical person, but it seems to me that with the types of injuries a chainsaw can cause Celox or something like it should be a part of every field med kit. I was just wondering what those around here with EMT training thought about it.

Buddha, thanks for that info on Celox. I did not know it was not a medication. I am thinking about getting some to keep in my first aid kit.

Keep a sharpie marker in your first aid kit. Black for white and Asian folks, for Negros or other dark skinned people use a silver paint pen.

If you apply a tourniquet write the time (24 hour clock preferred) on the patients forehead with the Sharpie or paint pen.

If you administer any medication write that on the patients forehead too.

It's easy to get confused in a trauma situation. When I got shot I had all kinds of crap written on my forehead. Made it easier on the docs when I got to a field hospital. Plus if the medic got wasted there was a record of what he did.

Krusty, thanks for your service and the insight on trauma management.

 

[Buckethead]

Tourniquet Update

I just finished reading an article on page 28 in the March 2009 issue of "EMS Magazine." The article summerizes a study done on the use of a tourniquets in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and how it impacted the outcome of patients that did or did not recieve one.

The conclusion of the study is that use of tourniquets, in cases of severe extremity injuries, is a good thing and helps to provide for a positive outcome for the patients. It further states that the rate of complications due to tourniquet application is very low.

So, for all you guys that were considering adding a tourniquet to your first aid kit...now would be the time to do it.

 

[AnthonyPrewitt]

Medical devices are available in wide varieties which are used for different purpose like diagnosis, monitoring, surgery or treatment. There are lots of medical device suppliers out there in the market that sells home care, hospital or clinical equipments at varied price. Manufacturers update and improve an existing product frequently, hence you need to first decide what equipments you want and choose them according to the latest requirements.

 

[jomoco]

I had a burly 230 lb Groundman who knicked the femoral artery in his leg with an 044. Luckily I got to him in time to apply a tourniquet ( speedline loop n biner ) and cinch it down hard enough to stop the profuse bleeding.

The nightmare was getting him into my tooltruck, took four of us, then driving him to the nearby hospital ER in time to save him. We were in La Jolla, less than a mile or so from Scripps Hospital. But as often happens, fate n bad luck did its best to screw me over that day, since Torrey Pines Rd North was closed off for repaving.

Just as I realized how screwed my situation was due to the road closure, the groundie who'd cut himself passed out, let go of the biner keeping the tourniquet tight, and started spraying blood onto the passenger seat n floor of my truck. Furious at my compounded bad luck, I put my truck in second gear, reached across with my right hand, twisted the biner tight enough again to stop the bleeding, ran the red light at Genesee and Torrey Pines Rd, took the first right off Genesee into a research institute that I knew was only two bldg's south of the hospital, then four wheeled my truck through the parking lots of the two institutes separating me from the hospital, jumping curbs, busting through xylosma hedges, up onto the front lawns, then onto Torrey Pines Rd South which was open, but I had to go north on it against traffic to reach the ER entrance. Couldn't even blow my horn since both hands were full, one to steer, the other holding the biner tight.

Fortunately I made it right up to the ER doors, where upon the orderlies there got a gurney stretcher and got the passed out groundie onto it without me ever having to let go of the biner as I clamored over the gear shift and out the passenger side of my truck.

Dude lived, but quit the tree biz. Took me over a month to get my speedline loop n biner back though!

The ER doctors congratulated me on my make do tourniquet, and assured me that without it, dude woulda bled to death for sure.

Landscape crews at the two southern research institutes had a lotta repairs to do to the hedges n lawns I destroyed though, no doubt.

Tourniquets save lives IME.

jomoco

 

[Stihlmadd]

crikey jomoco talk about having your hands full, would have loved to seen a go pro on your dash that day
did the speed line loop wash out okay?

 

[jomoco]

crikey jomoco talk about having your hands full, would have loved to seen a go pro on your dash that day
did the speed line loop wash out okay?

I'm glad there was no camera Stihlmadd, since afterwards when I got back to my truck to get it out of the ER entrance, I broke down and cried like a baby.

jomoco

 

[Stihlmadd]

sorry I was referring to the driving skill needed to make that life saving run, having been in similar positions but not any where as dire as yourself I apologise for my flippancy and if in any way I have offend.
I was put to the test not six months ago and still feel that I could have responded better in the circumstances but he is still with us and I bought a rug to cover the stains in the carpet.
Ben.