After reading a very interesting article about suggestions he has to improve the safety of HEMS by Brian Bledsoe (a hero of mine), and a lovely story about a 92-year-old woman who voted from the back of an ambulance on Election Day (She voted as a Democrat, I wont hold it against her)...
I saw a link for this. Apparently Stryker is advertising that their Power-Pro stretchers will reduce injuries to Medics by 50% (compared to the non-powered cots) or they'll pay the difference in cost to replace the powered stretchers with the non-powered versions.
Uhm... a few questions.
First of all, what if the service you work for actively discourages anyone (basic, intermediate or medic) to file a workers comp claim.
Secondly... How many Medic's do you know who actually lift?
Okay, I kid, I kid. Seriously. Medic Matthew, Rebel, AD... I'm kidding. Mwah. Smoochies and all that.
And for the record, yes, I realize that I'm not lifting anything right now.
Just got my JEMS email...
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There are times when it is appropriate for a medic to not be lifting - when the medic has important patient care related things to do. That should not be too often.
When I worked on a fly car, I used to continue to the scene at reduced speed to assist with lifting. This had to be top secret. Some medical directors felt that any patient the medic made contact with (the medic was close enough to see the patient), must have a full ALS assessment and chart written. Even if the medic had never been dispatched, but was only responding for lifting assistance. The employers would worry about creating legal problems if I did not assess the patients.
A lot depended on the crew working. Some need more help with lifting and some are just a pleasure to assist.
Who says a medic is only good for starting IVs, or some other overrated medic skill? Medics can lift, too.
People hurt their backs because there are not enough people on scene to lift safely, or because they are not coordinating their lifting. How many injury reports list too many experienced people assisting with lifting as a contributing factor?
OTOH, I used to work with a very attractive woman. The fire department would never let me carry anything. That is a whole different story.
Yea, we use the power-pros at WORK (transport) and they're great...
but at the rescue squad, which happens to be run by the same people, we've (line officers and BoD) have voted down moving from our manual Strykers to power-pros several times.
IMHO, the significant extra weight of the power cot just doesn't make it well suited to pulling through rocky front yards and gravel driveways
But for that 650-pounder going from the hospital to the stinky nursing home, I would never go back.
BTW, instead of spending money on power-pros at squad, we bought those Stryker stair chairs with tracks to replace our aging Fernos...awesome!
Just my 2 cents
I've heard of those.....I'd like to try one out. We are still using "Fernos" in the transport vans, soon to change to Strykers.
Anything to make the damn things easier!
My first thought while reading this was like yours, "find me a medic that lifts!" lol mine always disapear
I'm not so sure about a powered stretcher but their stair chair absolutely rocks.
Shit, I call everyone a medic. Sorta like how all vehicles are cars.
She voted from the back of an ambulance - amazing.
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