Hi everyone! Ok, here's my story: I'm driving home from visiting with some nursing-school friends when the van in front of me hits a 12 year old riding his bicycle, and hits him hard: bad enough to throw the kid into the other lane of traffic and to damage the front-end of the van such that radiator fluid is leaking from under the hood. (By the way, that slow-motion stuff really does happen! I could see the entire thing coming and it was painful to watch.)
Now, I'm a brand-new emergency room nurse (out of school in May), which means that I know diddly squat about what I should do, but I do manage to get to the kid, check ABCs (relatively easy, given that he was conscious and talking, and there was no obvious major bleeding), keep him calm (and try to keep him from moving), call 911, and generally hold down the fort until the medics arrive (which, thank God, was very quick). From what I saw, the kid is going to be fine, but holy cow...what a scare!
Anyhow, I was talking it over with my Dad (former EMT) and he felt that I now have a "moral obligation" to keep some tools with me in the car, in the event that this kind of thing happens again, and in a more remote location. Personally, I agree, but I was wondering how many of you do the same? And if so, what do you keep in your kit?
I'm impossibly paranoid, and so every time I saw something when I was assembling my kit I thought "how will I feel if [x] happens and I don't have [y]?" So I have all the afore-mentioned airway equipment (no oxygen, though!); bandages etc plus eye irrigation solution; a thermal blanket; long-life milk, cotton swabs and a specimen jar (for knocked out teeth); a scalpel, scalpel blade, pen barrel, square of plasic and tape (for a tension pneumothorax); note pad and pen; torch; pen torch; reflective tape; antibacterial liquid; and barley sugar. I think that's about it, off the top of my head at least!
Oh, and my union membership includes 24 hour indemnity insurance, specifically including Samaritan aid. Not that Australia's particularly litiguous (yet), and not that I intend to practice outside my area of competence, but I like to be prepared for the worst :)
my kids are accident prone. I keep a first aid box in my car & at home. My road trip box contains- asprin & tylenol, benadryl (bee sting allergies), a snake bite kit (we live in the mountains), steri-strips, portable ambu shield (from CPR class), ace wrap, kerlix & non-stick pads, bandaids of all sizes, scissors & tape, triple abt ointment, betadine, several pairs of gloves (to use on strangers), from a lab tech friend- a tourniquet, contact lens saline, sunscreen & bug spray. My auto tool box contains a hammer in case someone is stuck & needs to get out through a window. In the winter I carry a wool blanket. I have been broken down in the winter without a blanket, and would never put myself in that position again.
I would encourage you to take an EMT or First Responder course before you attempt to provide care in the field. Depending on which state you are in you may not be wise to do anything outside of your hospital. Things are different on the side of the road. Although I would agree that your care is better than none, you may be opening yourself up to even more liability than just calling 911.
The worst thing to happen in the field is for a hospital nurse or doctor to show up at the scene of an accident. Unless they are trained in prehospital care they are generally in the way. As for the DR. on the scene, they usually shout out orders until they realize that when you are knee deep in loon sh*t (which may happen here in MN) there aren't things like good lighting and temp controlled rooms. Leave prehospital stuff to those trained in prehospital care. I can say that as an EMT and a RN student. I as an EMT wouldn't come into an ER and start providing care if I wasn't trained.
PS- I know there are issues between EMT's and Nurses so please dont kill me.
I would encourage you to take an EMT or First Responder course before you attempt to provide care in the field. Depending on which state you are in you may not be wise to do anything outside of your hospital. Things are different on the side of the road. Although I would agree that your care is better than none, you may be opening yourself up to even more liability than just calling 911.
The worst thing to happen in the field is for a hospital nurse or doctor to show up at the scene of an accident. Unless they are trained in prehospital care they are generally in the way. As for the DR. on the scene, they usually shout out orders until they realize that when you are knee deep in loon sh*t (which may happen here in MN) there aren't things like good lighting and temp controlled rooms. Leave prehospital stuff to those trained in prehospital care. I can say that as an EMT and a RN student. I as an EMT wouldn't come into an ER and start providing care if I wasn't trained.
PS- I know there are issues between EMT's and Nurses so please dont kill me.
Amen to this! I am not a Paramedic or EMT, and would be mostly useless on the scene. My area of work is not with adults, and not with anyone with trauma. At most, if NO ONE ELSE was around I would do the most basic of care, pretty much what any Girl Scout could do, after first calling 9-1-1. But if others have already stopped, I'm not going to jump out to help, because I wouldn't be any. (help)
That's why I don't keep a med kit in my car, only my toys.
PS: I have the utmost respect and admiration for those First Responders--Paramedics and EMT's; you do a great job, which many of us do not want to do. You're the ones I would want working on me or my loved ones.
I second all the EMT stuff - I only have gear wih me in case I'm the first there (or the first that has a clue - love lay-folk, but seriously...). As soon as anyone else comes along I'm off unless they ask me to help (which I know isn't going to happen :))
Thank you again for the responses. I feel a little bit better knowing that not everyone runs from the scene of an accident, and I totally respect the fact that there is only so much that you can do. (Even if I weren't a new nurse, I would prefer to leave the first responder stuff to those who do it for a living!) After talking with my husband (who surprised me by being utterly horrified at the thought of NOT stopping to help someone), I now have no real qualms about stopping and helping someone, so long as I stick to what I know inside and out (that's one thing that I think I'm rather good at, even if my knowledge base is a little limited).
I do worry about the potential for lawsuits - but if someone was lying there dying, I think I would have to intervene and do what I know how to do. As a new RN, that doesn't mean using a pen to create an instant trach! I do carry kits in each of my vehicles though - not for the off-chance that I come upon an accident, but in case it is needed for my own children or other family members. If you do plan on carrying a kit - the #1 item for you to purchase is a pocket mask or similar product. They have one-way valves. Even when you are trying to help, you need to protect yourself first.
I think this thread should be changed to the ethics of good samaratins. After 25 year as a Paramedic, then a flight nurse, I don't worry about getting sued. What I DO worry about is getting waffled by someone stopping at an accident scene. So at accidents I' pull to were it is safe and call 911. As to getting sued for not helping hte guy having the the big one in the mall. I'm not worried. I know my scope of practice inside and out and won't ever cross that line with anyone but my family. I'll do CPR till I'm blue in the face but unless I'm on duty I wouldn't even think of spearing a chest.
As to what I carry in my car or motorcycle. I cary a BLS first aid kit. Lots of gloves, bandages, a SAM splint, sling, pretty much the same things a Boy Scout would carry.
In most cases as long as your not negligent in what you are doing your as safe as you can be in this world. I'm way more worried about getting sued fro something that happened at work than I am with something that happens on the street.
I agree with you Craig. I don't worry either. I carry a fully loaded jump bag with me. But, I am a NDMS DMAT member and use the equipment often.
Ok...so I haven't been here for a while (second semester of nursing school was tough..lost my dad to pancreatic cancer, my husband/kids, and I moved in with my mother-in-law, and I worked nights all summer)...third semester is going better and I plan to come here more often....
Anyway, I've read all the posts on this topic. I wholeheartedly (is that one word??) agree with cswain12000....you don't just say "someone call 911...." and keep going or walk by someone and say "he looks blue"...whatever!!
My husband (a policeman) and I have come upon a couple of accidents (when he's been off duty) and he is OBLIGATED to stop (even when off duty) if no other law enforcement/EMS personnel are on the scene. Even though I'm still a student, I've tried to help to the best of my ability (keep person calm, still, ABC's, etc.) at least until EMS gets there...I mean, geez, how would you like it, Oicu8bacilli, if you were lying there hurt/dying and you got a taste of what you'd dish out yourself :uhoh21:
talaxandra
3,037 Posts
I'm impossibly paranoid, and so every time I saw something when I was assembling my kit I thought "how will I feel if [x] happens and I don't have [y]?" So I have all the afore-mentioned airway equipment (no oxygen, though!); bandages etc plus eye irrigation solution; a thermal blanket; long-life milk, cotton swabs and a specimen jar (for knocked out teeth); a scalpel, scalpel blade, pen barrel, square of plasic and tape (for a tension pneumothorax); note pad and pen; torch; pen torch; reflective tape; antibacterial liquid; and barley sugar. I think that's about it, off the top of my head at least!
Oh, and my union membership includes 24 hour indemnity insurance, specifically including Samaritan aid. Not that Australia's particularly litiguous (yet), and not that I intend to practice outside my area of competence, but I like to be prepared for the worst :)