Prehospital Paradigm Podcast

What you said about Worker’s Compensation and not being seat belted is not correct. Former governor Bob Taft passed the law that said if you are not seat belted and you are not performing life safety operations in the back of an ambulance and get into an accident, then you are not covered by workers compensation. Also, I personally don’t like starting I.V.’s while driving. Even if I have everything right next to me, I believe it’s still dangerous. I don’t want to accidentally stick myself. We have to do what’s best for the patient AND take care of us too. And how good of a VAN am I going to do driving down the road? The bottom line is either you want to take the extra time for IV’s, 12 lead, VAN, etc or get them to definitive care as soon as possible. Everything takes time, and to minimize it by doing these work arounds doesn’t do justice to the fact that this is serious stuff and needs to be done with competency. A doctor may be able to perform a VAN while walking down the hall, that’s different than in the back of a moving vehicle with lights and sirens blaring. I think the protocols should be written to prioritize safety OR speed, because one will suffer when you try to do both.

Can you please turn Dr Hill’s microphone up? I miss half of his valuable knowledge because I can’t hear him.