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Post by jstagner on Feb 24, 2016 21:07:34 GMT
With all the random shooting on police and fire do you think that it is time to start mandating ems and fire to wear vest when responding to and on a call? It doesn't matter weather you are responding to an ems call, an mva, or a structure fire it seems lately that it is never safe.
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Post by stevejackowski on Feb 25, 2016 19:11:16 GMT
I am a new EMS discussion board participant and relatively new provider only being certified for 3 years but this seems like a pretty interesting topic. I would say some departments should definitely wear them for the reasons jstagner has stated. Granted, not all departments are in areas that would require such lengths of protection, but then again you never know. Now I apologize if I am thread jacking but since it somewhat coincides with the vest topic, I will say I am also an advocate of concealed carrying. In addition to the concealed carry, or another alternative would be having a gun cabinet in the rig much like the narc box with just a fingerprint ID so you could get to it easily incase of an emergency. I know there would be a lot of lash-back on this subject but I believe it could be a positive addition to EMS/fire departments with of course the proper training and by establishing sensible policies.
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Post by jstagner on Feb 26, 2016 3:17:17 GMT
I am all for people wanting to conceal carry. But at the same time I don't think in the back of the ambulance is the right place. How would you control who carries, what training is needed, in what situation do you draw your weapon and fire. I think that being able to carry mace "pepper spray" or a baton would be the better option. It is non lethal and very little training is needed. I believe that these methods would help a provider get away from a deadly situation. Just my opinion.
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Post by azumpano on Feb 27, 2016 0:31:04 GMT
Ya know I think we're getting way off track when we start up with vests, guns, entering active shooter situations, etc. But if they want me in an active shooter scene I want all of the above. I'm not depending on someone else to provide my protection, but in the end the fact is we can't save everyone and we aren't supposed to risk that much to try and save an unknown. Risk vs reward getting skewed viciously.
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Post by jstagner on Feb 27, 2016 2:08:30 GMT
Capt, I'm not even talking about going into an active shooter situation. I think that everyone in the field we are in should be issued bullet proof vest and mace. And to be worn on every call. How many calls do we get police on? 1/3? The only time we ever see the cops on a call is when 1) its an MHL, 2) we request them. They don't get dispatched or show up to the normal Abd Pn, CP, or SOB calls. And sometimes we may need them on those calls. It's not their fault either. We work in a flawed system. In Onondaga county pd is sent on all EMS calls until a unit arrives on scene and cancels them. Here is one example of what I mean. www.emsworld.com/news/10339763/new-york-emt-shot-and-killed-by-patient This call was dispatched for SOB. If the crew had on vest and a mean to defend themselves besides running and getting shot in the back this might have been a different article. |
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Post by tommy2 on Feb 27, 2016 16:43:34 GMT
Well there is training for pepper spray and for baton as such is for a firearm. The legals of when to use physical or lethal force and how to actually do it correctly. As for the vests, if ya want to wear one wear it if not don't it is such a sad state that it is coming to this.
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Post by azumpano on Feb 27, 2016 17:55:10 GMT
Seems knee jerk to take a tiny percentage of incidents and make an argument for this type of change. Mace someone or pull out a baton and maybe you'll have a chance to see the hidden weapons more often. I think you're swatting the hornets nest.
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Post by jstagner on Feb 29, 2016 7:57:46 GMT
I love to swat hornets nets, but at the end of the day it's about our safety and going home to our family's. I do have a vest that I purchased myself years ago, and I have worn on a few occasions. I get that it is our choice to buy a vest and wear it or not. But at the price of $300-$500 a shot don't you think your agency should provide it for your safety for you? They provide us with gloves to wear to protect us, same concept I think.
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Post by local32 on Mar 2, 2016 16:21:17 GMT
If i have a vest on i want a sidearm on me. Just stay safe
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jules
New Member
Posts: 10 
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Post by jules on Mar 12, 2016 21:23:09 GMT
Personally, I think we just need to stick to what we are meant to do which is save lives and stop trying to act like law enforcement when we are not. We do not carry weapons, nor do we go through nearly what they encounter. Even in high crime areas, whats the first thing we do when going to a potentially dangerous call? We stage. That is for our safety. It is law enforcement's job to make sure the scene is safe prior to us proceeding in. Our jobs as EMS is just that...EMS and as long as we use our heads, are aware of our surroundings, and stay together as a unit/team, we will manage just fine like we always have. Don't get me wrong, things do/can happen and our safety can be compromised at times, but that goes with any high risk job. Bottom line, if you choose to do this job, you need to be prepared for anything that may happen. We are not swat teams, we are EMS. Leave it for the police to handle.
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Post by jdesarro on Mar 17, 2016 0:03:30 GMT
I think that we should all take what ever preventative measures we need to keep ourselves safe, and a ballistic vest would not be a bad idea. The problem is that they do have a shelf life and should be measured specific to the user which can create a large expense. I do not feel that EMS should arm itself with firearms due to the amount of training and liability that would be attached to it. You would have to qualify yearly on the weapon that you carry and discharging a firearm is the last option on the wheel of use of physical force.
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Post by Jgrube on Mar 18, 2016 15:19:29 GMT
I'm all for people carrying a concealed weapon, But on the other hand slow down listen to the calls 99.9% should tell you that it's a law enforcement problem.
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Post by asubaldo on Mar 27, 2016 22:18:12 GMT
I think it also depends on your town and location. Regardless of wearing a vest or not, it is always important to be aware of your surroundings.
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Post by skiechj on Apr 2, 2016 0:11:58 GMT
Having bullet proof vests, pepper spray, batons, guns, tazers, etc is all fine and dandy. It could protect us from the one in literally 5 million calls where there is a need. I absolutely agree we need to be careful and should feel as well as be safe and have the ability to protect ourselves, but all of our patients deserve to feel safe too. How are we supposed to comfort the teenager having an anxiety attack if we look like an SRT team rolling up?
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Post by ctullar on Apr 7, 2016 0:18:51 GMT
I personally wouldn't mind wearing a vest on calls, especially domestic incidents.
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