Hints & Kinks That Apply To Medical And/Or Trauma Patients


Patient Advocate

  • The information you gather and that is passed on to the hospital is your advocacy for the patient. You are pleading your patient's case in a manner the patient may not be able or know how to convey.
  • If a patient is refusing treatment and transport, you may call medical control if you believe the patient is not capable of making good decisions. This belief could be because of traumatic injury, drugs, alcohol, mental status, or other factors. Medical Control has the authority to place a medical hold on the person and have them transported. If they direct transport against a patients wishes it may be a good time to get law enforcement involved.

Athletic Events (where we are on standby)

If you are summoned to evaluate a sick or injured sports player and the player is a minor child with whom you have made contact, then you are to assume and maintain care of the minor child until you hand off care of that minor child to someone of equal or greater training than you. However, a parent or legal guardian of the minor patient may refuse treatment and/or transportation. This needs to be well documented and the parent or legal guardian sign off in the appropriate areas of the run report. The minor patient’s coach cannot sign off or refuse treatment to a minor unless the coach can produce a signed and dated document giving them express permission to authorize or refuse medical care by the parent or legal guardian.

If an MD (or other healthcare professional with training to a higher level than EMT) is present and believes the minor patient does not need treatment or transport; ask that MD or healthcare professional if they are willing to accept care of this minor patient. If so, document VERY well the conversation, clearly and correctly spelling the MD or healthcare professionals name and have them sign the run report in the “Receiving RN/MD” box. This is the box we have the nurses at the hospital sign transferring care of the patient from us to them.

Use of our disposable supplies, by other entities, does not require a Run Report be generated.


Calming the Patient

  • Teddy bears are not just for children. Patients that are aggravated or agitated may find comfort and be calmed when receiving a teddy bear.
  • Patients that are breathing too fast because they are panicky can sometimes be coached to slow down their breathing by helping them follow your continued, exaggerated example of proper breathing. Something like, "Breath in with me...Breath out with me" can help them concentrate on something other than their circumstances and help them breath more efficiently.

ETOH onboard

  • The patient with ETOH onboard may not seem to have an altered level of consciousness. They may seem to be a good historian. However from a Medical standpoint their history is invalid because of the ETOH. "Our Guiding principle is to err on the side of caution" Chatfield Ambulance Medical Director. Transport or not, use of Law Enforcement is encouraged and GOOD documentation a MUST!

Care Center

These are questions commonly asked by E.R. staff and procedures that may especially apply to patients from the Care Center.

  • What is the patient's baseline physical and/or mental status?
  • Has family been notified?
    • Will the family be coming to the hospital?

Chosen Valley Assisted Living

  • If there is a trauma call to the second floor, where a backboard is required, it is very difficult to get a backboard into the elevator. Know that there is direct, connecting, access to the Care Center from the second floor. Just have someone drive the ambulance to the front door of the Care Center. You are then able to get the patient into the ambulance in the same manner as if the call had been to the Care Center itself.

Oxygen Monitoring

  • If prudent, gather and document oxygen levels before and during the time supplemental oxygen is provided.

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