[16679] in APO-L
Risk Management <> Risk Elimination
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sven)
Thu Apr 24 00:36:25 1997
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 00:28:48 PST
Reply-To: Sven <asven@JUNO.COM>
From: Sven <asven@JUNO.COM>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
When I first started working EMS, we climbed into cars at accident scenes
wearing short sleeve polyester uniforms and a pair of thin rubber gloves.
The cost of the uniforms was around $200. The cost of a pair of gloves
was around 50 cents per pair. We were volunteers doing the job for fun
and that "thrill" that you won't understand unless you do the job.
Now we have a wonderful policy created by the Public Employee
Occupational Health and Safety Administration covering all public
government health care workers that states we must use "Universal
Precautions" whenever we come in contact with any patient. This means we have to wear approved "P2" gloves...about the thickness of dishwashing/toilet scrubbing gloves with puncture resistant kevlar glove liners so we
won't get stabbed by a needle or cut by sharp car parts. Face shields
are mandated...they fog up when you exhale the first time, and
goggles....similar fogging problem in a cramped car. We have to wear
new, fire-retardant uniforms made of "nomax/kevlar" fibers...just in case the car caught fire....like we'd make it out alive with plastic face masks melted to our face. We have individual, personal stethoscopes to
prevent the spread of any ear infections. We have to wear an airborne
pathogen mask to prevent hepatitis and tuberculosis on every call. Our
boots must have steel-toes and cover our ankles...in case any cars or
heavy objects land on the first 1 inch of the tip of our feet or a snake
tries to bite our ankle. We have to have a minimum amount of reflective
tape on our uniform to make sure a car can see you walking around the
highway. We have safety courses to learn how to do all this stuff,
blood-borne pathogens classes to know how we are going to die on the job, and lots and lots of PEOSHA mandated classes about the contents of our
soap dispensers in our ambulance squad building so we don't accidentally
develop a rash while washing our hands.
Approximate cost per EMT in our township? Rough estimate is about
$600/uniform. Gloves, face mask, goggles, face shield, stethoscope, and
misc. safety stuff around $200. Training classes around $400/year.
When I started "volunteering" at our Squad, we were not very well
protected from all these hazards, we were in ignorant bliss. Now that
we have these regulations, the Township can no longer afford to train
and equip volunteers. It is more economical for them to pay us $9/hour
to work part time then it is to pay the $1000+/volunteer for many
volunteers who may quite a few months after they start.
It seems to me that the only reason we have these "risk management
policies" is because somewhere along the line some idiot interpreted the
constitution to mean that everyone has the right be safe, wealthy, and
happy instead of having the right to TRY to be happy, wealthy, and safe.
If someone sneezes, they can we awarded $2 million as long as they can prove that the sneeze was accidental, they coffee was too hot, and the
company made the coffee.
I feel much safer now that all these rules are in effect for my EMS job.
Now I wear a fire retardant flight suit, regular boots, and rubber gloves. Ironically, the face shield, goggles, steel toed boots, helmet, etc.
didn't protect me from the bloody projectile vomit of the dead-guy I was
performing CPR on when it hit me in the eye. It seems that after walking
out of the cold and into a warm house, they frost over so you cannot see
your way up a staircase. To prevent falling down the staircase as the
wife was running into us and pulling us away from her dead husband, I
removed them. Fortunately the body didn't have any detectable diseases...nor do I after 3 years...glad those rules were clearly though out.
My point? Use common sense and relax. Life is dangerous, that's what
makes it so much fun.
Sven
