5pt harness in ambulance

[Karen]

I work at a childrens mental health facility. When we have to transport children, we are required to use an ambulance, not personal vehicles. On friday I had to transport a young girl to a facility that was about two hours away. As we boarded the ambulance the paramedic, very nice woman secured the young girl to the stretcher. She than asked me to remove my jacket so that it would not interfear with my safety belts. I did as she asked and sat where I was told. She the fastened me into a 5 point harness. Very tight, and seated very upright on the bench seat. This was the first ambulance I have been in that had 5pt harnessed for passengers, and I have been in a lot of them. Normally in the back there's only a lap belt. Every so often you may get one with a 3 point harness, but never a 5pt. I was very surprised.

[Unregistered]

I've never seen that either.Why did she fasten and adjust your harness? Did it have a chest clip?

[Karen]

I began doing it myself and she said that due to insurance reasons they have restrain everyone. Yes it did have a chest clip however is was more similar to a regular seatbelt buckle and latch plate. Same as the buckle and plate on the crotch strap.

[wendytthomas]

Wow. That's awesome. I've only been in two ambulances in the last four years (though given they were for Piper I should say thank goodness it hasn't been more) and in one instance she was harnessed to a backboard, and in the other they put her in a five point on the stretcher. I was told to sit up front, though, in a regular three point. In the past, when I was an Explorer/Squad member we *may* have had lap belts on the bench seat, but if we did we never ever used them. If we were transporting patients on the bench we'd use the belts to hold them on, either sitting upright or on a backboard (which meant the three or four people in back had two seats to sit on, or stand). So I guess there must have been some. But other than a cheap booster for kids we didn't offer any restraints at all for anyone in the back who wasn't on the stretcher. Even if parents were with their child they either rode on the stretcher with the kid or on the bench unrestrained. It's so stupid and dangerous. And yet the most I had in an ambulance was a bloody lip from the driver backing up suddenly on an inclined driveway as we waited in a member's house for her to get something.

Wendy

[Unregistered]

That's Great!! I've only been in the back of one once. It only had a 3pt. Glad to see they are becoming more aware of passenger/patient vehicle safety. That's got to feel much more secure than a 3pt. or lap only.

[SusanMae]

I remember reading an article months ago that they were starting to put 5 pts in new ambulances.

Susan

[scatterbunny]

Was there a reason the patient needed to be on a stretcher? I always feel like being strapped to a stretcher is not safe at all. :(

[Karen]

That's just policy. All of our children must be secured on a strecher during transport, with a paramedic and a licensed employee of our facility present.

[Unregistered]

I think that's great. I wish all vehicles could have 5pts in all seating positions.

[Patriot201]

Wow! That's great!

Last time I was in an ambulance, I was on a stretcher but was not restrained by anything more than a single strap that looked like a lap belt. Although I was conscious, I was not able to talk well (due to swelling of my throat and mouth) and thus could not ask about a better restraint.

I wish that all ambulances had better restraint systems!

[mom2pjs]

I am a CPS Tech and a paramedic. The two don't often work well together. We have lap belts and still transport children either on the gurney with lap belts or worse in their parent's lap on the gurney with lap belts. It is legal and so very wrong. I keep trying to advocate for safer transport, but the admin is not accepting (last week I had to talk directly to the fire chief when I found his 4 year old grandson's booster in the front seat in front of an air bag in his emergency vehicle.) Often I encourage the parent to drive his/her own vehicle with the child and another adult in the back seat.... if it's at all feasible. Sorry for the vent.

[Dillipop]

Thought I'd chime in after my experience this weekend. I had to ride in the ambulance with my newborn son...we did not make it to the hospital in time! DH held the baby and I was strapped onto a stretcher. I was worried about going this way, but there was no other choice. Fortunately, we live 2 blocks from the hospital and it was 5 in the morning, so it was a short ride with absolutely no traffic on residential roads. Not sure if there was any other way to get a newborn to the hospital. There is no way they would have let DH take him in our car, since DS was the 2nd patient and had to be monitored. I wish there was a better way to transport...next time we just have to make it to the hospital before the baby comes and won't have to worry about it.

[Jeanum]

Dillipop, congratulations! Hope all is well, that must be a pretty interesting birth story. :) Making it on time was a big concern of mine with my second baby, and thank goodness it wasn't during rush hour. I would have preferred a planned home birth but our unenlightened insurance wouldn't cover it. If I had simply claimed it was an unplanned home birth which would have been covered by insurance, DH wasn't willing to go along with it. Kind of a Catch-22. :rolleyes:

Again, congratulations and hope everything is going well for you. :)

[Dillipop]

Ours was definitely unplanned. Water broke at 3:30, first contraction 3:35, birth at 4:35. My mom made it to watch DS1 when the baby was crowning, as did the paramedics. DH was very, very happy EMS got there in time. Never thought it would be that quick...or that we wouldn't make it to the hospital that was 2 blocks away.

We got to use the safeseat to bring DS home in. He was released at 7 lb 13 oz and fit pretty well from side to side. Lowest harness slot was slightly above his shoulders, but with the harness tight, not something I worried too much about. I just have to say I love this seat, except the chest clip is HUGE! Larger than the clip on the cargo!

[skaterbabscpst]

Dillipop, sounds like my last two labors. lol Glad everything went smoothly for you.