Ambulance Rides and Carseats

Ducky5306 · Sep 3, 2009

So yesterday we got to take not one but TWO Ambulance rides :thumbsdown: One from my house to a hospital then a transfer from that hospital to another hospital- Ride from home to hospital (Ambulance was called for my son age 3) the firefighter/EMTs told me to grab the carseat out of my car (It was not an "emergency" at that point but he still needed to go to the hospital and I was not comfortable driving him) they "installed" his MA in the capt chair that had a really crappy old lap only belt that would not stay tight. The chair itself was also rear-facing.. During the second ride (transfer non-emergency) they actually had a 5-pt harness they attached to the stretcher and buckled him in.. that Ambulance actually had a infant bucket car seat installed in it too (on the sideways facing bench) and the driver was HORRIBLE! :thumbsdown: my mom was behind us and was amazed we didn't crash

it makes me wonder what would have happen had we crashed with my son 1) in a carseat that was NOT installed properly or 2) on the 5-pt stretcher buckle thingy (that was not tight at all due to the fact he had to have EKG wires hooked up the whole time)

He is fine btw he just likes to turn blue and scare the bejeezes out of me, apparently

Pixels · Sep 3, 2009

I'm glad to hear that your son is okay.

In my tech course, we were taught that the back of an ambulance is quite possibly the last place you want to be in a crash. Ambulances rely heavily on their high visibility, lights, and siren to avoid crashes. The back of an ambulance is filled with lots of projectiles (heavy, but necessary, equipment, sharp objects, and often the medic is unrestrained as theyhave to move about to do their job). When the situation allows, ideally, they would get your carseat out of your car. That part they got right. Then put the back of the stretcher upright, and place the carseat on the stretcher. The carseat will be forward facing on the stretcher but rear facing in the vehicle. Then the medic uses TWO belts on the stretcher, one through EACH belt path in a convertible, or both belts through one belt path if there is only one belt path. And then the child is harnessed in the seat as usual.

Of course that's in an ideal scenario. As you noted in your second ambulance trip, sometimes they simply can not properly use the carseat while also giving the patient the medical care necessary.

I should also note that this is what we were taught in my tech class. Some of the people in the class were EMTs and were learning this for the first time as well. I think the people who were transporting your son did the best that they could with the resources (physical and educational) that they had available to them at the time.

Ducky5306 · Sep 3, 2009

in the first ride the EMT was not buckled (nor was I) at first the one EMT did put the carseat on the stretcher but the other EMT said no way put it in the capt chair, it worried me since we drove 15-20 min and on the busy highway during rush hour traffic @8:30am (No lights/sirens) But it was actually the second ride (the one he was in the 5-pt harness on the stretcher) that made me worry more since it was a 20-30 min ride (also on the busy highway) and the person driving was driving was less then careful! (to put it nicely) she pulled right out in front of someone who ended up almost hitting us! (There were no lights/sirens on)

I do thank them for taking such awesome care of my scared son and myself! i am very greatful too all firefigher/EMT/ER docs/docs in general.. The two rides just made me wonder "What if" ya know?