Do you have a cardiac monitor on a BLS rig?

[Handsome Robb]

We've got a system that works exceedingly well without transmission. Only necessary if the providers cannot interpret the ECG's.

We also do not transmit ECGs. Our system works very well without it.

Same here.

I can't transmit one even if I wanted to. Or at least I'm not aware of how to do it. Be nice to be able to if you were really stuck though.

Most of the AEDs that are 3-lead capable are also marketed as tougher than your "average" AED. That's why we have Zoll AED Pros instead AED Plus models I am told.

Besides that I can't come up with much. If a BLS unit is getting an intercept I would expect ALS is bringing a monitor. I suppose ALS could use the three lead function during an already "in progress" arrest to save time and check for rhythm. If someone arrests in front of me the AED is going on immediately and staying on even if it doesn't shock, so all they would have to do is unlock and voila, three lead. Of course we have Zoll monitors too so they could just plug in our pads to their monitor...

I've never understood why all the agencies we co-respond with don't carry monitors that are all the same brand as ours or why we don't carry an adapter.

All the FDs here use Zoll monitors and we carry the Philips. I believe the few volly squads we have carry Zoll AEDs as well, never been to an arrest where they were the only fire unit on scene. Every time we go to an arrest that fire is already there we have to change the pads out. Not a huge deal but it'd be nice to be able to just plug in there pads and go from there. FWIW, I always put the pads on first then the 4-lead gets put on a little later. It's attached early on but pads give me a fine view of their initial rhythm.

 

[Christopher]

Any use in having the AEDs that give a 3-lead rather than just the regular AED?

I don't know if there is any advantage, but we've got them now. We don't run ALS engines, but often have paramedics on the engine (which carries the 3-Lead capable AED). Sometimes more information is good, but hasn't made much of a difference in practice.

 

[Christopher]

I've never understood why all the agencies we co-respond with don't carry monitors that are all the same brand as ours or why we don't carry an adapter.

It hasn't been mandated in the past, but currently in the two counties I work all EMS agencies utilize the same brand of monitors/AEDs or carry adapters.

County 1: Philips. (IFT uses Zoll)
County 2: Zoll. (previously Physio-Control)

Our industrial fire brigade has 26 AED's on site, all brand-compatible with the county EMS system. Being able to swap 1:1 is awesome when rolling up on a code.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Our industrial fire brigade has 26 AED's on site, all brand-compatible with the county EMS system. Being able to swap 1:1 is awesome when rolling up on a code.

That'd be nice. It definitely wouldn't be cheap to get fire all new monitors, especially when all they really use them for is the first, maybe second round in a cardiac arrest if they're way out in the middle of nowhere or if they're on scene for a while with an EMS patient and have run out of things to do if we're responding priority 3.

Getting an adapter for every ambulance seems like an easy and relatively cheap (maybe not, everything medical is so damn expensive) way to solve this "problem". Like I said, it isn't a huge deal to swap the pads out, sometimes may be beneficial if they're really hairy and didn't get shaved before the pads went on. I've seen some really poorly placed pads though by both EMS and fire that needed to be changed even if we could just "plug and play".

 

[ThirtyAndTwo]

We carry one because we have enough medics at the hospital to dispatch one with every call, most of the time. It saves him/her the time and trouble of lugging their own monitor back and forth, because we all know how much lifting the medics do .

Anyway, we are trained by our organization to hook it up and use the BP/pulse ox/heart rate functions so we get valuable information that we can actually make use of and the rhythm is already on the screen when the medic arrives.

 

[NomadicMedic]

You can get that same valuable information with a BP cuff and your fingers and eyes.

 

[bahnrokt]

I really want my BLS squad to start putting monitors on the rigs. We average 15-20 minutes from on scene with a PT to when we see an ALS intercept. Being able to hand a medic a strip as soon as they get out of the fly car is valuable. My own personal want extends from having a monitor and can sync its data directly into our e-PCR system.