Re: What the hell is going on?

[Guest guest]

,

our service is in a rural location. We have vests on two of our units and

the supervisor also has one. We have both concealment vest and outer vests.

Our location sometimes puts the crews on scene before the law enforcement. In

our SOPs, we have an extensive category on when you should wear a vest and

when to stage and wait for law enforcement. Sometimes 40 minutes before LE

can even get in the area.

Remember SCENE SAFETY!!!!

Tom Marek

West EMS

Supervisor

[Guest guest]

,

I suggest you check your figures on a vest. First of all, standard ballistic

vests don't stop knives or ice picks. You can get a Level II or IIA vest for

around $300.00 some places, but I recommend a IIIA which is the highest level

of protection you can get for a concealable vest. It will run about

$400-500. If you want a vest that is both bulletproof and knife proof, it

will run in the neighborhood of about $1000.00.

Take care,

Blum, EMT-P

P.S. I don't think vests are a bad idea. I just think that departments will

be hesitant to purchase them due to the cost for all employees, and the vests

must be fitted to each person for proper protection. Also, get an " extended

coverage " vest. It covers your sides too. Take care and be safe.

[Guest guest]

P.S. The figures I gave are for the cheapest vest I can find. If you want a

brand name, it is more like $500-900 for NIJ Level II, IIA, III, IIIA vests.

[Guest guest]

On Fri, 20 Apr 2001 00:13:16 -0500 " E. Bledsoe, DO, FACEP "

writes:

>

> Pray for EMS. Pray for our society. We appear to be going to hell

> in a hand basket.

>

I hope this is just a freak coincidence. Let's all be careful out there.

" Leadership is action, not position "

Larry RN ...and some other stuff

These are my opinions only, and do not necessarily reflect those of any

employers, organizations, family, or pets

________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

For clarification- a vest will not stop a knife wound, except in the trauma

plate- funny it stops some bullets (not highpower rifles, etc), but not a

knife....go figure. The vests run from about 550-800 bucks a pop. Yes, I

wear one both in LE and EMS, as I have a fan club.

Jay

Re: What the hell is going on?

Does anybody know how many services across the state wear bullet proof vest?

I for one would like to start wearing one. Our town only has a pop. of about

3,300 but i bet 1,000 are druggies it has always been a nightmare to think one

of these guys could have a knife or a gun. The only problem is no one on our

service would want to waer one and they would probally think that I'm stupid for

ever dreaming such thing up. I am even willing to buy my own vest. Give me

some input. I mean a vest only cost about $250 to $300 for one that would serve

the purpose of stopping knife wounds and penetration from a bullet. Compared to

a lost life.

" E. Bledsoe, DO, FACEP " wrote:

What the hell is going on?

Two paramedics are murdered in their station in Indiana.

Somebody steals an ambulance in Houston and uses it to abduct a 5 year old

girl.

A man in Forest Hill repeatedly rams an ambulance on an emergency call because

it blocked his exit from the restaurant where he was eating.

Pray for EMS. Pray for our society. We appear to be going to hell in a hand

basket.

Bledsoe

PS. I'm sorry. I could not resist the opportunity to comment on these tragic

events.

[Guest guest]

We purchased ours through Gall's. Most of our staff like the IIA vests that

run about $199.00. These will stop small caliber guns. If you have to

purchase your self, this is not to high of a price and why our crews like

them so much is you really can't tell they are wearing them. They don't

restrict your moveability.

Tom

[Guest guest]

Stolen ambulances... medics killing medics.... " bullet-proof " vests...

Can we restart the aerial spraying of Prozac?

" Leadership is action, not position "

Larry RN ...and some other stuff

These are my opinions only, and do not necessarily reflect those of any

employers, organizations, family, or pets

________________________________________________________________

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Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!

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[Guest guest]

Eddie raises an excellent point.

First, never fault anyone who wants to make sure they go home alive at the end

of their shift....

Second, and most important on this topic of body armor: If you have it you HAVE

to wear it all the time, every shift, EVERY call. If you don't you might as

well save your money. Our friend murphy will make sure you will need it on the

ONE call you decide not to wear it on.

Dudley

[Guest guest]

Good idea Larry !!!!

Joby Berkley

Re: What the hell is going on?

> Stolen ambulances... medics killing medics.... " bullet-proof " vests...

> Can we restart the aerial spraying of Prozac?

>

> " Leadership is action, not position "

> Larry RN ...and some other stuff

> These are my opinions only, and do not necessarily reflect those of any

> employers, organizations, family, or pets

>

> ________________________________________________________________

> GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!

> Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!

> Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:

> http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have to agree with Dave. We've evolved into a

society that had bred violence through the erratic

control of our own defense. Not to start any great

political debate, but when you allow the criminals to

be more powerful than the citizens, we can only expect

this type of evolution. When we stop making people pay

consequences for their action, giving them that inch,

they take the mile. If more " bad guys " were afraid of

the results of their activity, then they might rethink

their course of action. We in EMS, for the most part,

are simple prey. Violence against us will continue to

grow. One thing that I feel is that there is not

enough training in scene safety for medics. How much

time is spent in class discussing entry into a house?

How to stand off to the side when knocking on a door,

or how to keep a clear line between you and an exit.

Whe was the last time you 'patted' down an individual

before you let them in your unit? We get tunneled in

on our pt, and too often lose sight of our

surroundings. We preach that our safety is first and

foremost, but we need to spend more time teaching

ourselves how to keep ourselves safe. This impression

of EMS as a business, or as an extension of the

hospital, has to be changed.

Jeff

--- Dave wrote:

> What is going on I fear, old comrade, is the

> inevitable final deterioration

> of a society that got too tolerant of unacceptable

> behavior and too

> sophisticated to require people to be personally

> responsible for their own

> actions. There was this little burg called Rome that

> kinda went the same

> way, although they held on a lot longer before they

> flushed themselves down

> the crapper. I hope it's not too late to reverse the

> trend for us, but I'm

> afraid we've let slip the dogs of war and its hard

> to get those puppies back

> in the kennel once they've gotten out.

>

> Dave

>

>

> What the hell is going on?

>

>

> > What the hell is going on?

> >

> > Two paramedics are murdered in their station in

> Indiana.

> >

> > Somebody steals an ambulance in Houston and uses

> it to abduct a 5 year old

> girl.

> >

> > A man in Forest Hill repeatedly rams an ambulance

> on an emergency call

> because it blocked his exit from the restaurant

> where he was eating.

> >

> > Pray for EMS. Pray for our society. We appear to

> be going to hell in a

> hand basket.

> >

> > Bledsoe

> >

> > PS. I'm sorry. I could not resist the

> opportunity to comment on these

> tragic events.

> >

> >

> > [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >