I disagree with doing the Walk of Shame. That has got to hurt like hell and they have these chairs with these wheelie dealies on them. Do the, uh, Spin of Scandal? Yeah that’s a thing
When I broke my ankle and the EMTs came to my house to transport me, they made me hop down my front steps. They said that they couldn’t get their stretcher up my stairs. I’ve always wondered, what if I had broken both ankles or was unconscious? It seems like that must happen and there must be ways to handle it.
Even if that’s entirely reasonable, when we got to the hospital - literally designed for this and involving no stairs that I crossed - they made me get off of their stretcher, hop to a wheelchair, wait in it for a few hours, then get out of it and hop to a new stretcher, where they finally let me stay until I left the hospital.
At the hospital I go to now, I most recently went for a surgery on my back. Though it was painful, I was ambulatory; however, without me even asking the escorting nurse said “are you okay? Would you like a wheelchair?” for the relatively short walk from the entrance to the prep area. I declined but it was a far preferable experience. When they were testing whether I could walk afterwards the PT guy walked behind me with a wheelchair in case I fell. I didn’t even notice him get it.
One last aside: where I now live, literally across the street from the aforementioned hospital, there’s a small apartment building. I think you have to climb eight flights of stairs to get to the front porch, then presumably more if you’re not on the entry level area. Most every time I drive past that place I feel grateful that’s not where I broke my ankle.
I dunno about where you are, but there’s a few different methods for transporting patients who are not ambulatory:
Stair chair. It is a wheelchair type device with tracks on the back. You get to a flight if stairs, you fold the tracks out, and the patient leans back on about a 30-degree angle (not sure what that is in metric (that’s a joke) sorry), and you basically slide down the stairs on the tracks. Great device for patients who can be in a seated position, like Tanner Hall.
Backboard. Everyone knows the backboard. Not great for stairs, but can be used in a pinch, especially if suspected c-spine or potential for hypotensive events.
Scoop. Scoop is a backboard is concave and splits apart down the center longitudinally. Great for folks who are down and cannot get up and cannot tolerate being moved; I.e., broken hip. You bring it to them, open it up like a scissor, come down, and close it around them. It does not touch in the middle so you don’t need to worry about pinching. Downside is you’ll need to use cravats to secure them, or use the scoop and put them direct on steetcher. Not ideal for going down stairs.
Reeves. It’s a flexible stretcher. If you need to carry someone a long way with moderate ups and downs and lefts and rights, reeves is good. Have used it in tight homes, down half flights of stairs, and in the woods. Easy to clean for when people are bleeding or shit themselves. Lightweight. Really cradles the patient in there too, like a little cocoon.
That’s all I got for now, but there’s more, like high/low angle rescue. But for a broken ankle, I’d generally tell you to man up and hop down your stairs.
Thank you for the information! The backboard or Reeves (though I didn’t know the name) were pretty much what I expected. Once at the hospital, I expected them to move me using the linens of the bed / stretcher to transfer me between things. I’ve had a bunch of surgeries and, previously, that’s what’s been done once sedation started. (Most of them were not immediate injuries.)
Thanks for the answer! Yeah, the backboard (or, alternatively, Reeves, according to another commenter) were what I was expecting - from popular media, not prior personal experience. For the ankle, in all honesty, my porch was only three steps off the ground and I had an EMT supporting both sides. The hopping sucked but it wasn’t the worst part of the evening.
I just was amazed that calling for help with a (very badly, fwiw; I had tried to twist it back into place and stand on it twice before someone found me and recommended not doing that) broken ankle would result in three separate instances of me hopping around.
For the back surgery, they lead me to the prep area, told me to strip and wipe down any areas where my skin folded, then get in the stretcher. I didn’t (knowingly) leave that stretcher for most of two days. However, at some point after I was recovered from the anesthesia I said “hey, wait a minute! This isn’t the bed I was in before!” (The nurses thought that was pretty funny.) I guess they moved me at some point, but whether I was actively involved in the process I do not know.
Side note, never put one up your ass. Ask er people why. If you do, go to the hospital and do the walk of shame. Do not remove yourself.
I disagree with doing the Walk of Shame. That has got to hurt like hell and they have these chairs with these wheelie dealies on them. Do the, uh, Spin of Scandal? Yeah that’s a thing
When I broke my ankle and the EMTs came to my house to transport me, they made me hop down my front steps. They said that they couldn’t get their stretcher up my stairs. I’ve always wondered, what if I had broken both ankles or was unconscious? It seems like that must happen and there must be ways to handle it.
Even if that’s entirely reasonable, when we got to the hospital - literally designed for this and involving no stairs that I crossed - they made me get off of their stretcher, hop to a wheelchair, wait in it for a few hours, then get out of it and hop to a new stretcher, where they finally let me stay until I left the hospital.
At the hospital I go to now, I most recently went for a surgery on my back. Though it was painful, I was ambulatory; however, without me even asking the escorting nurse said “are you okay? Would you like a wheelchair?” for the relatively short walk from the entrance to the prep area. I declined but it was a far preferable experience. When they were testing whether I could walk afterwards the PT guy walked behind me with a wheelchair in case I fell. I didn’t even notice him get it.
One last aside: where I now live, literally across the street from the aforementioned hospital, there’s a small apartment building. I think you have to climb eight flights of stairs to get to the front porch, then presumably more if you’re not on the entry level area. Most every time I drive past that place I feel grateful that’s not where I broke my ankle.
I dunno about where you are, but there’s a few different methods for transporting patients who are not ambulatory:
Stair chair. It is a wheelchair type device with tracks on the back. You get to a flight if stairs, you fold the tracks out, and the patient leans back on about a 30-degree angle (not sure what that is in metric (that’s a joke) sorry), and you basically slide down the stairs on the tracks. Great device for patients who can be in a seated position, like Tanner Hall.
Backboard. Everyone knows the backboard. Not great for stairs, but can be used in a pinch, especially if suspected c-spine or potential for hypotensive events.
Scoop. Scoop is a backboard is concave and splits apart down the center longitudinally. Great for folks who are down and cannot get up and cannot tolerate being moved; I.e., broken hip. You bring it to them, open it up like a scissor, come down, and close it around them. It does not touch in the middle so you don’t need to worry about pinching. Downside is you’ll need to use cravats to secure them, or use the scoop and put them direct on steetcher. Not ideal for going down stairs.
Reeves. It’s a flexible stretcher. If you need to carry someone a long way with moderate ups and downs and lefts and rights, reeves is good. Have used it in tight homes, down half flights of stairs, and in the woods. Easy to clean for when people are bleeding or shit themselves. Lightweight. Really cradles the patient in there too, like a little cocoon.
That’s all I got for now, but there’s more, like high/low angle rescue. But for a broken ankle, I’d generally tell you to man up and hop down your stairs.
Thank you for the information! The backboard or Reeves (though I didn’t know the name) were pretty much what I expected. Once at the hospital, I expected them to move me using the linens of the bed / stretcher to transfer me between things. I’ve had a bunch of surgeries and, previously, that’s what’s been done once sedation started. (Most of them were not immediate injuries.)
at least here, they have a smaller, more “hurt the EMT’s back”-y stretchers for those situations.
Thanks for the answer! Yeah, the backboard (or, alternatively, Reeves, according to another commenter) were what I was expecting - from popular media, not prior personal experience. For the ankle, in all honesty, my porch was only three steps off the ground and I had an EMT supporting both sides. The hopping sucked but it wasn’t the worst part of the evening.
I just was amazed that calling for help with a (very badly, fwiw; I had tried to twist it back into place and stand on it twice before someone found me and recommended not doing that) broken ankle would result in three separate instances of me hopping around.
For the back surgery, they lead me to the prep area, told me to strip and wipe down any areas where my skin folded, then get in the stretcher. I didn’t (knowingly) leave that stretcher for most of two days. However, at some point after I was recovered from the anesthesia I said “hey, wait a minute! This isn’t the bed I was in before!” (The nurses thought that was pretty funny.) I guess they moved me at some point, but whether I was actively involved in the process I do not know.