What if the transcript says the patient has a history of violence or is a flight risk?
You can’t just go around restraining everybody. A. That’s what everybody keeps telling us. But if you’re going to be alone in the back of an ambulance with somebody whose history says he may bolt on you (or attack you), I say you persuade him to voluntarily accept restraints for his own protection. You can talk that over with the ED physician and explain your concerns. Remind him he has resources that you don’t. Chances are, he is not even remotely oriented to the constraints of your environment. Q. This sounds bizarre. What about these patients’ civil rights? A. People’s civil rights deserve our respect. But EMTs have civil rights, too. The fact that you’re naturally nice enough to help people for a living doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to come home safe, shift after shift and year after year. Discuss this issue with your medical director before you run even one more of these calls. At the very least, every patient on a medical hold should be restrained during transport. That doesn’t
