What do you keep in your pockets

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Hernandez

Hernandez

Paranoid and Crotchety...
Verified Member
Physician
20+ Year Member
When you're working ICU?

Me; Peep valve for ambu bag, saline bullets, tongue depressor, abg kit, and the nifty wedge to undo tight vent tubing connections. I use to also carry a 2" 16 gauge angio cath, but they finally started stocking better versions in code cart for PTX.

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scalpel, iPhone

nothing more -- as all emergent procedures can be performed with a scalpel -- all "urgent" procedures can wait a bit of time for me to find the other necessary equipment

HH

(I would carry a coudet tip Bougie, but it is not practical -- that may change, if this "portable' Bougie that was described on one of the CCM blogs recently becomes widely available)
 
Hamhock said:
scalpel, iPhone

nothing more -- as all emergent procedures can be performed with a scalpel -- all "urgent" procedures can wait a bit of time for me to find the other necessary equipment

HH

(I would carry a coudet tip Bougie, but it is not practical -- that may change, if this "portable' Bougie that was described on one of the CCM blogs recently becomes widely available)
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I've seen residents roll the bougie into a tight coil, and others thread it through the drawstring hole in their scrub pants . I'd ask them to run a Cavi-wipe on that one before they tube me with it.
 
A bougie in your pocket? Seriously? Dont you have airway equipment handy? I carry a stethoscope and my phone. A trach hook??? I would stick my fingers with that all the time LOL.
How often have you had to use it? I cant think of a single time where I thought....I could use a trach hook.
 
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Wow, interesting thread.
There is nothing in my pockets.
Shouldn't you just have your ICUs, crash carts and difficult airway carts stocked better?
 
I've found when the SHTF half the time the staff don't know within seconds where certain rarely used equipment is. It's very.....frustrating. The big ones that I've had we're large needles for decompression of pneumos(thankfully my unit has fixed that issue), surgical best tube trays (we do a lot of seldom her technique small bore tubes), and difficult airway equipment (don't get me started on being in a tertiary hospital MICU without a difficult airway cart)

But the things I carry are more due to my MICU changing how they stock rooms, since we have a large contact isolation population they don't fully stock every room so I use the peep valve and saline bullets more than anything. The tongue depressor I use when intubating,
 
ProwlerturnGas said:
A bougie in your pocket? Seriously? Dont you have airway equipment handy? I carry a stethoscope and my phone. A trach hook??? I would stick my fingers with that all the time LOL.
How often have you had to use it? I cant think of a single time where I thought....I could use a trach hook.
Click to expand...

Uh, read for comprehension?

I don't carry a bougie in my pocket.

Stick your fingers with the trach hook? Are we talking about the same thing?
 
I do coil a bougie up and carry it in my pocket, its pretty unobtrusive. I guess if it were, I wouldn't carry it haha.

I've had to use and replace it multiple times. Most of the time, its when I'm responding to floor codes/rapid responses where equipment is lacking. Usually its the "intubation tray" from the code cart that has a handle, blades, a tie, and some tubes and NPA/OPAs, no bougie. We have them in the ICU and ED, but I'll use the one in my pocket just because its more convenient than asking someone (who inevitably doesn't know where they are) to grab one.


ProwlerturnGas said:
Nice!

And I didnt say you did. Cyclohexanol said he carried a bougie. Talk about reading comprehension. Yikes!
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tkim said:
I carry one that has a blunt tip.
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What have you had to use it for? Honestly, I find it a very interesting tool to keep with you.

I'm an anesthesia trained intensivist. This has never, ever been something I would have used, let alone keep in my pocket. Not trying to be a jerk. Curious, more than anything I guess.

Cyclohexanol--that makes sense-I can understand why you carry a bougie. Where I am, we carry an airway bag that has all the equipment one needs to intubate in "austere conditions".
 
ProwlerturnGas said:
What have you had to use it for? Honestly, I find it a very interesting tool to keep with you.

I'm an anesthesia trained intensivist. This has never, ever been something I would have used, let alone keep in my pocket. Not trying to be a jerk. Curious, more than anything I guess.
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The rapid 4-step:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8922017

Never done one on a live person, just cadavers. It was part of my residency training. Used the Cook Cric kit more often. But try finding a trach hook when you need one. They have a tendency to walk - even when no one knows what it's used for. Or try carrying a Cook Cric Kit in your pocket. Can't be done.

I think the point of the thread is that if you wander outside your territory, what would carry with you? If you live the unit and never stray, you have control over your airway kits and boxes so you don't have to have a pocketful of anything.

I get called to the floors every so often to tube someone, as well as the unit at night when there isn't an intubating intensivist around. Nothing's standardized, so it's hit and miss.
 
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Sanford guide and my iphone.

Maybe if our airway box and crash carts were missing something I wanted . . .

We'll see what I do when I'm out on my own.

Though I'll probably end up somewhere where I'm the only guy, ICU director by default. I'll make the cart and airway box the way I like it. 😀
 
While in the ICU almost nothing. Just pager, a cheap pen, and a light pen nothing more.
 
Hernandez said:
The Sanford all sucks, and I dislike the tables since they changed the lay out in 2007.
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I also detest Sanford, though I admit, I carry it. the more I use it the easier it is getting to remember where stuff is located.

And for you JDH who carrys the Iphone and a Sanford, they make a Sanford App for your phone so I guess you can roll in with just your phone 😛
 
My iphone with epocrates and uptodate. Sometimes I carry Marino's Little ICU book.
 
Bostonredsox said:
I also detest Sanford, though I admit, I carry it. the more I use it the easier it is getting to remember where stuff is located.

And for you JDH who carrys the Iphone and a Sanford, they make a Sanford App for your phone so I guess you can roll in with just your phone 😛
Click to expand...

I like certain amount of redundancy when it comes to quick reference - phones run out of batteries
 
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