What's in your work bag?

[TheTruckGuy]

Curious what y'all take to work with you. I'm assuming most of us have at least a stethoscope (although I know some people don't believe in them), and for a lot of docs that's it. But I've seen others bring in calipers, a penlight, their own otoscope/the fancy ophthalmoscope, the fancy massimo or nonin pulse ox, I know of 2 that wear a bullet proof vest while on shift.

Now with all that's going on, I'm assuming some pack their own PPE as well. But just wondering what's in your usual work bag.

Personally, when I'm in the ED, it's stethoscope, trauma shears (not the fancy ones), my name stamp, and my EMRA pocket antibiotic reference. That's pretty much it. Although I'm thinking about buying a reusable respirator once all the COVID stuff is done, just to keep handy. Use the light on my phone. If I'm going to be working remotely/in the field, then I take my oto/ophthalmoscope with me and a pulseox/thermometer.

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[BoardingDoc]

Curious what y'all take to work with you. I'm assuming most of us have at least a stethoscope (although I know some people don't believe in them), and for a lot of docs that's it. But I've seen others bring in calipers, a penlight, their own otoscope/the fancy ophthalmoscope, the fancy massimo or nonin pulse ox, I know of 2 that wear a bullet proof vest while on shift.

Now with all that's going on, I'm assuming some pack their own PPE as well. But just wondering what's in your usual work bag.

Personally, when I'm in the ED, it's stethoscope, trauma shears (not the fancy ones), my name stamp, and my EMRA pocket antibiotic reference. That's pretty much it. Although I'm thinking about buying a reusable respirator once all the COVID stuff is done, just to keep handy. Use the light on my phone. If I'm going to be working remotely/in the field, then I take my oto/ophthalmoscope with me and a pulseox/thermometer.

Stethoscope
Medkit for myself/colleagues (ibuprofen, zofran, etc)
Respirator (new addition)
Shears
Phone charger
Pens

If I even considered wearing a bullet proof vest to work, I would be finding a new job immediately.

 

[Tiger26]

My coffee and lunch--I use the stethoscopes in the room now with the 'Vid going on. Other than that I have no desire to expose my stuff to the disease

 

[Fox800]

On a regular (non-pandemic) day: EMRA guides (antibiotics, PressorDex, ortho, EKG), pens, Sharpie, stethoscope, shears, actual nice reflex hammer (lol).
Butterfly iQ ultrasound (lots of sites don't have a phased array/cardiac probe).
Panoptic ophthalmoscope if the site I'm working at doesn't have them.
Laptop for clinical references.
CAT tourniquet.
H&H vacuum-sealed cric kit.
Headlamp for doing lac repairs.

Pandemic: 3M reusable respirator with P100 filters, safety goggles.

I work a lot of locums so I don't trust these small hospitals to have the right stuff.

 

[RustedFox]

- Stethoscope.
- Tin box containing:

- Extra lidocaine/bupivicaine bottles
- A plastic bottle of anti goggle-fog spray
- A bottle of tetracaine
- Rubber bands wrapped around extra pens

- Samsung Galaxy tablet (need my web radio/MLB.TV/NHL.TV).
- 3 quick reference books that I rarely use.
- Safety glasses.
- Headlamp.

- A smaller tin box containing:

- Nail clippers
- Zofran
- Ibuprofen
- Loperamide
- Zyrtec

- A plastic "flat cylinder" containing more hair pomade (I got a lot of hair).
- 2 microfiber cloths for cleaning screens/etc.
- An extra flat N95 mask.
- A tube of 4mg nicotine lozenges (cherry flavored; mint flavored is bogus). No, I don't smoke/chew.
- An issue of "Mountain Bike World" magazine (at present).

 

[ShockIndex]

iPhone and a protein bar keep in my right and left pockets, respectively,

 

[Apollyon]

- A tube of 4mg nicotine lozenges (cherry flavored; mint flavored is bogus). No, I don't smoke/chew.

Then why do you carry it?

 

[RustedFox]

Then why do you carry it?

I have the one disease where nicotine is good for the symptoms.
I tried chewing the gum; but it made me pretty ill, and fast.

 

[Apollyon]

I have the one disease where nicotine is good for the symptoms.
I tried chewing the gum; but it made me pretty ill, and fast.

Oh, sorry dude. I totally forgot about that (for you, not the indication).

 

[RustedFox]

Oh, sorry dude. I totally forgot about that (for you, not the indication).

Wouldn't expect you to remember. Also, I'm not completely convinced that it improves symptoms beyond "modestly".
But damn, the cherry flavor is nice - and so is the buzz.

 

[Apollyon]

Wouldn't expect you to remember. Also, I'm not completely convinced that it improves symptoms beyond "modestly".
But damn, the cherry flavor is nice - and so is the buzz.

Yeah, but, literal many people on SDN can attest to the stuff I recall about what they posted.

 

[RustedFox]

Yeah, but, literal many people on SDN can attest to the stuff I recall about what they posted.

You must have a great remembery.

 

[Apollyon]

You must have a great remembery.

Back in the day, I could spot returning trolls by their writing style.

 

[Renaissance Man]

I have the one disease where nicotine is good for the symptoms.
I tried chewing the gum; but it made me pretty ill, and fast.

Totally not my business, but migraines? ADHD? It bugs me that I can't think of the one disease it is good for...totally fine to ignore my comment all together.

 

[RustedFox]

Totally not my business, but migraines? ADHD? It bugs me that I can't think of the one disease it is good for...totally fine to ignore my comment all together.

 

[Angry Birds]

Along with a stethoscope, mine is an emergency airway bag, including the King Vision Video Laryngoscope.
I just added a full-face respirator to it.

 

[Renaissance Man]

Ah yes, you are getting daily LPs.

 

[RustedFox]

Ah yes, you are getting daily LPs.

Nah. I've never had an LP done.
Nor do I enjoy doing LPs.
They're my least favorite procedure.

 

[bravotwozero]

iPhone and a protein bar keep in my right and left pockets, respectively,

Yeah don't carry a bag either. Pens and reference materials stay in my white coat, stethoscope I bring with me and clip to my scrub pant with a holder. I'll pack a lunch every now and then, but also have a pannier bag attached to my bicycle, with a change of clothes as I change out when coming into and leaving the hospital into my under armors.

 

[Angry Birds]

Yeah don't carry a bag either. Pens and reference materials stay in my white coat, stethoscope I bring with me and clip to my scrub pant with a holder. I'll pack a lunch every now and then, but also have a pannier bag attached to my bicycle, with a change of clothes as I change out when coming into and leaving the hospital into my under armors.

You wear a fomite coat still???

 

[thegenius]

Pen and stethoscope
all you really need


In my bag I carry random stuff like iPhone cables, more pens, motrin,
and stuff I use once a quarter like ethyl chloride spray, silver nitrate sticks

 

[bravotwozero]

You wear a fomite coat still???

Ok, so explain this to me. If the white coat is a 'fomite', and we should all stop wearing it, then we all walk around in scrubs. Does the scrub become the fomite then? Should we all strip down to our undies? But what if the undies become the fomite? You see where I am going with this?

 

[RustedFox]

Ok, so explain this to me. If the white coat is a 'fomite', and we should all stop wearing it, then we all walk around in scrubs. Does the scrub become the fomite then? Should we all strip down to our undies? But what if the undies become the fomite? You see where I am going with this?

Its the long sleeves, amigo.

 

[Angry Birds]

Ok, so explain this to me. If the white coat is a 'fomite', and we should all stop wearing it, then we all walk around in scrubs. Does the scrub become the fomite then? Should we all strip down to our undies? But what if the undies become the fomite? You see where I am going with this?

In addition to the long sleeves (as mentioned by RustedFox), it's the fact that we wash scrubs after every use. Most fomite wearers I have seen don't wash it every day. In fact, it just hangs there for all eternity on a coat hook with all its disgusting stains and nastiness.

 

[RustedFox]

In addition to the long sleeves (as mentioned by RustedFox), it's the fact that we wash scrubs after every use. Most fomite wearers I have seen don't wash it every day. In fact, it just hangs there for all eternity on a coat hook with all its disgusting stains and nastiness.

Welp. There's something we agree on.

I have three coats that I spent a pretty penny on. They do look sharp, and they're microbe/stain-resistant and the fabric is cooling.
I cuff the sleeves up to just below the elbows to show off my ripped forearms, and to keep the sleeves tight in-place.
They get washed after every shift, and sometimes even get professionally cleaned/pressed/starched.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

You folks carry a lot of gear and supplies I expect the hospital to carry. If they don't carry what I want, I use something else. If they don't have something else, I do without. If I can't do without, I transfer the patient.

 

[EMhawkeye]

Totally not my business, but migraines? ADHD? It bugs me that I can't think of the one disease it is good for...totally fine to ignore my comment all together.

UC

 

[RustedFox]

UC

 

[EMhawkeye]

At least you get your dose without the copd

 

[Angry Birds]

Welp. There's something we agree on.

I bet we agree on a lot outside of politics

 

[RustedFox]

I bet we agree on a lot outside of politics

Maybe.

 

[RustedFox]

At least you get your dose without the copd

Yeah; I could never stand a cigarette.
Funny story: when I graduated from PGY-1 to PGY-2 I got a little raise, so I figured that I'd treat myself to a cigar or three in an attempt to learn something about the finer points of fine tobacco.

Yeah, I couldn't handle it. Pretty sure I turned green like in the cartoons. I felt SOB for 2 days afterwards.

Not for me.

 

[HLxDrummer]

Box with goggles, mask. EMRA Ortho guide panoptic, phone charger, wallet, lunch. On my person: Stethoscope, scalpel, pen, phone, badges. Keep meaning to buy the Madgic atomizer and a bag with stuff for needle cric.

 

[RustedFox]

I noticed a few people list "Panoptic" on here.
Are you all really using this every shift?

 

[Apollyon]

I noticed a few people list "Panoptic" on here.
Are you all really using this every shift?

No, duh - they're using the ultrasound!!

 

[Angry Birds]

I noticed a few people list "Panoptic" on here.
Are you all really using this every shift?

What's a panoptic

 

[Angry Birds]

No, duh - they're using the ultrasound!!

What's an ultrasound

 

[HLxDrummer]

I noticed a few people list "Panoptic" on here.
Are you all really using this every shift?

Not every shift but a few times a month. Looking for signs of CRAO, CRVO, papilledema mostly. Can't see **** with a regular opthalmoscope personally.

 

[RustedFox]

I used to carry (as a gag) two stone hand-carved dice in a black felt pouch.
They are (I still have them) carved out of beautiful stone.
I called them "Clinical Decision-Making Dice".

@dchristismi might remember this:

I would roll them and then say ridiculous things when a nurse (or more commonly, a nurse-manager) came to me far too early in a patient's course of care and ask me things that I couldn't yet safely determine, even if I were Osler himself. It usually went like this:

RN: "So, what are you thinking with this patient? Admit? Go home?"
[patient got here :14 minutes ago]
ME: "I don't know; Let's consult the CDM dice!"
[rolls dice]
ME: "Eight! Vanco/Zosyn and admit! GI consult."

It was funny until someone complained.

As an aside; I got these things in a curiosity shop in a small PA mountain town.
They got like 65 bucks out of me that day.
I bought: three sets of these hand-carved, stone dice, several original hardback "Hardy Boys Mysteries" books that I remember reading as a child, other various rock/mineral samples of various sizes and shapes (I'm a bit of a rockhound, and they had some really handsome specimens), several antique glass bottles, and some antique home/farm gadgetry/equipment. Oh, and coffee/breakfast pastries... they sold those as well.

Those kind of places are dangerous to me.

That was a great day. I spent about an hour climbing around the ruins of a stately manor built by some robber-baron coal magnate and found a fantastic piece of anthracite coal that (to me) was perfectly shaped, with its lines of cleavage and luster and all.

Its a shame that the powers that be are letting those ruins just go to hell.
It was a real-life "Legend of Zelda" hour or two.

 

[Fox800]

I noticed a few people list "Panoptic" on here.
Are you all really using this every shift?

Not every shift, but I cannot for the life of me use a regular ophthalmoscope. It just wasn't something my school focused on. So I'm making a personal effort to actually be able to look at eyeballs the right way. I think eyes are kind of cool.

 

[Angry Birds]

Not every shift, but I cannot for the life of me use a regular ophthalmoscope. It just wasn't something my school focused on. So I'm making a personal effort to actually be able to look at eyeballs the right way. I think eyes are kind of cool.

What's an ophthalmoscope

 

[deleted859535]

What's an ophthalmoscope

A reflex hammer.

 

[CajunMedic]

Benadryl (apparently, I’ve developed a food allergy since moving to WV), spare pens, a couple of protein bars and a pack of cafeteria meal tickets in an outside pouch

Inside has my stethoscope, now PPE, and the few references I keep with me. Didactics days, I’ll throw in my notebook and laptop


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[Uranium678]

What's an ophthalmoscope

I don’t use one ever. I want to get better. What do people find it useful for in the ED?

 

[RustedFox]

I don’t use one ever. I want to get better. What do people find it useful for in the ED?

Looking at retinas.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Same questions:
Why are you carrying your own atomizers, scalpels, or other hospital supplied equipment?

Box with goggles, mask. EMRA Ortho guide panoptic, phone charger, wallet, lunch. On my person: Stethoscope, scalpel, pen, phone, badges. Keep meaning to buy the Madgic atomizer and a bag with stuff for needle cric.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using SDN mobile

 

[NYEMMED]

It was stethoscope, lunch, water, pens, reflex hammer (just in case I have a cord pathology), antibiotic guide, penlight.

Now in the days of COVID, I have a separate duffel bag of PPE...