What do EMTs do with your gun?

Status
Not open for further replies.
When I worked at Evans Hospital all valueables were taken by the pnt. admin rep inventoried and locked in a safe in the admissions office. Never had to deal W/ a gun but I expect that's where it would go as well.

ETA As an EMT at the scene (assuming lawfully carried weapon not evidence ) in your home I'd give it to a familiy member. in the ambulance ( I agree the biohazard bag isn't a great idea) it would go into a bag marked PNT. PROPERTY and get handed to the admissions people at the E.R. eitherway not my problem.

I went and dug up my old textbook from EMT school The Basic EMT And it makes no mention of pnt. property disposition.
 
That's why I always carefully handed off the opaque red biohazard bag to security/LE and verbally informed them there was an unloaded handgun within. I found that using a clear plastic bag seemed to freak out too many people when they saw the firearm inside.

What did you find that worked well?
Click to expand...
I tossed that in for humor, any way we do not transport guns. It goes to an on sceen LEO when they arive, its good to work in an LEO enriched area for this purpose.
 
Checking in here-
Some background: I have worked as a professional firefighter or paramedic since 1989 (even though a few years of that was as a volunteer). I also work as an instructor, so I have contact with quite a few systems. I can tell you: it depends not only on how you are acting, but on the system in your locality, and on who responds.

Generally, if you are knocked out, the weapon will be turned over to law enforcement. (We even do so for LEOs) There are exceptions.

Example:

I responded a few years ago to a motorcycle accident. The patient told us that in the compartment under the seat of the bike, he had a pistol. I went to turn it over to the cops, but they told me that the Sheriff was an anti, and would delay returning it as long as possible, as long as a year. For that reason, the cops did not want to touch it.

So, I unloaded it, and placed it in the patient's gym bag and put it in the cab of the ambulance. We gave it back to him when we got to the hospital, along with a warning not to let the hospital staff know he had it, or else they would turn it over to the cops, and he might not ever see it again.

I could have lost my job for that, but right is right.
 
The worst case of spaghetti I saw was motorcycle vs. 1ton delivery truck. Guy pulled on us, then started seizing, I was so scared it was going to go off. When he passed out, I put it behind my back as he was an urgent. You should have seen the look on the OODs face when he said is that a pistol in your back or are you just happy to see me.
I went outside and cleared the weapon with him watching and turned it over to the base provost marshal.
Guy came by to apologise to another crew a few days later.
Situation dictates the response.
 
I think I have replied in a thread like this before. Had a guy come in recently after an MVC - didn't look too bad, but he keeps shifting around on the backboard with a grimace on his face. I spotted his the straps from his IWB holster and asked him if I could make him more comfortable without the 2 lbs of steel - had to logroll him so I could get it out, the got to see the blood drain out of the face of 4 of the residents from pakistan - good times. I cleared it and maintained it until security showed up and made them put it in the safe WITH ME - never trust the security staff, too many things get lost..
 
siglite said:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assuming you're hurt. Car crash, motorcycle crash, struck by lighting, whatever, and you're transported. What do the EMTs do with your sidearm when they find it?
Click to expand...

Around here the police would have been dispatched on the call due to the injury accident.

If the driver was truly incapacitated (ie: going to hospital by ambulance) then the paramedics would give us the weapon... We would probably clear the weapon and the driver (we always clear the drivers in accidents). Once we determined that everything was clear, we'd take the weapon to our property bureau and place it in as "personal property". We'd then give an explanation card to the subject of the accident, which explains where/when/how to respond to retrieve their property.

Around here it isn't any big deal. Obviously if we were talking about a prior felon it would be a problem, but it wouldn't cause any issues for Joe-blow citizen, and the weapon would be returned promptly.

This isn't necessarily unique to firearms either... Say, for instance, that the vehicle involved had some high-dollar electronics inside. Since the driver is incapacitated and leaving the scene by ambulance, we tow the vehicle to our yard for safe keeping until the driver is released from the hospital. We don't leave any high dollar items in these vehicles, and as a matter of policy would place such items into the property bureau as "personal property" (things like: Laptop computers, expensive tools, etc).
 
I totalled a 2 seat sports car(not much passenger compartment) and told the LEO's there was a nickel Colt .45 in the car. They searched repeatedly and never found it. My dad found it a week later at the junk yard underneath the passenger floormat. It had started out in its permanent holstered position between the passenger seat and center console right next to the gear shifter and emergency brake. I always keep one holstered there...never know when you'll get a chance to make a car jacker's day................shorter.
 
I went and dug up my old textbook from EMT school The Basic EMT And it makes no mention of pnt. property disposition.
Click to expand...
I checked my brother's EMT training book, and it advises them to not touch the person until LE secures the weapon. It does not differentiate between civilian CCW'er, cop, or bad guy- and devotes about a sentence to the issue.
 
I've worked in a number of ER's, no problems with your weapon. Most of them have gun-free zone signs on the doors, but I have never seen a patient legally carrying have a problem. We understand you didn't plan to see us today:)

Two of the ER's I worked at in the past actually had gun lockers where we secure the weapon and issue the patient the key. (these were outside the padded rooms and enable PD to securely disarm before wrestling with a violent mental patient but did double-duty serving legal permit-holders) With my current employer the weapon is unloaded and placed in a self-sealing plastic envelope (same place wallets, jewelry,etc goes) and we put it in the safe, giving the patient a receipt (or put the receipt on the chart if patient can't communicate)

We usually don't get long guns as the medics of course leave those at the scene for PD to secure.
 
Nothing standard about dealing with weapons.

I recently submitted an article to a national EMS magazine on this particular issue, still waiting to see if it gets published.

Nebraska put a provision in their CCW laws last year that permittees are required to surrender their weapon to EMS when submitting themselves for care. I know their state office of EMS was working up a training program but not sure how it all turned out.,
 
The way we handle it in my area is the officer on scene will secure the weapon(s) if there are not any competent relatives/friends the owner wishes to hand the items off to. The idea is someone being transported for injuries is likely to not make rational decisions due to pain and/or pain medications.

After clearing up the accident, we'll head down to the hospital and hopefully a friend/family member is there to take custody of the gun(s). If not, most of the hospitals I deal with have lockboxes that security can use to store their weapons until they are ready to be released.

Other areas of the country may not be so easy to work with for gun owners, but that's why I don't live there.
 
EMS needs to be trained in clearing and unloading weapons if they're going to be taking possession.

During traffic stops, I've had the police 'clear' weapons or at least attempt to do so. They often didn't know how to clear an unfamiliar weapon. They also swept me with the muzzle every single time but the last time,Sept. 4, 2007.
 
When I got in a head on 3 weeks ago my fiancee and I had 4 guns with us. She was in pretty bad shape, and so was my brother, but I was up and moving ( didn't know I was hurt).
I called 911 and told the dispatcher there were guns in the car, along with all the other info. when cops and emts got there I had already called my dad, who was on his way, and told the first cop I saw that I didn't want to lose my guns to an evidence locker, he said "don't blame you"
So my dad took them home while we all went to the hospital.
Later I found out that m buddy, who is the captain of fire/rescue was on scene and would have handled it also.
 
At least in Florida, LE responds to every accident. They would be there to recover the firearm. Even if LE is slow to respond FF's often remain on scene even after the patient is gone, and they can transfer the firearm. I have had this happen only once, and it was off-duty LE, and he took it with him. However, I have handed over alot of other property to LE when a patient is rapidly transported.
 
I am working today. We left an accident scene this afternoon, after one victim was transferred. FHP was enroute, with no ETA. We don't wait. sometimes it takes hours.

We don't have a WRITTEN policy, but our chiefs are political appointees from up north. They are pretty anti, and would want us to have the deputies take possession. Since our sheriff is pretty anti as well, you will probably never see them again. For that reason, most cops and firefighters on the street adopt a "ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies" policy, unless you are being a jerk, in which case I am not risking my job for you.
 
Around here, if it's an MVA, LE is on scene. So far I have had only one patient who was armed. Fellow who tried to drive his Harley and sidecar the long way through a Chevy pick up. He had an Az. CHL. The Valencia County Deputy on scene took charge of the gun and made sure the Pt knew where it was. I later took the same fellow on an inter-facility transport from re-hab to an Ortho follow up and he told me he had no problem getting his gun back.

While going through EMT Basic and Intermediate class, I have had the opportunity to do some education on the facts about CCW and who really owns and carries guns and that finding one on a patient is not something to get freaked about. All the EMTs and Medics I work with seem to be pro-gun, several are VERY into guns and shooting sports. So we tend to be "Oooh, nice grips!" rather than "OMG! HE"S GOT A FREAKING GUN!" I once got into a great gun BS session with a Patient in his home after we'd checked the guy out and decided he didn't need a ride toe the hospital. He had a #4 Lee Enfield on the wall above the chair he was sitting in. You should be able to guess by my user name how THAT conversation started. :cool:
 
I am working today. We left an accident scene this afternoon, after one victim was transferred. FHP was enroute, with no ETA. We don't wait. sometimes it takes hours.
Click to expand...

Thats FHP for you, but couldn't you call for SO or PD?
 
He had a #4 Lee Enfield on the wall above the chair he was sitting in. You should be able to guess by my user name how THAT conversation started.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing three words. "Nice number four!"
 
Reading a thread like this every now and then is good for me.

It reminds me why I never took up riding motorcycles!!!

Gregg
 
I just wrecked the wifes truck after a day of shooting (8 days ago):uhoh: no major injuries but the arriving officers had to help me find the pistol bag which ended up 2 carlengths away and on the other side of the road. I asked the deputy what would have happened had we been uncouncious he said pistols probly wouldnt have been found:eek: and all other weapons would have been recieved into the evidence locker at the station for safe keeping
 
Where I work, PD is always on scene, along with fire. A gun goes with the officer, and the patient gets it back from the police dept.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
The Year Is 1963... What Are Your Guns of Choice?
2
Replies
47
Views
2K
Sheepdog1968
S
DMK
  • Locked
What would you do with your guns/ammo if you had to temporarily evacuate?
2
Replies
30
Views
1K
larry_minn
L
David E
  • Locked
Cop asks to see your CCW gun......what do you do?
2 3
Replies
68
Views
4K
HOWARD J
H
C
  • Locked
Argh! Bedbugs! Exterminator coming. What do I do with my guns?
2
Replies
27
Views
3K
baz
B
D
  • Locked
What will you do with your guns when you die?
2 3
Replies
68
Views
2K
Hot brass
H
Back
Top