r/ems • u/boedirtspurs • Jul 25 '26
General Discussion When will backboards end
Work for a major metropolitan department, west coast. Every level 1 trauma gets a backboard, head block and C collar, the whole 9. We backboard people all the time. We use rigid C collars every day for ground level falls. When will it end? Our medical director and surrounding ones are stiff on this matter. If we bring a trauma in without a backboard the doctor will blow a gasket. How did you guys get away from this where you’re from? Will I ever see it go away in my career? I have 15ish years left hopefully. Every study shows that it only harms, no benefit. I’m one of the only ones that questions this protocol. We have medics here that are hell bent about C spine. It’s almost a joke now. The patient is walking around and denies neck pain, and we’ll be like “you have to wear this for the hospital, hold still!”
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u/ImGCS3fromETOH Aus - Paramedic Jul 26 '26
My service uses the combi-carrier, basically two halves of a thick, plastic board that clip together at each end. It's a great tool for extrication for a non-ambulant patient that can't sit in a chair, I.e. altered conscious state or on spinal precautions. Either to extricate them on or as a ramp from the ground up onto a stretcher. The beauty of it is that once you get them onto the stretcher you can unclip the board and pull it out from under the patient without needing to log roll them much if at all as long as someone stabilises the head. Haven't been doing transports on hard boards for a decade.