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wires. Pushing a button on the defibrillator, they
send a jolt of electricity into the patient. It would
hurt if the patient were awake, but when a person
needs defibrillation, they are nearly always uncon-
scious. Only paramedics, and not EMTs, can use
these devices.
Carrying Patients
After a patient is
stabilized
, or made com-
fortable and ready for transport, the paramedics
use a variety of gear to move the people. The
best known is the rolling stretcher called a gur-
ney. These have a pad for the person to lie on, as
well as straps to hold them in place. The wheels
help the paramedics move the person from the
accident site to the ambulance. The wheels and
gurney legs then collapse as the gurney is pushed
into the back of the ambulance.
Sometimes, a gurney won’t fit into the place
a person is located. Another way to move patients
in that case, if it can be done safely, is the stair
chair. This is a rolling chair with straps. The patient
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