Wow, this is a total train wreck. I read this discussion from beginning to end and it some how ended up with fat boy deciding to place all HIV positive people in the world on a reservation. Sorry bud, but even if that was an attempt at a joke there is still no place for it here (it obviously wasn't because you came back and defended it).
On the topic of medical information being handed out to anyone I disagree. I would have no problem with the information being given to a responsible troop leader or camp nurse, but there is seldom a time when the information would be prudent in emergency care. No matter what state youre in BLS will not be administering any drug if they are under 18. An EMT-Basic can only give epinephrine and nebulizer treatments...so they won't be giving drugs that have a high risk of conflicting with other medications. EMT-Intermediates and EMT-Paramedics have a broader spectrum of drugs they can administer, but most are limited to cardiac drugs like atropine and dopamine. My point is there aren't that many drugs with a high potential of conflicting with other meds that are pushed in the field without a doctor on the line. Mr. BSA470Firstaider-save the world has no business giving anyone any sort of medication. The closest he can come to administering drugs is assisting someone in taking their own prescription meds in an emergency; he isn't legally allowed to even give a kid an aspirin. With the risk of conflicting medications removed what other prudent information could you possibly be missing in an emergency? There is very little medical history needed if you aren't pushing drugs if you are actually a trained medical professional. If you aren't trained to handle medical emergencies what makes you think youre going to know what to do with the information on the sheet? Working on an ambulance we are very seldom given the benefit of knowing a pt's medical history. Honestly I don't see any justification for hading out medical information to un-licensed "Rescue Randy" care givers, especially when they are 16 years old with a redcross "emergency response" course under their belts. (Dont get me wrong, its good information to have on hand if the kid ends up needing definitive care, but Im against it being divulged to minors on a power trip)
