Rural 911 Paramedic EDC (22M)

22M paramedic in a rural county of about 10k. Third service, 70-30 mix 911-IFT with some event standby thrown in. Been licensed and working close to a year now. Shown is only my personal equipment – I don't carry any medical supplies on me as those are all in the bags we bring with us, with extras in the squad. Links are included to show exactly what I use, none are affiliate links.

From top to bottom, left to right:

1. Earbuds: soundcore AeroClip. These are an open-ear clip-on set of earbuds. We give encode to the receiving RN via personal cell phone instead of radio (I know, I know). Usually I will just put my phone to my ear like a normal person, but sometimes I need to go hands-free on a critical call. The open-ear design keeps me aware of alarms from the monitor/ventilator and anything my partner(s) in the back are saying to me.
2. Shears: XShear 7.5" Heavy Duty Trauma Shears. I like these more than the Leatherman Raptors or SOG Parashears because they are simpler. The others have a hundred nooks and crannies for blood, vomit, or urine to hide in and are a bear to clean. XShears are durable, sharp, and autoclavable, if I had access to an autoclave. I keep them in the soft holster so that they stay in a consistent position in my thigh pocket.
3. Sunglasses: Goodr Mach G. Cheap polarized shades to wear to and from calls, and occasionally on outdoor scenes. The plastic bounces instead of breaks, and when they do break, they will be cheap to replace.
4. Flashlight: Fenix PD32R. I hate consumable batteries, hence the rechargeable version. Extremely bright for nighttime search or scene illumination, with a near-instant strobe if needed for self-defense. A strobing flashlight is an excellent choice for self-defense in EMS because it provides a strong deterrent to an assailant, if not temporary incapacitation, without inflicting any physical or chemical damage.
5. Knife: Milwaukee Fastback 48-22-1520. I picked this knife because it has the thickest blade I have ever seen on a folder. Most cutting tasks are handled by my shears, but the knife is useful for the others, or the occasional pry job. The button lock hinders psych patients who may try to harm me with my own knife, while still remaining accessible when needed.
6. Penlight: Weltool M6 BL. There is supposed to be a disposable penlight in the first-in bag, but 50% of the time it's not f*****g there. This one is the right brightness with a pupil gauge and isn't cheap crap.
7. Permanent Marker: Milwaukee Inkzall 48-22-3105. I used to have a regular sharpie, but the pocket clip wouldn't hold. The Milwaukee has a better pocket clip and writes more reliably through dust/dirt/whatever.
8. Pen: Cap-O-Matic Space Pen. Writes reliably wherever I try. Enough said.
9. Guardian Angel Elite. This is a device that clips magnetically to my shoulder. I can have it flash red in the back, white in the front, flash both, or have one or both solid – so it can function like a headlamp. This is nice for both seeing and being seen on nighttime road scenes, where there are often not streetlamps. If you've ever seen Code 3, that scene where the crew are almost run over on the highway happens way more often than it should. Reflective high-vis only works if there's a light shining on it. Realistically, I only carry this at night, when it's attached to my shoulder regardless of what call we go on.
10. Badge Reel: Key-Bak Sidekick. Clips to my belt loop and holds my stuff in place without issue. This one's been going strong since I started EMT school in 2023, I expect it will last a lot longer.
    1. ID. Not shown for obvious reasons. I keep mine on a reel because it is the RFID key to unlock the narcotic safe.
    2. Pediatric Vital Sign card. I can never remember those damn pediatric vital ranges. Luckily, we don't run many pedes calls.
    3. Tape Roll: 3M Medipore Transparent. Took this out of the supply room, so I'm not certain what it actually is. I like to reinforce my IV sites with a layer of tape over the catheter hub (we use plain Tegaderm for the opsite), but most of my coworkers don't restock the IV rolls with tape, so I carry my own. It fits over the keyring perfectly and doesn't impede anything.
    4. 5.11 EDT Rescue. I really only have this for the oxygen tank wrench. There's one on the back of every cot, but sometimes it gets lost or I'm riding in on a volunteer squad's ambulance (ALS tier). That's the only real downside of the XShears, all the competitors include an O2 key. The small carabiner shown on the other side of the mini sharpie was included with this tool. I keep it on the ring in case I need to add anything.
    5. Mini Sharpie. Just a backup to my full-size permanent marker.
11. Watch: Garmin Instinct 2 Solar. I've had this for a while. It's rugged, with a nearly 2 week battery life. I don't really use any of its smart features on scene.
12. NOT SHOWN: Unication G5 pager. I don't own this, but it lives on my belt at work. It's how dispatch lets us know there's a call.

Feel free to ask any questions about my gear!