Removing collars and backboards

[erbarto]

Hi there! I'm an ED nurse from Italy! I'm looking for an algorythm or a guideline for the triage operations.
I need to understand how do You do when You recieve a trauma patient in your ed, who's lying on a backboard, or just sitting with a collar.
Do You always remove these stuffs or do You wait for the diagnostics?
I found some critaeria like the Canadian C-Spine Rule, but i've never found any hospital who uses it. Can anybody help me?

Thanks
Thomas

[AmandaWIRN]

I don't have any specific algorythms, but I can tell you that standard practice throughout the United States is to NEVER remove a c-collar or backboard until they have been cleared by the physician with x-ray or CT scan. Now, I have seen physicians remove collars and boards without getting x-rays first, but this is risky, and in my opinion, bad practice. When this happens, I will chart that the physician, not me, was the one who removed the collar......