Leaderboard

I had to go to the department of labor web-stie and see for myself.. Wow, you are correct. You are entitled to your opinions. But remember, they are just opinions and not facts. If I was a business owner. I would want the most qualified person, period. I am smirking while I type, this thread has made me happy. Being in the military and working in the civilain EMS field, I have two completely opposite points of view on this topic. It is interesting to say the least. I have thought long and hard on this, because as a leader on both sides, I am sure that one day this question will be posed to me in an official capacity in some way. The fact is that I work with gays and lesbians on both sides of my life (military and civilian). When you strip away their layers like any one else to the core, what you have is a person. Just an everyday person, with hopes and dreams and ambitions. I started to dwell on this last year while I was in Iraq, knowing full well that one of our intel guys was gay. I started to think....Do I trust this person. My life is in his hands. Does he trust me? These are questions that cannot be answered in a thread of a forum, but between each other. The bottom line and my point here is this: What two people do in the privacy of their own home is their business and no one elses. If this is not true, as an American Soldier, a free person. What the hell have I been fighting for the last 13 years? I certianly wasn't fight for a politician.............

From the New York Times. FYI, I attended both the memorial service before they found the body, and the funeral after it was found. Regrettably, I had never met him. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/nyregion/01responder.html?scp=1&sq=richard%20pearlman&st=cse February 1, 2010 Mother Fights for Recognition of Son’s 9/11 Sacrifice By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDTIn the days that followed Sept. 11, 2001, Dorie Pearlman of Queens tried to console herself over the loss of her son by focusing on the circumstances of his death. He was a volunteer emergency medical technician who headed to the World Trade Center after the planes struck the towers, intending to treat the wounded. In the months that followed, the authorities would find his attaché case in a police cruiser and his body in the rubble. He was 18. By any definition that Ms. Pearlman would use, her son, Richard, was a first responder. But she has yet to successfully make that case to the federal government. Of the hundreds of claims filed by the families of first responders who died on Sept. 11, the case of Richard Pearlman is the only one still open, according to the Department of Justice. Under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits program, the Justice Department provides one-time payments to the families of first responders who die in the line of duty. Justice Department officials said that of the 436 applications stemming from Sept. 11 deaths, all but two were approved and the families were given $250,000. Ms. Pearlman’s application was denied. So was a claim filed by the family members of an emergency medical technician from Virginia who happened to be in New York on Sept. 11. Officials ruled that he was not serving in an official capacity when he was killed. Ms. Pearlman said her application was rejected for a similar reason. With some help from Representative Anthony D. Weiner, she has appealed the decision. Ms. Pearlman says she does not understand why she was rejected. She received a small sum from the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, and was also recognized at a White House ceremony as the family member of a first responder who died. “They want it both ways,” Ms. Pearlman said. She was not aware of the first responders’ benefits program until a friend asked her about it two years ago. The deadline had passed, but the department extended it for her. Ms. Pearlman said officials rejected her claim because the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps in Queens, where her son was a emergency medical technician, was not a public agency and because she could not prove that he had been called to ground zero by the authorities to treat the injured. On Sept. 11, Mr. Pearlman was dropping off documents for his boss at 1 Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan when the towers were hit. Ms. Pearlman, who traced her son’s steps on Sept. 11 through information from the authorities and photographs published by the news media, said there was an announcement that anyone with medical training should report to Police Headquarters so they could be taken to ground zero. Ms. Pearlman said that after her son offered a CPR and first aid card that showed his affiliation with the Forest Hills agency, the police took him in a cruiser to the towers, where he began assisting other medical personnel. “He got word that someone had a heart attack and, accompanied by a police officer, he went into the building,” she said. “And that’s when the tower collapsed.” On Tuesday, the Department of Justice held an appeals hearing for Ms. Pearlman at Mr. Weiner’s district office in Queens. Mr. Weiner, who said that he had become a “quasi advocate” for Ms. Pearlman, said he believed the original decision was a bureaucratic oversight. “It’s a case that’s not tough,” he said. Mr. Weiner says Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano has agreed to send a letter to the Justice Department confirming that the Fire Department sent out a call for all emergency personnel — regardless of whether they were volunteers — to come to ground zero to help. Mr. Weiner said this would prove that Mr. Pearlman was acting on behalf of the city. The Justice Department declined to address the specifics of the case. “The loss of someone committed to public service is a tragedy, especially someone so young,” the department said in a written statement. “Our sympathies are with Richard Pearlman’s family. Mr. Pearlman acted courageously and selflessly while assisting those who were injured in the World Trade Center. Although the initial ruling was not favorable, an independent hearing officer is currently considering an appeal of this claim, and there is an opportunity for further appeal should the family wish to pursue it.” Ms. Pearlman said the hearing officer told her that he would rule on her case over the next month.

We all know how hard it can be to talk about (or aboot for our canadian friends) sex to kids, so here is an easy visual way to teach them!

Friend of mine linked me to this earlier, thought it was pretty clever and really funny. You click here to see the website

Stick with the "Double Tap". If it takes more than that number of shots, someone needs more practice at the range.

Oh really? How about you prove to us all, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that you are -REMOVED, ADMIN-. Then get back to me on how one is supposed to prove a negative. Again, it is incumbent upon her making the accusation to prove it, unless you live in a totalitarian dictatorship. tniuqs, quoting wikipedia = teh fail. Quoting Osama (the Arab, not the president) = even greater fail.

American Heart and Red Cross both teach the 30/2 or 100/min. If you do that, then you have done your job. Unfortunately, once you turn care over, you cant direct how ED staff care for them or continue or discontinue efforts. Once a person is intubated the 30/2 goes out the window and the 100 compressions/min and breaths of 10-12/min comes into play. I understand that you want as much info as you can get, but busy ED staff will probably not see it that way. Doing the best that you can do for your patient while they are in your care is really all you can do. If you can walk away from the ED, knowing that, then questioning ED staff about why they do it differently should be a non-issue.

CM, although I realize you are a Canadian citizen, by your own admission, you have not lived in Canada for many years. I would like to respond to several of your comments. "The general Canadian impression of the red-neck American with a bible under one arm, a bottle of whiskey under the other and a 45 frightens them." I would argue not so. I suspect you are speaking from a Toronto point of view, which, as a Western Canadian, just reinforces why the western provinces don't think as highly of Toronto as Toronto thinks they should. You come to my neck of the woods, and that comment you just made would describe most of the people for 100 miles here. Afraid? Afraid of what? Please do not speak of the "general Canadian impression" - that is a gross generalization that is completely inaccurate. "It's a tribute to the American fighting man/woman and his/her willingness to sacrifice for freedom that these cousins of ours safe across the border have so little idea of what it all costs." I am COMPLETLY offended by this statement - this statement sounds like it comes out of an American citizen's mouth, not a Canadian's, and you should be ashamed. Please do your research on the contributions Canadian forces have made throught the years, and the sacrifices that Canadian soldiers have made, including the number of times that they were on the front lines of major battles where the US troops were non-existant. I would like to remind you of the number of Canadian troops that are currently serving in Afghanistan - and oh yeah - where have the US troops been? The US government decided that Osama was a secondary target and they had to protect their oil interests in Iraq instead - so who was taking care of business in Afghanistan? CANADIANS and other countries. It has only been recently that the US has returned its focus to Afghanistan. Don't you DARE tell me I don't know what it all costs. I have lost relatives serving in the military - I have friends serving in Afghanistan right now. Again, you make a completely biased, uneducated blanket statement. The original post by Dust was based on one article, where I would suspect that the majority of the people surveyed were in only 1 part of Canada - again a gross generalization and misrepresentation of the Canadian population. You have chosen to continue that generalization with your comments. Yes, Canadians are protective of their health care system. It has served them very well - I have friends in the US who are in the process of remortgaging everything they own, and working sevferal jobs, so their son can have surgery (yes, they have insurance, but it will only cover 75% of the cost of a $300,000 heart surgery)..... this would NEVER happen in Canada. When I compare that isolated incident to the care that I receive, I am glad to be where I am. I wouldn't be nearly so angry about your post if you had said "from my point of view" rather than "Canadians for the large part" and "the general Canadian impression." Do not generalize, and do not speak for me.

The help is much appreciated. Did not mean to come across as a dickhead. The post is a hypothetical situation based on where I would like to be in a few years. Think the title threw some people off.

Annie you are a smart lady Perhaps whomever is giving Duckett this bonuses should consider putting the money back into the health care system where it's actually NEEDED? He doesn't care where the cuts are or what they do to us, look at the money he's getting! When I did my EMT program, I left Edmonton to live in Calgary for the summer. My school didn't have a program running in their local office. When I didn't have classes I drove from Calgary to 170km north of Edmonton to work for the rural service I was at during my earlier EMS days. (Yeah, 4 years in and I'm still green). I was hired during my practicum and stayed with that service for a while, and it was a 200km drive away. I dunno, seems like even as recent as 2006/2007 working rural was a right of passage into busier places. Now? Well ... so many people seem like things should just be given to them because they passed ACP and have a reg number ... Annie, your thoughts on that? (Not like I don't already know!)

Like I said before ... we have to pay for Duckett and superboard bonuses somehow right? I'd certainly like a six figure wage, never mind bonus ... yeesh

Unfortunately rig work (everyone has done it) isn't generally considered experience, due to the lack (or absence of) calls. There are more smaller services in and around the Edmonton area as opposed to southern Alberta that hire frequently; rural is a good place to start out and get some actual experience before attempting a larger, urban center. Try this: http://www.collegeofparamedics.org/pages/Employment/default.aspx

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=irule2

Doesn't really matter to me Hey no prob, I should be running into him in the next couple of days at work. It's been a couple years but he might still have some inside info that might help to stop you from running around in red tape circles! I'm considering working and travelling when I'm done school in a year. Don't know where yet, somewhere warmer than here in the winter! My dad is American and lives near San Diego and I have relatives in other parts of the state too. Please let me know how things end up going for you as I had also considered Cali.

LOL Looks like I was wrong, my bad. A lot of my classmates have gone over (or back) to Dubai they seem to like it.

Sleep ... eat ... goof off with the cops ... never had a naked pillow fight, but there's a first time for everything ... study ... talk about what kind of call you WANT to get ... get excited when you get the call you wanted to get ... get mad because you got blood on your pants on the call you wanted to get ... stick things to co-workers cars ... fill station mailboxes with random crap ... clean - NO ... watch 5 minutes of the ending of a movie you keep missing the ending on ... go for coffee ... fret about whether or not you'll get off work on time ... have "meow" night on the radio ... dream about days off ... think about how nice it would be at that time to be jumping out of a plane ... help your partner play tricks on their spouse ... go up to their house and ask for random things from the fridge because you "need them for a call" ... I dunno ... I think a lot of us are ADD. Whatever amuses us ...

I just thought it was funny ...

Wow you're arrogant. What was your reasoning behind yanking your EMT's hands from the patient? Was there an obvious pulsating mass that they didn't recognize? You very likely made that EMT feel like a piece of crap, and for what? What could you possibly have taught them by acting out like that? Palpation is an important part of an abdo assessment, unless of course that action is contraindicated. Being an EMT is NOT a contraindication.

Sure it's probably safe to say that an entry-level practitioner does not have as much knowledge of pathophysiology as a paramedic does. So the entry-level person cannot interpret or treat their findings as someone of a higher level can. The way this situation in particular was handled while still on car in front of a patient however, was not appropriate.

Dude thats Dubai, not Abu Dhabi

I've been in Canada for the last 2 weeks and I remember a lot of stuff about Canadians that I had forgotten. They are really really nice. Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world. Every language and culture you can imagine is represented. They are extremely educated and literate. The quality of the magazines, documentaries and literature available to (and ** gasp ** actually being read) by the general public is superb. That being said, Canadians are for a large part, homogeneous in their standards of living. A good school is a good school regardless if it is Nova Scotia or Alberta. They personally will argue that they have regional/ethnic issues and many resent the dominance of Toronto over the national dialogue but the huge fiefdoms (that Americans call states) are not a part of the political structure. The federal government has a lot of power setting standards and controlling the purse strings in spheres that would have Americans marching on Washington to burn the bastards out. They admire intelligence and the majority of people are what we in the states would consider left of center. I always thought I was a small c conservative (as opposed to the political right in Canada, the captial C Conservative) until I came to the US when I discovered I was a flaming pinko These people are not afraid. They don't have the crime or the personal connection to war that Americans have and thus see the world as essentially a safe place. (This view was greatly shaken by 9-11 btw.) Most firmly believe that if we all sit down and talk about things, the whole world will play nice. The general Canadian impression of the red-neck American with a bible under one arm, a bottle of whiskey under the other and a 45 frightens them. They consider themselves more sophisticated and intelligent. It's a tribute to the American fighting man/woman and his/her willingness to sacrifice for freedom that these cousins of ours safe across the border have so little idea of what it all costs. PS.. Their health care system and access to it is superb. It takes a lot of fear out of people when they don't have to worry about medical care. **edited to add the PS **

I may be the exception, but I thought that was funny! Is it PC? Hell no, but I'll admit it gave me a chuckle.

Before I start, I'm going to be using the words IF and MAY quite a bit. I'm not disputing Ms. Pearlman's claims! IF in fact her statements are true about FDNY sending out an 'all call' for anyone with medical training to assist, then she should be taken care of. It appears that she's already proven that her son was affiliated with an ambulance company, and his body and personal effects were found at ground zero. Whether or not the responders were 'full time', 'volunteer' or just some joe schmoe who jumped in to help because they've got medical training/education. I could see rejecting her case and assertions, regardless of the documentation if Ms Pearlman was the second cousin by marriage three times removed. But jeez, its the guys MOTHER! I'm sure there were a boatload (or more) of false claims, but this one has the ring of authenticity to it. I say give the woman what she's got coming and just be done with it!

to my knowledge nurses and other staff take the same course and use the same criteria for cpr as everybody else. That being said I wonder if the ER staff are using info on there monitors combined with education and experience to give them criteria to go outside the standard rates and techniques. Question on the patient you witness did all of the ER staff increase the rate of compressions or just one or two. If it is the later I would say that they were just too amped up. The perfect song to time your compressions by is ironicaly 'another one bites the dust' by queen.