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A TOUGH OLD COWBOY FROM MONTANA COUNSELED HIS GRANDSON THAT IF HE WANTED TO LIVE A LONG LIFE, THE SECRET WAS TO SPRINKLE A PINCH OF GUN POWDER ON HIS OATMEAL EVERY MORNING. THE GRANDSON DID THIS RELIGIOUSLY TO THE AGE OF 103 WHEN HE DIED. HE LEFT BEHIND 14 CHILDREN, 30 GRANDCHILDREN, 45 GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN, AND A 150-FOOT HOLE WHERE THE CREMATORIUM USED TO BE.

Yeah, was hotter in blue heelers though! Yep, and i find it very hard to understand some american accents

If this is a legitimate post - it sounds as if he has tried to throw it into the americans with disabilities act. If that is the case and his employer has made the accomodations he states - that is more than any employer I am aware of would ever make at their own expense (paying for custom shirts - get over it - I had to have my pants tailored because of how my body proportions are - I'm not fat but have a bum and our pants weren't meant for someone with one so I had to have the waist taken in and darted to fit me and look respectable at my own expense). Americans with disabilities act only states they have to accomodate as long as all essential job functions can be met with or without reasonable accomodation and without unreasonable economic hardship to the facility. I think any other accomodation could qualify as economic hardship and if he is at a size that he cannot function within an ambulance, then he is not able to perform his job functions making him eligible for termination. I do not feel his employer is out of line to state he must maintain a healthy weight that he is able to perform his job. In EMS it is for our patients safety as much as ours to stay fit and healthy. If he is as large as he states, then I don't see how he can safely and effectively lift a stretcher or perform many of the other tasks. I've worked with some larger partners (one in particular was almost 400 lbs and employed by a large FD in the area as well). He was healthy for the most part but on yearly physicals he was starting to have some issues and was told he had to take care of himself or else his employment wouldn't continue. He was no longer allowed to make entry on fires due to his size and if he were to go down, they would not be able to get him out quickly. He took the steps to take care of himself and says he feels better than he ever has. I highly suggest that he go and see his physician and discuss alternatives if traditional diets have been followed and still no success. Also - got to remember to put exercise in there !

If someone is going to practise medicine on me, they had better have read the whole book, not just the fukking Cliff's Notes. No tech school monkeys. I'll take my chances in a taxi.

Yes I believe BASIC's should be allowed to do advanced skills such as IV's, EKG inturpitations, blood sugars and intubations, due to the fact that thes skills only require hours of training, and people will see ems as the stepping stone job it really is.

I do not want to start an argument with this discussion, so please do not hate me. I just want to clarify that without the BASICS, Paramedics can not do their jobs. It doesn't matter that you are a Paramedic if you if the basics skills are not performed. EMS is definitely a cluster f***. Each state with it's own protocols, FD, PD, and EMS can not get along, EMS can not receive respect, EMS providers are ambulance drivers, etc. When then, would we degrade each other? Yes, I am ONLY a Basic to you, but the knowledge and skills I have acquired are the most important at ANY level. Remember the ABC's? I volunteer with EMT-I's and they seem to forget the ABC's because the are I's and can start IV's. Umm.......dontcha wanna check their pulse first and maybe do some chest compressions before you start that IV there EMT-I? Ok, I bantered a little. My point is that we are all important, on all levels, because without the ABC's covered, you just might end up with a dead patient and your knowledge of D50, Narcan, and Morphine won't mean crap. I read a of these posts and I see a lot of degrading of Basics. I do not think you necessarily need the philosophy behind the techniques of some things. People are trainable. One thing that cracks me up is that I am also a Medical Assistant. I was trained on EKG interpretation. I do not know if it is at the same level of a Paramedic, but I am aware of some interpretation. As a Basic, I'm not even suppose to touch the monitor. I can also give injections, as a Medical Assistant, not as a Basic (except the epi pen). Diabetics give themselves injections, patients give them selves Lovenox injections, B-12 injections, do you think they had any kind of training? No, the nurse said, "Poke here." I was a Pathology Assistant, I performed autopsies and dissected surgical specimens. I did not always know what I was looking for, but I knew the technique. I was an on the job trained Perfusionist with the local Organ Procurement Organization. I was part of the surgical recovery team from organ donors to recipients. People can be trained. Now, I was interested and wanted to know why I was doing things the way I was doing them, so I asked questions, had a great mentor, and have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge. Now, my whole point to this is why hate on the Basics? With out the basic skills, you have a dead person, so why do you feel that you are so much better? I didn't become an EMT because I wanted to be a hero or degrade Emergency Medical Responders because I have more education than them. We are all here for the same thing and that is to help people. If we want respect from our peers and the public, we should also respect each other:-) P.S. Don't be hating on me because I can intubate as a Basic in Ohio! :-) Don't be hating on me now! I'm a newbie:-)