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Oh jeez, you really want to make me work, don't you? All right, well, I don't want to move him into the back of the truck just yet. Let's get some masks and gowns on everyone and consider this a possibly contaminated patient. What do we see around the house? What kind of area are we in, anyway? Farming land, maybe? Send somebody out to look around the outside of the house (along with the garage and shed if there is one) for any pesticides or the like. Let's strip him down and bag his clothes, and rinse his skin off with copious amounts of sterile water! After we rinse him off and dry him off, let's also put him on the monitor, get a quick 12-lead to make sure there's nothing going on in there, and if there isn't, let's go ahead and get a line on scene and pop 0.5 mg of atropine. While we're doing that, can we have somebody inspect the inside of his mouth, suction out any secretions, and maybe even start assisting ventilations to try and slow his respirations down with a BVM at 15 lpm and administer a dose of albuterol as well. Now let's reassess our interventions! And maybe think about getting headed toward the truck once we have the patient thoroughly deconned. Right now I'm strongly suspicious for organophosphate poisoning or some type of cholinergic poisoning. Oh hey! That reminds me. Mr. Neighbor, does the owner of this house keep any pesticides or the like around?

This gentleman right here is well on his way to having said associates degree, which many of us (including myself) figured would never happen for one reason or another including the fact that this guy was once a anti-being a medic kind of guy. I am proud to say taht this gentleman and a few others that have responded to this thread are now people I consider mentors as was stated don't shoot the messenger just do the time. Take it from me man, I was a snot nosed EMT thought I knew everything about everything, I was told the same thing get your degree don't go for the patch. Well I didn't listen to these folks the first time and I left my first paramedic program because of the fast paced and the feeling that I was not learning everything I needed to know to be a true provider. Another thing that you will find with most mills is the fact that they teach you the NREMT test they don't teach you the why's and wherefores of what your doing. To address your comments about GED's...I am not a high school graduate most of you on this forum have never heard this before, I did however receive my GED and I left high school part way through my senior year. Does that effect you in a job hunt yes, however I have found it effects you more when you are looking for those unskilled jobs at McDonalds or Pizza Hut than it does when you are looking for a job at AMR or SDMSE or Balboa...I think you said North County. Anyway don't handicap yourself by just being another number to these companies when you go applying be someone who stands out for having the fortitude to stick out the two years for an AS degree.

Watching the stuff on tv, and on FB, on Casey Anthony, I have to tell you that it looks more like a witch burning of 200 years ago than a trial of today. Bottom line for me? 12 of my friends and neighbors have decided that they had to allow her to go free so as not to risk putting an innocent person in prison. And I think that that took amazing courage. They watch the TV, the read the papers, and yet they decided to do what they thought was right despite knowing the pain and hate that it would bring them and their families. I would gladly shake their hands and stand by their sides. Is she guilty? I don't know. Yet I'm not willing to condemn the suspect, jury and judge based on the feedback from a bunch of talking heads on the news that lie to me daily. Send your love to the baby, but to call for this woman's head is to side with the likes of the Taliban, and others, that believe that suspicion is the same as guilt...and that is pathologic. I can't support you in your cry for a justice system that will put innocent people in jail instead of risk allowing the guilty to go free. Be angry if you must, but to bring your children to the gathering that calls for the death of a woman that has been found not guilty in a United States court of law spits in the face of all of our men and women of the military, those involved in law enforcement, that have lost their lives to protect your civil liberties.... Just my two cents... Dwayne

redneck duck hunting I thought this was so funny

All of the hospitals in this area have an EMS Coordinator that helps arrange followup on critical patients, manage con-ed offerings at the hospital (and at the squads), and look into issues that arise from either end. They tend to be RN+paramedic, with field experience as well as ER experience. They are typically some of the smartest people I've had the pleasure to work with. 'zilla

EMS is a tough job and every call puts everything you are and everything you own on the line as well as your boss and partner. That being said, if your goal is truly to help people and to make a difference...then ALL of the above advice needs to be taken. You will also realize very early on, once you get your EMT, that you cant save everyone and neither can your Paramedic partner. Here in NY, the biggest thing for you would be the insurance company. If you cant be insured, then you cant drive, not even from the hospital to the station, and driving is half the job. Volunteering is a great way to get patient contact, to see the way things are and the way things should be done. We all started as basics, we all started where you are now. We all asked for advice from different people. It took me 15 years to decide that being a basic EMT was no longer enough for me and I went to school, got my paramedic and my AAS degree AND got hired by the compeny I now work for right out of school. I didnt even have my card...all I had was my score from the testing facility and then my letter from the state. EMS is physically demanding, anyone who has been in an upside down vehicle for an hour while fire decides the best way to get the patient out or trekked a mile into the woods to carry a 200 lb man out on a backboard after he's fallen out of his tree stand will tell you this job isnt for wimps. The emotional toll can be just as great, anyone who has watched someone die because you cant get to them or did everything they could for the 6 month old in status seizure and they still dont make it, will tell you that you have to get tough....quick. If you dont, you will burn out in about 6 months. But not so tough that you no longer have empathy for the patients you may have tomorrow. I do this job 5 days a week...as of July 1 we were at 8000 calls. and my body aches and my brain is tired but I will get up tomorrow morning, put my uniform on and know that no matter what the day brings me, my patients will get the best that I can give them. Take the advice that the others have given you, get the education, get the experience. If this is truly your calling all of this will be nothing to you if you are going to do what it takes. Good luck to you

HOLD THE PHONE! You came to US asking a question (which was answered very well) about becoming an EMT-B and the possible 'problems' you might encounter because of your age and the fact that you decided to quit school. If you're looking for the 'touchy feely belly rubs and ice cream speeches', EMS ISN'T the place to find it! You were given some really good advice on how to accomplish a goal that you want to reach, and then you act like a common chucklehead because you didn't get the rosy answers you expected.... very bad form! You can't slap the messenger simply because you don't like the content of the message. You stated: It appears that 'the short amount of time it takes to get certified' IS part of the equation though... There have been some very good snippets of advice that included at least two years in college (which by the way will help with your age and insurance issues); and all of a sudden you're accusing us of trying to keep you down and out of EMS....GROW UP! Rather than piss and moan about how 'mean' everybody is being toward you, try shutting your mouth, putting your fingers on hold and actually LISTEN to those of us that have 'been there/done that'. Many of us here have seen the 'glory hunters' and "half stepping wannabe's" come and go. This isn't a career/profession for just anyone. It takes a special breed to survive the 'uglies' that are in store for you. You came to us looking for the truth, but it appears that "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" (Thank you,Jack Nicholson!) EMS has been noted for 'eating it's own', and you've done nothing but piss off the pirahnas in the pool! Yes, you'll have to start at EMT-B. That's looking at around 6 months of school (even through a college). If you want to become a competent Paramedic, then your Associates Degree is the next logical step. Yes, you can go to one of those 'patch mill schools' that is flooding the market with more 'cookbook providers' than steller Paramedics; you're not only cheating yourself, you're also cheating every patient you provide care for. EMS is a 'dog eat dog world' and right now you've let the pack know that you're wearing milkbone underwear, and drawn a big red "bulls eye" on your forehead....now is NOT the time to piss off the archer! The best advice I can give you right now is to actually LISTEN to the advice being given, and don't start throwing temper tantrums because you don't like the fact that we're trying to tell you how much work is going to be involved in 'doing it right'! You said: With a statement like that, it's time to put up or shut up. You've been given the tools to make it happen....now prove what you said is true, and make it happen; or slink away with your tail between your legs. The ball is in your court...play it, or hit the showers!