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Talk to them, don't treat them like idiots. This is the absolute hardest thing any parent will have to face and just talk to them and answer their questions, honestly. If they ask if their baby is dead, do not say yes until you know for sure from the crews. When you find out that resuscitation has ceased then someone from the team needs to be there with you. If you have never done this before then you need to be paired with someone who has. You should not be the one to tell the parents their baby is dead if it's your first time in this situation and hopefully the crews won't put you in that position to be the one. I learned from a very seasoned medic how to do this and he said this, watch it done a time or two and then you will know that no matter what you tell the parents they won't really hear you anyway. Their grief will be overpowering and you just being there, holding their hands, or hugs if allowed by the parents work wonders I also am a firm believer of allowing the parents to hold their child one last time unless of course it's a crime scene. There is no excuse for refusing to allow a parent to hold their child one last time and I've always deferred to law enforcement on the crime scene issue but if no crime scene then the parents get to hold their child. You will never forget your first infant or child death. I can see my first, second and third dead child's face as plain as day even after 20 years. Can't remember the full circumstances but I do remember. VERY tough all around.

I grew up at Fenkell and Lahser... I know the area a bit too well. Everyone who knew me when I was living in the area, hoodlum, "straight up", or otherwise, at least acknowledged that we were all in the same situation. Mutual respect, if you know what I'm saying. Granted, that was 15-20 years ago, and you probably wouldn't know that unless I mentioned it. Usually the mention of my old address raises eyebrows with people who are familiar with the area. In any case, thanks for the advice and the knowledge. That's a really good idea about distinguishing ourselves as EMT, NOT police. I'd rather not get shot/stabbed/punched by some crackhead who sees a badge and freaks out. On the flip side, I'll really take the respect and treatment aspect to heart. People don't live in the ghetto for it's appeal and resale value, but they still need to be treated with the same level of respect and dignity as if we were pulling a CEO out of his high rise office. Thanks!

I can not speak to your recent experiences, as I have never heard of those problems, but one thing that I can speak to, is that most of us use the chair wrong. I remember watching the "video" that came with a new chair, and it showed the medics not facing each other as the went up a flight of steps. The medic at the top used the upper handles but did it behind his back as he walked up the stairs, the other medic grabbed the foot handles and faced "up" the stairs as well. They reversed position going down, with the foot medic facing forward and the top medic facing forward as well. I had always used it with both medics facing each other. As far as the instructor goes, I can not imagine that Ferno engineered handles that are not supposed to be used, and I think not using the handles would be more dangerous as your hands would slip on the frame. He probably worked for some rinky-dink volunteer organization that had a 20 year old stair chair that was not stored/cared for properly.

Herbie, I'm not saying paramedics shouldn't be able to. Like others have said, most of it is basic stuff. The thing that would make me concerned is giving out medical advice. As Dwayne said, there are so many differences in the training that paramedics receive from state to state, county to county. You guys are awesome at knowing everything there is to know about resuscitation drugs (hell, you guys could probably teach me a few things). Counseling people about medications can be on a slippery slope to practicing medicine. Do I think paramedics are capable of it? Absolutely. Do I think that with the huge variation in training it is a good idea? I'm not too sure about that.

The bad thing of "The Bad Parts Of Town", is that the bad folks get all the press, and the nice folks get painted with the same brush as also being evil. I worked the worst drug infested projects in New York City, and really met the nicest of people. Unfortunately, I also met some of the nastiest. If using stairwells, I learned to yell, "EMS in the stairwell! If doing something you shouldn't, better stop for a bit!" The "Bangers" used to comment that I was crazy, but they seemed to like me for doing that.