Leaderboard

First, do you think his death has impacted me any less than the others here because I lack belief? Second, are you stating my coping mechanism has no relevance here since it is not religious in nature? The topic is how we cope, I shared, others shared. I knew Rob personally, I also knew his beliefs or should I say non-beliefs. It is entirely relevant and entirely appropriate place to share...unless you have a different copy of a rule book somewhere?? Dust, still able to stir up a thread without actively contributing...awesome!

Doogs, with all due respect, this is your 4th post. You don't know AK like anyone else here. Your post is the bigger distraction. Thank you.

Amen brother. I wish I had the wit and wisdom to come up with a reply that would be befitting of that too.

AK I am so embarrassed by my fellow countryman's past comment so if you would be so kind to allow me ...... Dear a noob Canadian Paramedic DOOGs firstly a welcome, I believe "we" have perhaps met from CPW ? This very out of character for you and stepping into an area of honour after just 4 posts on this site, to the my band of my brothers is serious folly at this juncture. I have held my brother Rob in my arms, as, I was one of the privileged few that knew from initial dx what the final outcome would be, the memories of those few days and end of life discussions are mine and Robs alone. Never to be discussed, except that I am most proud that Rob chose the path he did .. he climbed a Mount Everest every day. I too as the many others am seriously fucked up / messed up by this announcement, its been many, many years waiting for Bledsoe's dreaded notification. I know that my brother AK too was aware, but HE deals with lifes challenges in his "own way" as he is his own man and I am honoured to call HIM my friend. BUT I am soooo displeased with your post, Doog, yet a thank you as my deep sorrow has changed to serious teeth clenching anger, so thank your <insert your great spirit> that I am not anywhere close to you this minute as my Scottish heritage coping mechanism's are not any where near as refined as AKflightmedic. I am most pleased to bring to you one of my most favourite biblical quote's so you may pick up what I am laying down, well, that is if you are a religious man. Ezekiel 25:17 (eh). (somewhat amended) The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak minded through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper (or in this case, the village idiots helper) and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison, disrespect and dis my brothers opinions out of unadulterated ignorance .... And you will know I am the Squinter when I lay my vengeance upon YOU! cheers

Dusty may be "still stirring the pot", but, as I indicated on another thread, that "stirring" provoked a number of us to rethink a good number of EMS issues.

I have to say this before my head explodes. Doogs how dare you demean someone else's coping mechanism and feelings without knowing who ANY of us are??? Really???!! 4 posts on this forum and you dare to attack a member who knew Dust personally?! Spewing BS about negative religious views?? I think you better step back and step off. And AK...you are absolutely right! Dust is still stirring the pot..how freaking awesome is that!

No most crews dont do this. You're right, it is gross. Additionaly, I don't know why anyone would flip the sheet, as it takes about the same amount of effort to throw on a clean one. As for reporting them, thats a judgement call you'll have to make. Just remember, EMS is a smaller community than you think, and you have to choose your battles wisely.

Nope. Never done it, even to much chagrin to some partners (especially at the slow service where it was almost guaranteed that the next transport would be a return trip for the patient we just brought to dialysis). I think this is one of the biggest benefits of disposable sheets. Regardless of whether the patient laid on the sheets or was draw sheeted over on facility sheets, the disposable sheet covering the gurney would be destroyed all the same, thus necessitating replacement. Just as important, is it really that hard to simply do your (generic "you") job properly? It takes, what, 30 seconds to replace sheets?

In 10 years in the field, I can honestly say I NEVER did that. The sheets should be changed between every pt and the stretcher wiped down. This reduces disease transmission of things such as MRSA, VRE, etc.

http://emtmedicalstudent.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/how-ems-providers-view-each-other/

This is the best system that I have read: http://www.emsmdc.com/pdf/documentation.pdf

R.I.P. Rob..... This has become a sad day...One of the few "great Persons" in our Profession passed away. A very black day for the hole industry

Well, for starters, it looks like you've already made a decision not to renew. I think that's also the best of action in your case. Your career progression into nursing will neither be helped or hindered by a recertification process. Bearing that in mind, I would leave it as it is and concentrate on being the best nursing student you can. If you then later decide to do something in EMS, you can always pick it back up. You'd likely get a lot of concessions for your nursing qualification. IN Pennsylvania you can even challenge the NREMT exam and become a PHRN (Registered Pre-Hospital Nurse). Go forward and don't fret about the past (or things you can do nothing about), It's a waste of energy. Positive enough for you? WM

Well....heck... Here goes. I'm an oldie as well. I originally joined in 2005 and spent many a day and night here chatting it up with the old crew. I left, and returned in 2009. Dusty and I talked a lot in the beginning, stayed in touch on Yahoo chat and then spoke again through 2009. I lost touch with him about a year ago or so, and the talks faded away. I SO regret not coming back to the City to talk with him. And, I too, hate that this is what brought me here. But just the same, I'll say my piece too. I know that my relationship with Dust probably started out the same as most everyone else's. I remember the first night I was a part of the "city". I wasn't in chat all of about 5 minutes when it started...he made a complete ass of me about one of my posts and ensued a hell of an argument between us. It took me milliseconds into that argument to decide I hated him! For those of you that remember me and my posts....I will tell it like it is. Dust and I had that in common. And tell him, I did!!! I told him exactly how I felt, and surprisingly, his answers pi$$ed me off even more. HAHA. As quickly as it came, it went. I found the more I talked to Dust, and the more I despised him....the more he intrigued me, and the more I loved him to pieces. It didn't take long for us to realize that we were on the same team. That being one of education, doing things right, and busting our a$$es in this business for the respect we all deserve. Dust and I had many many a talk after that. While everyone was cutting up in chat, we were chatting in private about some crazy medical topic. I think we just about covered it all, if that is possible. I'll never forget staring at the nipples while we talked seriously about this or that. I'd tell him. "Will you put a shirt on please...I can't concentrate." LOL. He would always tell me the same thing...that it was an excuse because I needed to think about what I was going to say. Smartypants. In the beginning that would have riled me up, but as time passed, I grew to love the ribbing, expected it...and most of it stopped. Dust and I grew to respect each other. I found him referring to my posts, copying and pasting my answers to newbies, and supporting my ideas and thoughts. I came to know him as an intelligent source of a wealth of knowledge, a partner, a friend, a confidant, and someone I highly, highly respected. When I learned of his illness, it broke my heart. No one should have to suffer in this lifetime, though we all know it happens, especially working in this business. But, it sickened me to know that someone like Rob, with all his infinite wisdom, would know exactly what was happening to him, as his disease progressed. These are a lot of words I write...but yet they are just words. There are no true words that I can put down on this computer screen to honor the kind of man Dusty was. We live a lifetime and may have the privilege of meeting a guy like him.....and he was my once in a lifetime. Dust...I will remember everything you ever told me. Thank you for the anger, the frustrations, the laughs, and for always pushing all of us to challenge ourselves. At the end of the day...you were just a regular guy with a heart of gold who would have done anything for anyone. The EMS community has suffered a great loss...and a void that can never be replaced. I'm sorry I wasn't here to speak to you in your last days. Tonight...the old gang was together in chat. I half expected your onry a$$ to pop in and stir some trouble. TIme passes so quickly...days turn into months...and years. Life is precious...We will never forget you and the mark you left on all of us. Rest in peace, dear DustDevil. EMT City will not be the same...but we will do our best to make you proud. Thanks for the memories.... xoxoxoxoxo Medik8

Hi gang! Yes, like the rest it was a shock and very sad to hear the loss of a fellow EMS Lifer... We all can agree that Dust (Rob) was unique.. and even if you did not agree with what his comments or ideas, you had to admire and respect that he .. " made you think"!. We personally chatted several times, and yes agreed on the majority of things as being very seasoned veterans of the EMS system, that so many do not attempt to see the whole picture and to get out of the comfort zone .. "or out of the box". I still have a RedRider sign that he purchased and sent me.. thinking of my nickname.. the other side many did not see. Rob would love to atagonize posters to make them develop reasoning skills, and then without them even knowing it.. explain and allow them to look at life lessons to make them justify and to makewise and informed personal decisions; based upon their own accordance; not just some protocol(s) or the " we have always donet it" idea... What a great life lesson teacher.! ... Dust, your shift is finally over brother; you did us well.....your imprint will carry on.... R/r 911

If they are properly sedated there is no need for paralytics or heavy doses of pain meds. There is more than just simple reflexes that you can assess on a neuro exam when people are not paralyzed. Granted you will probably not need them in the field but in the ER and ICU they are helpful. Things such as corneal reflexes, ability to breathe on their own, cold calorics can help us to decide if they are salvageable or should be put on a terminal wean. I agree that Vec isn't the best but some medical directors are not comfortable with Sux, so that is out of FM37's hands.

Oh my..... That was 100% sheer hilarious! I will say one thing, as much as I miss one of my greatest mentors, it is really nice to see some ol'faces (well... screenames) around here. Hope you all stick around so we can carry on Rob's quest to teach these "pup's" how to be professional prehospital healthcare providers. Asys, I am glad I am not the only one who didn't sleep much last night. I was attempting (teary-eyed) to explain to my wife at 1am how, because I am in the middle of nowhere surrounded by idiots, I do not have a mentor. Dust and a few others fufilled that role for me, and I am filled with huge regret that I did not get a chance to shake his hand and tell him that in person. I would like to tell you to "not beat yourself up" or "just remember all the good times", but I doubt that is what you are looking for. As Dust has said to me in the past "Time will heal" Thank you for posting this thread bro, no use in pretending we aren't real people.

This is idiotic. It's the same shit that doesn't work. It's like criticizing kids for being dumb after they graduate from high school. When did they get put in charge of their education? What life skills are they supposed to use to manage those things that need to be managed in order to succeed? This campaign is going to make targets of fat kids. They are going to become victims for something that they have not lived long enough to know how to control. Educating the parents of fat kids while providing medical care is different. You are accessing the source then. It won't do much good, but at least you're playing in the right ball field. I would love to see this tracked, though I can't imagine that there is a way to do so. So much eating is done because we confuse emotional needs with physical ones. Screw with these kids emotions, as this campaign will, and then see how fat they get. In fact I'm willing to bet that there will more than a few of them that get dead as well. Good God...publicly attacking children. Every time I come to believe that there are some levels that we just won't stoop to I'm proved wrong. I hate everything about this. It's ignorant, and harmful, and just plain mean spirited. Dwayne

Some advice I took from Dustdevil (You don't know him yet) that was golden.. Do you personally know any cops? That is where you should go for report writing skills before you even begin to practice PCRs, if you can. I hired one for a couple of hours as a tutor and man, it changed everything for me about report writing. Not trying to be a smartass.That truly is a great way to go. Dwayne

I am sorry, but in a situation like the football game, you have a DUTY TO ACT. If you are so burned out that you no longer feel compassion towards your fellow man, then it is time to get a new profession. For all you know the person could have been choking on some food, and could have been saved by a simple maneuver. You should stop at all wrecks too (unless everyone is out walking around), if for no other reason to keep some untrained idiot (or a trained idiot like a Dermatologist) who stopped from doing something dumb (dragging them out of the car before it explodes like they do on TV).

Quote you a law ? Read your Bible. If you are atheist I guess you have no obligations except to your selfish self. The fact that you say "you used to stop all the time" tells me that you know you are wrong now. In your early years you did the right thing, now that you are old, lazy, and burned out, you choose to do the wrong thing.

This is great, I believe obese kids should be put in foster care, as their parents are obviously negligent and putting there kids at risk.

Whhhhhooooaaaaa, get off your high horse. We have several volunteers in the area that have no EMS training, and it is not rocket science to put on a c-collar and hold a head up straight, would you prefer for his neck to be flopping around for another 10 minutes ? And I have reviewed my EMT book which clearly states that it is legal to assist a patient in taking their medication. The difference between me and some of you: I care enough to respond on my time off to people in need, according to another thread, most of you wouldn't even consider stopping on the side of the road to help someone.

Etomidate and a long lasting paralytic? That is all? What about Succ? What if you miss the tube and cannot ventilate? Painful like having a steel blade inserted into your vallecula, or directly onto your delicate epiglottis, applying 8lbs+ of pressure, then placing a rigid tube in your airway and "choking" you from the inside with a air filled cuff? Cite? You mean there are times when it is not necessary to keep them safe? That is the poorest excuse not to paralyze a intubated patient I have ever heard. That is as bad as not treating abd pain so the Dr can assess. Just how exactly do you check the neuro status on a patient sedated to the point of intubation and manual ventilation? Are they just assessing reflex's? Isn't that something you can report? Do you have to restrain these "neurologically intact" intubated patients?

I'm disappointed that AK chose to use this thread to spew his negative opinions on religion. There is certainly a better time & place for this type of "discussion". Manure stinks, is not pleasant to deal with and can leave unpleasant lingering effects. But spread it on your flowerbed and see what happens - in season. Life is like that - $hit happens that isn't nice but if we accept it as part of what will eventually makes our lives richer, it can give us hope. Hang in there.