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Not sure what Mike posted but I'm sure it had to be good. Me thinks Island rendered Mike speechless.

I want to nominate this for the TMI post of the year for 2013.

You are completely missing the point. We are not talking about taking the easy way out of things. The examples you give are examples of piss poor providers and educators, not problems with the technology. You also missed my point about assessment. As for the AED not changing your treatment, yes it does. It defibrillates your pt when they need it. I highly doubt you can do that with your hands. Any provider who is using an AED should know why you do/do not shock. Again, you are arguing against the providers and not the technology. AEDs have become standard of care. I ask again, how do you assess if someone is getting enough oxygen? How do you decide when to give a chest pain or resp pt oxygen and how much? As for your story of the nurse in the hospital, I call total BS. Every nurse is taught and repeatedly made to take manual BPs. Hell, we are even made to do them in medical school.

Call your state bureau of EMS. They will be able to tell you what it affects on their end. The next thing you should do is call some of the companies anonymously and just ask them. Easy peasy to do. I know that this group is TOTALLY FREAKING AWESOME but best to hear it from the horses mouth. I would suspect that it's going to be based on how long ago and what the suspension shows on your record.

But Mike, that's you, you pride yourself on being a good emt and I have no cause to not believe you but we have tons of lazy providers who do not take pride in their care of the patient. To them it's you call we haul and I am sure you work with at least one of them. The machines are designed at least to me, to be an adjunct to the patient care continuum and to help those lazy providers to do what they should be doing all along, which is look at the patient. If the machine shows a pulse ox of 72% then the provider is prompted to gasp, look at the patient and hopefully make a thorough assessment of the patient as to whether they are truly at 72% or if the machine is off. Your experiences are anecdotal and valid in your situation, I'm not discounting that, but the manufacturers of these devices I am sure have put a lot more research and development cost and time into producing these machines than you or I have in hours on the street.

AEDs should be standard equipment on all ambulances that carry patients. Their benefits have been proven over and over. They may not be used often but they are one of the few things that actually will make a difference. As for the "treat the patient, not the machine," mantra, that is just used by people who don't understand how to use the machine properly. If the machine didn't serve a purpose, it wouldn't be created.