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It is with great sadness to inform you of the passing of Ed Sparks also known as Island EMT here on EMT City. His wife tells me that it happened while he was returning home from work on July 8th. I reached out to his email address yesterday to see if he was having trouble logging into the site after the upgrade, and his wife responded. I will be giving her the link to this post so she can view the comments. Ed was a great contributor to this site and his passion fueled some great discussion, and educated many. He will be missed.

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting on here. I'm Dan from Mid-Michigan, and I'm beginning my EMT-B course on September first. Only 19, so I'm getting started early! I'm a knife nut, bass guitarist, father and husband. Hoping to get some advice and guidance here!

Hey guys, I just posted in the introduction topics, but I figured I'd get started with some questions I have for school. I am enrolled in a EMT-B program that starts September 1st. It's only a Tuesday and Thursday, 10am-2pm class, so it will be all the way until April that I can take my NREMT. I work full-time doing hospital security to support my family, so it works best to do classes this way. Any advice from EMTs or Medics? I will be doing the hardest work possible, since I've been interested in emergency services since I was younger. I have a big drive for this course. To make things better, I've been told it's a lot of fun doing the class and ride alongs/clinicals. Another question I have is what gear I should have? I've heard that many newbies get overly excited and fill their belts/pockets with gear. I don't want to be one of those guys. I just want the minimum that's needed. I however always have a knife on me (big knife nut), so that won't be changing.

Why are you yelling at everyone? All caps is the forum equivalent of yelling.

have you contacted the state of New York? These questions are best answered by the experts at the State/local level, not us on this forum.

I've not been on here much in the last couple of years, but Ed was always a great contributer here. Prayers for his family and coworkers.

I'm so sorry. I've been visiting with him for as long as I've been a medic, maybe even before. What a gift he was to us. Sending you thoughts for peace and healing from your EMS family in Colorado... God's speed Brother..

Condolences from the ERDoc family. It was always fun joking and talking with Ed in the forums. We've lost another big part of the city family.

Mrs. Sparks, Ed was a frequent contributor to the forums here. Time and again he offered perspective, wisdom and, when necessary, a little bit of... let's call it... gentle encouragement with all of his many posts here. He had no reservations about calling things as he saw them. Through his knowledge and experience he provided wide ranging education to all of us. He also had a wicked sense of humor and he frequently shared jokes with us here. His loss will be felt more widely than you may know. Condolences to you and your family. So long, Ed. Clear skies and fair winds. Mike

I have been a member here and at the village since both started . Both have seen markedly less traffic in the past couple years as facebook, twitter and all the other instant messaging types of social interaction sites seem to be the choice of the younger crowds with their smart phones. It is all about instant gratification to the gen xers and beyond. I just a few months ago got a digital cell phone, [ Iphone 5 ] which is the first time on almost ten years since they did away with analog service and my old bag phone no longer worked. Up until a couple months ago I had never texted or even cared to. My wife & I use the I message to talk while we are at work. other than that it doesn't get used much. Today it seems like every 8 year old and up has a smart phone and spend the majority of their time using it endlessly. I've even seen people sitting at the same restaurant table texting each other rather than having a conversation. Parents texting their kids while in the same store and so on. Is there any hope for the future generations????????

Wow I just realized that I haven’t seen this forum in like a year. I have a couple songs in my head these songs are stuck in my head pretty much all the time- Basket Case, Minority, American Idiot, Longview, and Warning all by Green Day =D