HellsBells

It sounds like the only discrimination truly at work in said department is against white women.

Perhaps blood in itself doesnt cause irritation. However, occult bleeding is usually caused by some sort of pathology. So I would expect that foreign bacteria and other intestinal contents present in the blood would certainly cause some irritation of the abdominal cavity.

You also may want to consider coming to Alberta. We have two large urban cities; Calgary and Edmonton. Both of which have one million+ people. If you are an ACP in Australia it should be possible to get equal certification here. I believe a the paramedic level is fairly comparable here . For full details go to collegeofparamedics.org The job market isnt bad either. You may have to start out in a casual position. However, most of our casuals get close to full times hours, just not any benefits. Typically you should get promoted to fulltime witin one to two years. Cheers.. . P.S. It gets really cold here.

Do they actually pay their EMT's a living wage these days?

I actually agree with Crotchity on this one; to a point. Now matter how good of a practitioner one is, we can't rule out every possible outcome for our pts. Why? Two reasons: time and diagnostic tools. Our time of contact with pts is limited, over time the clinical picture can change. Sometimes, this may become obvious over the course of an ambulance transport, or while the pt sits in an ER waiting room. The diagnostic tools we have are good, but limited. Labs can be important in determining pt Dx. For instance, a may be borderline septic, to the point its not overwhelmingly obvious, but a lactate measurement may help direct timely Tx in the ER.

Good interview! I love Bledsoe. Its seems that Canada has a bit different culture than the USA. There is certainly not an overabundance of helicopter transport here. We have very limited use of helo transport actually, although I suspect our large rural area and cold weather may play a part. Since the provincial government has taken over Alberta's EMS, evidence based medicine has been made a priority. That has been reflected in standardized protocols province wide. It should be interesting to see if that extends to actual EMS focused research in the future. Im curious NYCEMS9115, how long is the tour that EMT-B's go on practicum for in NYC?

I also think that Crotchity may have once had another identity here. However, at this point its pretty irrelevent, as it seems he has been consistantly posting under the same name for quite some time. As to his mental fitness? I think he has some pretty bizarre opinions when it comes to some subjects. He also starts a lot of posts that are designed to bait and provoke other members here (and is often successful I may add). But, there is nothing here to suggest any pathology on his part. Furthermore, even if he has some mental disorder, its not particularly relevent to this forum, as I don't believe any persons mental history is the business of the public at large.

Due to the timing of my birthday I finished highschool at 17. I would not have had a birthday before the end of my first semester of college. So, a 16 and a 17 year old having sex? Not that shocking.

Hey nice to meet you. I'm a Paramedic in Calgary myself. Do you work in the metro area? There is no plans to move away from the EMT/Paramedic titles. At least not to my knowledge.

Lets not fool ourselves here... This specific scenario never actually occured. Its purely a construct of crotchity's imagination, designed to showcase the superiority of his moral position. Its a lecture, not a discussion.

Clearly you guys have not seen many Kevin Bacon movies. He has showen his cock in movies almost as much as Matt McConaughey has talen off his shirt.

First of all, kind of a silly quote... I dont think there is anyone who ALWAYS does the RIGHT thing. Besides, whats right varies with perception. The biggest problem here is the decision of the employer to implore people to "do the right thing." My definition of an adult manager would be someone who makes tough, but fair decisions. Not someone who sows discord among his staff by leaving them in control of shift scheduling.

Sorry to highjack the subject of this thread, but I was a little irked by the pseudo-intellectual smarminess in the pointless correction of a members grammer. The expression " I could care less," while grammatically incorrect, is in fact an acceptable slang term, quite common in the North American lexicon. Its usage is interchangable with "I couldn't care less," rendering your correction moot, yet pretentious. Now as for the GCS... I find it a useful tool for those with neurological deficits, in so far as it provides a starting point for a pts neurological status at a point in time. But, as has been previously noted, its only one part of a complete assessment.

Based on the numerous PVC's, I'm gonna say my first 3 guess's are hypoxia, hypoxia, hypoxia. You mentioned the pts in AFib @ 130-140, probably from hypovolemic shock rather than cardiogenic. However, do we know what caused him to fall asleep in the first place? Was he drunk, just sleepy, or was there another underlying cause? Was a 12 lead performed on this fellow?

Damn practical jokers, I knew something was wrong, I even referenced the large font (obviously didn't read the fine print). However, I maintain that I wasn't completely fooled, I did find it strange no research was cited. But Damn it, spineboards are just not my favorite piece of equipment, I was hoping... well never mind.

I completely agree, this gentleman should never be allowed to work for this agency again, such a lapse in judgement makes him an enourmous liability to the entire service and community it serves. I disagree that the director needs to be fired if there is no policy against this particular action. Personally, If I ran this service, I'd have never written a policy against leaving very young children at home anymore than I'd have written a policy against driving with ones eyes closed. One would expect it to be a given. However, now that this character has proven once again that common sense isnt all that common, I'd be sure to write a policy regarding this, and equally importantly, a policy forbidding children, or any other non-approved passengers from riding along on 911 calls.

In my experience, IV's are all about practice and repitition. I can honestly say that its difficult for me to tell someone exactly what I do to make me successful in starting one. There are numerous variables that I consider subconsciously, simply because I have started hundreds, perhaps thousands of them over the years. The best advice I have ever had from an experienced partner was simply, make your first attempt your best attempt. Meaning of course, find the best vein possible for your IV, get the line, and move forward with your Tx plan.

I am not a big fan of spinal immobilization, I'd also like to see some sources for this research, if youve got it. P.S. Whats with the huge font size?

To WR Medic. I get some of the islam issues you speak of. When I was on my Ob practicum delivering babys I did run into some flack over a male being present. However, I found the way you approach the situation dictates the response. For example, if I approached the pt and asked permission to assist with the delivery, as in- hi Im the paramedic student, may I help with your delivery? They would often politely refuse me. So, I started to to simply assert myself and inform the pt that I was part of the delivery team and would be helping the doctor deliver their child. Some did still refuse me, but I was involved in a lot more deliveries after that point. I think that the same goes for EMS response. If a muslim doesnt like the sex of the responders who show up at their door, its a shame, but in the end its their problem, not ours. I think reasonable accomidation should be made for other cultures, but if a co-ed ems team is not avaliable, then they have to be somewhat realistic in their expectations.

"Imagine you're some seedy dude up to no good wandering the streets at night looking for a victim. You see an ambulance parked on a street corner, which is not unusual in a third service or public utility model, and you know you have your target in sight. Once you walk around to the side you see a man and a woman, or a man and a man, will you walk away and look for something easier?" What a ridiculous argument. I don't think that a two women crew presents a particularly vulnerable target. There is little chance said degenerate will be able to get one alone. If he does, she will have a radio on her person, which should provide quick access to the police. Im not saying its impossible, but I think the typical pervert could find much easier prey then a couple ladies in an ambulance. There are plenty of dual female crews in the urban service I work for and Ive never even heard of an attempted assault in the four years I have been here.

Here are my thoughts Timmy. It should be you that writes the compliant. Its fine if the father writes in, but he has no medical training, and the accused could easily write him off as an overbearing parent who didn't understand what is going on. Your compiant holds more weight because you have a better understanding of what was going on. The fact that they are paramedics and you are not is irrelevent. This is BLS were talking about, and they have no more ability to determine if its a # than you do. Furthermore, she did not act in a professional manner, and that alone needs to be addressed. I think that Paramedics acting like turds is unacceptable. It makes us all look bad. No matter what I think of another practitioners Tx, I always do what I can to conduct myself in a professional manner.

Yes welcome to a.new year with new.acp fees. The explanation they use for increased fees is the survey we filled out, which is aneat little trick. Oh you want some improvements from us? No problem, but... It will cost ya. Typical cynical acp tactic. As for ACP dissolving in the face of AHS. Not gonna happen. AHS is our employer. ACP is a regulatory body. Believe me, as bad as ACP is you, I and everyone else do not want AHS determining our scope of practice.

Does the calcium chloride have any effect?

A few quick notes here: Antiemetics- I would suggest stocking dimenhydrinate. It works very well for nausea related to motion sickness and narcotic admin. ACS- Why not include a nitro patch? It is applied to the skin and gives a specific dose per hour. I also agree with the previous poster. DONT do this work for free.

Im always amazed that anyone ever falls for these scans. The syntax errors alone confuse me to the point that I dont even understand what they want me to send money for.