VentMedic

In all fairness, we have had members on the various forums who have been displaced by the FD taking over a county or private EMS system. While many were making decent money or at least adequate, more importantly they were doing something they loved as a profession. They were not forced to get another training cert...until the FD took over. Then, if they were taken in by the FD, they were forced to become FFs. Or, many were already at an age, after 20+ years as Paramedic, where the Fire academy and fighting fires were not viable options. They were out of a job and replaced by 20 y/o FFs with a PDQ medic mill cert to take up the slack. I have seen the happen many times in Florida. The reputation of EMS suffers regardless of who is providing it if experienced personnel is lost and others are forced to do a job that is not viewed as a profession. Many FFs who hold the Paramedic patch do just want the bonus and look forward to the day they can be on an engine or ladder that doesn't respond to medical calls. That is where disservice and deception are done to the public.

Unfortunately, if you have been following the headlines or the systems in CA and FL, the FD decides it wants to do EMS. The next thing you know they have contracted a medic mill to get ALL FFs a Paramedic cert as quickly as possible. It was not always like this and some departments prefer it to never be like this. They want those that do have an interest in being a Paramedic doing the EMS part. The two year Paramedic degree was sort after and respected by the FFs (including myself) in FDs during the 70s and early 80s. Some of the departments that at one time had exceptional reputations for EMS have now had them thrashed with the more is better attitude by making a Paramedic cert preferred for hire and mandatory within one year of hire. Thus, most rush through a cert program and do not get a degree or take any classes that should be prerequisites because there is a time factor to get that job or keep it. Do you think Collier and Miami-Dade would now be appearing in print with articles concerning their training if the Paramedic cert was considered "education" and not just another training cert. I believe 46young and I had a discussion about that at another place and time.

The school's allied health or nursing department should have a list of recommendations and places that are inexpensive to receive them. Depending on when you got your other degree, your MMR may already be up to date. Hep B may be on the recommended list. Keep your tetanus updated. I also have my titers checked which is when I found my immunity from having chicken pox as a kid no longer appeared as it had over several other checks over the past 30 years. Thus, I got the varicella vaccine since I work with kids.

A few of those things are not that unrealistic but the bad acting and dramatization made these situations appear more pathetic.

Here's a report on how a vaccine and its effectiveness is determined. For last year's flu season, the vaccine was considered less effective against some strains but the antiviral meds helped with the severity. This year we are seeing a strain that is also resistant to the antivirals. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5715a4.htm The references linked at the end of the article are also worth reading. 2003 was also another controversial year for the flu vaccine, where it was also considered a "miss" by the stats from that season. I remember that year because of Pres. Bush's big production of getting the smallpox vaccine. Many of us were actually in favor of getting the smallpox vaccine since we were made to get it at age 5 just prior to starting 1st grade. Several years later few were thought to have immunity in the U.S. after several years had passed since the last vaccination for smallpox was in 1972. BTW, many health care workers did not get the smallpox vaccine during 2003-2004 as it was not made mandatory as it had been many years ago. Also the vaccine offered in 2003 for smallpox and the one the Pres. was recommending did pose some serious complications and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices called for the U.S. to reconsider giving the vaccinations. Since health care workers do care for those with complications, they may see and hear more about the complications than most. That issue has been mentioned in New York (back to my original post starting this thread). However, HCWs also have first hand knowledge of what the disease itself can do. Neither appear to be a good choice especially after you have reached an age where you are aware your body may not act as it did at 20. This is why some are hesitant to get the vaccines. We could also continue with the controversy that has been presented with the childhood vaccines. Even if the percentage is relatively small, it is still there enough for the "what if" factor. People prefer to control what they know or think they know. But then this could lead us to a discussion about HIV. How many know the precautions but yet still engage in activities without any protection or even any thought of the virus? Would a vaccine make a difference if other precautions are cast aside? For the flu, I believe one of the biggest factors in lower numbers is the awareness. It gets people to be considerate when they cough and was their hands for a few weeks.

Here again the skills mentality comes to play. Of course a pilot can be good at sex and also be good at flying a plane. I just don't want the pilot having sex in the plane. An EMT can be good at sex and also be a good health care provider. However, when it comes to having sex on the job and in the ambulance, there has to be some boundaries in professionalism. Even the President of the U.S. gets scrutinized when engaging in sex (by whatever definition) with someone in the White House. Why should EMTs be so different to think the public won't form opinions about them having sex on the job? In other professions, do you really believe it enhances that person's reputation to become known as a slut or party animal? While some guys are giving each other rave remarks to their face, they are probably not trusting them to be around their own spouses and children. They may also change the sheets in the ambulance first thing when knowing that person had the truck before them. It has nothing to do with teh patients. Do you really think that doesn't display more about what they think about the person as a professional or their character?

Separate budget. SFFD did NOT fork out any money. This is the part of the city that sponsors tourism and the filming industry. The expenditure for the tent party apparently caught them by surprise. Somebody in city hall may not have read the fine print in the contract.

Yes but some of the other professions don't always have an outspoken group of individuals to provide proof there are idiots in that profession. Take this new article: Florida Responders run over patient http://tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/accidents/st-petersburg-firefighters-accidentally-run-over-victim-they-were-sent-to/1038961 If the article itself didn't put the FD in a bad light, the comments made by those claiming to be FFs/EMTs/Paramedics did. This is for all to see in the web version of the newspaper.

Well we do have to remember this is California. The other filming choice was in Canada but I heard they didn't put up much of a fight for the show even for the $3 million. Right now this show is also costing SF money since they just picked up the tab for a $270K tent party. If the show gets cancelled too soon the city may not see the profit they were hoping after the cost of PD and street closings. But, at least the Mayor's wife got a role in the show.

Did you miss the part where I referred to the person posting who is claiming to be in EMS and believes it is acceptable to drink and have sex in an ambulance? That is not about a TV show. I would hope most do not get into this profession just because of "these fun things" as well as all the whacker accessories or the lights and sirens. As a professional, I would rather move past the stereotypes that have been prevalent in EMS. It are those in EMS and not the public that continue to hold on to this skewed concept of what an EMT(P) is. As Dust mentioned earlier, the public knows the difference between a real doctor and some fictious version on TV because they have real doctor role models in their real lives. What does EMS have if those in the profession believe they are like the characters portrayed in these crappy shows?

As a professional, I do not find it necessary to screw whatever moron in the back of an ambulance just to feel accepted where I work and risk messing up my marriage. Nor do I feel compelled to take the ambulance with me when I go out for a drink. This show has attempted take to portray Mother, Jugs and Speed but without the good scripts or acting. This show might stand a better chance if it just went by way of a comedy and do a spoof such as Airplane for EMS. That seems to be the path the opening episode was taking whether that was the intent or not. For the HEMS part of it, I don't know if they truly didn't do their homework or if they were trying to show blatant abuse of the system with their over the top examples of such stupidity since these issues have been in the news. Even those not associated with EMS are aware of the problems HEMS is facing. I also find its glamorization of HEMS crashes rather disgusting. Granted, it was rather difficult to see this aired while the headlines for the previous day of the deadly medical helicopter crash which killed 3 professsionals were still running on the news. Nobody walked away from that crash to "look cool". Maybe it is difficult for a show to be politically correct and still believe they can provide good entertainment. I would like to believe the American audience is a little more refined than what some TV directors, producers and actors believe they are. But then, we are constantly bombarded with ignorant reality shows and Jerry Springer which still seem to get high ratings.

There are still a few PA programs in the country that will allow you to be one after just 2 years. However, for many programs it is a 2 year program after you have obtained a 4 year degree. Also, there are now post grad school programs for internships in some speciality for the PA. In FL, if you want the ability to write scripts, you need the Masters. U of F does have a great program. The experience is not always necessary as they state it is good to have a CNA or EMT cert if you do not hold a license in healthcare profession to earn some mone during school. You are correct in that it is very selective.

You do realize this show has been filmed on location in San Francisco? If they had done their homework this could have been a better night time soap with lots of sex and action if they had actually used the mess in that city with the political figures (including the mayor and his actress wife), PD, FD and/vs EMS for realism. Some of the real stuff that happens in SF is beyond what any fiction writer could dream up.

I don't know too many Paramedics worth $25 million. Well, maybe one or two now that spenac is one. This is a very sad way for Travolta to relive the day his son died.

Ask and you shall receive. The comments' section at the end of this article also has some good reading as did the other. St. Petersburg firefighters hope new rule will prevent freak accident By Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer In Print: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/fire/st-petersburg-firefighters-hope-new-rule-will-prevent-freak-accident/1040263 ST. PETERSBURG — The accident that left a drunken homeless man pinned underneath a 10-ton city firefighting vehicle is still under investigation. But St. Petersburg Fire Rescue already has decided to change its policies to prevent a repeat of the accident Thursday that saw firefighters accidentally run over the person they were sent to help. Starting today, a firefighter will have to open the fire station garage bay doors using the keypad in the garage, not the remote inside the vehicle cabin. That firefighter will then stand outside and quickly scan the driveway before the vehicle leaves the station on an emergency. "They can take a quick look before the path of the vehicle," said James Wimberly Jr., the assistant chief of operations. "It will have a minimal effect on our response times." Fire officials want a firefighter to make sure the vehicle's path to the road is clear because that firefighter can see things those inside the vehicles can't. Lack of visibility is one of the factors that led to Thursday's accident, according to St. Petersburg police. Ted Allen Lenox collapsed outside the garage bay door of Rescue 5, police said, too close for firefighters inside the F-650 paramedic truck to see him. The paramedics jumped into their vehicle, opened the garage door from the inside, activated their emergency lights, pulled forward — and accidentally ran over Lenox. The new rule should be distributed to firefighters by today, Wimberly said. Police are still investigating the accident, while the fire department is conducting its own internal review. Police told fire officials that Lenox, 41, had a blood alcohol level of 0.46 — nearly six times the legal limit. State law presumes a driver is impaired when the level is 0.08 or more. The initial 911 callers reported that Lenox was stumbling, then had fallen, outside fire rescue headquarters at 400 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S. That's where the paramedics were headed. But Lenox was actually lying in the driveway of the adjacent street, right outside Station 5 at 455 Eighth St. S. Lenox is in serious condition at Bayfront Medical Center. http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/fire/st-petersburg-firefighters-hope-new-rule-will-prevent-freak-accident/1040263

This is not the first post on this forum as the other thread was for medical advice. In the short time she has been on the EMS forums we have gotten to know way too much about her life and I really hope there is someone in her life that she can trust for some guidiance.

What lines of communication have you made with your employer? Right now that is all you need to be concerned about if the H1N1 vaccination is not mangatory in your state as one can't change the world or speak for everyone's situation. Many however don't stay informed enough to understand what their options are. Do you really want that much governmental control over businesses to where everything must be "mandated"? The MA Bill 2028 was very comprehensive at addressing some of these issues and it has been criticized extensively. During Katrina, there wasn't enough legislation to prepare for a disaster of that magnitude which also includes medical care and vaccinations. It is difficult to please everyone but you must take the first steps to stay informed and know where your employer stands on these issues.

The CDC and other health organizations have also thought of this and it has been mentioned several times in the memos which should be posted for employees to read and a discussion should be initiated with your employer before something does happen. These are some of the options for employers from the CDC Flu update sites which I have linked to periodically on this forum in H1N1 discussions. I also recently saw both national and local TV news stations featuring this issue. Option A: COMPANY provides employees with paid sick time and other benefits to compensate employees who are unable to work due to illness. However, in the event that an employee who has influenza and/or is experiencing influenza-like symptoms does not have sufficient sick leave to cover the absence, COMPANY will permit the employee to take additional sick leave without pay. Option B: COMPANY provides employees with paid sick time and other benefits to compensate employees who are unable to work due to illness. However, in the event that an employee who has influenza and/or is experiencing influenza-like symptoms does not have sufficient sick leave to cover the absence, COMPANY will permit the employee to take additional paid sick leave. Option C: COMPANY provides employees with paid sick time and other benefits to compensate employees who are unable to work due to illness. However, in the event that an employee who has influenza and/or is experiencing influenza-like symptoms does not have sufficient sick leave to cover the absence, COMPANY will permit the employee to borrow sick time from the following years entitlement. If we are out sick for flu like symptoms, we must also go to Occupational Health for a rapid flu test for clearance to return to work.

I had first aid classes back in grammar school for "general knowledge" as it was also required. The same for high school. I think the classes actually added up to more hours than today's EMT. However, the intention of the class was not to make one a professional or even prepare them to be an ambulance attendant back in those days. It was a class to introduce one to a few life saving techniques just as the ARC and CPR classes are today. I would not want a 16 or 17 year old EMT anymore than I would want a 16 year old RN taking care of me or any family member. A patient should also have some expectation of privacy that they are not on public display for the amusement of the teenagers in their community. Take the class for your own knowledge or take the ARC classes. Wait until you are at least 18 to make it an official cert and job choice.

The testing I am referring to is our screening process. This is not done just because of the publicity of H1N1 but has been used as any other diagnostic test to determine what the patient may have so that early treatment can begin. This is not "optional" if you are seeking medical treatment with certain symptoms or if an employee, present to work with flu like symptoms.

Unlike what happened with the Avian flu, we do have cases in the U.S. of H1N1 and it has proven itself to be deadly. However, we have always had Influenza A around at various times during the year and have taken precautions. It just happens that there are many more cases than usual this year in a younger population excluding school age where the flu is present each year. However, Influenza B is still the leader for deaths here in the U.S. For some it is a crap shoot if they get the flu with or without the shot. For others it may offer protection. Most will go on a little protection might be better than none at all. I am not convinced we know exactly what influenza virus types or subtypes will predominate and if this vaccine will offer adequate protection. I believe it was last year's seasonal flu vaccine that was stated to have misjudged what the predominant strain was going to be. Even more so, will that give some a false sense of security for maintaining the highest standards for precautions? Right now in many hospitals, everybody with flu symptoms are considered guily under proven innocent or well or dead. Those that are subsceptible are getting hit hard with what some have termed as Flu Associated ARDS. This can be deadly and requires serious intervention with the big technology and expertise of the intensive care Physicians. For testing we use rapid antigen tests, which can give results in as little as 15 minutes. These tests can usually distinguish between influenza A and influenza B, but they do not identify subtypes. Some tests are not as sensitive in adult patients as they are in children, who shed more viruses. That fact can result in false-negative results for adults. For more specific testing, the specimen goes to a CDC lab and even those results are returning sorta positive and sorta negative with nonspecific whatever type of flu. Other vaccinations I don't have a serious problem with since we can test for titers to determine one's immunity. Mandatory TB testing also doesn't bother me since that is determining presence from exposure.

I guess you haven't read the comments under the articles especially the one where they ran over the guy. Those are sad and funny especially if it is the FFs making those comments.

Let's have a look at the world of education, health care and business. I don't trust an accountant with less than a Masters or 6 years of college to do my taxes. The guy who did some welding for my boat trailer had a tech cert and then got a 2 year degree in welding at the community college. The guy who maintains my boat engine has a 2 year degree in engine repair as well as a B.A. in business. What type of job is an accounting major going to get before finishing at least 4 and probably all 6 years of college? Store clerk at the college bookstore? Yet, they know that is what it takes to secure their career and future. I got my feathers a little ruffled when I saw this on Yahoo! last week. Surprising Jobs that Pay $25 an Hour http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-surprising_jobs_that_pay_25_an_hour-983 Respiratory Therapist Breathe easy. Depending on the employer, many a respiratory therapist can land a job with as little as a two-year degree. More often, however, hospitals are looking for a bachelor's or master's degree to advance in the profession. All states require licensing. Job openings are projected to grow by 19 percent from 2006-2016. In 2008, respiratory therapists earned $25.55 an hour. This was probably written by somebody who has a 4 year degree in Journalism and maybe a Masters in this competitive market. $25 is also about the entry level wage for an RRT in the South. Do you know how many health care professions still only require a 2 year degree? The list is getting smaller. The RN is now in the Bachelor's degree preferred status as is Respiratory Therapy. Radiology is also looking to soon raise their requirements to the Bachelor's degree. The other allied health professions already have the Bachelor's degree requirement with many at Masters. That includes OT, ST, SLP and Recreational Therapy. Physician's Assistant is going Masters degree. Physical Therapy has a Doctorate. Nurse Practitioner will soon require a Doctorate (2012?). Excercise Physiologists have a Masters dgree. Athletic Trainers have no less than a Bachelor's degree with Masters preferred. It is amazing that RN and RT still require "as little as a two year degree". Yes, RT has the same 1+ years of prerequisites as do the other health care professions to gain entry into the "two year" program which is why it made sense for the others to go with a 4 year degree that included the prerequisites and give a degree that is worthy of that profession. Wasting time on a cert like LVN when you already have a degree of higher education is not practical in today's competitive job market. While you have maturity on your side, you will still be competing with youngsters who are eager, greedy and from the "me now" generation. It is also strange that many of us in EMS do have our financial matters, cars, boats and even our haircuts done by people who have way more education and training than the Paramedic but some still complain about the "long" length of that program. Somehow EMS manages to justify its length just as the LVN/LPN continues to attempt to stay around. But, the LVN/LPNs know the writing is already on the wall for their extinction which is the real purpose of the transition programs. They are getting the LVN/LPN pulled through so they aren't left behind.

I guess the St. Pete FD gets the publicity award for the week. It seems they were just in the headlines for their cocaine stash at a neighboring station. Collier and a few other counties could lose their lead for embarrassing Florida news. Police: Cocaine found at St. Petersburg fire station By Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer In Print: Friday, September 25, 2009 http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article1038888.ece ST. PETERSBURG — Last week a firefighter found something in a fire station washing machine that has left St. Petersburg Fire Rescue feeling very unclean: Cocaine. Now the city's police officers are conducting a criminal investigation into the city's firefighters. "This is just a black eye for the fire department," Assistant Fire Chief James Wimberly Jr. said on Thursday. The St. Petersburg Police Department launched two investigations: one by narcotics detectives that could lead to arrests and criminal charges, the other by the police's internal affairs unit to determine if fire department and city policies were broken. The cocaine powder was found Sept. 18 in a small plastic bag at Lake Maggiore Station 8 at 4701 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S. Several firefighters were doing laundry there at the time. The find was reported to police at 4:51 p.m. A police officer tested the substance at the station to confirm it was cocaine. Police and fire officials would not release any other details. They would not say what role drug testing could have in the investigation or discuss what actions could be taken against any firefighter linked to the drug. Firefighters from all over the city rotate in and out of the station. In the meantime, Wimberly said, Station 8 will operate normally.

Richard B. recently posted this topic. http://www.emtcity.com/index.php/topic/16362-h1n1-update-from-new-york-state/page__hl__H1N1__fromsearch__1 This subject is now a heated discussion on many other forums for many other health care professions. NY has made it mandatory and there is now big controversey in that state amongst the health care workers. Health Care Workers Protest Mandatory H1N1 Vaccination http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/29/taking_liberties/entry5349581.shtml September 29, 2009 11:28 AM Health care workers are planning to take to the streets Tuesday at a rally in front of the Albany, N.Y. state capitol to protest mandatory vaccination. The rally is intended to call for "freedom of choice in vaccination and health care" and to protest mandatory vaccination for influenza and the H1N1 swine flu. "This vaccine has not been clinically tested to the same degree as the regular flu vaccine," Tara Accavallo, a registered nurse on Long Island, told Newsday. "If something happens to me, if I get seriously injured from this vaccine, who's going to help me?" While physicians, nurses, and medical technicians may not be known for their willingness to march on state capitols, a recent New York Department of Health requirement has sparked an unusually intense response. The August 13 regulations say that all health care workers who "could potentially expose patients" must be vaccinated for influenza by November 30 unless it would be "detrimental" to the recipient's health. (Any reprieve would be temporary and last only until injection with the vaccine would "no longer be detrimental.") This raises an obvious and important question: Under what circumstances can government officials order mandatory vaccination? And could the general public be ordered to roll up their sleeves for injections, even if there might be side effects beyond a sore arm or mild fever? The concern in New York also comes as skepticism of vaccination in general seems to be on the rise. First, some stipulations. Let us stipulate that that routine vaccination has virtually wiped out, at least in developed countries, once-rampant diseases like mumps and whooping cough. The horrors of smallpox -- variola major, which slays about a third of its victims, and the less deadly variola minor -- have vanished, thanks to a successful worldwide vaccination campaign. Even where mandatory vaccination can cause complications, the overall side effects in a population of millions will almost certainly not be as harmful as the infectious disease itself. On the other hand, let us stipulate that not all vaccines are created equal; some may be safer than others. Out of lack of knowledge or fear, officials may order mandatory vaccinations when the vaccine has not been proven completely safe. And we should remember that the history of our own government when it comes to vaccines is not without its low points (more on this below). Perhaps the best overview of the legality of mandatory vaccination lies in a 2005 report prepared for the U.S. Congress by the Congressional Research Service. It notes that while the federal government does have the power to order quarantines, public health has historically been the states' responsibility. The CRS report adds: "Generally, federal regulations authorizing the apprehension, detention, examination, or conditional release of individuals are applicable only to individuals coming into a State or possession from a foreign country... Any federal mandatory vaccination program applicable to the general public would likely incorporate similar jurisdictional limitations." Much more to read at: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/29/taking_liberties/entry5349581.shtml