spenac

I can not believe that the auto workers unions made it clear that they would not accept pay cuts to help keep their jobs. How stupid is that? They make way to much money, many make $40-$50 an hour to use automated equipment to put one piece of equipment on the car. I am sorry to minimize a job but I have seen and known many auto industry people, many are my friends. They are smart so I really wonder if they will be smart enough to demand that their union concede some major pay cuts so they at least have a job. Heck $30 an hour is much better than they will find if their plant shuts down. If the auo plants shut down there will be so many unemployed there will be no job openings even at minimum wage. I would rather get something and feed my family than be jobless. Did the union contact the workers and ask? Heck if the union would have been smart they would have approached congress before pay cuts were brought up and offered to take temporary pay cuts in order to help. This would have made them look like HERO's instead of zero's. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/business...ml?ref=business Just as reference not actually discussing unions.

So if when on an EMS call you see drugs, is it illegal for you to later in your LE capacity to return and arrest the people, or is that a violation of patient privacy rights? Had they not called for an ambulance you would not have seen these items so does their reasonable expectation of confidentiality with a health care professional make any attempt to arrest or confiscate illegal?

If you accept any money you are no longer a volunteer. In fact on taxes if you are trying to right off your time and other as a volly and the IRS finds out you got anything you could face charges of fraud. When I was a volly we got nothing. If I spent all day away from my paid job I just robbed my family of money we needed, and it happened. Even slow systems get those days when all heck breaks loose. So my answer is if you are reimbursed you are not truly a volunteer.

Marcus ROSC would be front page news if we could release names and footage of us working, along with them being able to interview the patient, and maybe have us and our patient hugging when we are brought together, be the feel good story, but aint happening. With patient privacy rights it is almost impossible for us to get positive news out to the public. Giving stats w/o actual people stories to back up will barely get a back page mention in the news. That is why fire and police always get hero stories and we get zero stories. They can say I carried her out of fire and have the child saying thank you. We can not release names photos that identify etc so media only gets to report storys that sell like we are all scum though we're not. Whose the public going to believe? I am sure it is not us.

This article is making it into many peoples news. I wonder if it will lead to an increase in claims of improper contact? Think about it........... Lung sounds, heart sounds, 12 lead, trauma, OB, to name just a few times you will be seeing and touching near what many patients consider the no no parts :oops: . All of those above require seeing skin and touching skin. For one quick example, larger breasted woman, you even have to lift/push/etc (touch) breast in order to do proper 12 lead, lung sounds, and even trauma check. Will fear of getting false claims cause you to skip some necessary exams?

In El Paso a year or two ago a paramedic sucked his patients breasts when he thought she was unconscious. At the hospital when she was able to talk she told. They swabbed her breast and found his DNA. I posted the article here sometime ago.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6159859.html Small town outraged over sex offender EMT By DANNY ROBBINS Associated Press Writer © 2008 The Associated Press Dec. 11, 2008, 2:13PMShare Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTechnoratiYahoo! BuzzLOCKHART, Texas — Although typically not the stuff of small-town conversation, Texas' standards for emergency medical technicians and paramedics have been a hot topic here lately. And more often than not, the tone has been angry. Officials in this town of 13,000 about 30 miles south of Austin have been up in arms since discovering last December that a registered sex offender was working for the city as a firefighter and EMT — with the state's OK. Lockhart City Manager Vance Rodgers said he felt betrayed when he learned that the state had certified the EMT, Michael Harris, knowing that he twice pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that he exposed himself to women in New York. "I couldn't visualize a state agency giving a guy like that a license and allowing him to be in contact with patients — minors or adults," Rodgers said. The case is the most visible example of how health officials in Texas for years have allowed some sex offenders to serve as EMTs and paramedics. Records examined by The Associated Press show that at least seven other sex offenders have been certified by the Department of State Health Services, the agency that oversees EMTs. Those seven were each convicted of felonies involving children ranging in age from 6 to 16. A nationwide survey by the AP found that most states do not have laws expressly prohibiting sex offenders from working as EMTs, but few have actually allowed such individuals to do so. In Lockhart, Mayor Jimmy Bertram, said he will ask the Legislature to change the way EMTs are certified in Texas. "I don't care what the licensing board says," he said. "This is just flat unacceptable." When Harris was hired by the city in 2003, he wasn't required to disclose his criminal background. Lockhart officials acknowledge that their vetting process was flawed, but they say they believed the state would not allow someone convicted of a sex offense to be certified as an EMT. The city learned of Harris' criminal history when Rodgers initiated a series of background checks for police, fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel. The revelation ultimately led to Harris' dismissal. In a civil service proceeding, Harris contended that he had informed Lockhart's fire chief, Jerry Doyle, of his convictions, a condition imposed by the state when it certified him. But an arbitrator, Weatherford attorney Phil King, ruled against him. "It is apparent from the evidence that firefighter Harris perpetuated an ongoing effort to hide his convictions and his status as a registered sex offender from his employer, the City of Lockhart," wrote King, who is also a state representative. Harris declined a request to be interviewed by the AP. Officials from the Department of State Health Services said they are bound by the state occupations code, which technically allows any applicant with a criminal background to be considered. "There are a lot of people who think certain people shouldn't be doing whatever," said Maxie Bishop, the state's EMS director. "But the law doesn't work that way. And until subjectivity is the law, I can't be governed by it." When applicants with criminal histories are considered, they undergo considerable scrutiny, he said. "It's not just taking some person's word," he said. "We pull the court report. They (applicants) have to provide us with letters from people in the community, people who have known them. And we look at what happened since the time (an applicant was convicted)." But at least one case examined by the AP raises questions about the thoroughness of those investigations. When the state agreed in April to renew David Boswell's certification as a paramedic, it did so without speaking to the district attorney who prosecuted him for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. Had his input been sought, Williamson County DA John Bradley said, he would have urged the state to deny Boswell's renewal. "Certainly, if we had received a call from the state agency asking, 'Hey, what's your opinion of this case and this guy?' I would easily have said, 'Take it away.' " Boswell, 32, was initially charged with three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child. He pleaded guilty to one sexual assault count and received 10 years' probation. Under terms set by the state, he may only work in hospital emergency rooms or acute care facilities and must be supervised when around patients under 17. Boswell, who now works at a hospital in Cameron, said he provided the state with letters from his probation officer, previous employers, co-workers and friends. He said his current supervisor and another hospital employee also appeared on his behalf. "On paper, yeah, you have to wonder why," he said, acknowledging that some might question the state's decision to renew his certification. "But I can say I know myself, and I don't pose any danger to my patients."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...53flcgD950M9RO0 Ambulance attendants accused of molesting patients By DANNY ROBBINS – 3 hours ago DALLAS (AP) — They answer the call 24-7, often risking their own safety to rescue the sick and injured and rush them to the hospital. But some paramedics have been more predator than hero. Over the past 18 months, at least 129 ambulance attendants across the U.S. have been accused of sex-related crimes on duty or off, an investigation by The Associated Press found. Some of them molested patients in the back of an ambulance. "It's a dream job for a sexual predator," said Greg Kafoury, a Portland, Ore., lawyer who represents three women who were groped by a paramedic. "Everything is there: Women who are incapacitated, so they're hugely distracted. Medical cover to put your hands in places where, in any other context, a predator would be immediately recognized as such." Across the U.S., emergency medical technicians have been accused in recent months of such crimes as rape, soliciting minors over the Internet and possession of child porn, according to an AP survey of the state agencies that oversee those professions. Exactly how many of these EMTs were alleged to have committed their crimes on the job is unclear. But some of more shocking cases include: _ A Standish, Mich., paramedic sent to prison in March for molesting a girl who was on her way to the hospital after she was injured at her 15th birthday party. _ A Pinellas County, Fla., paramedic arrested in July after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in an ambulance en route to a hospital. _ A Chester County, Pa., paramedic sentenced in July to up to 20 years in prison for engaging in sex and providing alcohol to teenagers he befriended through their interest in emergency medical service. _ A Copperas Cove, Texas, paramedic awaiting trial in January on charges he exposed and touched an 18-year-old accident victim's breasts while pretending to tend to her injuries. _ A Chattanooga, Tenn., EMT accused in a lawsuit of giving a 30-year-old woman an extra dose of morphine and then completely undressing her in the back of an ambulance even though her injuries were minor. State health officials in 23 states reported receiving sex-related complaints involving EMS workers. New York reported the most complaints — 17. Thirteen of the complaints were substantiated and resulted in workers losing their certification. Texas reported 13 complaints, Massachusetts 11 and Virginia 10. No breakdown was immediately available showing how many of those allegations involved sexual misconduct on the job. Several EMS officials said the number of complaints is troubling but does not necessarily point to an industrywide problem. They noted that the profession employs nearly 900,000 people in the U.S. "That number in and of itself doesn't shock me, knowing the number of providers we have in the country," said Steve Blessing, state EMS director in Delaware and president of the National Association of State EMS Officials. "Is even one case tolerable? I think most state directors would say no. But we're bound by reality here." In Portland, paramedic Lannie Haszard was sentenced to five years in prison in August after pleading guilty to five counts of attempted sexual abuse. Haszard, 62, was charged with inappropriately touching four female patients while they were being taken by ambulance to hospitals. Three of the women have sued Haszard and American Medical Response, his employer at the time. The lawsuits contend that the company, which operates ambulances in 40 states, failed to react to previous complaints about the paramedic's conduct. Haszard's behavior came to light last December when a 28-year-old single mother of three, Royshekka Herring, told police that he touched her genitals while she was en route to the hospital for emergency treatment of a gastrointestinal condition. In a recent taped deposition, Herring's voice shook with emotion as she described how a nurse tried to convince her that Haszard was probably performing an abdominal exam. "I started yelling at her, because I didn't feel safe," Herring testified. "Somebody I never expected to touch me touched me." A spokesman for American Medical Response had no comment on the case. Former Dallas Fire Chief Steve Abraira suggested ambulances carry three workers. Ambulances usually have two — one in the front, one in the back. "If there's a person predisposed to do something wrong, there's nobody there to witness or discourage that individual from doing something," said Abraira, now the fire chief in Palm Bay, Fla. Twenty-eight states do not automatically bar known sex offenders from working as EMTs, the AP found. Although most insist they would rarely, if ever, allow sex offenders to work those jobs, the AP found that Texas has knowingly allowed eight, Louisiana two and Maine, Virginia and North Carolina one each. There is no indication any of those people were accused of sexual misconduct after being allowed to work EMS jobs. Twenty-two states strictly prohibit such offenders from working as EMTs. "This is the type of person we don't want in the back of an ambulance with your mother or daughter," said March Tucker, an EMS regulator in West Virginia. All but one of the eight registered sex offenders certified to work in Texas victimized children ranging in age from 6 to 16. "Oh, my goodness, that's really scary," said Winfred Dean, who supervises the sex offender monitoring unit for the Harris County probation department in Houston. "I thought people like that would more than likely be eliminated." Texas officials said state regulations call for EMS licensing decisions to be made on a case-by-case basis. "The only thing we can do is follow the law, and the law allows this," said Maxie Bishop, state EMS director. "We have to take a look at the crime, how long it's been, the nature of it and what that person has done since." Associated Press writers Brian Farkas in Charleston W.Va., and Richard Richtmyer in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

Yes

Exactly care was quicker by allowing a crew to first respond rather than waiting for next ambulance. No problem. In fact our medical director even wrote in policys to cover us if not in ambulance.

Apparently it does as a real life case was presented by Ruffems I believe. I think the fact is most seem set on saying there are definites, there are no definites in EMS.

Cover with a sheet. Ask family if they would like us to contact funeral home. If yes or no family available we have dispatch call funeral home to take the body. No dead bodys are placed in the ambulance.

Since they use National Registry they should go by its rules. For initial certification you get 3 attempts then are required a refresher then given 3 more attempts then if they still fail they must retake the entire course. If an experienced provider can not pass in 6 attempts I'm not sure I even want them operating a hose on the fire truck. There are also companys that offer seminars to teach the national registry and have very good pass rates maybe if your worried about your job that would be worth the investment.

Yup I definitely got this one, but I'll let the basics solve it. Pertinent negatives and positives have confirmed it.

Crap hoped you were the new and improved Owley!!!!! :twisted: Welcome back.

Lot of details I can not release sorry, all I can say is I proved I was competent and knowledgable of all equipment and drugs, how and when to use. I can also say I still have my certification. Sorry no more legally able to discuss.

Another gripe is why complain about a bear being mentioned, fix the trauma, or answer call medical control if it is a choice. Then 99.9% of emt's and paramedics should demand that the question about when we stick our fingers into a vagina should be removed as they will never do it in the field. Honestly your probably more likely to get a bear or other similar animal attack to deal with than have to make an airway for a stuck baby or to keep pressure off the umbilical cord. Go take the 1 week refresher course and then go take the test.

The test they are required to pass is the National Registry which is the minimum for an entry level person. If you have been in the field 1, 10, 20 years and not advanced beyond the minimum education needed to do your job you need to get out. The National Registry is to prove you have the minimum amount of education to do your job. Where is the problem requiring people to have the minimum of education? Why not just remove these people from EMS and let them just do the fire thing that want to do?

Just passed one this week. My current service provides little training and even less education. I passed because I refuse to be sub par. I find those that know or I get a book I refuse to have anything on my ambulance that I could not use if needed.

They failed NR not some private exam. Per the article and I qoute: "Staton's dream was shattered when he was among the 28 percent of firefighters who failed to pass a new national registry exam for EMTs, put in place after graduation. Staton had already passed state standards. "

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We have took back board and other supplys and went for patients in the back of the deputys pickups. Package patient ride out to the ambulance with patient in bed of truck. Only way as no helicopter. That or let them lay there and die.

No ambulance sales/rental lots in El Paso. I do not know why they did not call in the privates that operate there. They used to call them if call volume exceeded number of ambulances. I am surprised that they had 9 reserve ambulances for a town of 600,000-700,000 people.

http://www.emsresponder.com/article/articl...n=1&id=8608 EL Paso, TX Paramedics Use Pickup Instead of Ambulance Arleene Barrios-KFOX News Reporter Story by kfoxtv.com Story by kfoxtv.com EL PASO, Texas -- When you call 911 with a medical emergency, you would expect an ambulance to show up. But on Wednesday, paramedics from Station 22 in west El Paso had no choice but to respond to calls using a pickup truck. El Paso Fire Department spokesman Lt. Mario Hernandez said the ambulance was in the shop for about 22 hours for mechanical repairs. "The safety of the public was never compromised. We do have plans for these types of emergencies," said Hernandez. Those plans usually call for one of the nine reserve ambulances to be put in service. However, Hernandez said none were available because they were being used at other stations, or were in the shop. Without an ambulance, paramedics can't take someone to the hospital if they need urgent care. Instead, they would have to wait for an ambulance to show up from a different fire station. "Let's say there was a major fire, and the fire truck and the ambulance from station 22 were at that incident, you would still have an ambulance backing those units up," said Hernandez. Rick Montes, a paramedic at station 22, said all of their life-saving equipment is portable. They keep all of it packed in separate duffle bags. Some of the equipment includes a medical bag, a heart monitor and an airway bag with a portable oxygen tank. The only piece of equipment paramedics can't carry is a stretcher. "You're getting advance life support and care with that pickup truck," said Hernandez. The fire department should be getting seven new ambulance in a couple of months to replace some of the older ones.