aussiephil

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is usually the husband. When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first: the truck, the car, email, fishing, always something more important to me. Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a few minutes. When I came out again, I handed her a toothbrush. 'When you finish cutting the grass,' I said, 'you might as well sweep the driveway.' The doctors say I will walk again, but I will probably always have a limp.

Obesity is a chronic epidemif across all first world nations. As I see it, the main problem stems from a proliferation of 'Fast Food' (poor nutrition) outlets in the past 20-30 years, coupled with the fact that we are now placing more emphasis on leisure time. While this isnt necesarrily a bad thing, we are spending our 'leisure time', & our next generations are watching us do it & copying us, playing computer games, or watching TV. I am as guilty as the next person, i am not a martyr I admit it. Life today is far more complicated & complex & I realise that we in aussieland are a bit different to other countries around the world, but in essence, the problems are universal. The proliferation of the internet has us scared for our kids with the threat of paedophiles etc, so we dont let them go to the park to play anymore, they dont ride their bikes for hours like we used to. Couple this with the fact that 20-30 years ago we used to buy fresh food & cook all our own meals & a trip to the local burger joint was a treat for special occasions meant we in general were healthier. I know there were other issues (smoking was considered healthy at one point as an example) but in general we lived a simpler, healthier lifestyle. Pressures of work etc today are stealing our time & we tend to eat far more pre packaged meals, heat & eat, or more takeaway. Look at how sucessful McDonalds, Burger King & KFC are to name but a few. The major fast food players encourage ease & laziness. We pass that on to our kids & this is what is propogating the obesity pandemic we see today. How do we beat it????? Who knows, we need to encourage healthy eating, reduce fast food consumption & make exercise fun, but lets be honest, as parents, how easy is it to put our kids in front of the TV, Playstation, Wii, Computer, & let them entertain themselves? (not to mention we wil stiffle their imagination & the future looks terrible, who will write our best sellers with no imagination?????) I have done it, but we need to be sensible & regulate what our kids do. We need to change ourselves before we can change our children & to win this battle will be generational, not a quick fix. Hear endeth the lesson. I apologise for my rant & rave at this point & yes, according to the BMI scale, i am classed as obese, however, my Dr's tends to disagree.

If you actually read my concerns you will see that, in this particular case, they extended beyong the simple moronic act they committed & I questioned what other things they would fail at as well. Simple things like drug doses, you know, medicating someone who doesnt want to die at that point, choices made on the road because they got an adrenaline rush that can effect the lives of so many. Carlessness begins somewhere & we need to make examples of people to show the rest that we need to be ever vigilante about our profession. Ruff & I disagree, but so what, we have opposing views in a debate, but we agree to disagree & will still have a beer at the end of the day. We are not here to gouge each others eyes out.

Pride in the uniform comes from a number of different areas. Firstly is self worth in you believing in what you are doing & can do it with confidence. Secondly is the confidence you have in your colleagues. Thirdly is the confidence that you have in managment & how they portray you in you community. If they do not value the job you do, that will be representative in your attitude across the board. No matter what they say, you will not have pride in what you do. Priide in your profession (uniform) is directly controlled by morale & managment. If they do not have the balls to effectivly manage & give you the tools (including pay) why would you have 'Professional' Pride? No, age isnt a sole factor, but those you describe as middle aged at 30+ ( ) have usually entered the profession early, lack realistic life experience & have become apathetic through a lack of support & motivation through an inexperienced managment team. A team that lacks conviction because they are more concerned with money (& profit) than effectivly supporting a workforce in a high stress, high burnout industry. PS, even tho I am only 19 30 isnt that old!!!!!!

Maybe its just you Tezza, mine worked OK

One day the US will come into line with the rest of the world & work on the international standards of weights & measures. I am using the international standard.

If you convert 180Kg you will find the vast majority of people with medical obesity will fit this categoty. Over that they are morbidly obese. That is their choice. They can choose to lose weight.

My service has specialised Bariatric Trucks, filled with specialised equipment, oversize (fat assed) wheelchairs etc. Our definintion is guided by the weight rating on our standard stretchers. We work in Kg, like most of the world so I will not convert it to pounds for you. It is currently 180Kg. I think it is fair to charge more for the use of the fat truck. You choose to live as a fatty, you have to accept the consequences. This is one of those consequences. If you dont like it, lose weight.

Your all ass Tezza.......

She is a good bloke hey dusty!!!!!!

Well said mate

Tezza, PUT DOWN THE PHONE & WALK SLOWLY AWAY & SIT DOWN. The men in white coats will be with you soon for a little holiday in a padded cell.......

Regardless of how they were running, we are highly visible & need to be careful that this doesnt happen. There has been a push in recent times to reclassify from a Motor Vehicle Accident to a Motor Vehicle Crash. The difference is one ifers that there is no fault, when investigations usually are able to lay the blame squarley at someones negligence. I am glad they have been charged. I hope they get the maximum sentence. This will make an example of them & show that EMS is not above the law.

I hadnt read it. That isnt ignorance, but, now i will look & comment on their ineptitude also. The simple fact that these morons did not look is probably a good indication that they would have the same accident as the AMR morons through a lack of proper understanding of time & the patient, as well as having a total disregard for the general public & other road users.

Miss Beatrice, The church organist, Was in her eighties And had never been married. She was admired for her sweetness And kindness to all. One afternoon the pastor Came to call on her and she showed him into her quaint sitting room. She invited him to have a seat while she prepared tea. As he sat facing her old Hammond organ, The young minister Noticed a cute glass bowl Sitting on top of it. The bowl was filled With water, and in the water Floated, of all things, a condom! When she returned With tea and scones, They began to chat. The pastor tried to stifle his curiosity About the bowl of water and its strange floater, but soon it got the better of him and he could no longer resist. 'Miss Beatrice', he said, 'I wonder if you would tell me about this?' Pointing to the bowl. 'Oh, yes,' she replied, 'Isn't it wonderful? I was walking through The Park a few months ago And I found this little package on the ground. The directions said To place it on the organ, Keep it wet and that it would prevent the spread of disease. Do you know I haven't had the flu all winter.. '

Humans, both Male & Female are sexual beings. Men tend to be more open about where they will discuss the members of the opposite sex & how. Women will tend to discussit more in a closed environment with friends, but they are just as dirty as men. Stop kidding yourself. Women need a reason to have sex, men just need a place. So if they go for a different shirt that doesnt go transparent, should they change the entire uniform, including colour. Will they then complain that, if they gey cold water on them that ther nipples are erect?????????????????

My concern here, & this is the 3rd time I have said it, is that if they are too excited to do anything other that jump in the car & go then how slap happy are they with their treatment, drug doses & thought processes. We cannot teach common sense, it is inconceivable that you would write a SOP for the most stupid things, but we have to get to the lowest common denominator. How many calls would it make a diffenence for a physical check to be made in the addition of say 20 seconds to the response? Yes in the case of an MI minutes mean muscle, but really, what difference will it make? None. They have shown they have a lack of understanding of reality & just wanna get out their & show off with their lights & sirens.That is what we do not need in EMS. Lets make the example of them & fire their asses.

Agreed, however when used in conjunction with the revesing sesors that actually go to the side of the car as well, they are very effective

Loner, take my advice mate, call em a retard, show em where they are wrong & tell em they should take the class with you.

Yes, although the use of reversing cameras has negated this to a large extent.

You sure thats the Lady Bugs?

Is the War on Drugs the only War (Police Action) the they believed they could win & well didnt?

Firstly wherever possible we reverse in so we drive out. This is so there is an extra set of eyes on reversing. We also have reversing cameras in vehicles. Secondly this means that when we get into the drivers seat (remember we drive different vehicles to you, ours are a forward control mercedes van) I can see to the bumper of the van. I also would have noted any people around & made allowances accordingly. No, I am not perfect, but to hide behind 'apparantly was no policy to do such a thing for that service' is a cop out. Do we only do things because there is a policy? If there was no policy to say that if there is an explosion in the building, would everyone just sit there? Come on Ruff. They dont need a policy, they need a kick in the ass strong enough to send waves through all EMS & if they are the ones to be made an example of, then so be it. Make everyone across the US realise that we are here to help them, not hurt them. We do that in all of our actions. Especially in the most visible one of all, driving an ambulance.

Ruff, i respect you & your opinion, however, in this case it is all about vision. What if it was a child sitting there playing? Kids are always in a place they shouldnt have been. The fact this was an adult lying down is not relevant. The relevance is their inability to see that there is a potential risk, expecting that the siren would clear the way & driving off. All for the sake of how many seconds????????? The reality is ALL EMS is risk vs benefit. Doesnt matter if it is drug therapies, high speed driving or leaving the station. They demonstrated a complete lack of understanding in this case. Driving is the most fundamental skill we in EMS have. It is second nature to us. We have to be able to demonstrate we can make appropriate decisions, if we cannot control our emotions, & adrenaline rush, then we need to look at more than remedial driving. That does not control the lack of though process that has gone on here.

Ruff, I do not suffer fools well. Their actions show the need for self control & the ability to think, even when the adrenaline is flowing. They have proven they do not have this capability. If they cannot demonstrate it in the most fundamental part of EMS, driving, then how are they with the administration of drug, the prudent use of lights & sirens. This is a poor display of what is needed in emergency services, not just EMS. This profession, yes profession, does not & never will need people like this who are too lazy to check what they should. The reliance on the siren as a sole warning is misguided. If vision is impaired, then the second officer should be ensuring the WHOLE departure way is safe. I stand by my comments Just an additional thought, isnt the first rul of EMS "First do no harm"? The problem is you cannot train against stupidity