fireflymedic

I don't think so chris, however, you might be in the running for animal planet, national geographic, or the outdoor living network !

Ruff - I think I'll just avoid this one. I'm sure I'll hear enough about it through the grapevine that I can decide intelligently whether I care to see it or not rather than wasting an hour of my evening that I'm sure I could be finding more interesting uses for. And as far as the non fire based EMS - I said it would be fantastic - I didn't say it was gonna happen ! Why it won't well, now there's multiple reasons for that, and I'm sure this show will have a healthy dose of IAFF behind it. After all - the previews do show a car on fire and blowing up eh? Why they find fire so exciting well, lol, be safe all.

If I am correct, there has already been an extensive discussion about the show, but perhaps it was on another board, so I may be wrong. At any rate, I doubt I will even watch the show as I am finding myself irritated simply from the previews. I see it as an over the top attempt to replace ER that isn't going to do much for EMS either good or bad. However, I have issues when in the previews they are glorifying multiple helicopter crashes. HEMS is dealing with enough right now - this doesn't need to feed the bears. A cocky flight medic combined with a pissy partner, and a bunch of yahoo ground crew - hmmm I don't see myself liking it. Even though third watch could get a bit over the top at times, there was at least an inkling of reality in some situations. You could pick out the respectable parts and leave the rest. I'm not seeing this happening - I'm thinking it's going to be more of a "saved" show that won't last very long at all. Anyhow, just my two cents on everything. However, I am curious about this new show Mercy - it looks like it might be vaguely promising. In addition to that the show Royal Pains is kinda cool. Not totally medically focused - actually has a story line and some points of it are kind of entertaining. Though let's face it, any medical related show is going to be a bit over the top (heck ever watch cops? they only pick the exciting stuff from hundreds of hours of footage) because the normal day for us is incredibly boring most of the time. Sure, there's the occasional heart pumping, scare the crap outta you, test your skills run - but those are few and far between. Most of the time, even within critical care services it's usually just IFT's and your challenge is figuring out what to do with multiple drips. There's very little actual drama, however it can be there sometimes and makes life entertaining. But how many hours would they have to ride with a given set of crews to get that? I don't think riding around the city picking up drunks and shuttling granny to dialysis is exciting enough for the general public. Giving Hollywood that liberty to dramatize some things so people will watch, okay fine, take it as it is, know it's that way and sit back for a good laugh if you decide to watch it or leave it and don't complain. The only bad thing is it makes the public think we either sit around the station all day doing nothing, or we are out there dealing with the biggest and baddest day in and day out. Oh and it would be FANTASTIC if we could have a non fire dept based EMS service - anybody else with me on this?

I make no arguement as to the fact her partner was responsible after he was made aware. However, we are not made aware of what point his partner decided to take the meds, and as we all know it takes time for meds to take effect. If taken shortly before the run, it's a very real possibility that they may not have taken effect until after they were enroute with the patient. Knowing her partner (from working with him elsewhere), that is what I would think is a more likely scenario than him ignoring her condition. If she wasn't showing signs of impairment before, there was no way for him to know what was to come. I honestly think that he would have stopped the run or refused it prior knowing that there was a good possibility she was impaired. I cannot see him allowing her to drive in that state with a patient. I believe he thought his supervisors would pull her off the road before arriving at the hospital. Unfortunately, we can all sit back and say could have, should have, would have, but we weren't there and I think it's wrong to barbeque her partner when we aren't aware of the full circumstances. Perhaps it was irresponsibility on his part, perhaps it wasn't. I think it is only fair to him to back off the judgement until it is revealed why he didn't refuse the run prior. Then if that shows irresponsible action on his part, he should be disciplined and possibly face charges himself. At any rate, both will be answering to the state board already.

I do know her partner fairly well Ruff, and he was attempting to notify his supervisors and did about her erratic driving. To sit there and say you don't know what you took that morning? Or what you were under the influence of is more than slightly concerning and the fact that U of L didn't follow through with a full tox screen is more than irresponsible. Sounds like a decision not to follow through there to me. FAIL. I don't believe for an instant she didn't know what she took (unless she was already so high she wasnt aware of what she was taking). My one concern is that her partner didn't report her erratic driving prior to picking up the patient which I think should have been done. He doesn't really seem to have an explanation for this. I don't know if the drugs had not taken effect by this point or what. But at any rate, as soon as discovered, if that concerning, she should have been taken off the road immediately, not some time later when the arrived at the hospital. PD or a supervisor's chase car would have taken care of that problem immediately. A persistant nose bleed is not so significant that it was worth continuing to risk the patient's life. They could have called for an additional truck to continue the transport. As a supervisor, I have told people they were not driving due to either their physical or emotional state some days. If you are on any form of narcotics, you will not drive for me period. Also a history of certain medical conditions will prevent you from driving for me as well. Doesnt mean I won't hire you, doesnt mean I don't like you or that I think you're a bad caregiver. It's nothing personal, but I made the decision a long time ago, and I stand by it. To drive under the influence of those medications regardless of whether you take them every day or not for pain management is irresponsible for this very reason. It increases your liability if an accident occurs as well as the department's. It's just not smart. I think there is a fail on many levels here. If her supervisors knew she was on medications that could possibly alter her driving ability, she should have never been behind the wheel in the first place. Her partner should have stepped up as soon as he was aware of her condition and either refused to take the run (yeah it may have cost him his job, but it cost a patient their life) or to even ride with her at all that day. The city for hiring an individual with a known irresponsible record and a history of drug possession (which makes me wonder if the state performed a background check on her as I question if they were aware and certed her anyway - those typically don't get certed). Finally, the supervisors for not stepping up and terminating the run prior to arrival at the hospital. Multiple messages were sent to them regarding her behavior and they chose to allow her to continue to the hospital. So many things went wrong and it cost a patient their life. Let's only hope that by charging her severely that it will prevent this same action in the future.

Well I can't say she didn't deserve it. Cold as it sounds, many just don't think about the responsibilty they are taking when they get behind the wheel of an ambulance. Stop and think people. You are held to a higher standard as an emergency caregiver. People look to you to be more responsible, not reckless. Louisville has been plagued with problems lately it seems - hopefully this will encourage them to improve their hiring practices and research potential employees just a bit better as this comes right on the heels of the announcement of the medic stabbing himself for workman's comp. Sadly his wife is a dispatcher for metro and ended up getting the call. Somethings need to change around here, and I think the state needs to re-evaluate the hiring practices of departments across the board.

Az, First of all, I commend you on working towards furthering your education and going beyond being as he said "just a basic". Now onto my rant and I know I'm probably not going to make friends with this, but I really don't care. I was a basic for a while just like everyone else in here was and guess what - I was just that a BASIC. I didn't work a transfer service, I worked a 911 and had the joy of dealing with patients that really deserved a medic as a basic. It seems that as we go up the ladder of certs, we seem to forget where we came from and many develop the paragod/goddess mentality. And frankly it angers me. I have no use for anyone with that attitude, because they are portraying that they know it all and have nothing left to learn. Well guess what boys and girls - this is a learning game last time I checked NONE of us knew it all. I learn something new almost every shift, and there's some here that I have learned alot from just from speaking with. There are some that I feel more ignorant for speaking with them, but all well that's life. I love precepting students because it gives me a chance to see what type of caregiver they will become. I don't mind the basic students, especially the motivated ones that come full of questions. Sure I've been caught not knowing answers - I've had some questions that would stump a doc lol ! But I learned from them, and if the student is looking to learn and they are doing research, reading and trying to find things out, I've found sometimes I learn things from them too. This medic is young (and don't forget I'm not a dinosaur here either) but it tends to be a trend among younger medics to think they know it all. Don't forget - your box of toys fails and guess what? You're having to manage the patient basically like it or not ! Oftentimes we get to looking at all we can give and forget doing something basic will improve the situation just as much as if we gave more aggressive management. I've been on dual medic trucks, with RN's, and with basics. Some of the basics I've been with are incredibly sharp and were a good resource and sometimes helped me remember where to start (especially as a new medic !) and even gave me good input. For him to put you down like that was uncalled for. I'm sorry you had to deal with that situation, but don't let it get you down. Learn all you can, ask questions of those you can, and keep working towards your medic ! And once you get there, don't forget where you came from - pass that knowledge on to others that are on their way up. Take care and stay safe.

Eydawn, If you can't stand EMS so much, then why do you continue to come here and focus on it? The vast majority of your posts seem to be just complaints about how this or that isn't good, but i have yet to see you post something truly educational that would benefit those of us practicing in the field or give a suggestion about how to improve the current situation. If you have those things I am all for hearing them. Personally I got into this field because it did allow me to practice medicine without all the B.S. and paperwork that nursing deals with. If you think you will be doing more patient care as a nurse, you are sorely mistaken. You will be dealing with the same garbage that EMS deals with only in a different setting, with more paperwork, and little time to sit back and do the hand holding you are talking about. Nursing requires a different skill set than EMS and I don't think it's fair to compare one side of medicine to the other (unless it is emergency nursing and even then it is different). EMS offers one the opportunity to function almost completely independent, making decisions and yes DIAGNOSING in the field in order to treat a patient appropriately. Do the job right, you make patients better, do it wrong and you could kill them. Work in an isolated area and you could find yourself treating patients that may be quite critical for a good period of time with nobody to back you up. If you don't learn how to practice medicine in this arena, then it is you that is choosing not to learn. Doctors do have a wider range of knowledge, however I've had more than a few residents tell me they wouldn't want to swap places and wondered how a crew has managed to get a patient to their ER alive. Knowing what a patient's injuries may be, having that index of suspicion, and being able to identify the problems and what it may lead to down the road is part of good medicine and good care ! One can never knock one for choosing to learn more. I don't regret getting a degree for one minute, and yes I started out in the same place as everyone else, but I worked to get to a point where I wasn't just seen as an ambulance driver. Talk to the docs and ask them what medics they respect and why and they will tell you it is because of their attitude and willingness to learn. Their knowledge of injuries and what to expect gives the docs a good picture of what may be to come. For example, you go to pick up granny that potentially had a CVA several hours ago and has been laying on the floor in the same position and hasn't moved. You may not be able to give thrombolytics, however, due to the fact she laid there so long you know that rhabdomylosis is a possibility and can be on the lookout for changes due to that and make docs aware of it as well rather than just walking in and saying yeah, we found her on the floor, don't know how long, whatever's done is done. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. It is when you limit your knowledge and think you know it all is what causes you to lose the respect of doctors, not the fact that you are a technical school medic. I think you need to change your attitude and perhaps you wouldn't have the frustration you do with the profession. The good services are out there and education is there to be had and good medicine can be given if you are willing to pursue it, but it's not going to be given to you, it will have to be earned.

Sounds like a great class. My only concern is the fact they haven't already pushed for accreditation as I know most are already clear with it that though I'm fairly certain being affiliated with U of L and they will end up with it and especially if they can manage to work it into a degree program. At a minimum maybe get it to where they could do a degree completion with the accreditation? I imagine these ideas have been hashed out to some degree already - are they looking at a 2 or 4 year degree option or all the above like EKU? UK used to have a great program, shame they closed it down. Would love to see LCC pick it back up or do a degree completion for those already with it.

If you have to pick a day, thursday is definitely the star day. If you only pick one, that's it.

Great ! I'll be out on Thurs/Fri but that's it. Hope you have a good time, lots of good topics. The stroke care on Thursday by William Brooks is guaranteed to be good ! Also bernard's got the resucitation thing on there as well.

Dominion - how is that being run? Is it an offshoot of U of L with the consideration of eventually being degree seeking or are they staying with the accreditation through KBEMS? How long is their program aimed from start to finish? I'm kinda interested as I don't know much about that program and would like to hear a bit more as I try to keep up with the programs in the area. Thanks and yes, there's alot of good programs 'round here !

Hey there, you don't mention what area of ohio you are relocating to, so it makes it a little tough. Anyhow, I don't recall but is Indiana a national registry EMT-B state? If not, Ohio requires it for reciprocity, so you will need to obtain that. If so, then just send a copy of your national registry card, a letter of good standing from Indiana EMS board, and take the advanced airway class. The advanced airway class covers combitubes, LMA's, King LT's, and orotracheal intubation (nasal not allowed for basics) in pulseless or apneic patients ONLY ! Though it is dependent on your area's medical director what advanced airways if any they will permit. Some allow the full scope, some limit, some only the combitubes. There are areas which still carry intermediates as the level is still recognized in OH, so that may change how you are able to function. The class itself is really easy. It's two days 8 hours each day. Does a refresher on airway anatomy, each airway, Ohio's rules for intubation by basics, and practice using each. You then are tested by performing 5 successful intubations (on fred the head), demonstrating use of the alternative airways, and a written test covering all the above. You get the paperwork filled out and signed that day to turn into Ohio's EMS board. Go ahead and turn everything else in, and they will hold your app for up to 6 months until you get the rest in. If all is in order, you get your card in around 10-14 days, they're pretty quick. They used to offer a temporary work deal where if you had your national registry from another state, you could work temporarily on it for up to 2 months until you could take the advanced airway class, but you were not allowed to use advanced airways unless you had documented proof of the class (currently I think they only acknowledge south carolina's training curriculum for this). I believe they did away with this in 2004 though. Shawnee State in portsmouth, oh provides alot of the airway classes and very reasonable at $25 dollars. They are about an hour outside of both KY and WV and with several services which serve all three states, many require certification in each so they hold them fairly frequently. Sinclair Community College in Dayton also holds them fairly regularly, but that is the only places I'm familiar with having the specific class. Some other places will allow you to come sit in a regular class on their airway days and let you check off, but I'm not sure if and what the charge may be. I think sinclair charges somewhere around $30-$50 dollars I can't remember sorry. Good luck, ohio is a pretty nice place to work. I enjoyed my time up there.

Here we break it down as follows: Live births: only pertinent if still born carried full term or late term abortion (ie post 20 weeks) *note also make sure to include any children deceased in later years in this count ! Para: delivered babies in total Gravida: how many times pregnant So say you had a woman with a full term carried still born, 2 viable kids, and 2 abortions I would count her as 2 Live birth, 3 Para, 5 Gravida

Good reminder Mike - thanks. May we never forget it, nor ever repeat it. Amazingly sad what destruction can be caused in so little time. Hopefully we can find more diplomatic ends to things than blowing each other up.

Hmmm, mike is dating himself here....the mystery is revealed - he's really a dinosaur !

I had a patient once that stated he was allergic to Benadryl - fortunately I wasn't treating him for an allergic reaction nor did he have one to anything I gave so I was safe. However, there would have been a definite pucker factor had I needed to give it and been unable too ! Sorry you ended up in this situation !

First of all, I'm sorry you are going through this - best wishes to you and your wife. Prayers for good luck and strength going up ! Second as far as financial support, often times businesses will help out (one case here was one of the pizza places donated a portion of their sales for one night to the fund), different places set up funds or assistance, also if you are in a volunteer dept (as I assume as you state you have another job in your profile) it's probably a small community. With that, people are more likely to help - see if you can get your dept's help setting up chili dinners etc to help. That's a common thing around here. Best of luck to you and keep us updated .

Hmmm, it poses a difficult situation. Have you completely relocated or just completed the orientation? What is it making you go, I just don't care for this place? Remember, most places have a "trial period" - anywhere between 30 days and one year. During this time it's not only for them to evaluate you, but for you to evaluate them. There is nothing wrong with during that period saying thank you for your offer, I appreciate your time, but I don't feel this is a good fit for me. Employers do understand that it's no different than if they said the same to you. It is a two way street. Sometimes you take a job and it's just not what you expected. Were you given honest expectations of the job? Were you promised things and those promises not fulfilled? Depending on the situation, perhaps a speak with your supervisor can improve the situation, if not it is better to leave on good terms with an open door than to burn a bridge. I hope things work out for you. Best of luck and stay safe. And to christopher.collins - fire/ems in TN is a whole different animal ! I hope you didn't have to do time at bell buckle, if you did, you have my sympathy !

Hmmm you say you want to stay within the field and use your skills elsewhere in one breath yet say you are burnt out and want to do something different in another. If you are restless with this are you entirely sure you will be wanting to stay in another profession or will you burn out in it as well? I'm not being hateful, but devil's advocate and is something to consider. As far as a change of pace, it seems you have made all the rounds and it really makes me wonder was this the right profession for you to start off with? You didn't say what caused you to choose this and everyone experiences periods of burnout from time to time. Perhaps you need to walk away for a bit, do something entirely different for a little while, and then come back to it? Just a thought. Normally I suggest moving around within the field, but it seems you've done it all. There's industrial, hospital, doc offices (here it's popular to hire medics for cardiology offices and plasma or blood donation centers), and even like worker's comp claim processing. Perhaps something with minimal to no patient contact would be ideal for you at this time as you don't want to continue through with a foul attitude as you are benefiting no one. Best of luck in your pursuits. And by the way admin - can we move this post out of meet and greet?

Just study hard - and no I'm not in the "ville". I avoid that plague unless I'm sent on an IFT to U of L and yeah, I prefer to avoid the three ring circus there just to get a "parking space" lol. Hope you haven't floated away with all that flooding. We had a similar amount but not as bad as it could have been. We're still waiting on some areas to dry out. Best of luck to you in class. I'm a certed instructor/evaluator and know the majority of the programs in the area. If you have questions about one specifically, feel free to ask. Stay safe and be smart.

Are you looking at going through Know How Inc's program? If so, I believe they are either through or currently going through the accredidation process right now with KBEMS. Check with them to be sure though because if they don't pass or don't plan to you are wasting your time (that is for any program mind you with the new rules in process). If so, you'll get a SOLID Anatomy Physiology prep by them, so short of the lab (they kind of do a mini lab deal) it's almost as good as a college class as they use people that have a biology degree to teach it so they know well what they are talking about. From what I've heard they have a pretty solid program, but then again so does anchorage and a few others in the area. I"m not sure where you are looking at, but with the new accrediting process and join up with KCTCS for pushing for it to become a degree program I think we'll see some positive changes. Also - you'll do your morgue time in the A and P section rather than later and what you get in the book will just be a review. Just find out what book they are using. I think most around this area are fond of Brady, but there are a couple programs using Mosby and a small handful with Nancy Caroline (which is worthless). Best of luck to you.

Nice save there Herbie, sometimes they make us work eh? I'm on the opposite spectrum from EMS49393. I'm a fairly sturdy female with larger hands and find it easier to hold the handle a bit farther back than right at the top as Spenac described. Just what works for me. I've got good strength in my arms so I don't have so much of an issue with lifting up and rarely catch myself trying to rock back. But I agree, it's rare that we have a "normal 200lb" pt anymore. Most of ours are larger unless it's a pedi. Even some of the pedi's I've dealt with recently though have been fairly good sized. I think the average is getting larger, not smaller and 200-250 is more the norm now with almost no neck it seems - or maybe that's just this area ! We do have an interesting mix around here.

Very good points to ponder. A recent event with a friend of mine dealing with her mother's death made me confirm my decision even more strongly that in the event I or someone I dearly loved was in a situation where it was blatantly obvious they would not recover, I would not prolong their suffering. I honestly believe it all begins with the decision to intubate or not. It seems that is the point at which the line becomes blurred to the point neither family nor doctors know where to stop as the patient is "still breathing and heart is still beating". For those new in EMS, a code is not a pretty thing. There is no dignity in it, it is ugly, completely disgraceful to the patient, and takes a toll on the provider, patient, and family. If it is an old person that it is obvious their time has come, let them go, don't disgrace them. It's sad in all of medical advances that we have not progressed to the point of letting these people die with dignity. I only hope one day we can.

it's got some good stuff. The EMS kidnapping class is a hoot ! I've sat through it before