fireflymedic

Sad to hear - it's a big responsibility to be driving ambulances and unfortunately many take it all too lightly. Wishes for speedy recovery.

Meh, if I'm going to submit to watching FF videos, I'm at least going to amuse myself. I prefered this one over lego man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbnAcCzTxk4&feature=related

Perhaps I should have clarified there - American doctor's participants in Doctors without borders - in other countries if they are all receiving appropriate medical care that the doctors can give and the people can afford it, by all means we and everyone else should pitch in. Nobody's perfect, but if they are willing to offer help in times of distress, it should be permitted.

That's great they're willing to do this, however heaven forbid that it was in America - they'd be checking for insurance before doing extensive procedures and there would be limited follow up. I'm not saying we shouldn't help others, but when they are going to other countries and performing procedures for free when they wouldn't do it for an american child there is a problem - a serious problem !

Well, I used to just excuse it as they were incredibly poorly staffed and doctors that worked there were morons. I talked to a few nurses in the local nursing home after making more than a few idiotic runs and asked them what their problem was - why the doctors were never around. I was told "we function under nursing judgement - the docs aren't ever here, so if we see signs of something we go ahead and treat it" - hmmm is that why a pt functions with a UTI for a week until he becomes septic you don't have the judgement to determine that he needs a UA ? I was excusing it before that they couldn't do anything, now I realize it's they wouldn't do anything - they were flat lazy. She didn't realize she was just making herself look worse. Now before I'm jumped, yes I understand that not all nursing home nurses are bad, but considering in most it's LPN/LVN's that have charge capacity and not the more experienced RN's (sorry honey, that's not a rhythm - those are pacer spikes), and many (not all, but many) are unwilling to take the intiative to take care of the residents properly, then I can see where videos such as this and opinions that are prevalent are formed.

That's just y keen kiwi !

somebody was digging in the thread graveyard...

Hey there, congrats on getting an interview couple of points to take in mind here 1. Dress professional - being a female this doesn't mean a dress, but dress pants and a nice shirt/sweater that look professional (ie business attire) is good - a suit on a female typically is a bit much in my experience. By all means pants should be clean and well pressed looking crisp as well as shirt. Make sure your hair is tidy and not hanging in your face if you have certain cuts - down is okay as long as simple, but ponytails are best saved for another day. 2. Save the slang for another day. Yeah, yep, or the like are considered unprofessional and immature. Just don't use them. 3. Bring along a copy of your resume for the interviewer to relate to. Often they don't have a hard copy in front of them, and it looks responsible if you have one prepared for them to refer to. You can always keep it should they not need it. Carry in a black/brown/navy folder that's subtle. 4. DO YOUR HOMEWORK - find out something about the company before you go in there. Often, one of the first questions I've been asked is what do you know about our company and why do you want to work here? Obviously, if they cater to the transport environment and you want to work 911, it's not a good fit and they won't hire you. Also, don't be afraid to find out what areas they cover, and why you want to cater to that area - is it because you want to take care of your community? because you desire to work in urban ems? or rural ems? Is it because they have an excellent reputation for caring for their employees? If they have won awards recently (last 2 years)- helps to mention them shows that you have done your homework. 5. I'd leave the vet experience out of things. They really aren't concerned with the fact you can restrain a pissed off kitten or properly anesthetize a dog - those aren't skills you'll be using in the field. Other than the fact you may be comfortable with a few of the medications and medical terminology, it doesn't pertain much to the field. BUT - if you have human experience or even child care experience something like that, then that's a good thing to accent. Also, if you finished with an excellent score in your class or were top of it, whatever, that can be to your benefit to relay. In addition, if you are wanting to actively pursue your medic and have taken anatomy/physiology or other classes pertinent to EMS those are good to highlight. 6. Always have a couple questions prepared to ask at the end of the interview - you don't want to look stupid by saying nope, I think you've covered it. Don't be afraid to ask about continuing education, education benefits, etc. You want to look like you could apply anywhere and be considered a valuable asset. Be eager, but listen closely. 7. ALWAYS thank them for their time, then ask for a card if you have additional questions. Send a thank you via e-mail as soon as you get home highlighting why you are the person for the job. Little things like that stand out and makes you stand out a little more. If you don't hear anything back, follow up with them every week until they tell you the position is filled. Keep in touch, but always be polite. Also - just another note - make sure your car is clean (I've had them say later that was something they noticed was my car was clean and they knew I'd keep the truck clean) and that you're polite to everybody. Alot of places will use someone else or other employees to screen how you interact with the crew. Don't be suprised if they have you wait for a bit just to see your interaction with them - I promise they'll likely ask them later what they thought and you want that impression to be good ! 8. Last thing to note - be sure your facebook/myspace/twitter etc are clean and pics are something that would be professionally accepted. Yes employers do scope out potential employees ! Been done many times. Finally, Good luck ! I hope you have good success and look forward to hearing how it went for you !

It's always sad to hear of one from the EMS family passing away. Prayers for family and friends.

Mobey, I know you are canadian, however, this solution was worked between a hospital not too far from here, and also a larger university that required transport services. Took a bit of fine tuning, but eventually they got it down quite right and it runs fairly well (actually two of the better planned services). 1. The County service - is technically county owned, however the hospital was left with either flying ALL their ALS patients which was absolutely absurd, sending a nurse every time (which wasn't feasible as they were so small it didn't make sense to staff an extra nurse in case something had to go out), or downgrade many of their ALS patients to BLS to allow locals to transport which just wasn't an option many times either. County claimed they couldn't afford to staff trucks ALS, but stated they would on the condition that one of the ER physicians assumed med director (local FP doc wanted nothing to do with ALS which was part of the problem), and that the hospital absorbed part of the cost. It turned out to be a fantastic marriage - the hospital provided EMS with the ALS supplies needed to go on transfers or function chase. Since they rarely ran more than 2 calls a night (actual 911), but had a great deal of transfers out, this worked quite well. BLS made the initial response for simple patients with medic meeting them enroute to return if requested, or was automatically dispatched on certain priority calls that would likely require ALS interventions (codes, etc). The patient was then (if required flight services) flown directly from scene (was a VERY rural county and local hospital was nothing more than a glorified clinic at best), or transported to ER and transferred via ground to appropriate facility if stable to do so (the more likely scenario). In return, the ALS crew (staffed as medic/medic crew) would be split and the BLS crew would function as two ALS units leaving a medic in county. One going on transfer, the other remaining to serve the area until other crew was returned to base. In the down time, or whoever was left, functioned in the ER - one working in triage, the other functioning as a tech alongside the nurse (place only had four rooms, so that tells ya how small it was). Service ended up with better trucks, funds from both county and hospital for equipment, and much better pay. They always maintained medic rate of pay (which was very close to nursing pay there) and basics were paid basically CNA level pay. Worked well. The medics were able to do all their skill scope and actually had expanded practice in hospital as did basics. Now service 2. Large University looking to integrate medics into the ER as they were having ER nurse staffing issues and did not care to employ temps any longer. Also, they had purchased a sister hospital across town and were looking to be able to shuttle more minor patients to the sister facility to ease the burden on the trauma center. Here the medics lost skills as both they and basics essentially functioned on a similar level - only the medics were able to give a limited scope of meds. They mainly staffed the fast track area or minor care. They staffed trucks medic/basic and kept two crews on at all times. It was an okay situation, but not the best. Pay was fairly close to street medic pay and basics made better than street basic pay. They functioned so watered down, but the job was easy enough and paid well enough with better working conditions, they stayed well staffed and are still functioning in that capacity. Hope that helps ya out there !

Okay just checkin as penguins technically aren't feathered (though the babies are some seriously cute fuzzy things), but being birds and all, I didn't want to get on your fowl side if you hunted ! Otherwise I might require the services of duckie trauma center! *back to your regular discussion - thread is officially un hijacked !

Our locals are pretty cool - but it helps if ya kinda talk to 'em a little bit first lol. I usually started with "hey I see you work for such and such department - how do you like it there? (If they say the like it), ask 'em simply - mind if I get you all a coffee? What makes it such a good place to work?" That doesn't take long at all and it gives you a rough insight as to what the employees think of where they work and how content they are there. Plus - gives you bonus points into knowing something about the company (ie they have great protocols, etc) to look up and do your research for where you want to work. Interviewers are impressed as one of the common questions I've gotten in the interview is "what do YOU know about our service?" - find out a little about the history, their med director, etc. Whatever you can - gives you a leg up on the competition and makes it look like you're willing to do a little extra to get the job. This way allows you to do it in a non threatening manner to. The crew may be rushed or in a grumpy mood, but often times I've gotten a hey, we're busy, but feel free to swing by the station and chat. If they make the offer, take 'em up on it ! Good luck !

ummm - there's a ton of that here - I'd venture to say prolly 1/3 of the counties here are dry counties entirely. Then you have the "wanna be wet" counties - they allow alcohol to be served in restaraunts only (ie applebees type places), and then you have counties that are half wet / half dry that one side allows liquor and the other doesn't. What's really funny is to drive down the road and see all the liquor stores on that side of the street and the lack thereof on the other side (even people who don't know the wet/dry county concept grasp it really fast here !). At one point in time there was a single section of town (those knowing where I went to school and have been there) know it was main street - I think at it's peak before rest of the county went wet to alcohol sales it was 36 bars on mainstreet area alone. Was hysterical to watch on thurs, fri nights the cops line main street just waiting for them to come out (and conveniently the courthouse was surrounded by bars as was the jail). Bright move eh? Wish they'd just pick one and be done with it !

Glad to see I'm not the only one that saw that at first glance and went WHAT ? Good thing we looked twice eh?

I don't think you needed to explain yourself. You can relate it if you were grateful then fantastic - I'm sure it was appreciated by them ! Every medic and EMT likes to feel appreciated. We rarely see a thank you and when you get one it makes you step just a little brighter. I'm glad your injuries weren't fatal - why is it we only care what people think when they're dead. Brings back a good thought that someone told me once - everybody loves you when you're dead - so true. At any rate, it seems the guy in this instance was very troubled courtesy of brain condition or not. I won't pass judgement though as I don't know the surrounding facts. It's a sad situation for all parties involved. Have to say though, during my time in Canada, I was very impressed by the attitude of the Ottawa officers (they were so kind directing a poor VERY lost american in the proper directions lol) as well as the RCMP who were invaluable at a few events we were participating in. Don't let an entire dept be judged by a single individual. I just hope now, he receives the help he needed.

I am curious if (and I know this is a big if) at some time the vast majority of states make it legalized - then it almost seems as if the supreme court will be forced on changing the status of it ? We know right now marijuana is a cash crop on many levels - it is cheap to grow and sell, it is the largest "drug" that the supposed war on drugs is active on, and is what many places are dependent upon gaining funding through. Shall we consider the use of hemp which comes from the same derivative and yet it is perfectly legal? I have yet to have that fully explained to me. Perhaps the government fears being put out of business ? I am not advocating for it either way at this point (legal or illegal) - simply making points for one to consider.

SEXY !

When you get two people, with very short tempers together, previous baggage, and everything else something is bound to happen. Unfortunately, I'm thinking we are seeing the other side of this medic that perhaps was hidden (or perhaps it is a revenge thing - unsure at this point). But at any rate, initial compliance goes a long way. Be professional and sort out the crap later. You can always get your revenge legally, but sometimes it's better just to shut up and take it for the time being. Sorry sir, but I officially deem you both buttheads now !

Hey Fuzzy - You goin duck hunting?

Ummm Cincinnati tried this a few years ago with disastrous results due to some idiots that abused it, but still. It's nice to see this is getting tried again, but perhaps alternative destinations rather than ER or something similar? I'm not sure what to think - have mixed feelings on this. I seriously believe it's not going to work as people tend to have poor judgement notoriously. All well, we shall see, only time will tell.

Ahem squint - what about when your partner locks you in the box of the ambulance in one of the FDNY issue ambulances - makes life really interesting ! Lets just say it's a really good thing that the window wasn't locked and I'm short because I was climbing through it. Not my idea of a good time. We also had an ambulance that every time you closed the doors, it would lock itself - eventually they put a panic switch in it - was a demo and did lots of weird things. Couldn't run the lights and siren together or it would die in the middle of the interstate. I still swear it was possessed...

Or bet yet how about we get the prison EMS system to just take those runs? We actually do have a prison that has their own EMS service (basic only - you really think they'd give them drugs to get high legally? I think not !). And yep, they have to wear the orange jump suits. Sounds like a plan to me !

Dust makes some really good points and it's true. Networking and actually going to visit the stations, just hanging out and talking to the people and having a chat sometimes helps you find out what they're looking for and how to move forward with getting hired by them. Also, see if there is the opportunity to ride along with them specifically. As to other volunteer things, alot of paid departments don't take kindly to volunteers as most don't train enough to keep up their skills and also only show up to the "good" calls. They don't want to drag out at 3 am. Also, it may seriously hurt you in terms of pay. They see that if you did it for free - why should they pay you as much when you will work for less? Just something to sit back and consider. By all means good luck - but go on and get your medic.

Literally the middle of nowhere lol - and that's honestly about the truth !