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She certainly is one brave young lady, and probably has had more packed into her young life than we do in a lifetime. Stephanie carried on very well knowing what the future held. Still one is greatly saddened by the fact with all the medical miracles we see every day and new medical procedures that are discovered, there is nothing available for her. Damn!

I have been in contact with her as well,and did receive a message on facebook from someone. So I can assume it was her mother now. I was talking to her the other night on facebook and she told me she was home alone and she felt funny, like she was dying but not that bad. I told her to call 911 and then the next time I heard from her she was in the hospital waiting for a cathe. She wanted to really tell me she had passed her tests for EMT and was very proud of it. I did ask her how the cathe went and she said perfect. I have also spoken to her on the phone. She sounded like a very sweet little gal, and just celebrated a birthday. Now I am feeling very sad for this young lady. I told who ever messaged me that I would be praying for her. I had no idea it had come to this.

Dwayne gave the best advice. My advice is instead of walking away, run far and fast. Your on your way to a profession in which your image is to be of the highest quality. Don't let it get tarnished by someone or something you have no control over. My two cents worth.

In answer to your question, yes there are some skills that get rusty if not used. Continuing Education is ok but a lot of times all they do is verbal reiteration of said skills. That is what I pointed out many times in our CEU classes, throw in some practical’s and or scenario’s and it would be much better and so they have. We do everything from pt assessment, extrication, 12 lead, auto pulse, trending vitals, KED (yes we still use it in rural Iowa) and so forth.

Welcome, never stop learning. I am an EMT B and have been in EMS for over 25 years.

Dwayne, Happiness and Mobey give good advice all around because these folks care. I do sincerely hope that everything works out for you and your family. I was at that point sometime ago and I know where your are coming from. I am glad that your able to keep doing what your doing and moving forward. Best of luck and success for you.

Best of luck to you. Keep us updated on how your doing.

Buy a good stethoscope, cpr mask? maybe, I have one I always carry in the car. The only bag I carry in is the one in the ambulance, which contains all the essentials, o2, bp cuffs, pulseox meter, bgl meter, also it contains c collars etc. Be willing to observe and learn. all that paramedicmike said above. I have been an EMT for a number of years now, and now that I am approaching my 62 year, I find I am still wanting and willing to learn more, because I don't know everything and never will.

1971 Ford Torino 1975 Maverick 1976 Ford LTD 1958 Ford Ranchero 1956 Mercury Meadilist 1978 Ford Station Wagon 1984 Chevy Station Wagon 1986 Ford Crown Vic 1989 Ford Crown Vic 1994 Ford Crown Vic 1990's something Thunderbird 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis 2010 Ford Edge (currently driving) 1965 Ford Galaxy 500 LTD (my collector Car) Origional Paint, interior, I am second owner. This does not include all the pickups we have had either.

Sometimes you just gotta ignore some of the folks like that as this is a very small community hospital. The Er dock was wide enough for him to pull the car in, but his wife did not want to take the two steps up to the door. We were parked next to the ramp wjere we needed to be and where they wanted to be. These are the kind of people we get called to on occassion where they request no lights or siren and come to the back door. I guess they think that if you do that no one knows they had to go to the hospital! Just one of those kind of days.

I think everyone has had one of those days. Our most recent one is really up there at least we think so. We brought in a pt who had stroke, we were moving him from the gurney to the cot in the er, and some old guy walks right in the er and told us someone parked a truck at the dock and they needed to move it. We got the pt moved and looked out and he was referring to the amublance, explained to the guy that this was an emergency room and we brought a patient in. Well his wife had a headache and needed to see the Dr. right away and we were blocking their parking space! Oh really? Their parking space. Yep he doanted 50 dollars a year to the hospital and he can park there. Wow. We had not left yet because it was being decided on whether we would take the pt by ground to a major hospital or call in the bird and have him flown. It was determined that he would be flown and the bird was there before we knew it. This same old boy told the pilots that they were too noisey and it was disturbing his wife with a headache. Yep just one of those days.

Questions about his poo are reasonable. Add bloody to the list as well. We had a patient last night that the medic asked her the same question, said she was sick and vomited, chest pains and had a sudden bm, he asked her what it was, diaharrea etc.

What is he drinking, water, energy drinks. Some antibiotics will destroy bad bacteria along with the good in the intestional track, causing diaharrea, but amoxicillian does not sound like it's that strong of a med to do that. You can become dehydrated with diaharrea and that can play havoc with the heart. Just a few thoughts.

Really? I don't think so.

We have plenty of caucasians, inked, dressed and tho no gold because their teeth are falling out and the boys wear their pants down to their ankles in a neighboring town. One girl I know had five kids by the age of 21 and just had her sixth. They have also dropped out of school and cannot manage to get to the GED Classes to take them. They wonder why they can't get a job

ABC's PQRST, medical history, How is he positioned, sitting up, tripod position, laying down supine, on side. Skin, dry, wet, cold warm, cap refill? When did this start, what were pt's activities prior to onset of chest pain and sob. My protocols say sob gets o2 non rebreather.

If you take a bite outta me, I wuld be moonin you. And you don't want that Besides I would not be able to get dinner on the table. Having homemade biscuits and sausage gravy, bacon and eggs!

I too have visited with her and she appears to me genuine. She does not have that oh poor me attitude, exactly the opposite, or else she would not be looking forward to starting classes to be an emt.

Capt'n as to why.

I totally agree on that score. W had a kid go thru the whole emt class and found out he was not going to be able to take the test because of his driving record and the fact he had outstanding tickets he did not have taken care of. Go figure.

Rather than storage unit auctions, go to other auctions, antique's or estate sales so you can see what you are buying. Love going to estate sales/auctions, where I get my best stuff.

We were lucky with my brother in law, the Dr. in my brother in laws case had a scanner and heard that we had a burn patient and were on our way to the hospital. We had no other option at that time but to transport by ground to nearest facility. The Dr. headed to the ER. called the burn unit 60 miles away and talked to the Dr. there, by the time we got there he was all set up ready to administer meds and so forth as per instructions from the burn unit, then transported him to the burn hospital. He did not breathe in when the explosion happened, so his airway was not burned. The first thing he said to my husband when he was able to see him was "What a way to barbecue!" He has a wicked sense of humor. My brother in law had a 20 some the skin graphs, and the bandages they used left a waffle pattern on his skin graphs, looks weird, but he survived and walked out of the hospital about four weeks to the day he was burned. .

keep your money in the bank. You get a lot of junk at those storage auctions, more junk than treasures.

Yep google is my friend too, since I can't recall them off the top of my silver noggin anymore. I had a close encounter with a burn patient many years ago, and he survived despite my ministrations. Something I remind him to this day. He had 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 60 percent of his body. That call is the only one I can recall in perfect detail, right down to the smell, and I have never forgotten that smell.

The rule of nines assesses the percentage of burn and is used to help guide treatment decisions including fluid resuscitation and becomes part of the guidelines to determine transfer to a burn unit. You can estimate the body surface area on an adult that has been burned by using multiples of 9. An adult who has been burned, the percent of the body involved can be calculated as follows: Head = 9% Chest (front) = 9% Abdomen (front) = 9% Upper/mid/low back and buttocks = 18% Each arm = 9% (front = 4.5%, back = 4.5%) Groin = 1% Each leg = 18% total (front = 9%, back = 9%) As an example, if both legs (18% x 2 = 36%), the groin (1%) and the front chest and abdomen were burned, this would involve 55% of the body.