UMassEMS18

"Bravo 1 and Bravo 3 (PD), please respond 1100 Main St., Exxon Gas Station for a naked man urinating in flower pots. Possible EtOH." 30 seconds later "B1 and B3, be advised, the man at that location is now defecating in the flower pots and scattering it over the parking lot." PD Units: "B1, B3 on scene. Can you give a description of the man, there's a crowd gathering." Station: "Umm, he'll be the one with no clothes on and Sh!t on his hands."

It certainly affects those organisms selected against! But, you're right, in natural selection, it is the population that is altered over time.

Natural selection is only one vehicle for evolution. A Darwinian principle, it states that those best suited to their environments will survive to send their genes on to the next generation. The weak will just die out. (My EMT instructor used to always tell us..."sometimes you can save 'em, but sometimes you see Darwin's theory first-hand" ) Another is mutation--a change in a gene or chromosome that creates a new trait that is not found in earlier generations. Genetic flow-- Random fluctuations in the frequency of the appearance of a gene in a small isolated population, presumably owing to chance rather than natural selection. (American Heritage Dictionary) Genetic Drift--introduction of new genes in a population (from the same species) as a result of immigration.

I'm just an EMT here to hang out and talk with my co-workers on a global scale about something that interests me. I figured since this was is posted in the Open Discussion Forum An open forum for discussions on topics not related to other forums. it would be ok...but I guess not.

I'm just a few classes short of my Bachelor's in Biology and I've studied religion informally most of my life. Why not have a conversation on the subject? Does this place have to be all EMS all the time?

nope, everything's cool.

I didn't mean to sound as if I chose Christianity on Pascal's wager. It has been something that I've resolved for myself to be true. Better stated, I will continue to live as a Christian (the best I can). I will not judge another for their religious beliefs, nor will I try to get them to see my point of view if uninvited. I'm open for discussion, but proselytization is not for me. In saying that the world religions have more in common than they have different, I didn't mean to say that, when taken together, they are the same thing. Rather, most have a common thread of doing good; one can generalize that the believer improves themselves in body, mind, and/or spirit.

Well, as I presented it, the progression seems to define gradualism. However, in this book, punctuated equilibrium has its place within the phylogeny, e.g., most fish speciation occured during the Devonian period, mammals in the Cenozoic. You also asked about other religions and our views toward them. I believe that religion is a very personal thing. As such, it requires one to look deep inside themselves. Different people will come to different conclusions. I will not be one to say that "my religion is better than yours...here's why." If you look at the world religions, in many cases, they are more alike than they are different. The argument that comes up most often is what will happen in the afterlife. Who is going to Heaven, who will achieve Nirvana, what if there is nothing? My response--so what? My philosophy--live as if this is all there is. Be the best you can be at everything you do, live your life to its fullest extent--day by day. When you pass, if you meet your maker, it's just icing on the cake.

Let me also just give you an idea of where I'm coming from: I was raised a Christian and went to Christian school from Kindergarten through High School. I still practice (in fact, I'm also the organist at my church). I read the Bible and I believe in it. However, there are some parts (e.g., the book of Genesis) that are not meant to be taken literally. As I said before, if the Creation account in Genesis is accurate, who is it that witnessed it and then wrote about it? I believe that science and religion do not have to diametrically opposed. The can each coexist. I believe that miracles, the Bible, and any other thing should be tested, if possible. If we find them to be fake, so be it. If tomorrow it was revealed that, say, the Big Bang Theory has been proven beyond any doubt, I would not be found running down the street yelling "there is no God." Faith itself is defined by American Heritage as "The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will." We do not know what God's will is...but we do know that He works in mysterious ways. So, I say, let science bring what it can. I will still be a Christian (and a Biologist )

I am a Biology student and I have taken graduate-level courses on the subject of evolution. One particular textbook of mine, Functional Anatomy of Vertebrates by Liem, Bemis, Walker, and Grande is one of the most well-written texts encompassing evolutionary theory that I have ever read. In the beginning it presents a phylogenetic tree beginning with the hagfish (Myxiniformes) and ending with humans (Eutherian mammals). Step by step and chapter by chapter it shows what changes, whether adaptation, mutation, natural selection, etc., led to the biologic diversity we now see around us today. For example, the list begins with Myxiniformes (hagfish) because they are the sister group of all craniates. They are the only vertebrates that are not craniates. To be a vertebrate they must: have a backbone composed of vertebrae, have at least two vertical semicircular ducts, and have radial fin muscles (which later in phylogeny become the muscles of the pelvic and pectoral girdles). If you take the Myxine, modify the homocercal tail, add a buccal funnel, change the position of the gill openings, and evolve a notochord...you have Petromyzontiformes, or the lamprey eel. Modify the mouth and articulate the palatoquadrate cartilage and mandibular cartilage and you give rise to a jaw and therefore the Gnathostomes (jaw-mouths). Humans are also Gnathostomes. Use cartilage to maintain body structure and you have Chondrichthyians, e.g. sharks, skates and rays. Ossiffy the cartilage and you have Osteichthyians, e.g. trout and salmon. This is where the classification of Sarcopterygian begins (lobe-fin). Then, add muscles to the lobe-fin. The extinct Eustenopteron used these muscles to crawl around on the bottom of lakes and rivers on its fins, but then it found that it could also do this on land. Its ancestor, the lungfish Dipnoi had found a way to divert it's blood flow from its gills to air sacs that now functioned as lungs. Move along in time and you get a creature with muscular pectoral fins and pelvic fins and also lungs...enter the tetrapod. And on and on it goes. In evolutionary time, it is evident that there have been small changes here and there that led to speciation; not just phenotypic changes, but genotypic ones. Even though the puzzle is missing a few pieces, I think it is still very credible, and I believe to deny the very existence of some type of evolution is ignorant. What I have presented above is just a microscopic sample of the information that is out there. The best advice that I can offer is do not approach this subject with a closed mind. As EMS professionals we are always reminded that we never know everything and we must keep learning. It is the same regarding science. We do not know all there is to know. The best way to advance out knowledge is research and study. Just ignoring something because another book says it didn’t happen that way is a very poor method of finding the truth.

Who witnessed the creation as portrayed in Genesis and then wrote about it? While I'll say that God could have created the world as depicted, it doesn't seem that it happened in quite that fashion. I have had the opposite experience; the more I study biology, the more I believe in evolution. Life is amazingly complex. I can't imagine that human beings, as we know them today, are the result of some primordial ooze randomly having an extremely long streak of good luck starting 72 gazillion years ago, but I definitely see the evidence for something like that happening. This is where my belief in God is strengthened by science.

I am a religious person...and I believe in evolution. Some people tell me that this is a dichotomous argument, but I believe it works. No one ever said that we couldn't have creator-guided evolution. Who's to say that the Big Guy didn't set the ball rolling and kept it rolling in the right direction?

Both services I work for use Berman. I've never used the others so I really can't compare.

I just signed up with a call force and because of where I live (10 minutes from station) they are allowing me to respond directly to the scene if I think I can make it there faster and wait for the ambulance. This allows the ambulance to roll with one EMT so it ultimately improves response time. In light of this, I have revised the contents to nearly comply with MA OEMS requirements for the first aid kit which shall be carried on the ambulance. They are as follows: a) Three (3) wrapped oropharyngeal airways, one (1) each, infant, child and adult sizes; ( Twelve (12) small dressings (sterile gauze pads, minimum size 4â€x4â€); © Four (4) medium dressings, sterile, minimum size 5" x 9"; (d) Two (2) large dressings (sterile universal dressings, minimum size 10â€x 3 0â€) (e) Six (6) rolls soft roller, self-adhering bandage, minimum 4" x 5 yrds; (f) Four (4) cravats or triangular bandages, minimum 40" wide; (g) Two (2) arterial tourniquets for control of arterial bleeding, commercial or equivalent; (h) Two rolls 2" adhesive tape, minimum 5 yards; (I) One (1) 7" bandage scissors or equivalent; (j) One (1) adult size sphygmomanometer; (k) One (1) stethoscope; (l) One (1) penlight-type flashlight; (m) One (1) unbreakable container of sterile water or saline solution, minimum one pint (500 cc); (n) One (1) wrapped 3 ounce bulb syringe for irrigation purposes; (o) Two (2) cold packs; (p) One (1) tube glucose based paste or equivalent; (q) Two (2) wrapped tongue depressors for glucose administration; ® Six (6) band-aids, minimum 3/4"; (s) One (1) mouth-to-mouth resuscitator mask with one way valve and an oxygen port (disposable type recommended); (t) Two (2) combination face mask/eye shield or two (2) each facemask and protective eye wear; (u) Two (2) pair disposable exam type gloves. http://www.mass.gov/dph/oems/ambulance/bls_supply_list.doc I don't carry the tourniquets, ice packs, or the sterile water, and in addition, I have NPAs and lightsticks for trail marking. This all fits in a bag 15*9*7 in. If I am responding in my POV, it is as an EMT-B since I would be the other half of the responding crew...and this is the only reason why I have Basic level items, e.g. airway adjuncts and glucose. If I were to roll up on an accident on my own time, I would utilize nothing but FR items unless absolutely necessary.

Here at UMass we have 29 women and 30 men. A lot of them choose not to work, but of us that do, the ratio is still about equal. I enjoy working with all of them, though I have some struggles with one or two. I guess that's to be expected; as long as it doesn't interfere with patient care--which it doesn't.