letmesleep

paramistress wrote: "Just because I choose not to become a medic does not make me any less of a medical professional than anyone else." Actually yes it does for this very instance, A Paramedic is a higher level professional than you are as an EMT. paramistress wrote: "In fact, one could argue that volunteers are more dedicated than those getting paid to work in the field." How appropriate a statement considering the date tomorrow!!!! The dedication argument is moot, I too have dedicated my life, and the lives of my family to my career. The fact that you do this for FREE shows people that there are those out there willing to do it cheaper than what I would cost them. There is NO difference than taking your full-time job and out sourcing it to a third world country in the name of saving money. You want to give back to the community and feel good about yourself, go pick up trash along the highway or volunteer to read to an elementary class once in a while. Why do you not want to get paid for your "dedication"? If they offered you a check, would you cash it? Your right, as it stands, "one size does not fit all", but lets ask why that is?

paramistress, let me be the first of many CAREER medics and EMTs here to thank you personally for making OUR profession a hobby. Thank you for letting us know that further education in our field of choice is a great "waste of time", as you put it! Transporting the sprained ankles and head colds is part of my job as well, and being educated (medically) has never once in my career been a waste of time. The waste of time is being spent on an ambulance that your NOT getting paid for. Your right it is your choice, but know this, as long as you choose Not to continue with your further/ higher education, then choose to do the job for free, you are harming those of us who are trying to improve and raise the bar (so to speak) for our lively hood. Do you have any desire of being recognized as a professional when volunteering your time? Are you content on just being an ambulance driver? By treating this job as a hobby thats exactly where we are headed.

I feel that I have always been an supporter of the EMTs, but I will admit that the "NEED" for me isn't there either. I work with an EMT, she has been my PARTNER for 8 years now. She has also been an EMT for 18 years, and she is currently finishing up her DEGREE for her paramedic license. As PARTNERS, we rely on each other to get the job done. As PARTNERS, we trust that each other will be taking care of the things that the Pts need. WE don't see any "lines" until it gets down to the advanced skills, and that is because of the legal issues that would hurt both of us if she were to step outside her scope of practice. With that said, I will ask this question. To all the EMT lifers, why did you stop your education? Why are YOU ok with being an EMT for the rest of your life? I will continue to teach and support the EMTs as a LEVEL of the profession, but why do you want to stop learning? Why would you NOT want the knowledge, pay (not it won't make you rich, but it is still better pay), and the rest of the bennies (I use that term loosely) that go along with being a Paramedic. Its true, we all need to start somewhere, but If you become content with being at the bottom of the food chain, then your not going to survive as a profession. You will start to see a back lash of education and expectations on the EMT level the longer you stay there, oh wait, it has already started happening. How is it that the EMTs are supporting our career by being stagnate? We all complain that the pay sucks, but until we start pushing those who make this a career to complete the higher education, we can not expect to see changes. As long as we give companies, districts, and departments a cheaper way of providing the care needed by the public, we are dispensable. WAKE UP!!!!!

Don't let the troll wreck the thread! Dust is perfectly capable of defending himself and all of us (who truly use this web site to teach and learn from each other) from this troll who is obviously is not here to do this site any good based on the few posts, and demeaning insults displayed. LET IT GO!!!!

Are you whining? I know you don't really give a s**t about all this any how.......LMAO! Congrats on the 9300!!!!

Maybe thats ok in phila, pa! LOL!

AnthonyM83, your exactly right about the transients looking for a warm bed, and possibly a good meal. I remember when I worked in St Louis we had a guy who would call all the time. Instead of us getting mad, upset, bent out of shape, yada yada (that was for Dwayne) we would simply pull up in front of the address, tap the horn, he would come outside and get in the truck. En route we would knock out some VS, and give him about 15 mins of chat time on the way to Barnes. Turn around time on theses calls were typically about 40 to 45 mins, which we considered a break from the craziness. He was faking all the way to get out of the weather (no matter what it was like outside), and get a meal out of the hospital. Waste of time and resources? Absolutely, but we would get him a safe place for a couple of hours and us a break............

I was going to initially respond to your post Dwayne, but found myself being sucked in to a useless argument over your notions of me whining, crying, and looking for someone not only to blame, but to hold my hand here in the "CITY". I decided that it would be a waste of this thread. There is an awesome discussion going on here, and in order to respect the thread, and you quite honestly (which is more important to me) I chose not to reply in a negative manor. I can certainly agree to disagree, and am not about to get caught up in any type of personal issues with another poster, would that be fair? Personal disagreement aside, you had asked for some research. I looked around and not only found some research that I found interesting, but also found some that I thought you might even get in to, and decided that maybe the rest of us could also benefit from. Anatomy of the penis: http://www.infocirc.org/townsend/anatomy2.htm http://net.indra.com/~shredder/intact/anatomy/ http://www.theodora.com/anatomy/the_penis.html Pro-circumcision studies and articles: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9389952 http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/346/15/1105 http://www.circumcisioninfo.com/wiswell.html http://www.islamawareness.net/Circumcision/circumcision.html http://jme.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/33/6/357 Anti-circumcision studies and articles: http://www.economist.com/science/displayst...ory_id=11579114 http://www.mgmbill.org/aiusa2005wrcmgmresolution.pdf http://www.webmagician.com/pubservice/protect_him.html http://www.canadiancrc.com/Circumcision_Ge...e_Children.aspx

I think we all can accept that this procedure is going to be painful, hence the "DUH" in a previous post. Obviously the anatomy of the penis with the multitude of vasculature and nerves are going to make this painful and even run the risk of complications during the healing process. Do we, as medical professionals, really need to go over this in regards to this discussion? I find it funny that any one feels the need to point fingers and place "shame" on me and/or my FUTURE wife at all, let alone based off of ONE sentence written by me. The "YADA YADA" was directed at......well, I guess you Dwayne. This phrase, if you read the rest of my post in this thread, is being used to reference yours and any one elses argument about NOT circumcising. Could I have gone through this thread and actually listed ALL of your arguments to write my response to the question posed to me? Sure, but I chose not too. As far as posting the links for YOU to show where I got the info to make MY decision, I'll respond the same as I will to anybody else out there. Show me your data that helped you make your decisions, and the same rules apply. It has been some time since we have researched this topic in our house, so showing you the exact links, may not be possible for me to provide you. With that said I can and will also assure you that this is and will be an ongoing discussion in this house until our son is born, and we are faced head on with it, however I'm pretty sure the choice will not change. This is one of those issues that has no real right or wrong answer. There is going to be two sides of this issue for the rest of all time as we know it. I stated MY opinion here, and also expected there to be those out there to come down on me for those opinions. Thats fine, thats called debate, but just because you or any body who is against this procedure doesn't agree with me doesn't make me an evil person for the decision that I have made with my future wife. I am also a non-practicing catholic and an active member of a UNION so I am probably going to vote Democratic (although I haven't made that choice yet), so are you going to break me down on the "internet" for those choices as well? Once AK corrected me on my initial post, and explained to me what he was actually looking for, I answered. I did open the door to my life for you to see, but how does that give any body the right to judge me and call me out for having that opinion. I have no doubt that we could find tons of issues that we disagree on, but to shame me because I stood up and posted my opinion here is ridiculous. Where does any one of us get off judging each other for having an opinion on an issue. Shame on me? Shame on you!!!

I accept, I would suppose that there must be another way of explaining myself. It wouldn't only stop at the "cleaning" argument, and getting back to being a medical professional with a working brain wave or two, I'll have to say that reading and asking questions could get me any answer out there I would need to teach my son how to care for his penis. There may be all kinds of issues that would/ could arise (no pun intended), that I would not be able to answer for him, again, I could research anything I may need, but If he is "built" like dad, then dad can help with no problems.

Damnit AK, I knew that "generic" was going to bite me in the ass, and again, in NO way was I attempting to be insulting. I'm glad you didn't take it that way, but since you have redirected me........ I will first say that I don't have any sons. With that out of the way I will say with confidence that when I do have a son he will be circumcised, and I can say that because of many reasons. As I have stated in some other threads here in the "CITY" I am engaged and we have decided to start a family ASAP following the wedding. We have already discussed this issue as a couple (future parents). For her it is a matter of aesthetics, she feels that it is going to be better for our son to have the "text book perfect penis" (for lack of a better way of stating that), and that isn't meant to be insulting to those who have their intact foreskins by any means. I made a choice based on hygiene. As I stated, I am circumcised, therefore me trying to teach my child is going to be a complete nightmare. Now am I horrible for making this choice for this reason? Maybe, but the real question is, who are you to judge me? That was another "generic" question! We are both medics, and have done the research we needed to make our decision about this issue. Some might ask if we are taking the easy way out, but I don't feel that way. Posters here who are against circumcision may get down on us for this decision because it is painful, and barbaric, and yada yada. To that I say.....DUH! Taking in to fact the anatomy alone should tell any medical professional with any kind of brain waves that it is a painful procedure, but as I have stated before, I have no long term issues and/or problems from having this done 38 years ago. Tattoos hurt too, but I got them as well, and I would have no problems taking my son (at the right age) to go get his first. Does that make me a horrible person as well? Dust, you are excused from answering that question......LOL!

This thread has been killing me for the past 9hrs. I have been trying to figure out how I wanted to respond. I know how I feel about this issue, but the problem I was having was putting the words together in my head. AK, this decision is going to made by the parents, and any good parents will talk about it in length before a decision is made, as you very well know. As discussed here, there are numerous reasons for why and why not to preform (have preformed) this procedure on your (generic) son. We have heard from the hygiene side of things, this can be based off of the father not knowing how to TEACH a child to clean something he has never cleaned himself. The matter of aesthetics was heard from, Theres the issue of the fathers wanting their son to "look" like them, but should this be the "only" reason to decide? Obviously this can go well beyond just the child, however, the child taking a shower after gym class, their first sexual experience, so on and so forth, brings us to the conformity side of this argument, there are tons of girls out there that may have never seen anything like an uncircumcised penis, how is that going to effect the first sexual experience? Religion is one topic that strikes me as hilarious in this matter. How many parents will make a decision based on religious belief, but never follow it up with going to church or simple religious training for their child, how about living their lives according their religious beliefs as well. The fact of the matter is, is that all of these "ideas" about what is right and what is wrong are exactly that......IDEAS. Yes there are medical reports and documentation out there that support both trains of thought in regards to the hygiene. There are scripture after scripture that can support the procedure and those that talk against mutilation, all of which are up to the individual interpretation. We can look for psych studies on the importance of the father's needs, and the childs needs in regards to circumcision, but it all comes down to what the parents are going to decide is best considering that it will happen (typically) within the first week of life or so (geographically dependent from what I have read here). If it's justification your needing, or just someone to tell you that it's ok, then let me be the first to do so, and this is NOT meant to insult you in any means. I am circumcised! I have NEVER "missed" or felt like I was "missing" a part of my body. I have NO recall of day 3 of my life to know how painful the procedure was or wasn't. I am quite satisfied with my sexual experiences, and sex life. I have never had any problems with chaffing, hygiene, or "damage" to the head of my penis because the foreskin was removed. I do NOT hate my mother for making the decision that she made almost 38 years ago. I have NO desire to have the foreskin back! I would even tell you that if it grew back tomorrow, I would even consider having it removed again, for lack of knowledge, and it would then make me uncomfortable. Did you conform to the needs of your son's mother? Yes, but the real question to you is: Did you do the wrong thing? My answer to you is a profound NO! It is done and over with, and your son is going to grow up loving you as any health young boy will whose father is in their life. You will probably NEVER hear your son ask you, "Why did you let mom cut my foreskin off of my penis dad?". I wish your son a very long and happy life with his father, and his mother.....isn't that all that matters any ways?

brentoli2, SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

A woman met a man in a bar. They talked, they connected, they ended up leaving together. They went back to his place and, as he showed her around his apartment, she noticed that one wall of his bedroom was completely filled with shelves of soft, sweet, cuddly teddy bears. There were three shelves in the bedroom with hundreds of cute, cuddly teddy bears carefully placed in rows, covering the entire wall! It was obvious that he had taken some time to lovingly arrange them. And she was immediately touched by the amount of thought he had put into organizing the display. There were small bears all along the bottom shelf, medium-sized bears covering the length of the middle shelf, and huge bears running all along the top shelf. She found it strange for such an obviously masculine guy to have such a large collection of teddy bears. She was quite impressed by his sensitive side but didn't mention this to him. They shared a bottle of wine and continued talking til after awhile, she found herself thinking, "Oh, my God! Maybe this guy could be the one! Maybe he could be the future father of my children." She turned to him and kissed him lightly on the lips. He responded warmly, and continued to kiss, the passion building, and he romantically lifted her in his arms and carried her into his bedroom where they ripped off each other's clothes and made hot, steamy love. She was so overwhelmed that she responded with more passion, more creativity, more heat than she had ever known. After an intense, explosive night of raw passion with this sensitive guy, they lay there together in the afterglow. The woman rolled over, gently stroked his chest and asked coyly, "Well, how was it?" The guy gently smiled at her, stroked her cheek, looked deeply into her eyes, and said, "Help yourself to any prize from the middle shelf."

We had a truck join a strike force deployment this am approx 0400, The medic on board just sent me a text message letting me know they are almost to Jackson MI. As what Vent said, good luck to our fellow Americans................

Good question! Lets try it this way, when a Pt has an "emergency" they typically are upset, scared, what have you, correct? It is our job to put that Pt at ease, correct? If a Pt gets bent out of shape because of the prejudice against tattoos they can be upset, scared, what have you, correct? When a Pt remains or gets upset, do we not see anxiety, causing increases in respirations, HR, so on and so forth? What GOOD have you done for this Pt? How have you helped? Could you have changed anything to better the situation? What kind of preparations could you have taken to better this Pts out come? I do agree with your statement that it is their OWN prejudice, and that alone will cause their OWN anxiety, which may also lead to their OWN worsening in health if any. As a "Professional" is there anything that you can do to put this Pt at ease to better their out come? There is if you, me, or any one else out there that have ink would simply bite the bullet and cover them up during our shift. It may only be one Pt in every 2000 that you effect because of your tattoos, but isn't that kinda the point any ways? My question to you is simple, Is there any research that shows that tattoos are not harmful?

First of all the race card was played here as an example of Pt ignorance, and does have a place in this thread. It shows the different types of discrimination that a Pt might have about you when you walk through the door. Isn't that OUR argument Spenac? Mateo_1387, I understand what your saying, however the point of us being there is to do NO harm. If there is something like a tattoo that potentially may cause harm to a Pt because of their ignorance, should we NOT try to do something before hand, to better their outcome? There is no way you will know, as your walking up that sidewalk, if your next Pt is going to get bent out of shape because of your tat. Do we not take measures in other areas to prepare for the worst case scenario? If any Pt that you walk up to worsens because of their own ignorance towards your ink spot, have you not done harm to that Pt since you could have prepared for the situation? Arizonaffcep, Your point is a good one, but I'll have to agree with spenac here. If you decide to spend the first half of your life getting covered in ink then decide to go to school (either for the first time or not) and become a medic (EMT), there may be a chance that the company will ask you to wear long sleeves and pants to cover your tats. This is reality, and might be the only way for you to work in this field. There would be no discrimination here due to the fact that a policy may already exist, and you were hired. So my question to you is: What would you do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtqIuayDag Gotta love the Irish!!!!

St Louis city Fire Department uses fuel trucks at different times, try making contact with them, as well as any other large city. http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/fire/

Holy crap did I just get some awesome news. I'm bouncing of the freaking walls. I'll bet that I am the happiest MF in the world right now, and nobody can burst my bubble. The fiance literally just called to tell me that she got switched to another shift. Now we are going to be working the same days starting Sept. 8th. What does this mean you ask? Well it means that we just doubled our at home time together, we are going from 10 days a month to 20......aren't you happy for us? Oh come on, I know that you are! sweet, sweet, sweet

I'd have to say that if they work together as partners then they would be out of service at the time of the accident. I would think that it would be handled as if you were in a truck that was struck while en route to a call. Contact the sup. call O.O.S., and dispatch the next closest unit to the original call.

As I have stated before, I have 5 very large tattoos which are all covered by by uniform. Basing how good a partner is or isn't off of the amount and/or size of their tattoo is just plain wrong for one of us to do to each other, agreed. The fact that there are Pts out there that may not feel comfortable with one of us covered in ink is the real issue. We don't walk through any door to see a Pt, holding our resume in our hand, Pts don't always understand what all those letters on your collar mean. With that said how you present yourself initially is where the Pt builds their confidence in you. If we come through that door with jelly donut stains on our shirt, a faded T-shirt full of holes, gym shorts, flip-flops, piercings out your ying yang, or totally covered in tattoos we are going to have one hell of a time getting a Pt to trust us enough to allow us to affectively do our job in their time of crisis. This is where I get back to simply using some "god given" common sense. It may not be every Pt out there, but there are those who will shy away from you based on your appearance because they expect us to look professional. How many african-American medics still struggle with the race issue in the deep south? Pts will have their issues with the way we look as long as they are still alive, and have a mind that functions. It is up to us, as professionals, to take these issues in to consideration, and adjust our "freedom of expression" to do the best we can for our Pts.

Because they sign your check and you wear their uniform!

Ok, without getting in to any further pissing contest here about AMR or Mr. Green let me explain my post above a little. AMR should bare some of the blame (very little), although I agree that they as a company can't control their employees while off duty, It is MY opinion that they should have been more proactive in educating this employee in regards to the "dos and don't" of HIPPA. Had they done this he might have had a better understanding of the consequences, but with that said, thats where their responsibility ends. As far as calling Mr. Green an idiot? Well besides the obvious, I think that he is (or at least was) lacking some common sense in regards to being a Pt advocate. His principal idea may have been to "help", but clearly he did the opposite. Do I or any of us know anything more than what was given in the OP? I, speaking for myself do not, but based off of the information provided I expressed my opinion. I do agree with the fact that the info could have been found by the media without the posting on MYSPACE, and there is NO true privacy out there any more as noted by Ruff in his post, But the fact remains that he did post something that was harmful if not very offensive to the victim, and it is Mr. Green's place/ job to protect her not share with the world her tragedy. I'm also good with taking all the players out of the thread, and making it generic. Doesn't matter who it is or what company they work for. My point is that any one who posts Pt information on the internet deserves everything that Mr. Green received. As I stated above, we struggle to be called professionals, so how is it that any of us would/ could/ or should except this type of behavior from any one of us as a profession?

Holy f**k Doc, you totally just aged yourself with that statement......LMAO!