ERDoc

Sounds like a failed stress test to me. No big deal.

87.88% The extra findings after the results are scary. Less than half the population can identify the three branches of govt, but yet we let these people vote and decide how the country should be run. That is basic 5th grade social studies. No wonder we are so screwed.

So it looks like this guy is a saint in the court of public opinion, but that is really no surprise. I read the comments on an EMS website or two and it looks like the only ones that think this kid is a jackass is us and that other website who shall not be named.

Congrats Island. Enjoy your newfound freedom.

Well, do you think we have chased off the new guy?

The volley system in NYS is like a bunch of little kingdoms where the VAC sets the rules. I doubt there is a rule like that. Usually it is, if you get a call, get your crew and go. I wouldn't rip apart all volleys (ERDoc ducks and covers) based on this one guy. There are some pretty well run VACs with quality providers out there.

So let's summarize what we know. Homeboy, another EMT and a driver are at their station. A call comes in for a 4y/o with seizures. A medic is responding to the scene. My first question is, why didn't they roll the bus (this is NY baby!) as soon as the call came in if they had a full crew AND a medic going to the scene? They get a second call for an arm injury while still at the station. Common sense should kick in at this point and someone should have said the driver and one of the EMTs should head to the seizure call (I would assume it would be the higher priority based on the limited info we have). Why would Ricky Rescue send a fully staffed ambulance to a lower priority call while still trying to get a crew for the first, and higher priority call? The only reason I can see is that he wanted to be on the glory call and be the hero. There is nothing in this story that makes sense otherwise.

Medic is a generic term used by the public/layperson who don't understand the differences. For someone in EMS to use it, they are trying to represent themselves as something they are not. It's very similar to someone in the healthcare setting calling themselves 'doctor' just because they have a doctorate level degree so that they are seen as being a physician.

Putting the other calls aside as that is a whole other thread that could take several pages, it sounds (based on the limited info in the article) that the medic on-scene was requesting the ambulance to get there as quick as possible. Maybe he did the right thing. It also sounds like he may have had disciplinary issues in the past and this was the final issue needed to get him out. Those of us in the field know that we should be skeptical of someone who volleys/works at 3 ambulances, 2 fire departments and 2 police departments. We all know those types, hell we even have names for them. Unfortunately the court of public opinion is not privy to this sort of information. At my VAC, if you weren't a "certified" driver, you could drive if there were no other options but it was no lights, no sirens regardless of pt condition. Better to get there in 6 minutes instead of 5 than not get there at all. EDIT: Here is another article/oped piece that I pretty much agree with. http://thesocialmedic.net/2013/12/ellenville-emt-suspension-causes-uproar-and-illustrates-the-lack-of-discipline-policy-for-volunteer-agencies/ EDIT#2: Here is the article that is linked in the above edit that provides quite a bit more info. http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-news/20131227/ellenville-emt-who-was-suspended-had-previous-violations-squad-captain-says

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131227/NEWS/312270334/-1/NEWSLETTER100 Discuss.

Work at 6am This state is too freaking cold I have heated seats

You've never worked for some of my bosses.

I don't want to sound like one of those guys that says, "This is the way we've always done it, so why change it?" but there are somethings that just make sense. I'm a firm believer that you cannot help anyone if you are a victim. Now, if departments want to specially train medics to go into situations like this and properly outfit them, then I am all for it. Maybe the police could train their officers in tactical medicine who could enter the scene properly armed and armored. They could provide rapid assessment/care and then extricate the pt to the "standard" EMS waiting in a safe area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Catch_a_Predator

It's only going to go about as far as his finger can push it. In the end, he will have to go. There were much better ways to go about getting it out.

That is a very important lesson that too few have learned.

I will concede to Mike as I may have had some geocentric bias. Where I did EMS, pretty much everyone was a volley doing 911 calls. Some people got jobs at privates such as AMR, TransCare or other locals that pretty much did renal roundup, nursing home transports and IFTs. In my little part of the world, everyone did the "big" calls and only a few did the not-so-sexy calls (but they did it for pay). I guess it is a little backwards from the rest of the world, but it is NY so what do you expect, we move to the beat of our own drum.

Welcome to the City, Akulahawk. One difference you will find between this site and the other one you come from is that our admin here is not nearly as anal and lets conversions take their normal path, even if it goes completely off the original topic, with minimal locking of threads. You seem like someone we'd enjoy having here so please, stick around and contribute.

The vollies on Long Island have buildings comparable to the Taj Mahal that would pretty much make any other service jealous (I win!!). I'm sure medics from Baltimore, NYC, Chicago, Miami, or any other city would do just fine when compared to a Seattle medic. And if we are comparing buildings, I did a few ride-alongs with NYC EMS in the mid 90s. They had the most amazing places. They were about 10 foot by 10 foot and had wheels. Once in a while, they would have these big shiny lights and loud sirens that would come on and be able to relocated their building to where the pt was. Fine dining included McDonalds, Burger King or whatever you brought with you. Things may be different now with the merger with FDNY.

Wow. Just wow. I was a volley in suburbia who rode 6 hours a week and we saw stuff like that and worse all the time. I'm surprised a crew from a large city was so awestruck by something so routine. I guess it could have been the golden glow given off by you and your crew that got their attention.

Ha ha ha ha. Not to mention he was out of a ride (his paycheck) for 4 hours.

Island, are you sure this guy was ER trained or even an American grad? With the stuff we have today, I can't imagine why anyone would be doing cutdowns anymore.

OK, fair enough.