Just Plain Ruff

I would possibly think it might be a large amount of Ascites fluid. Or maybe we can finally find the center of the elusive tootsie roll pop.

CPhT, again, making it more difficult to understand is what they are doing. Instead of making a single certification each state has their own rules and regs and they do whatever the hell they want. Why not just EMT EMT-P Either you are an EMT or you are a EMT-P Had a friend one time tell me "the only reason the registry exists is to make the Morando family rich" I've been nationally registered only twice - upon graduating my medic class and then had to get it to get a different job. I don't have the desire to get it again. It seems that everytime they try to make it more easily understandable they frick it all up and make it harder to get anything done.

Ordered me a pair from the local eyeglass shop. There goes my christmas bonus

so instead of simplifying things and getting rid of some of the fat, they are oversimplifying it and making it much harder for EMS Agencies to understand. Sounds about right

Dwayne, I heard about your drinking escapade in Ohio and it sounds like Wendy drank you under the table. ha ha But in all seriousness, be safe in your new assignment.

I think Jems does something like the info for reciprocity and pay scale for the different states. It's usually in their Gold edition but I haven't had a jems sub for so long that I'm not sure if they do it anymore. That edition has pretty good stuff in it and would be veryhelpful for your endeavour

Nope no learning done here. Good luck and I'm just kidding on the lack of learning here. Nice to have you here.

That's Superhero dad !!!!!!

Seth, I have no issues with you being here asking questions. I also have no issues with setting up what you are trying to do. NO conflict on my part. I was just trying to show you that there are literally hundreds of websites out there that address these things yet I left it up to you to determine if those sites were any good. I'm already a medic so I don't need to go to those sites but had I have had a site like what you envision when I started in EMT it would have been invaluable to me and to many others. I do wish you well. I'd like to see the finished product as well. Good luck.

Seth, first off good luck on your project and website. Goodness knows the internet needs more stuff on it. But I have to agree with Mike but I would like to take it one step further -- How is your website going to be different than the current sites out there? How is it going to benefit my friend who came to me asking how to become a medic? Here is the results of a web search via Google for "how to become an emt" https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=how+to+become+an+EMT&pbx=1&oq=how+to+become+an+EMT&aq=f&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1336l3646l0l4203l20l9l0l3l3l0l614l1503l0.1.3.5-1l7l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=c926c362c28586a4&biw=1350&bih=661 I went through just 2 pages but there are countless pages just in this one search. Here is the how to become an paramedic search as well. https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=how+to+become+an+paramedic&pbx=1&oq=how+to+become+an+paramedic&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=86451l88935l1l89185l16l9l1l0l0l3l710l1598l2-2.1.6-1l5l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=c926c362c28586a4&biw=1350&bih=661 There are at least 3 pages if not many many more that focus on just what you are asking. If you go further and ask this question on Google "how to become a paramedic in Missouri" you get this search result - https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=how+to+become+an+paramedic+in+missouri&pbx=1&oq=how+to+become+an+ paramedic+in+missouri&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=113759l115747l2l116048l14l7l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav =on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=c926c362c28586a4&biw=1350&bih=661 I'm not sure if that link will work here though. But there are 3 entire pages in this search devoted to becoming a medic in missouri I suspect if you did that for each state and even each country you would get the same number of results. I did not go in and look at the individual pages because well that's your job and I'm doing this at work but here is my question to you and your "gang of six" or your partners How is your site going to be better than the sites listed in the searches above? How is your site going to hit the first page on Google instead of page 3 or 4? How will you HOOK the so called EMT wannabe or medic wannabe into coming to your site? I'm not questioning your motives but I'm questioning how you intend to get to the finished product when there are literally hundreds of websites that seem to do what you are wanting to do.

well I can't argue with you Dwayne. You make good arguments but the reason why he stopped posting is that I was helping him out and he felt that that was enough. He came asking for help and he got the help. Do you come back over and over to a place after you asked for help and have received it? I think not. I'm sorry that you feel that you need to be the voice of truth in this forum, at times it's needed but at other times you sometimes make a big deal out of a molehill. He asked for help, got the help from me as well as CM and he didn't really feel the need to come back and continue asking for help for the same question/problem. Is that the wrong attitude to take on this or any forum? And I really hope that you aren't referring to me as setting him up for failure because if you are inferring that then you are really way off base on that mark and frankly I'm a little pissed off that you would even make that accusation. I'm not giving him any tricks to take the test. I hope you know me better than that. I'm not giving him any insight on how to pass the test without good old fashioned hard work and if you think I'm doing that then obviously you don't respect the fact that personalized help in this case is what he needs. Plus the fire truck comment to him was an assumption on your part of which you knew nothing about this guy yet you think that just by one post from him or two posts you seem to know exactly what he's here for. I'm not going to argue with you on this because it's self defeating and you will of course find some way to make your point more valid than mine. There is a lot more in this kids dynamics that you don't have a clue on yet you make the assumption that he's just wanting tips and the easy way out. That might have been what he originally posted but this has morphed into something more than that. It's good that you seem to have taken over the reigns of reason on this forum, goodness knows that this forum needs someone like you but you are not always right and in this case you are not right. As for this comment - Don't tell me he's not read this thread. Don't tell me he hides out of respect. If he's got the complete lack of balls to sit back and watch you to speak for him then I'm more than comfortable saying that he's no business in EMS. If he can't step up in a forum, then yeah, I want him nowhere near my family no matter how long you tutor him All I can say is that when you arrived on this forum, there were some who might have said that they wanted you nowhere near their family. That's an arrogant attitude to take when you only have one or two posts from this person. I remember when you arrived on this forum as well as when I arrived here and there were some who may have thought the same thing about us. I'm not saying that I thought that. Again this discussion is getting tiresome as neither of us will change our minds as to what is the correct.

I think that we in EMS and Healthcare in general need to be a patient. I remember a movie, can't remember the title but it William Hurt playing a doctor (educator) with Cancer. He took all his residents and put them in a empty wing in the hospital and gave them each a fictitious diagnosis from UTI all the way to Cancer. He then made them go through all the tests and procedures and little nuances that patients go through. He even brought nurses down to do the actual nursing tasks. This gave his student's/residents a greater understanding of what it's like to be a patient. I wholeheartedly agree with this approach. It will make your perspective change. And if it's a real condition and not a fake one then all the better. Asys you will be a better medic for going through this situation and I know that when I had my Migraine which took boatloads of narc's(and I mean boatloads) to get rid of(ask me and i'll tell you sometime about it), I had a completely different outlook on how to deliver healthcare than I did going into the situation.

No disrepect seen there What I am doing for him is what I would do for anyone who asked for my help I'm having him study each section of his book and then I'll be giving him a test. If he doesn't pass it then he has to retake a different test. He has to prove mastery of the material in my eyes before we move on to the next section. That's how people learn right? They prove mastery in one section before moving on to the next right??? I'm in no way allowing him to be a poser, it's his intention to either post to our forums or not. I don't think that that makes him more needy in my eyes if he posts 30 posts here at the city. I can tell you that he is without internet at home and has been using his phone to take my tests. What I'm doing is providing him a avenue to basically go through his emt class again by studying and then being tested on the material from that section. I'm in no way giving him a magic bullet to pass the registry. He will recieve a final exam based on the sources I have. I can't give him a real emt class but I can give him the tools that he needs to study and learn the material again as necessary. The help I am giving him is no different than any of the help that was offered to him on the thread but I am giving him a chance to learn systematically the material he should have learned by now. There is a number of other dynamics that you really aren't privy to in our discussions and unfortunately you have made some generalizations that just aren't true. He really has the drive to pass the test and then move on to paramedic school. Financially he is unable to afford purchasing the NRCBT that was offered and if given the financial means to purchase that CBT then he would have done it but he is unable to financially afford anything other than the necessities until he can come up with a job. I offered to pay for his test but the offer was contingent upon his passing the tests that I sent him. I really don't need to explain any more my motivations but I wish that back in the day I had this type of group to help me as well as someone "like me (not tooting own horn)" that would make the effort to help me succeed. I didn't have that at the time and I struggled with passing due to significant testing anxiety issues. *****************************************************NEW Response********************************************************** This damn systems quote/reply system. The below was supposed to start a whole new response but the system apparantly won't allow me to do that. Here is what I meant to say. If my request for help was answered in the way it was on some of the responses I would not return either and this response is in no way meant to be disrespectful of any of those who I refer too. Just a observation as my respect for the members is quite huge actually I would not return to EMTCity because three reply specifically Dwaynes post - accusing him of just wanting the patch to be a firefighter Lones post comparing this kid to the lowest common denominator in EMS classes and the final post saying that the person can't believe how people still fail emt class With those responses I would consider those above as ASSHOLES and would not want to come back. Yes your responses were sent with educating the newbie and giving them a real world response but seriously, one could construe that with being accused of the above from respected members of this forum I might not come back either. Maybe he's a tad bit thin skinned but he's new, young and probably hasn't had a come to jesus meeting or discussion the likes of a Dwaynian or Lonestarian tell it like it is. Re-read the responses from the eyes of a brand new emt student or one who is already distressed enough about failing the test twice and let me know how he might have felt that there wasn't any purpose of his being here asking questions. There is no dis-respect intended in this response but can't you see how this might have come across as "you are stupid therefore go away"

Actually Dwayne, he stopped posting because I am helping him with his testing and review. I'm giving him the Captain Kickass school of EMT REfreshers. He's currently tasked with reviewing the body systems and operations section of his book and then I will test him with the test materials that I was able to get from a couple of friends as well as the Kaplan Pass EMT Book. He is a good guy, has been out of a job for over a year along with other personal dynamics. I've offered to pay for his next sitting of the national registry which would be his last attempt so we are taking this slow and working on it methodically. Michael

When I first started out in EMS I was working in a hospital based system. We had multiple multiple open shifts. We worked 12 hour shifts. I was a overtime HO who would snatch up any overtime shifts or offer to work for a co-worker if they wanted some time off. some weeks I would work 72 hours or even 84 hours with on call time between those shifts which would sometimes bring my total hours for the week to over 100 hours. The hospital paid willingly to do this. I would be the first that they would call to work if someoen called in sick. I did that until my crash. 96 hours for 4 weeks straight and I got sick. The doctor told me that if I kept working like I was and didn't get a good 8 hours of sleep a day that I was going to have a heart attack(at age 26) or fall asleep while driving or taking care of a patient. I spent several days recuperating from my illness and then took a 24 day vacation to Australia where I had a lot of time to think and realized that I wasn't going to work that much any more. I came back a happier healthier man and put my foot down on the overtime. This forced the hospital to hire more medics and overall our work life balance came back into balance. I don't take all the credit on the hiring of new people because that would be arrogant but when EMS has to work short shifted with only one active crew on duty instead of 2 crews it makes the management nervous. I was doing the amount of work that 2 medics would do and it was affecting my personally and medically. I lost out on quite a bit of pay but the benefits of having days off without having to worry about who would run the next ambulance call made it all worthwhile. So stop being a doorstep, stop being the one who thinks that you have to run every call because if you don't do it then the world will stop. If you stop responding to calls the world will not end, patients will still get cared for and you won't have the "guilt" that you have now when you think that you have to cover for all the worthless sit on the couch fat asses in your service who won't get off their worthless fat asses and respond. Try it for a week, work your shifts but don't cover for those who won't get with the program, you will see a change I'll bet. If you don't see a change then you need to think about either applying for a management position to give a quick kick in the pants to those who are lazy or you need to find a service who's employees/volunteers take pride in what they do and actually respond to calls. This is the reason why I won't live in an area not covered by a career fire department. Too many times I've seen a home turned into the newest in ground swimming pool in the neighborhood because the volunteer fire department couldn't find enough people to start the fire truck let alone put the house fire out. I've also worked in an area where they couldn't reliably find a first responder or volunteer ambulance crew to respond to a medical emergency. I refuse to risk my family and home to a community who can't afford or refuses to fund a paid fire department. The risk is just too great.

If I have the time I always pre-medicate with fentanyl or morphine prior to manipulation or splinting any type of obvious fracture or if the patient appears to be in pain. Why cause more pain than you have to when if you are a medic and have the protocols to give Narcs on standing orders for pain relief. If you aren't giving pain meds to a patient with a suspected fracture prior to splinting or moving them I just don't understand why not!!!! When you are the patient and you have a broken bone or something that really hurts and you don't get some pain management and then the crew begins to manipulate or splint you, then you will understand just as Asys did that pain relief is mandatory for this type of treatment. Besides, what does it hurt to give them pain relief for their pain? It's not your ambulance bill nor your emergency so why not give what you have to give in your arsenal. For those of you who don't have standing order in your protocols to give narcs for suspected fractures or significant pain then I feel sorry for your patients.