Just Plain Ruff

Everyone does it a bit differently. Unfortunately in this business we do this quite often so we get to be somewhat good at it. It always seemed that I was chosen to be the one to sit with the family. I was told that I had a way with the families, an empathy and a rapport with them that no-one on night shift had. I can't count the number of thank you's I've received from families that I sat with during their loved one's illness.

Good points Zmedic. If I'm alone, I could consider stopping but I'm rarely alone in my car, usually either my daughter or son are in the car with me. I won't leave them in a empty car so I can go and see what I can do. We already have a set of cars that are wrecked and I'm not sure of the number of collateral crashes that occur with the lookie loo's but i'd hate for my car to be the car hit by one of those distracted drivers. Case in point, mva on highway, the ambulances and Fire trucks closest to the wreck respond. They are taking care of the victims of the accident. Suddenly the radio traffic comes over as "Emergency traffic, need additional ambulances and response to our location, have 2 men down struck by car" Full response, we are the next closest ambulance and we respond. Enroute were updated that there are 3 responders down and the driver was pinned underneath the firetruck. that's the collateral car wreck that I'm talking about and my luck is that they will crash into my car, no matter how far away I park. so if I'm alone then I probably would stop but if I'm not alone then I'll just call it in. and if I see any blood or stuff like that, I'll just give em 2 nitros and put a c-collar on em.

They said that about the KU football coach. He was a big guy. They said the stress of coaching the Jayhawks would kill him. I even saw a Jayhawk t-shirt that said this to the MU Tigers. "Our coach can eat your coach" Yea Richard, every time I see Gov Christy he seems out of breath and sweating. I do worry for him.

I use my garmin. If the ambulance service I work for doesn't have GPS then I pull out my gps device and use it. I know a guy at Garmin and he says that the majority of the maps you see today printed by Rand MCNally and others, the maps are actually obtained from the same company that Garmin uses. In a metro area like you said you are starting to work for, a GPS system should truly be standard but you should also be looking at the paper maps because those are usually updated by the crews with wierd streets and stuff that the map doesn't have. I actually when I worked for MAST in Kansas city and AMR in Independence, I actually obtained my own system owned map and used it exclusive of the map that the truck had in it. I had it so updated and marked on that it did not look like the previous version. Good luck on the new job. Started yesterday huh! Did you have fun?

Actually the reason why we were hard on him is two fold. he asked for criticism and we gave it. He also gave 2 nitroglycerins to a trauma patient that if he was an EMT or even a first responder he would not have done that. He opened himself up by putting himself on a pedestal of I've read the books and I know what to do. in Fact, he did not know what to do. Giving the nitro's to the chest trauma patient may have cost that patient his life. So tell me why you think we were too hard on him? I too believe that he's got some good years ahead of him with the enthusiasm that he shows but this also proves that a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous if not nearly fatal thing. That's why we got on him, not because his heart was in the right place!. Let me ask this question, if this was your father and he hit the tree, bent the steering wheel and a person came up who has read the emt books and has all that equipment in his car. He comes to your fathers aid and gives him two nitros when he has chest trauma, your father suffers an adverse effect from the giving of 2 nitros and either passes away or has lasting disability, would you just chalk his error to just being gung ho? Would you say "your heart was in the right place" or what would you say to this person?

PM Admin or AK they can help you .

Take 2 viagra, 2 nitros and put a c-collar on it.

no this no Doc, this study was presented in it's entireity right here at EMT City just in the past couple of days. We are now a research site too. whoopeee!!!!!!

When death comes to me, I hope I can face it with dignity but if not, I'm ok with it. I have never really cried at anyone's death except the miscarriage of my child at 17 weeks. I don't go to funerals not because I don't want to cry, I just don't go to them because I'm not that into mourning in public. I live my life the way I live it, love it or leave it. If I go today, I'm not going to be upset in the least.

Dwayne, this strikes me the same way. This segment of the population is a easy segment to target. Society see's fat people as butt's of jokes, unhealthy(true though) and less of a person. The images in the media are that only thin people with 6 pack ab's and tight asses are the best society has to offer. Unfortunately with the health risks that are out there from being obese, diabetes, heart problems, joint problems and many others it only stands to reason that we work on obesity. thsi ad campaign does just the opposite in my opinion. Remember back in the early 70's those videos that you watched about the dangers of driving and what could happen in a car wreck. I think one was called "Blood on the highway" or something like that. Those targeted high school kids and they were an abject failure. In the military I believe they had videos or movies about VD and other diseases, well those didn't work either. Now we have this obesity campaign focusing on the fat kids. Why focus on the kids, we need to focus on the parents and the schools who serve the unhealthy food. Every single day my sons cafeteria offers Pizza and another high fat/cholesterol lunch item but they also offer a Yogurt meal. My son picks the pizza every time unless there's another meal he likes better. The school also offers chocolate milk, gatorade and other sports drinks. Shouldn't we be focusing on the healthy food options and exercise rather than showing how fat junior is. I do like Michelle Obama's campaign but like every other first lady before her, their plans often end with their husbands defeat and many end earlier than that. If parents at home focused on healthy food options and didn't eat out so much I think we'd be a thinner society. Exercise is also a big part of the equation. I don't know all the answers but this campaign is not the answer. NOPE

it's the I dispatch myself to the car wreck with the major chest trauma and give 2 nitros(cause i can) and put a c-collar on him study. It was reported in all the major medical journals and even on TV.

Or you could just give 2 nitro's and put a c-collar on him!

Dwayne, well put but please don't give him the answer to the question I and WEndy asked him. I want him to truly understand what Nitro does to the body. I'm hoping as you are hoping that he doesnt' run away like he did on the call. I want him to understand that we are not busting his chops just to bust them, I want him to understand like you have said that his giving this man nitro may have just killed the patient and how much trouble he could be in. I would hate for him to get arrested or sued without his knowing what he did and the ramifications of that said action.

And yes your panties are in a wad getting so angry over our telling you why what you did was a bad thing. Did you even read and understand why I don't stop? I defined my reasoning why in my first post in the thread you referenced. Have you not heard a word we've said. Since I'm impressed that you haven't ran away. Can you tell me why it was a BAD idea to give the guy a nitroglycerin, oh wait, you gave him two? Do you have any idea what nitro does to a patient? Can you tell me why you might not want to give that particular medication to a patient with chest trauma. If you cannot tell me why it's a bad idea why you did that then we have nothing more to talk about. And yes, I don't stop any more. But if you read my response you will know why I don't. But I'm not arguing this with you, what I am trying to do is to get you to understand why what you did was a stupid thing to do. I know you were only trying to help, Kudos for willing but the dangers of giving a person any medication when you don't truly know what might happen when you give a medication that's the real danger here. And you asked for criticism, so why are you getting so bent out of shape when we criticise you? And by the way, I've been nice to you offering you suggestions on how to do things differently yet those efforts go unthanked. So take a step back, step away from the Kool-aid and think of it this as a learning experience but if you continue to focus on the things that we said in a past thread about not stopping and focusing on how great a person you are for not only self dispatching yourself to a call, arriving at that call, assessing a patient(you don't have that training do you), giving the patient a medication that could potentially kill your patient in a trauma situation, and then scurrying away like a feral cat when the crew asked you to stick around. You obviously knew that something you did was amiss, hence the EMS Crew wanting to talk to you and now this post that you put out which clearly states in your title "What did I do wrong" that says to me that you knew you did something wrong. So please answer my question as well as Wendy's "Why is giving 2 nitro's to a patient with chest trauma a bad idea?"

Whoa nelly, why don't you call your doctor and ask him what the dangers or giving a guy two nitroglycerins after a car wreck with the steering wheel bent. YOu had NO buisiness giving this guy any medication. You would have learned that in EMT Class but you are too jolly roger in a hurry to get out and save the world. No-one got on you for putting the c-collar on, they(I) got on you for responding to a car wreck and giving medication to a trauma patient. You also asked what you did wrong and we told you. It's you that is getting your panties in a bunch at the criticism. DO NOT come here asking for advice if you are not willing to take the advice that is given. Like I said before, don't run away from this discussion, don't pussy out and run away. You opened yourself up to this criticism and that did show good intentions but with you getting all pissy, I'm a little disappointed in your response. Please don't blame us if you don't like the advice. But I'll bet you run away from this discourse and that would be pointless.

AK thanks for the pictures. I can now show my son what Dust looked like. I had the time of my life at that get together at a time that I really needed a getaway. I spent some time talking to Rob a couple of weeks ago and he sounded good but frail. He told me his time was near but I didn't believe him. He told me he was sick about a year ago, said he wasn't sure what it was but it was bad. Said he thought it was from the desert and it's impurities from the war and the munitions. I have a suspicion that he really knew what it was and didn't want me to know but he did ask me to not tell anyone that he was so sick. He said that he would tell the City in his own time. I am grieving for the loss of a friend and a colleague. My flag is flying at half mast, my badge is covered with a black band and my dress blues are set out waiting to be worn. God Speed Dust, RIP.

Apart from giving a medication to a trauma patient that could drop an otherwise stable blood pressure, causing the medic on the truck to say "this guys bleeding out" because 2 nitros would drop anyone's pressure. you do realize that you could have killed the patient right? Consider this a learning experience and learn from it, don't run away. We are hard on you for a reason and having the balls to come here and say "What did I do wrong?" shows you are willing to accept criticism. Or you can run away with your tail tucked between your legs and miss out on some good instruction and criticism. Remember, criticism never killed anyone, just ask AK or Dwayne about our conversations in the past. He/She is not even a student yet. Original post is that he's about to start emt school. here is the first sentence of his OP Go easy on me, I am just 18 and about to start my EMT-B class, but I have had EMS in my blood for as long as I can remember If he's had EMS in his blood for as long as he can remember maybe a good ole fashioned bleeding of the humours is in order and once that is done, then get him in the class, have him start over and with his enthusiasm he might just make a good or great medic someday. But seriously FNG, don't do this again. You have to get some basics under your belt before you go off changing the world one dead patient at a time. With the enthusiasm you showed why not channel it into something more productive and put all your energy into the emt and then medic class. If not, it's liable that we will not stop the bleeding I mentioned. Don't run away from this discussion, even though we seem hard on you we really do have your best interest and your patient's best interests at heart. They looked at me like I lost my mind ???????? Then told me they wanted to talk with me when the call was over. I snuck away, but I can not figure out what I did wrong ? Can you help me figure it out ? oK, I just re-read your question above in Red. They were going to hammer your rear end with the "you gave nitro to this guy" speech and also why you responded on your own when you are an unknown. but then again, maybe they were goign to recruit you to the volunteer fire department. Can never have too many good enthusiastic first responders out there can we? I know what Dust would have said.

What did you do wrong, you turned on your scanner. You gave a medication that you had no business giving but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't have a clue. Please turn the scanner down, put away your equipment you purchased and finish your school. did you tell the responders you gave the nitro? the c-collar was good but when were you trained to put one on? What other equipment have you purchased. My advice, take the emt class and get through it before you respond from your house again. I can't say what I would have said to you on this forum. It would not have been a pretty thing. You will realize that everyone on this forum who has answered your questions is RIGHT and when you get on an ambulance you will say "I can't believe I did that" Use this as a learning experience and learn from it.

the only reason why they are targetting fat kids or fat people in general (I'm one of them) is that we make bigger targets than those waif thin super models.

My whole day is shot from here on out. I need a drink. When I saw the topic title, I knew what the post was going to be about.

Does he have a fever? could be meningitis or encephalitis During his first seizure any chance he cracked his noggin when he fell? could be a nasty head injury.

As one who had the patient with the intractible seizures, needless to say it was horrible to realize that the do no harm mentality actually was doing harm to the patient. One does of romazicon and the patient crashed into seizures we couldn't stop. Ended up paralyzing the patient but the brain seizures continued. Patient was flown to a level 1 trauma center/teaching facility but the damage had been done. This was 12 years ago and I don't know what happened to the patient after getting to the hospital but I did hear it was a permanent disability. I spent hours filling out the incident report for the adverse drug reaction for that patient. We set out to reverse the effect of the benzo but ended up hurting our patient. Not a fun thing to be a part of.

I went last time. INCREDIBLE. There was a cadaver used for IO's, pneumos and other assorted procedures A fully dissected body of a lady showing all the major structures of the body, A fully pulled out spinal cord with attached nerve tracts and roots. AWESOME Intubation lab with many of the newest tools, cpr with the newest tools and two scenario sessions. Also there was a anatomy lab of the brain and the heart and lungs. Never thought a heart could get to the size of a small football but they had it there. the airway challenge was awesomely won by AnthonyM83 on this site. He was awesome. If you can get there I strongly urge it. I brought anthony out from california on a darn near free trip. Depending on how far out to book the flight, I might be able to get you there. You would be responsible for the car rental and hotel. Contact me if you know you can get the time off. I can only help one person get there. Michael