Just Plain Ruff

ok, so far I have three finalists that I've considered as tops in their posts. I'm not saying who they are but as of today there are three that stand out. I will give everyone ONE additional post to make their original post better.

unfortunately you know good and well that this person will probably never recover enough to lead any sort of normal life. Heh what's normal I ask. This is a very sad case and we all have these cases in our career. The one who should have survived but didn't to the one who should have died who didn't. don't beat yourself up. I've had family members help out on everything from codes to minor calls. No one does a IV pole better than a family member. Keep kicking and keep doin the job. It's not always like this you know.

Contest ends at 2pm eastern time this coming monday. Just a friendly reminder. One other thing, I've already purchased the book and the mystery prize so I'm sure the winner will love the items.

yeah dust, gotta be empty. and by the way it really does work.

ok, after further consideration I'm taking off the one post one entry requirement. You still only get one entry but you can post questions in here if needed. I'd still prefer pm's though. But ONE entry to the contest only. Do not post two or three ideas as your first will be the one used.

hey dust, call me you have my number.

dust, you didn't read my second post or did you post prior to the 2nd post getting posted? And remember I'm the judge so I take all circumstances into consideration smile

not sure if this was mentioned before cause I have not kept up on this thread. cut a empty IV bag at the bottom and put tape the bottom around a mag light. Turn on themag light and you have an instant flourescent light torch. kudos to Ken Bouvier(sic) for this.

ok, update on the contest ----- Please read before posting ok if you post something like "Great idea let me think on it" then that will be your entry. You only get ONE entry only. So if you post anything other than what you would buy with the million then that is your entry. Now, if you post your entry and then after that you post "this is a good idea" or something to that line then that's ok. But make sure your first post is your entry and not vice versa. If there are any questions please pm me instead of posting here . I hope that makes sense

Good afternoon everyone. I am running a new contest that will run till this coming monday at 2pm eastern time. I get to work at that time. Only posts before 2pm eastern on monday are accepted. You can only post once. So make your one post your best. The prize - a nice EMS related book and a mystery prize. The subject of this contest is this - If you had 1 million dollars to spend on your current employer what would you purchase and why? Just posting a new ambulance or new monitors won't cut it on this one. YOU MUST BE SPECIFIC. Decision of the judge - ME is final so it benefits you to be as detailed as possible. Good luck and as soon as I pick a winner I will ship the book and prize out and you should have a nice christmas present under your tree. Good Luck

Dust, I pm'd him with my email address and no response from him. So at least one of us here followed his directions while the majority of us did not. hmmmmmmm

Has anyone gotten any response from this person yet?

you know I'm sorry but mistakes happen and we are all human but..... anything that could decrease the amount of errors that are made is not all that bad. I work on one of the most intensive and expensive healthcare software system in the world (the Cerner system) and even with their medical IT experts it's hard to get rid of all mistakes. checking the patients medical record, checking their med admin record and profile, going into the drug admin system like Pyxis and choosing the right drug and then verifying the patient and medication again before giving it should help with decreasing errors. In the field, it's more difficult but in my 16 years of EMS work I had two medication errors. Those who have multiple medication errors are just plain careless and should not be giving medications anyway. that's all I have to say right now because I'm getting ready to go to bed.

Now dust, didn't those emt's in Atlanta teach you anything.

ok, looking further into this age thing he's 37 years old here On his myspace page he's 21 What's the deal? I'm skeptical now.

It's called patient privacy. According to my understanding:::: You cannot video tape anything in an area where one would expect privacy. The back of the ambulance fits that bill. Plus, what happens when a video of some patient care get's out on Youtube. Unfortunately the media eats this crap up and they print this stuff without due regard for anyone's professional or personal statust. A shocking headline is sure to get everyone up in arms. Now this medic will never work again and any person who questions why he lifted their breast to put a 12 lead sticker on their chest can now come forward and say "He touched me on the breast too" WE live in a lynchmob society where the simple accusation is enough to ruin people's career, livelihood and life. but.... we have to keep on doin what we do everyday, living under the threat that at any time this can happen to us. If you put an EKG lead on a woman's chest you should explain why you are doing it and if possible do it with as little manipulation as you can. But unfortunately even those precautions will not keep this from happening. NOW---- if this guy is truly guilty then he needs to be drummed out of ems and lose his license and go to JAIL. But since there is no details as to what he actually did other than an accusation, then we won't know this so we cannot armchair quarterback it.

just one more politically incorrect joke and if you are easliy offended - stop reading here. Does anyone know what the dot on the forehead of an indian woman is for? (scroll down) It's a scratch off game and it's the woman's families dowry You get one of three things when you scratch it off 1. you get a convenience store 2. you get a holiday inn 3. or you get a taxi

I have nothing constructive to add but this, this is exactly what this forum is about. Great Question Anthony I needed a refresher on these anyway.

I have never once said that all emt's are good for is advanced first aid. NEVER once. you can search through every one of my posts. And I do not prescribe to the viewpoint that a service operating with less than two medics is a poor system. I do not prescribe to that viewpoint. As a matter of fact I have said on many occasions that if I have a competent emt partner then I'm happy with that. Would two medics be best, sure if you have a service that can afford dual medics but I've only worked in 3 systems that had the luxury of 2 medics and two were hospital based EMS and the other was Johnson County Kansas which is a very affluent county in Kansas. So please don't attribute what you read here as holding to my views. I've had medics who couldn't hold a candle to one memorable emt partnerr of mine and I've also had emts who couldn't hold a candle to a memorable first responder I've worked with. I just don't agree that in a code going down the road that two emt's can be as effective as a medic and a competent partner, be that partner an EMT or another medic.

hmmmm maybe you should ask that to a couple of the witnessed arrest patients I've taken care of. If you code unwitnessed then yes but we are talking about witnessed arrest here at least that is how the course of this thread has gone. Had one lady walk down the stairs from her house, perfect 12 lead no issues noted. Had some chest pain. She refused to be carried. I put her in the back of the ambulance, began transport for about 10 minutes and were still about 25 minutes outside of the hosptial, I was talking to her and she went into v-fib. 3 stacked shocks, no response, one round of epi and another shock. Converted into A-fib with RVR. Hung a lidocaine drip. I had a high index of suspicion that she was truly having an MI but the EKG didn't show it so my suspicions were much more heightened. We get her to the hospital. She arrests again, is brought out of it. Call her house one week later and amazingly she answered the phone. Said the only problem she has is pain in her sternum due to a fracture caused by guess what? CPR.. The cardiologist attributed her survival to the early defib, the epi and the lido. Can't say that an EMT could have done the drugs and such. So yes, I think that a medic in the back is much more beneficial to an arrest than 2 emt's anyday. Again, that's my opinion and nothing more but I've seen it proven many times over that having a medic is more effective to the patient then 2 emt's anyday. You will not be able to convince me otherwise. And with that said, I'm getting out of this discussion unless i'm forced back into it.

it's all anectdotal evidence Cb. I'll concede your point on the fact that all we have are anecdotal evidence but let me ask you a personal question. You are 30 minutes outside of the the dialysis clinic. You are the patient. You are being transported for dialysis and you code. Your transport is 30 minutes to the hospital. You now have two emt's, one driving and one in the back. But the ambulance service transporting you has two trucks available, one with 2 medics, and one with a medic and an EMT. Remember you are 30 minutes away from the hospital. Here is the question, who do you want treating you? 2 emts who can't do much more than cpr, aed, and an airway and drive fast, or would you want a medic who could administer drugs, defibrillate and put in an advanced airway. I'd like to see some justification why you say that the EMT's would be just as beneficial to the patient because in your own words (paraphrased somewhat) you say that 2 emts rushing to the hospital would be as good as a medic. I'd like to hear your justification as to why you choose what answer you give. I for one want the highest trained person in the back with me if this happens to me but then again, that's just me. I know that we are not going to agree with each other and my example of a fbao arrest should not have been put in there but it was not a red herring meant to confuse or anger you. I'm not sure why this topic has gotten you so upset.

CBEMT - step away from the KoolAid and take a breather. hmmmm cbemt, let's see Cardiac arrest secondary to foreign body airway obstruction - advanced airway using magill forceps to remove the foreign body - hmmm can an emt use magills and remove the FB? Cardiac arrest in the back of the unit - one round of epi and a good shock and I've had patient's have a ROSC. Remember CB witnessed arrests have a much more favorable outcome than ones that are not witnessed. The arrest that akroeze pointed out - medics can reverse that situation but then again, two emt's must be better. There are things that basics cannot do in the back of an ambulance and I guess that we will have to disagree on this one. If you aren't a medic why don't you wait to pass this type of judgement until you are.

methinks someone thinks that EMT's are just as valuable as medics in all situations. hmmmmm All you have to do is get haul ass and get them to a hospital. I believe that advanced skills and treatments trump basic skills any day according to CBEMT But I would like to see CBEMT justify why he said that EMT's were just as valuable in a code as medics. I'm curious as to if I missed something. i am sure that if I ever code I'd like 2 emt's to rush me to the hospital and leave the medics behind, but then again, that's just me. ha ha

well cbemt this is where we disagree. you are saying that 2 emts who make tracks for the hospital are going to provide the same outcome for let's say a cardiac arrest where defibrillation would be in order or someone who needs an advanced airway would benefit from 2 emt's you've got to be kidding me if you believe that or are you just saying that 2 EMT's in a cardiac arrest are just as good as two medics because you are an emt and you don't want to face the fact that you are wrong. I have done everything other than cpr on a patient, my partner did the other thing so I know from experience which provides the better treatment. 2 medics or a crew of one medic and one emt - I know which provides the better treatment. I guess you have your world that you live in and I have mine. I prefer to live in mine.

sorry Vent, I misunderstood what you were trying to say.