Just Plain Ruff

WOW there's nothing else I can provide except that I've been in your situation before, I took a 4 week vacation to Australia and travelled the OUtback. Did a lot of thinking and came back with a new perspective. I think you need to get some counseling or EAP assistance. If your agency doesnt have one then you might be able to use the local hospitals EAP if they have one. You might need to pay for it but right now you sound at your end and that is not a good place to be. Be safe and good luck.

How about HEY Step away from the KoolAid

Electrical problems there aint no stinkin electrical problems on hortons. HA HA WE had a horton that was in the shop more that it was on the road. Usually the control module. Had smoke in the ambulance on a cardiac transfer that we had to call another service in to transport cause we were 80 miles away from our base. So if you have the ability to spec ambulances and work on the bidding then I suggest an alternate provider of your ambulances.

First off stop internalizing about something you cannot control nor will be able to control with all the education in the world. You cannot get upset over something that has been going on since I have been a medic and it was around long before I became a medic and that was in 1992. it's been around forever, back in the 1800's people couldn't pay their bills so they paid with a chicken or a pig or the doctor relied on the goodness of the community to pay for his services. If one person couldn't pay then the whole community would band together and pay the doctor in some fashion - sounds like the early version of medicaid or public assistance In the 1900's we began to see charities and public entities running hospitals and they didn't get paid very often. They usually relied on the goodness of strangers and people who supported their hospitals. It was a community thing again like the 1800's Pre-1800 most people either suffered thru the sickness or they died. The problems continued thruout the 1900s up to this day. So you see the problem has been around for hundreds of years but it has just received much more press and more notice like you and me. I agree there has to be more education in the schools, more education all together. There is no easy fix to this, there is also no way around the fact that we have the drains on the system that you so aptly pointed out in your original post.

Just be glad no-one was hurt and that he wasn't out for trouble. Sounds like a routine call and one that you would not routinely search for a gun or any type of weapon. This is one thing that you can put in your little toolbox of things to be careful of in the future. I hope this doesn't happen again but just one to be looking for in the future.

I for one will not be watching this piece of garbage. Another movie to promote the stupidity of hollywood. Watch reruns of DOG the Bounty Hunter instead ha ha

Get the book "The Fourth Protocol" it is subtitled how to write a legally defensible report. Search for it on Amazon.com If you can't find it email your addy to my email ruffems@gmail.com and I'll send it to you but I'd like ot have it back.

I am sure that this has been covered but for the original poster, you ever seen narcan given to someone and after they come awake they kick the crap out of the medic for taking away the high they just spent their last 5 bucks to get. I've been that medic and boy did I hurt after the beating I got. I vowed from then on out that I would only bring the patient to a less than verbal response Plus why give Narcan when all they are is out of it. If they stop breathing tube em, if they sieze, valium them if they get violent while overdosed restrain them. Why take on the added headache, back ache, rib pain and stomach pain from getting your teeth knocked in just to wake them up.

I do not understand. how was this a great call You have to give more info for us. If you ar trying to run a scenario and make us think, you aren't doing a very good job

I'm over it Craig, no harm done. I've never stolen anything from a patient in my life and would never consider it so I got a little upset over the commercial and brought it here. If they want to portray our profession as theives so be it. they can do that , that is why our country is so great. I know that my professional career is above reproach so I'm over it, actually I was over it as soon as I sent the email. It's all good thanks for the reply.

Like I said, most of my experience is rural but I have urban experience too. At 3am in a small town of 5800 there might be 5 cars on the street at a single time and 1 of those is the ambulance, 1 is the police department, 1 is the fire truck and 1 is the sheriff. The other is the local drunk driving home from the bar. That's an exageration but many small towns roll up their sidewalks at 8pm so I hear what your saying Asys good reasoning but busy streets at 3am should have the L&S on to be safe. Just my .02

That's funny Michael I'm also the father of a small child and I'm sending them a letter protesting that they put my child and everyone elses child in a negative light by portraying them as thieves.

I just saw a 2nd commercial on this camera They have this thieving theme goin on. It has a little girl put some type of glove or soemthing on and she breaks a display window that is protecting the camera in a display case. She steals the camera and that's it. They must really think this camera is something for people to be stealing it. I've sent my email and I'm done with it.

Craig, back off. YOu are accusing me of stealing something in the past. I have never done so. You are making broad generalizations about me that you have no right to make. I don't come here and personally attack you so I expect the same consideration from you. Yes its a commercial but it still made me mad. Am I going to go out and do something rash, NO I'm going to send a polite email to Olympus expressing my disapproval and leave it at that. Yes it made me mad, I'm sure that you have been made mad due to a commercial or something you have seen on tv. It makes our profession look bad and that is unacceptable to me. We spend so much time trying to get a professional image and one commercial can blow it. So before you come here making personal attacks on me think again.

Was working with a Male nurse one night in the ER. We were getting ready to put a huge stomach pumping tube down this girls throat and she asked "Is it like a (*)J0b????" and the male nurse said "Yes I'm afraid it is" Funny thing was that this Nurse is a straight male nurse. He turned beat red and to this day has never lived it down.

I'm so incensed now that I'm gonna call Olympus Premise of the commercial Olympus's new digital camera Two EMS workers on scene of a motorcycle accident. They find a Olympus camera and it's lanyard is still wrapped around the patients arm. They cut the lanyard and one of the guys puts the camera in his pocket. He steals the camera. Just another insult to EMS

One of the best services I've ever worked for was Johnson County Med Act. High call volume really depended on the station but our crew in the north east part of the county (low call numbers) ran 11 - 15 calls in 24 hours. The busier trucks would run about a call an hour or so Very very progresive protocols, top quality equipment and very in to allowing riders. If you want contact info let me know. MAST in KC MO is pretty good too If you want a day or two at a rural service where you and your medic partner are the only ones on a critical call - no fire no pd most of the times then I've got a pretty progressive couple of services to put you in touch with. These are all in the Kansas City area. Near a major airport. PM Me for more info.

I had an experience where someone on scene fired a gun about 12 inches from my left ear. I had significant hearing loss in that ear for about a week. I had no problem with hearing a BP or lung sounds with my right ear.

7Fissy There is a lot of good advice here. Dust gives his point of view and He's a good guy (really dust you are). There is differing point of view. You ask for advice and you get it. YOu get good advice and you get bad. Some people (recently) have not liked the advice and have come back with insults. You get what you ask for. A lot of us here have more experience out there in the field than some people posting here have been alive. I for one have almost 20 years of ems and ER experience so a lof of us have seen everything before and some of us have seen even more than that. Take whatever advice you want to take and leave the other advice to the side. If you spend more time here you will see that most advice given here is spot on and excellent advice. Some have different ways of putting things, some are more abrasive than others, some sugar coat it more, it just depends on that person. If you get offended or angry at this stuff then I'd hate to see how you react out in the field. Not saying anything disparaging but you seemed a little upset by Dust's post. I don't agree with the insanity out there of multiple certifications but my opinion is that if you dumb down programs enough you get a bunch of dumb people 2 maybe 3 certifications or levels is enough but to have more than 5 in some states or so that is getting out of hand.

In my opinion you open yourself up to tremendous liability if you just run with lights. Some people may see the lights but many will not and if the lights are on and your siren is not on then in the State of Missouri you are not considered running emergency and your liability goes thru the roof. I'm as guilty as the next person on running hot at times with just lights but that was running thru the town of 5700 people at 3am with lights on only. Why wake the world. But during the day I run both. We put ourselves at risk every day, going in to scenes that origianlly were safe yet become unsafe, work wrecks on the side of the highways and the like but why put yourself at risk legally and possibly being injured in a wreck if you just have your lights on and not the siren. People don't look for the lights but they sure do hear (most of the times) the sirens and then they see the lights. I won't put myself at risk. But then again I'm the one who believes that if the person was going to die in the extra 2 minutes or so that it takes me to get to the scene by running non-emergency versus emergency then that person was going to die anyway. Some exceptions though I'm not telling anyone what to do but my opinion is that if you run lights then you run sirens too. The state of Missouri considers an emergency vehicle going emergency to have both lights and sirens on or that ambulance is not allowed to go emergency. Rules are broken of course. But the courts have not sided with EMS and Fire Agencies who have run lights only.

I'm thinking dystonic reaction. Lots of the symptoms fit this one. I had a patient who exhibited nearly the same symptoms a long time ago and found that they had taken some of Grandma's nerve pills.

but only in between calls, never while on a call. Or she might be cleaning her B/F ambulance for him

Guys I think she got mad at us and won't come back. She wanted advice, she got it, she didn't like it so now she doesn't like us. Oh well. No sleep lost here.

I cannot add to this post as everything I would have said was said in the last couple of posts. Good luck Asys is pretty approachable in my opinion - I'd send him a pm and discuss more.

my best friends 2 year old was taken by sids. His son was my son in my eyes. So I feel your pain.