Kiwiology

since when did he move to new zealand? lol

Thats what I figured eh

Clearly you don't know me very well

Wait I dont think I am pronouncing it right, I am saying it "Ree-gina" when I haz feeling its actually pronounced "Ragina" ... that would make more sense

... I don't get it

Sorry mate, I can no longer work for you, I am going to be your town's new Fire Chief!

You're missing the point. Crag and I and others are talking about the egocentric hero complex spankers who ooze EMS out every pore of their skin yet "don't need no college class to save lives!" and the people who recycle garbage on Facebook about how holier than thou and deserving of much awe and shucksery all the ambos and fireys are because they do some God given mission and its just a joke. If somebody came here and drove around with EMS license plates, EMS t shirt etc they would be laughed at and dismissed as not only unprofessional but "over the top" and a bit obsessed. Here you are prohibited from wearing anything that identifies you as an Ambulance Officer off duty, why? to preserve the professional reputation and high integral standards of the Ambulance Service. In Australia and New Zealand Ambulance Officers and Paramedics have been voted the most trusted profession for almost a decade, consistently, without EMS week, EMS t shirts, EMS license plates or any other bullshit and fan fare. Go and look in the New Zealand Herald, the Brisbane Courier Mail and the London Times, you won't find any cartoons of superhero's asking Firefighters and Paramedics in Latimer Square, the QLD floods or outside the tube on 7/7 for their autograph ... Richard, I have much respect for your decades of experience, but the mentality held by a subset of American emergency responders that results in all the hero hype and egocentric behaviour is simply a joke, it is laughable, it is not professional, it is not advancing the profession, it is embarrassing and I feel sorry for you for being associated with them. Trev mate, I told you, hire me, I will work for free provided I can sleep in your spare room

Dang that is easy to draw ...

You are missing the point. The New Zealand Fire Service has a blue t shirt as part of its operational uniform and yes I am sure a few are hanging up in collections around the world; there is nothing wrong with that. What we are referring to is the people who wear EMS T shirts casually or recreationally to show they are an ambo, or have EMS tattoos, or license plates, or bags full of crap in their car and go to jobs off duty or have a big star of life in their car window or drink coffee out a mug with a big star of life on it ... stuff like this is not professionalism, it's stroking a massively overinflated ego hero complex. As Emergentologist said, being an ambo is a career, not a lifestyle. I didn't see any cartoons in the New Zealand Herald with Superman asking a bunch of Firefighters and Paramedics standing infront of a crumbling Christchurch Cathedral or in Latimer Square for their autograph? Need I say more?

I assume you are referring to the change from the National Standard Curriculum to the EMS Education Standards which are part of the much lauded EMS Agenda for the Future Certainly the curriculum has not "doubled" but rather there have been some adjustments around the periphery without substantive, meaningful change. The changes are positive but overall most disappointing considering the EMS Agenda for the Future has been in development since 1996 and similar programs in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK have been running for considerably shorter and achieved far greater meaningful outcomes in terms of educational requirements and the associated scope of practice. There is still no mandate for higher education and the requirement for accreditation of Paramedic programs by the COAEMSP/CAAHEP is promising but they have dropped the requirement for programs to be affiliated with a college or university at the pressure of (among others) the IAFF and the IAFC. This is not helped by a severe lack of national unity. One of the 12 week patch factories is COAEMSP/CAAHEP accredited, need I say more? For nearly thirty years an American EMT has been unable to check a blood sugar or administer GTN (nitroglycerin) according to national standards and nothing has changed in that time ... I am not sure what kind of future this agenda envisaged but it must be a pretty piss poor one.

No, it is a play-on-combination of Alberta (a province), Canuk (a slang name for Canadians) and Canada (the name for Canada) Your province sounds like a side dish

Great excuse to get ketamine ... or that in shortage too

I will get you a big jar of strawberry jam to celebrate but you may end up paying company to one of those wide open spaces with people saying "gosh bushman sure has been a long time gone ... so has my tarp hmm"

Trev you muppet Emergentologist meant Disney World

If you admit to liking DW I will admit to liking the Dixie Chicks ... *covers up Top of the World Tour t shirt You nailed it mate, being an ambo is a career, not a lifestyle Excuse me, strawberry jam is calling

Well there is your motivation to move up to ICP then!

NZ ambulances do not have tail lifts, they do in the UK as standard on the 999 boxes, not sure about EU

Thanks mate, they said the same thing in the Great Nation of Indiana and the Republic of Texohoma "son y'all sure talk funny, where you from boy, you aint one of dem communists are ya?"

he could even get a tail lift ... if he is into that sort of thing

Richard, I have the greatest respect for your decades of experience and this is not personally targeted at you but the behaviour you describe is seen outside of North America as being ... I am not sure how to describe it, obsessive? bizarre? unprofessional? egotistical? analogous to somebody spanking their dick? you get the idea As Craig, I and others have stated, such behaviour is not seen as a mark of professionalism but rather laughed at or disdained as being just weird.

Yes but you have to buy three seats, have to use a seat belt extension and are one of those "pre boarding" people Plus nobody wants to sit around you because of the odour

The HPC will more than likely strike him off the Register which means he will never practice in the UK again nor any other country cos first thing the are going to do is check online with HPC and see oops you got struck off for being a muppet ... so he will most likely end up flipping burgers at McD's Oh and come on Dwayne who are you to talk about beatings, you didn't even cuddle afterwards jeez man talk about ignoring my emotional needs, the bearded one at least waited until I was asleep to go back down to the casino

Happy Canada day to my Kanadaharian brothers, even those in Albertobianuckistanada but not in Kazbeckistan!

I think Grizzly is a little bit heavy to fly so that might be a problem

Well come on now what is a blind bear going to do, go to Medicare and get a special dog? ...