firedoc5

Check out my MySpace. I've only found the a chip of the tip of the ice berg I have and posted. Be patient and hopefully I'll have more on very soon. I've got so many packed away from different moves and scattered everywhere. One is a crunched Fire/Rescue unit that was ran off the road by the drunk driver running from the MVA they were responding to. I was NOT driving.

LSU Geaux Tigers. Texas is alright too.

When I got on the FD full time, between 8:00 to 17:00, no TV, no sleeping (even reclining in a chair "dozing off". It was business at all times. After 17:00, you could kick back, eat, TV, whatever. But you still had so many station duties it was rarely 21:00 before you were actually "done" for the day. When you did finally get to bed, they were old retired hospital beds. But every time we got a call and that claxtin went off, while I was asleep, it gave me chest pain and almost an anxiety attack. It was like that for a little less than seven years for me. That's one reason I stayed up very late, and sometimes didn't go to bed at all. The only cool thing we had if we went to bed at the main station upstairs, we did have a fire pole. It originally came out of a FD in PA in 1888.

I've never taught a class where I said that you can do compressions to a song beat. I'd teach what ARC and AHA told us to teach. (I was an Instructor for both, and for EMT classes). But after the class I'd tell them what they might need to expect. If the first two man squad get's there and has only had time to do CPR, and you're the second in, there's no counting on compressions, especially if it's a Medic doing the compression. They are going to be yelling orders, assigning others to take over CPR. ""Grab this, get this, do that." Luckily we had enough 1st in and 2nd crews that worked together so many times it was rarely that chaotic and hardly ever had to ask for anything. There were two or three EMT-I's that I trusted (and approved by the PMD) to already have what drugs I needed out of the box and lined up. For about a three year span we were able to have that kind of camaraderie.

When I was still a Basic, but definitely not a rookie, we had a call to a parking lot where we had a pt. that was in resp. arrest, but not cardiac arrest. I guess we got there quick enough to start ventilating him before he went into cardiac arrest. We never lost a rhythm, every now and then he'd brady down a little, but would pick back up. Pt. still had a gag reflex but were able to insert a small oralpharangeal and nasopharangeal. Just used a bag-valve mask to ventilate. Sometimes he was still alert enough that if we asked him if he was "getting enough air?" he could nod his head. I was assigned to take his BP constantly. Turned out to be a CVA in just the right place to knock out is breathing. He was on a vent for about four days until he died. Actually, I think the family "pulled the plug."

My first full time job was 24 hr. a day, six days a week. Full timers (Usually between 3-5 of us) live at the ambulance building. We were very busy for a town of a little less than 20,000. When we were busy we'd get "twenty-minute power" naps. Between calls. But if we were real busy we prayed for a coal mine call. At least one of us could lay down on the cot for the 12-15 min ETA to the mine. Most of us was young, 19-25, and were pretty much lived off adrenaline. What helped me the most is that I've had insomnia my whole life. I actually had two different partners the same way. We could go 32 hrs. without even seeing a bed for us to use, nap for 1-3 hrs. and do another 24 and not even think about it. Even if it was real slow, especially after midnight, we rarely slept. We stayed up, playing a lot of Pinochle and Ping-Pong. We said it was easier to respond to a call if we were already up and not waken from a deep sleep. Stupid...I know. NOW you know why I've got so much gray hair and my body is shot. So from my experience to you, get what sleep you can, when you can. Policy may dictate specific times, but don't pass up the times you can.

Defib PEA? Or did he start in PEA and then went into a shockable rhythm, then zapped him?

I think it's a plot between the Russians and 3M, the makers of the tape.

"When told that someone is pregnant, do not ask, "How'd that happen?

"Wish You Were Here" - Pink Floyd

Probably about 1/3 of the Senior class in high school here. It's got to be something in the water.

#-o =D>

I started this same topic a few months ago. I guess it's OK to refresh it. Just look me up. myspace.com/firedoc5

There is no way I'm going to call and tie up the only ambulance in this immediate large rural community. Thought about it, but my conscious wouldn't let me. Come to think of it. They only applied the Dermabond once. I just now took off the wrap dressing and there has been a seeping on one end, but not bad. Looks pretty filthy, but they say I can shower with it, so...If it comes undone again... :evil1: I assure you someone is going to hear about. I have too many low friends in high places still in the region. I'll let you know.

Just think of the UTI's, PID's, etc. And just think of the irritation.

I'd say she was treating the monitor and not the pt. One of the number one rules.

I know in most states, even the one's with large college towns, still have no tolerance drinking laws for those under 21. So even if they do want to sign off, LEO will probably, or should take them in no matter how "sick" they are and put them in the drunk tank with the professional power drinkers. The next day they can see the judge. That'll sober 'em up pretty quick. Now to wait for the rebuttal... :violent1:

All I'm going to say is this "ET without sedation = Bad execution". As a rookie I saw some of the more senior guys do it, the puking, gag reflex, forcing of the scope and tube through it all. I knew when I "grew up" I wasn't about to do that to any patient.

They say it's a time factor for infections. Even healthy skin has infections and if the wound is large enough they "think" that within a certain amount of time there is too "bugs" got it. But like I said, I've heard so many time factors, I don't know what is acceptable anymore. Right now this thing is driving me nuts, just typing. just proximal to my wrist and every time I use that forearm muscle I can feel it move. And I was lucky. Had one "scratch" about 3cm from my radial artery. Just think if that was deeper and long.

If I was still active in the field I'd want one of those. 8)

Same way with professional moto-x riders. You start to cut their leathers and they will beg you not too or go after you.

Now that I've had to do quite a few times. Like poor bedside manor, or being apathetic. Some would not hardly acknowledge the pt.was even there it seemed like. A lot of it was blamed on burn out. A few times the pt. and Medic would be arguing over something, so I'd step in, calm things down and see what the problem was and try to satisfy the pt.

If I could have found transport sooner I'd been there within eight hours. Actually, 8.5 hours.

Well, I did it again. As some of you know I've been falling a lot (I've got like three tests coming up to find out why) but I've been having to use crutches. I don't use them in the house though. But last night I fell and this time I took out my wife's antique china cabinet. To make a long story short. I had mostly scratches from the glass except of one area. We used butterflies and some band aids and thought we'd see how it did doing the night. Well, it still kept bleeding. This happened around 10:15 last night. Since my boy totaled out my truck I had no transportation. My mother in law finally came and got me to the ER. The doc said that if I came in an hour earlier he would have put in 3-5 sutures. But since it was past time he didn't want to suture it. So they used that glue stuff and steristrips. Of which, when using my crutches I know I'm going to tear it back open. My question is, and I know it's different from doc to doc, but I've heard ten hours, 12 hours, and even 24 hours to limit the time for the use of sutures. What have y'all heard? Luckily I didn't wind up in the ER to get 16g. buckshot out of my butt. My wife was pretty upset.

We could NOT exchange meds from the ER. Even if we broke the seal and gave one nitro, it had to go the Pharmacy and EVERYTHING checked. Why they always did the things the hard way? Once we took a patient in hyper-tensive crisis to another hospital. We got our supplies back from them, but our box still had to go to the resource hospital and gone through. It really sucked most of the time.