maverick56

Good luck, you can do it!

I've got a guy in my medic class right now who's the same age as my dad (early 50s). He's been an EMT forever, started the medic class when he lost his job as a drug rep. He's doing just fine (actually, he's usually at the top of the class). Otherwise, most of my class is in their early to mid-thirties. I'm actually almost the youngest at 27 (there's one 20yo). Age isn't everything, go for it! edited for typo

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't see this that as being something all that great. I understand that these folks have a great deal of experience and it does count for a lot, but I honestly see a real problem with anyone being an EMT for 25 years! Why?? Why stay at the lowest possible level? Maybe it's just me, my upbringing to strive for the best and never settle, I don't know. I just see someone who has spent an entire career as an EMT, never pushing beyond that, as failing in their mission to provide the best possible patient care. You should never stop learning. I see the career EMT-B the same as I see the 40yr old E-4 with gray hair and beer gut. Just getting by, no drive, and not the first to be trusted when the heat's on. And that may very well be an unfair assessment on an individual basis, but that's me being honest. I've met quite a few career EMTs (8+ years) locally and with every one, honestly, the first thing that entered my mind when I met each one of them was "why couldn't they cut it? what's holding them back? are they just lazy, complacent? don't want the responsibility?" And it had nothing to do with what I thought of them as a person. I know people can get the "I'm just a volunteer" mentality, but it doesn't matter - you're still responsible for people's lives! That means a responsibility to educate yourself continuously. I don't know, I guess I've never understood people who shoot for mediocre. I definitely don't think people like that are doing the industry any great service, rather, they are holding it back.

I'd say go for it! I don't know about how it's seen or approached in the EMS community, being new to it, but if it's anything like the military community, it's not well understood and often seen as weakness. It is something that I personally struggle with and I have actually just recently started to really see and understand the problem and seek help. A site that was suggested to me (CombatPTSD.org)does a really great job of explaining just what PTSD is, the different ways it can manifest and more. I have found it extremely helpful. The same guy hosts a non-combat related site as well. PTSD Forum You may find some useful info/resources/ideas on them. Good luck!

Lol, like it! Rumor has it that my great-grandfather actually put a pinch of gun powder in his coffee every day, but I never met him so who knows. He was a half-breed logger/trapper in the early 1900s.

I agree with you 100%, Ruff. I do often start IV's and have intubated as a basic, however, I am currently 1/2 way through medic school and the medics know this. They also know my military background and are confident in my ability. We're actually encouraged to get as much skills and assessment experience as we can, whether we're working or on a scheduled clinical shift. Any such procedures are always under the medic's supervision and anything we do we have already covered in class and in clinicals. It's an integral part of the education process here. But every Joe-Blow Basic doing advanced skills, unsupervised and without the education to back it up? Goes against everything we're trying to overcome as a profession - we need to be more than trained monkeys with "skills", training without education is dangerous.

It means that the cord is not fully severed, but the lesion is at a level that effects all four limbs. He may have various combinations of sensation and motor control, most often there is limited ROM in the upper extremities, usually controlled by the chest muscles and very diminished sensation. Most people don't realize that the majority of "quads" aren't anything like Christopher Reeve, rather they push themselves around in wheelchairs. Akinesia is a loss of normal motor function resulting in impaired muscle movement. ER doc last night described it as freezing in place. Hypokinesis is just diminished or slow movement.

Love it!

Michigan is getting rid of NR altogether and a lot of companies already don't require it. You can apply for MI licensure by exam without NR, go to MDCH Personnel Licensure. Finding a job here, however, is another story. Still, you could get licensed here then look for reciprocity.

I've got a Puretone Tactical, same model I used in the Army. I have a hard time focusing on single sounds, especially subtle ones (Trying to have a conversation in a bar? Forget it.). Anyway, it's reasonably priced, around $75, super comfortable and does a decent job of filtering out background noise.

Guess I have a hard time drawing that parallel.

Because that's the context of this thread and the statement which I was responding to. I haven't seen that. Actually, quite a few posts have acquiesced to the Catholic church, Christianity etc having been misused in various situations and times in history. Things keep coming back to Islam, however, because it's the entire starting point of the thread and the circumstances and history making up the news story behind it.

I'm guessing that first line is typo? Where did I say that it was purely an Islamic issue?? Of course politics are motivated by religious views - religion helps to shape people's values, ideals and perceptions of right and wrong. Politics are also motivated by socioeconomic mores, family values, cultural beliefs, and the five o'clock news. That's not my point. What I said was that you can't simply state that the 9/11 attacks were either purely political (as ambodriver stated) or purely religious - the two cannot be separated. I did say that this is particularly true in Muslim society, where governments are not only effected, but built upon a single religion, Islam. The Ayatollah is a supreme religious leader first and foremost, as are the royal families in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman. And we can't forget the Taliban. This is not a bias against Islam or Muslims, it's a statement of fact based on study of the religion, the region and first-hand observation of both. Nowhere did I say that other religions aren't also abused or manipulated or that religion does not impact government elsewhere (including the US). That would be an ignorant blanket remark and I shy away from those. Perhaps you should do the same? edited for clarity

Fluids don't really get to me much, although I am not a big fan of liquid BM (really, who is?). Vomit, eh just kinda ticks me off if I get puked on, but I'm not a sympathy puker or anything. I would say that probably what does or could get to me most are the smell of burning flesh and, depending on the situation, gunpowder/explosives. Has the potential of bringing up flashbacks.

Ok... problem with that is that, in the Muslim world, there is no delineation between religion and politics. It's a theocratic society. It may be very true that some members at the upper echelons of government/organizations may not actually be that religious, however religion is what they use to mobilize, manipulate, govern and justify their people and actions. You can't just say "it's not about religion," because for the foot soldiers, the suicide bombers, the pilots of those planes, it is very much about religion. I have absolutely no illusions that the brains and the money behind such operations have much more to their motives than 72 virgins and bringing glorious Jihad to Allah. If they didn't, they'd be strapping C-4 to their own chests rather than recruiting pissed off teenage boys to do it. But that does not take religion out the equation, not by a long shot.

Highlight of last night's clinical shift: Patient comes into ER not feeling well for over 3 days. Fatigued, pale, diaphoretic. EKG shows she is throwing crazy SVTs, heart rate 220. Doctor: "You may have a problem with your electrolytes." Patient: "Well... they have been flickering on and off all day." Yes, that really happened.