SA_Medic

This is standard practice for my current employer. No argument will be entered into, if you do not comply with this you there will be no flight. Sa d day indeed seeing another headline like this.

Saw this the other day and have been thinking of writing this into my first aid courses. I mostly provide courses to men so it might have the desired memory effect.

With working off shore and remote like I am, it's a requirement for me to go through a physical and medical fitness test at least every twelve months. The physicial involved swimming, lifting, climbing and carrying various crap around. While the medical includes, hearing test, visual test, lung funtion, various bloods including HIV. I personally think introducing something similar as a employment requirement in South African EMS would be a step in the better direction.

Ahhh, gotta love the dark continent. We are always about 10 years behind the rest of you guys

Ditto.... Now if only I can find a way to show it to the gangbangers here and see if there's a change in attitude. Nothing scarier that treating a multiple GSW chest and having a firearm shoved into your neck with the holder saying "leave him, let him die".....

Wow, this thread suddenly exploded with comments. True to human nature and our individuality there's positive and negative comments. While I am not a fan of rap either, I say let the man do what he does. We all have our "coping" methods for this job and this might be his. Personally I think it's done really well, and good show to FDNY for supporting him in this. Had I tried (and I don't have an artistic bone in my body) to do something like this, no service within South Africa would be as forth coming as FDNY has been with Farooq. Yet another reason I will cherish my visit to FDNY a few years ago as one of my fondest memories.

I have no idea how relevant this will be, I got lost somewhere between Alba and BC. We in South Africa seem to be heading the same way you guys are heading. They are currently reviewing the education standards and has comeup with the two tier / qualification systemand simply dropping the "short" course system like a hot potato. With the short course system we effectively had three qualification. Basic Ambulance Assistant (a 120 hours course) which was followed by Ambulance Emergency Assistant (Intermediate, a 470 hour course)and then finally Critical Care Assistant (Advanced, a 1200 hour course) however before you can challenge the courses after Basic, you had to proove 2000 experiential hours between Basic and Intermediate. Likewise for the move between Intermediate and Advanced, acceptance to the course was also subject to passing an "entrance exam". A few years ago, they also introduced a 3 year university National Diploma which basically qualified you as a Rescue Paramedic. Now the powers that be has decided they want to move to said two tier system. This system will basically consist of the 2 year univeristy certificate called Emergency Care Technician (It fits in somewhere between the old AEA and CCA), which incidently is also provided over 2 years part time The next step would then be a B-Tech in Emergency Medical Care which, is yet again a university degree done over a period of 4 years. The interesting thing about this course though, would be the fact that they are going to teach primary healthcare and diagnostics. Included in the diagnostics section is x-ray interpretation. The chatter in the woods at the moment says they want to use these B-Tech people to work and run rural clinics where the doctors are not willing to work. Leaving the future of EMS in the hands of the ECT and the few B-Tech's that will remain as management. There is however a pending court case, since people like myself who followed the good old three tier system (6 if you include the rescue mudules) will have our qualifications dropped. Wether they will simply allow us to keep working as we are I don't know. What I do know is the fact that since the introduction of N-Dip the CCA's no longer get a promotion into a management position. These seem to be reserved for N-Dip and recently B-Tech's. We used to have the whole title protection laws making it illegal for anyone but a CCA to call themselves a Paramedic. Since the introduction of the N-Dip and B-Tech though, the fight started with regards to who the "real paramedics" are and the fight is still ongoing.

Arrgh, I've had a few times were I thought I might have given myself a cracked skull on those. Sadly we still have the dome fluorescent ones in the patient care compartments

You have got to love the field we are working in. Things like this would make for brilliant reading

Scary stuff. In South Africa you are required to have a drivers license in order to enter the profession. From time to time we (supervisors) simply arrive on a scene or call and do "quality" checks on the crew at hand. As supervisors or ALS providers we have rapid response vehicles making such checks easier. I had a 4year ILS member recently who had no idea how to check HGT when I asked her to please check it on a suspected hypoglycemic case. Her incompetence resulted in a disciplinary hearing with a final written warning. I also instituted remedial action for this and forced her to check HGT on all patients, no matter what the complaint. Later that week I noticed her running through the office taking HGT from everyone there. Suppose her job suddenly meant a whole lot to her. This dude needs to be sorted out real quick. If he lies so blatantly about vitals, he will easily lie to save his own ass while dropping you in the crapper like a hot potato. Sadly in life you are the most important person when it comes to watching your back, no matter how long you know someone, they won't do it as good as you can.

We've also been using the LED lights for some time now. It beats the old rotators in the dark hands down.

Fat I can live with, Lazy would be that I have to work with. In most cases, lazy and fat.

A fire fighter was working on the engine outside the station, when he noticed a little girls nearby in a little red wagn with little ladders hung off the sides and a garden hose tightly coiled in the middle. The girl was wearing a fire fighter's helmet with the wagon being pulled by her dog and cat. The fire fighter walked over to take a closer look, "That sure is a nice fire truck," the fire fighter said with admiration. "Thanks," the little girl replied. When the fire fighter looked a little closet, he noticed the girl had tied the wagon to the collar of the dog and the testicles of the cat. "Little partner," the fire fighter said, "I don't want to tell you how to run you rig, but if you were to tie that rope around the cats collar, I think you could go faster." The little girl replied thoughtfully, "You're probably right, but then I wouldn't have a siren."

This is such a cool idea. Unfortunately I have not been around much lately so my vote would be completely uninformed. Silly season has taken it's toll on my off time! I am sure you will make your vote count where it's needed this time round.

The "thumb measuring" thing must have skipped South Africa, it's the only country I know of that manufacturers and sells extra large condoms.

So if you are on twitter and need to see (or read) some of the dumbass stuff patients tell MD's, like: "Infectious? That's good, right?" "I've had mucus after I eat for 20 years!" "Yes, it's a normal parasympathetic response to aid digestion." "Well, make it stop. It's gross." "You can do all the proskate checkin' you want but u ain't stickin' your finger in my ass!" Then do yourself a favour and check out this twitter account set up by an MD to tweet all his "dumb ass patients".

The thing that scares me most on this article would be that the mentioned runway is the main runway used by our medevac flights when taking off and landing for internal and cross border flights. The statistics involved being that 4 people died in one week in aviation related accidents would be even more scary, especially considering that there isn't all that much flying happening from that specific airport. It's mostly our medevac flights and then the sightseeing planes they use. Helicopters are actually a pretty new thing at Eros airport...I think I need to find another job or start refusing to fly

After having a medevac / mercy flight from hell as described on my last blog I started thinking that maybe flight / aviation medicine might have to take a little bit of a back seat in my life again. Then last week, we had two aviation incidents. The first involved a Cessna that came down just after take off killing all (3) occupants. The next and latest was a Robinson 22 that came down killing the student with the instructor still in hospital. Then Today I discover the following picture in today's news paper. PS: Eros Airport would also be the Airport where I take off from with any and all Medevac / Mercy flights....

Just a quick and short hijack of this thread, on the quote above. I arrived here to basics and intermediates doing exactly what is being described above. The current ALS staff simply allowed this to happen, I however refuse to have this done. When I arrive on scene, I will stand back and let them do their job first, should advanced intervention be needed, I will step in and do my bit. It seriously gets under my skin when people do this type of thing, it makes people lazy to think and forget what their work is and what's expected of them. How on earth do they expect to advance if they can not even work their own protocols? I asked this question to the staff here and got met with blank stares.... Hijack finished.

Oh, good thing I read this posting before I started my planned reciprocity nightmare to the great white north. Please keep a brother updated on when things change? Regards S

The calorie counts used as the foundation for diet plans and healthy-eating guidance for the past 18 years may be wrong, a report suggests. The recommended daily intake of calories could be increased by up to 16%, a draft report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition said. Intake levels are currently 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men. But the panel stresses that people should only eat more if they exercise more, given rising levels of obesity. The committee says its report provides a much more accurate assessment of how energy can be burnt off through physical activity. A 16% increase would mean that adults could safely consume an extra 400 calories a day, equivalent to an average sized cheeseburger. The proposals, seen by The Times and The Grocer magazine, are due to go out a 14-week consultation period. Final recommendations will then be made after that time. Health campaigners say the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency could seek to "sweep this report under the carpet" in a bid to avoid sending out mixed messages in the middle of an obesity epidemic. Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said it was a "dangerous assumption" to say that adults could safely consume an extra 400 calories a day. "This is not a green light to eat yourself silly," he said.