jmp6753

Our response time begins when the call is received at the dispatch center. We have 7:59 to have a unit arrive on-scene.

I know a few nurses like this....

I would love it if we charged for service up front!! How hilarious!! It would really make people think before calling 9-1-1. The only difference between us and a taxi is that we dont ask for money up front. For my agency it is $1235 for an ALS transport and $968 for BLS plus both are $22 per mile. A taxi is $20 and they want payment upon delivery.

The county or city is probably better off not having these wankers around. They are in it for the wrong reasons. Its all about looking flashy in a new rig and thinking they are the schiznit. Sounds kinda familiar, kinda like the vollie "rescue" squad in my area...hmmm

The articles and everything only mention one person in the fire engine. If that is the case, it only re-affirms my opinion that a large fire apparatus in the emergency mode always needs to have at least two people to watch for hazards. Our SOP's will not allow a person to respond alone on an engine or truck co.

I have worked with a medic like that...now hes a supervisor!

In my area there are SWAT/TEMS (Tactical EMS) paramedics. The are deployed on all SWAT ops. The only caveat to that is that to be on the team you also have to be a commissioned law enforcement officer. So we have actually lost a couple of paramedics to full time deputy sheriff positions. Most of the other TEMS medics are reserve officers for the sheriff's office or other local cities.

We are a small rural agency. We staff one ALS unit at all times (EMT and Paramedic in the station 24/7) and one BLS/ILS unit with on-call staff. The on-call staff have to live or be within 5 mins of the station when a call is received. If they live further away, they have to stay at the station. They receive a stand-by rate of pay which increases to a full hourly rate once a call is received until all paperwork is done and the rig is restocked. The difficult part of this set up is that the community has about 3500-4000 people in town. Finding EMT's is difficult enough and we try to do a basic class annually but the pool to pick from is pretty shallow. I have 8 on-call EMT's and the fire dept has about 4. Unfortunately, we can not staff the BLS/ILS unit all the time.

Does your EMS agency have a PIO (Public Information Officer)? If not, I would suggest getting (or assigning) one. Have that person get involved on major incidents and show up on-scene to give the EMS side of big picture. Even if they dont respond to the scene on every call, they can issue press releases to the TV and radio stations and the daily fish wrapper. It should take about 10 minutes to set up a group fax on the machine. Also get this person to promote events such as EMS week and signficant events in your area. Put your selves out there and let them know you are available to feed them information. They will eat it up. Dont expect the press to come to you, they are like the rest of us. They want their work done with as little effort expended. If they dont have the info, they will be more than glad to make it up.

Working on an ALS ambulance, I carry 2 pens, company cell phone and portable radio. Everything else I need is carried by my EMT-B partner who has less than a year on. He's got it all!!

I am about two and a half hours south of Seattle straight down I-5. I just got the word today that it looks like I am packing my bags to go to LA. As an AMR manager i don't have much choice. I agree with the previous posts though that what is lost by striking will not be regained. The only ones that are being hurt are the striking employees and your patients. I am getting paid airfare and hotel and all of that stuff. Take all of the money AMR is spending on bringing in replacement Managers (higher salaries) and now thats less money in the pie for you to negotiate wage increases, medical, dental whatever. Just my two cents. Probably going to LA....forced, not by choice...

There are a bunch of AMR managers from my area (Portland/Vancouver) that have been there since Wednesday. They are running 9-1-1 calls and occasional IFT's. Its their second deployment in a month. Most were also ready to be sent to Spokane for their strike.

I would not take a body back into the house. I would wait on-scene with the pt in the back of my rig until the coroner or funeral home arrives. As I have done several times before. Here we have a pretty liberal death in the field protocol. It goes as far as in trauma if a pt is apneaic, no blood pressure and a pulse of less than 80, that person is pronounced dead. If you are transporting a known dead body just for the ER to pronounce, can you imagine the liability if you seriously injure or kill another person while transporting? After all, the motoring public isn't watching out for you and the driver of the emergency vehicle is almost always at fault. I have no desire to lose my house, car and everything that I have worked for lost in a lawsuit. Do you really believe that the city or county or your private company is going to have your back when it happens? I really doubt they will.

If they have left the scene, time to clear and return to quarters via the nearest corner mart for a Mt Dew. If you do happen to stumble across the pt in the vehicle some where on the road what are you going to do? You dont have the authority to stop and detain. That is flirting with unlawful imprisonment. Especially if the pt did not initiate the 9-1-1 system. Put the blinders on and head back to the station.

In my area in Washington, we use RSI with great success. We use Sux, Etomidate and Vec. We are required to to attend an "advanced airway" class once every cert period (3 years) and also do an OR rotation. The class covers RSI and if you are unable to secure the airway, you are expected to perform a cric so that procudure is covered with a hands on lab using sheep tracheas. If you have a missed sux tube, you earn a meeting with the MPD and then get to do an additional OR rotation.

I have to agree with some of the other posts, just because you are going ALS you dont need to buy a new rig. The best thing that you can do is re-evaluate what you carry and how you carry it. It has been my experience that a lot of BLS units carry too much stuff, is there a really a need to carry 15 triangle bandages? Probably not. Just be able to justify what you carry. In the state of Washington, the state has established what must be carried on a BLS aid unit vs ALS ambulance. http://www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/emstrauma/downl...246-976-300.pdf

Out here we call them a car, dont really know where it came from but was here long before I got here 9 years ago. Some guys I work with actually call it a medic but they are in the minority.

As a preceptor, I always tell my students to ask lots of questions. Also one of the things that I attempt to do is to review the call before going back into service. That way it is still fresh in your mind. Talk to the Dr after they have done their assessment, get their impression and and explain what led you to your impression. As far as patient care goes, give every patient an IV, Oxygen, EKG and a Blood glucose. If you do these 4 things on every patient you can almost never go wrong. Good luck!

How ridiculous. Just another example of a stupid fix. Why not address the problem? If you are in the US of A, you should have to speak english. If I travel outside of the US, I expect to be able to communicate minimally in the language of where ever I am. If I chose to live there, I better learn the language. I dont want to see qualified crew bosses be demoted because they cant speak english. Why not suspend the ones speaking spanish until they can speak english?

I work in a rural area where the sheriff's office can be up to an hour away. (between 0400 and 0800 they have no-one on duty) some of the crew have requested that the EMS dept purchase tasers. I dont really want to be on the forefront of this one.

Any EMS agencies out there carrying tasers?

My rig does have a full walk thru to the front as well. The only change I would add would be the addition of a Firecom sytem.

We have them here is Clark Co (WA) and they are great. They are set up on a priority type system so that the bigger the rig, ladder truck or water tender gets the green light should two rigs approach the same intersection at the same time.

Its smooth enough for me. It has a Link air ride suspension on the rear.

Our agency just took delivery of a 2008 AEV type I on a Ford F-450. I love it. The ride is smooth, lots of leg room up front Im 6'1" and my partner is 6'4". It is very tall thus top heavy so smooth turns is a huge thing. It has 70" of headroom in the back which isnt too bad. It has the new Ford twin turbo diesel engine which has lots of power. The only thing I dont care for is administration went and put a stupid looking what they call an EKG stripe down the side. Looks more like a third degree than NSR...