Christopher.Collins

A-freakin-MEN!!!!! Motocross, Hunters style horse shows and stock car racing... if you even mention the importance and need to cut off their clothes/boots/ect... youll be in a world of badmouthing. Ive done some stock car races... where the red flag means NOTHING to some. Ive almost been t-boned many times on the track. ~~~~~~~ Got another story: Dispatched to a person down. Arrive on scene to find a female who had hit an object with her bicycle and went over the handlebars onto some train tracks. She was running around flailing her arms crying and screaming "Im paralyzed, Im paralyzed!!!" After the tracks were cleared and she was in the back of my ambulance... a train went by. From that day on a grew to hate people who worry about things that didnt happen :evil:

Okay I got one that I did a while back... its embarassing but I laugh to this day about it. A back story first though, my old FDs boat was an outdated boston whaler and a total peice of junk. Everyone hated it and wanted to get rid of it. Back on track, annually we cover a local resort hotel's fire works shows by water and ground. I was on the rescue, as always, and as soon as we go there the radio starts going nuts... "mayday mayday mayday, xyz fire unit 4-2 has run up a rock, we're taking on water." After we established the crew was safe on board another towns fire boat and Sea Tow was assessing the damage, I went up to the chief in front of many tax payers and said, "think the town will finally buy us a new damn boat?" ~~~~~~ Last week I worked a wreck. Mind you I acted on selflessness, never took into account that I had no PPE or anything. Not to mention at that time was not affiliated with any fire agency. I couldnt just drive by a person pinned under a car. I established c-spine bare handed to his bloody head. Took a knock to the head when FD lifted the car (the door hit me), and glass shot all over me and in my face because a mutual aid unit failed to take out the passenger window before lifting it with the hurst. Would I do it again like that? Probably not. I always used to poke fun at the boy scout types who have more stuff in their POVs than an apparatus.., but in retrospect it makes sense.

On a better note though, for personal reasons I have been inactive for several months in the fire/ems service. Last week however I got that itch, you know that one where you really miss something? My wife, her grandparents and I were on our way to visit Debbie in the hospital, in fact it was that day just shortly before she passed. We were on the I395 when we hit traffic... for a major highway it usually dosnt have heavy traffic even during rush hours. As we got further up there was a car pulled over with heavy smoke coming from the front of it... not much I can do about a fire with no gear or anything. Kept driving and there was no damage or fire to that vehicle, just a torn up engine block. Beyond that was a Subaru Baja flipped over in the woods, with a single person pinned under the roof. I could pass by a burning unoccupied vehicle without thinking to much of it... but this, I couldnt just keep going. My wife was puzzled when I made her pull over, told her to leave me there and Ill find a ride home. But she listened. I established c-spine for the 26 y/o male AAOx2, immediatley suspected ETOH and a high speed impact. Afterall, the engine and engine compartment were all over the highway about 50ft from the car itself... FD arrived and though I was without any form of PPE and covered in blood from a scalp lac. they recruited me... two engines from two different departments and only with drivers, deffinatley short handed. After we pulled him from under the car I was able to get up and look around, see what I got myself into. There were skid marks on the highway and off the road leading to a tree. Head on impact tore the engine out and threw it in the road, ejected him about 20 or so feet and then the vehicle followed rolling over on him. State police estimated speed of approximatley 100mph prior to the incident based on witness reports. I was able to find a way to the hospital and made it in good with the local FD, which helped me in getting accepted as a new member there. As for my wife and the grandparents... they were a bit dissapointed that I left them at a time of need. But I explained to them politley that Debbie has made her decision and we cant change that. Im not going to stand back and possibly allow someone else to die in the mean time. She dosnt know the Firefighter/EMT side of me very well, so shes pretty nervous about whats to come.

Take it, I hate the Pats but itd still be a fun time. Take it or leave it work an MCI at a prison riot? (FYI there are 4 state prisons in my immediate area, two of which in my FDs jurisdiction. All are minimum and maximum security).

Doc, didnt we already establish that pinball was all there was for games when you were a kid? Nice thing is today you can buy arcade games for your own home, so you can be even more lazy and skip the trip to the pool hall. For thoes who will never become a paramedic and/or thoes who work in a service where anyone can become a "paramedic." Oh and for Third Watch junkies also.

Thanks to thoes who have responded and listened a week or so back. Unfortunatley 2 weeks ago my mother-in-law decided to go on the comfort plan... pain managment only with discontinued care (food, dialysis, etc). She passed away last saturday clinical at 0142 and pronounced at 0149 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. She was on 26mg morphine at the end. Services were held this past thursday and yesterday. My wife and I did some research on her primary complication. Cant remember the spelling but its called calcifalaxis, its a rare "flesh eating" type disease. From what the L&M Hosp. doctors told us they see maybe 1 case every 3 years and she was by far the most advanced case they've seen. Its incredibly painful and coupled with that almost all Deborahs abdominal tissue was dead, it was septic and spreading to her back, sides and chest these past couple of weeks. The research Renee and I did found that there is really no one standard measure to treat this (aside from surgery). But in Debbies case the L&M surgeons and even surgeons from Yale said they dont want to attempt it because she was a very high risk of being lost on the table. Some studies we found showed that 3 persons with minor cases of this disease in their feet produced gangreen and went septic causing death before surgery. Ultimatley we found nothing but horrible pictures and information on calcifalaxis... but it helped put us and the family at some ease about Debbie wanting to move on. It is most commonly found in persons who have had a kidney transplant and/or are in renal failure, but even then is still quite rare. Again, thank you all. Take care and stay safe. Ill shall return to chat once things start to settle down.

Hey everyone. Just thought Id see whats going on as its been some time since Ive been active in here. Back in early Sept. my (now) mother-in-law was admited to a hospital in Va. for multiple reasons so my wife and I took a trip down there to spend some time with her. Shes since returned back home in CT... had to make a ghetto ambulance with a rented van and bed because insurance and good old medicare wouldnt justify an ambulance transfer for her leaving one hospital for another so far away. Thats another long story though. All Ill say is Im very displeased with the healthcare, or lack there of by the Sentara Hospital system... not to mention she just wanted to be home with her family in case something should go wrong. Still in the hospital... almost a month in a half now. Things have been quite rough and though Ive been through simmilar with my own blood family and understand near everything the Drs and Nurses are saying I am finding it difficult to be supportive. I love my wife but I just dont know what to do. Twice her mother has requested to go on to pain managment only, discontinuing all care. The Drs and Nurses are puzzled and her case (calcifilaxis [sp]) is something they see maybe "once every 3 years" according to the hospitalist. In addition this is the worst case of it theyve seen in a long time. Pretty much she has the options of a painless death (discontinuing all care except pain management)... surgery to remove all dead tissue (high risk with 50/50 survival through the op)... or reducing pain management and starting physical therapy. This is all just the tip of an iceberg... theres just so much more. I dont know what to do, Im on the edge of a breakdown and just finding it really hard to be supportive. I sold my truck just so we could go to Va. and now that we are back home and the grandparents are here from Cali... the driving situation for 1 vehicle is a mess. Im just ganna stop now. I hope everyone is doing well. Miss chatting. Take care.

Hmmm, well this seems like a good forum to get started in. Hey everyone... Ive been gone the past couple weeks due to a family emergency. Hope your all well. Anyways, Id work just about anywhere outside the State of CT. Ideally, though Acadian Ambulance has appealed to me since JEMS did an article on them a while back. From regular ground transport to air and other oppurtunities (working on oil rigs)... they just seem to have alot to offer, including oppurtunities to move up. Does it make them a good company by that alone? Not nessecarilly, but Ive spoke to some employees and they seem fairly happy. Not the usual rolling of eyes and sighs I get around my area about the places they work.

Ok so this isnt entirley funny but when I opened up this months JEMS that I finally got today the 12th... instead of the begining of the month like I should I found an ad (pg 40) I found rather humerous. For thoes who dont have a subscription, or one of these products, now we can say we drive a bus: http://www.crestlinecoach.com/specialty.php Again, not laugh out loud funny, but it still brought a grin to me.

No Im not saying that this should be the actual answer by any means. I agree with junior and explorer programs... but this "kid" staffed ambulance thing I really dont. I was just commenting that there are times where not only do I see a town go multiple tones for a crew... but more than one or two towns also not answer for mutual aid. Sorry for the confusion, its meant to be seperate from from my feelings of the OP. Just a simillar subject.

And the Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, (insert rediculous golden award of recognition for people who get enough as is here) to Asys!

Ive heard of this program and I think a few other towns here in CT do it as well. Frankly I am middle of the road with this school based ambulance business. I remember a day swhere a department toned out 3 times for an EMT... no response, toned out for a mutual aid ambulance from another town, then tonned 2 more towns before an ambulance actually made it out. 3 towns and no one would take it. Thats rediculous, and in my humble opinion embarassing. What can be done to prevent this? I am very pro-junior/exploer program. Kids selected for these kind of things arnt just anyone, not your average failing school trouble maker types, at least not where I come from. Assigning a mentor can be quite helpful in addition to advisors. Someone who can help with one-on-one time... maybe even help them on an educational level to keep them focused on school. The fire dept I originated in has a very successfull junior division. What it comes down to is how well its regulated... have a requirement where they must maintain certain grades, strictly enforce when they can be there (for instance they can not be at base, unsupervused, if a senior member is not present)... etc. Fortunatley most of the first members of it were children of senior members, so they made for a pretty good officer base when others started joining. This dept's juniors are utilized for rehab (changing SCBAs as well as assisting EMS), hydrants, gophers, etc... and they all prove themselves worthy. On the flip side... I do not think that anyone under the age of 21 should be allowed to operate an emergency vehicle. Honestly I dont think anyone 21+ who just got their license should even be allowed to drive (right away). Additionally I dont think that anyone should be providing unsupervised medical care under the age of 18. Look at it this way, they cant sign a legal document to refuse care for themselves... why should they be able to sign a legal document regarding care of another? I have no doubt that a person under the age of 18 can be a great asset in the emergency service community. But doing it alone has LIABILITY written all over it.

I can say I know of that 5%. One agency I used to work for switched from their old lifepak's to the Zoll. Of course, it was made without the opinion of the field personel because Zoll offered a nice bulk discount. And of course, no one who actually uses them are happy. They all miss their lifepaks and think the Zolls suck. Me, Im partial to Zoll because its all I know, but thats why Im not going to actually cast my vote. Id always be willing to try new equipment, preferably before its thrown at me by higher ups who dont use it or care about performance though lol

Hello everyone. Been out of touch for a while because my girlfriends mother is in the hospital, which lead to having to sell my truck so we could get there. Anyways I have a question. Im hoping no one knows from personal experience but how do I go about finding a good mal-practice attorney? Also, we have to go home tonight, after 4 days we need to get back to CT for various reasons. Would it be best to seek an attorney back home for our own ease/convinence... or do/should they be in the state/area our complaint is? I dont want to get into details at the moment, but lets just say Ive seen things that Id lose my license over... as well as lack of treatment that more than likley have lead to her condition worsening. Sorry, I just want to leave it at that right now. Any VA EMS who know anything about Sentara Obici hospital, advice, feedback and opinions would be greatly appreciated. All are welcome to send me a PM of info if they dont care to share publicly. Thanks all, hope you had a good weekend. And as always, stay safe.

Wow, I knew you could start fires with books I didnt know you could fight them though... I need water and a hose (or other delivery and supression systems) :twisted: :wink:

It just felt that way, it wasnt even the never rule out pregnancy... I just had a feeling. And hell, she said herself, "I cant be pregnant." lol In my book when someone says they cant be or arnt its good enough for me :twisted: *tounge in cheek* Next and final step... call Maury Povich and schedule her for the show, notify potential fathers

What now? "Cut, print, kill the pig!" Just kidding, ahh I love The Simpsons Movie... Anyways... first and foremost is the baby alive? How old does it appear to be? APGAR Cut the cord, preferably not Coneheads style Clean the airway and warm up

Well if shes screaming in pain and the door is locked (try before I pry lol)... Im taking the door (easily in case the toilet is near). What do I find once I gain access?

Does she feel like shes having contractions or in labor, anything compared to pregnancy?

What did she eat last and when? What provokes the pain? What if anything eases it? So shes in the bathroom now, anything happening or is she still just sitting there in pain? As soon as shes done Id tx priority 1, 15lpm NRBR in POC

Howd that pregnancy go? Does she appear to be pregnant? Any ongoing sickness?

I dunno AK... it was specifically directed to females. Nothing specific about males. But essentially thats what it says if it is written that way huh? :twisted:

OOOH OOOH I GOT IT!!! SCENE SAFETY? AND I HAVE MY BSI ON!!! Ok seriously... Hows she presenting? Where in the abdomen is the pain (quadrant/s), 1/10 Pain Scale Palpate quads, how does she react, how does it feel? OPQRST Vitals SAMPLE Is she pregnant, history of past pregnancies if applicable? Last urine and fecal output, did she observe any abnormalites?

Slightly off topic but I know of an EMS agency that says female employees cant wear thongs. I mean, I get the basic idea of it but if your uniform is that unkept that your butt is hanging out then at that point the underwear style isnt all that matters. My point is though, its not something youd know unless you check. And Id see a big issue with checking underwear of employees. :twisted:

False... you find and quote me any exact words that say FF-1 is exterior only. Ive been FF-1 for volly and paid/volly departments and doing interrior work for almost 4 years. FF-I is more about the work itself... FF-II is more in depth on the theory, I believe it is the same text book as well (if your using Essentials at least). I believe if anything FF-II is required if your doing inspection work, but dont hold me to that because thats what I did at my last job in a corporate building and Im only FF-I.