Christopher.Collins

Speak - Godsmack

Its ever so unfortunate Richard that within several miles from where I live are the following: Electric Boat / General Dynamics US Naval Submarine Base / Sumbarine Warfare School US Coast Guard Academy Dow Chemical Millstone / Dominion Nuclear Power Plant Foxwoods Resort Casino Mohegan Sun Casino I-95 I-395 As well as many other very public (or military/government), high traffic areas :evil: So ummm yea, needless to say living right in the middle of all this, escape from serious consiquense is probably nil. :evil:

It by no means is a difficult job... well the actual act of inspecting and doing paperwork. You do get the occasional upset person that comes with you doing your job. But thats whats great about having multiple roles... as an Inspector and EMT Im also primarily a Security Officer.... so non-compliance can become rather serious. Anyways... I cant believe people really can be this stupid. I see people go home sick and come back that day to BS sometimes... I just dont get it. One day had this kid call out sick (for tomorow) but still came in to work that day (that he called).

We are always told "they attack the uniform not the person." I guess this is true, but regardless of this persons wrongfull actions (and it dosnt matter who is killed FF/EMT/PO) but its kinda hard to mistake bunker gear with a police uniform. Maybe this guy was "off his meds" who knows... but this is just screwed up. Regardless, rest in peace brother.

Not that difficult depending on the size of the patient and the area your working in... one person maintains c-spine and calls the roll as usual, the other rolls and slides the board (place the board opposite side of the patient and roll them twords you). At least thats how Ive seen and done it, its kinda tricky but it can be done.

Obviously not my girlfriends words... or body lol

Oh yea, I forgot about monitoring vitals....

*Try to calm and reassure patient, explain situation *Maintain c-spine (duh) with collar *Request ALS if not on an ALS unit or not already en-route *Rapid physical exam *Extrication; while taking into consideration and preparing any arterial and internal bleeding, especially of lower extremeties (femoral) when dashboard is rolled *Consider medevac due to MOI, LOC and time out from closest hospital, especialy if said hospital is not a trauma center *Have PD or other available personel question bystander on his initial findings of the incident

"Butt breathing..." slang that my old agency often used for "unconcious but breathing." ~~~~~ Not dumb but was unexpected: Clinton, CT Fire/EMS/Police Dispatch to an IC at a structure fire, "Control 9 to Department 9 IC standby on all radio traffic, we have just recieve multiple 9-1-1 calls in regards to the state being evacuated." Apparently while doing electrical work at the statewide emergency broadcast center the "evacuate the state" button was tripped on radio and television.

I worked for an agency that hired at 18... the kid I kept working with before I transfered to a mostly ALS shift constantly dozed off behind the wheel. Not to mention here in CT you dont have a legal drivers license untill you are 18. Newbie drivers + lights and sirens and a patient = bad bad idea. Of course retention in this company is incredably poor and the hire people other agencies wont. They even cut their paramedic class down to about 7 months to attract new hires.

Hows this for thourough...? Dispatched for a toothache: Find a 20 y/o M CAOx3 no cheif complaint at this time stating... "I need to get a refill on my pain meds. I just had my wisdom teeth removed this month (begining of month call was at the end). I dont want to go with my friend on his scooter, I might fall off." Quite blaitantly said that he called 9-1-1 cuz he needed a ride. The hospital, a Level II Trauma center no less, was less than 2 miles away and quite litterally straight down the road. Oh God if I could be allowed to force any one patient in my career to refuse (not even thinking about patients to come in the future) Id have used it then.

*sniff* Why, oh why does this have to happen only weeks after Im scheduled to move to Tennesse? If I didnt have to shell out some $300 for gas just for the move (drving there) I suppose I coulda made it. Anyone wanna help a poor lonley fat kid out? I need new friends

I had about a months span where every shift Ive had at least one bird strike to the windshield or grill... and one strike the lightbar and its carcass get stuck between the bar and roof. It only happened when I drove so I got a candid reputation of being a bird killer... (insert other animal cruelty names here). As far as doing stupid things... KIDS AND NEWBIES ALIKE PLEASE DONT TRY THIS AT HOME. I sped up a hill (Code 3) once and because of "lack of street lights" that night failed to see a change in grade of the hill as well as a pothole. Needless to say the ambulance bottomed out, the stair chair, CPR board and short boards were relocated along with miscolaneous loose equipment, the foot end of the stretcher locked upwards in the shock position and my partner/supervisor bumped his head on the celing. Fortunatley we wernt transporting and he wasnt hurt. He let it go with a slap on the wrist because there really was no way to tell the change in road in the darkness. However when another "sup" read the report (I had to mention I was speeding) I was written up (rightfully so) for no regards to due safety. All I can say is when in doubt slow down (or get out and look if backing up with no backup person).

Im an EMT-B in Connecticut and no longer have my National Registry, which I regret letting drop but its not as big a deal as I thought. To maintain employment in a previous company I had to get my EMT in the State of Rhode Island as well... it took some extra paperwork compared to thoes who still had their NR but it was no sweat. Now as of recent Ill be moving to the State of Tennessee in August or September. According to an email response from their Dept of Public Health getting my license there will be a matter of some extra training to the IV level (TN no longer trains to the Basic level). Its probably a state by state basiss (please dont take my word) but NR will make it easier but isnt required everywhere. Youll become NR when you get your medic anyways, and I believe its a requirement to maintain as well. So when you get your medic you should be fine. Dont get too discouraged like I was... your not tied to the chair. Best of luck.

In my short time on this site Ive seen a great deal of knowledge from all over... so perhaps someone can help me. Twords the end of August my girlfriend and I will be moving from Connecticut to Collierville, TN. I have a valid CT EMTB and plan to upgrate to TN EMTIV when I can enroll in the next available class. We dont train at the IV level here anymore so Im not even sure what the national standards are. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Besides Rural Metro, what other companies are near that I can work for? Id prefferr EMS only (municipal/private/commercial, no matter), will consider FD if not required to flip back and forth from FF-EMS. Known reputations/opinions of these companies would be helpful too. What are the standing orders for EMTIV and what can they do with med-control? Cardiac monitoring? How are relations with hospitals, police, fire (if EMS only) etc...? How are the medic courses? I deffinatley want to go medic and possibly RN or RRT at some point. Anything else you think may be helpful would be great. Thanks in advanced.

I stand corrected... Didnt really intend to make the theory behind it sound so simple. Mostly just the skill itself. I appologize for the arrogance.

I have never had a problem as far as working along side fire (as EMS) and visa verca. Fortunatley most agencies around here are either joint under fire or people belong to both the fire and ambulance service. So working together rarley becomes jurisdictional or political. In most cases fire is the first responder to all calls. In nearby Westerly, RI however the ambulance corps has the rescue unit and fire generally only responds to fires. Of course nothings perfect. Theres always at the very minimum, ball busting twords people partial to one or the other type service.

Personally, I dont wear steel toe boots unless the company I work for mandates it. Im not sure if they make any with side zip but I have a pair of First Med 6" boots by Rocky. I love them. They are the most comfortable boot Ive ever worn (including off duty footwear). I beat the hell out of them last year and still wear them from time to time now. They only cost me around $60 as Common Cents EMS Supply in Old Saybrook, CT. Check out their website www.savelives.com. The owner is a buddy of mine, its a great company.

Grandma? You can teach a 10 year old to check BGL!!! Diabetes kinda runs in my family and alot of my friends are diabetics... checking BGL is a no brainer. Hell I think the hardest part would just be remembering what normal levels are like the rest of the vitals we take. And if you cant remember whats normal for vitals, then you should be punching a cash register. Ive heard people say Basics shouldnt do BGL because it involves "sharps." Its just peoples opinions, and Id hope hardly the truth. Because then they might as well take epi away from us... Ive also heard the saying that "when in doubt, give glucose." How stupid is this? Its so easy to assess high or low blood sugar, why should there be doubt? And why administer something if your in doubt over the problem to begin with? The following is an exerpt from the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Emergency Medical Services under the Research and Review column on page 38. The column was submitted by Elizabeth Criss; NP, MED, MS, CEN, CCRN and taken from American Journal of Emergency Medicine. I personally have highlighted parts I thought to be most relavant but these highlights do not reflect within the article itself. The article ends discussing vehicle maintinance which seemed to be a bigger concern to the author, or perhaps my misinterpritation. Regardless... it makes some valid points though it does slightly deviate from the actual topic of this thread. I cant say how many diabetic emergencies Ive been to where we'd assess and treat and by the time the medic arrives the patient is already at normal mental status signing a refusal. And I cant tell you how many times Ive worked ALS and as a Basic been left to care for the patient even if they chose to be transported. Furthermore... wouldnt it be nice when we BLS units are sent out to pick up an ETOH if we could further assess them if we suspect diabetes? Rather than have to call and wait for ALS backup?

Where babies come from duh.... we have to start somewhere, why not start with where we come from? Just kidding. Good question, my A&P class started with histology (tissues). I guess that makes sense seeing as our bones, organs and blood are all tissues. But Im not sure how it goes elsewhere. Either way though, best of luck brother... and welcome to the real world.

You need to make 10 posts before you can put up an avatar and access some features... I guess its an anti-sex bot thing, so they cant make a profile. Damn the creators of this site are smart. Anyways after the 10 just click on your name under the welcom part of the home page (youll be directed to your contacts, profile info page)... you can add it there.

But it takes away from the fun of watching the cop choke slam the guy on to your stretcher... that was freaking hilarious, and then what the nurse did to the same patient later.

*For somewhat obvious purposes I am excluding town and agency names due to subject matter of this post. Ill try not to confuse you. So Im sitting here thinking of when I worked for a commercial company in the area about a year ago. We provided 911 ALS/BLS service to the city we were based in as well as mutual aid, medic intercept and non-emergent services to the surrounding area communities. One city's EMS agency and fire department DO NOT respond to psych calls, and rather than dump it on another nearby town they call us... mind you we are about 20 minutes out. I understand that they dont want to go to a "bull sh*t" call and put an ambulance out of service for a couple of hours, including on scene time and travel time (closest hospitals is abot about 20 minutes away). But who are they to determine what calls they take? Can they legally do this? Dose anyone remember that psych calls can be emergencies too? That they can be life threatening? That it may not even be true psych? Sure, dispatch has advanced alot these days but that dosnt mean they per say are getting all the fatcs. Just curious. Ive always wondered if theres a legality issue there... and I only ever get blank stares when I ask my peers.

As an EMT-B in Connecticut I might as well be glorified first responder... and they dont train EMT-Is anymore either. As an EMT-B in RI I can administer epi sub-cue as well as a few other meds.... inflate mast, intubate with the eoa and do some other stuff. And I believe an EMT-I there is practically a medic (just a few less narcs is the difference I believe) These two states border eachother... any questions?