Christopher.Collins

I have an FBI hat that I actually bought in person at the academy in Quantico, VA. Im special and have connections like that Because of obvious reasons I very very very rarley ever wore it. Its not thoes cheap hats that just say FBI on them either, that you get from some street vender.

Would be handy to have it in one of thoes chapstick containers... not the stick ones though. The ones that have a semi-sphere top with a little hole in it... you just sqeeze it and it looks like a zit popping.

Funny, I was just having a conversation about ether masks the other day. Guess they are making a comeback.

Not questioning your work what so ever. Short of knowing you, Ill give benefit of the doubt that your good at what you do. Just saying that regardless of how crude, try not to let things get to you online... trust me I know this by experience. Its pretty sad that I can even admit that. The only web forum I will ever take seriously is AKO (Army Knowledge Online). Not sure what service branch you served in but I think all branches have their own version. Ive never seen such great disregard for rank than there. Overall it was a great learning tool... but some of thoes dumb new privates think that chain of command dosnt matter cuz its an internet forum, untill complaints get sent out to their NCOs.

I havnt even gotten to reading this forum yet as Im stuck on that healthcare rapping beaver and his hoes. Id almost be inclined to take that as being racist... but of course the producers would calling targeting a specific audience lol.

Well with all respect intended sirduke,whether what they say is wrong or not (and I am not going to take sides and make that judgement) being on an internet forum... regardless of what its intended use is we should have a bit of a tough skin. Unless something is blatently stated as such... take it with a grain of salt, its hard to interprit emotions on the net. Well unless your like Edgar Allen Poe or some artsy fartsy poet lol. Hell, crotch and I have had quite a few disagreements but none the less I took it merley as a debate and hold nothing against him. Regardless of whos right or wrong... remember, its just an internet forum. Dont let it get to you brother. If this kind of stuff is happening at work thats one thing.

1) Open bottles 2) Insert one bottle into each nostril bottom end first 3) Assume nasty discharge position

A question came up from a fellow EMSer in my area about CPR criteria in Canada. If anyone can answer this Id appreciate it.

Is he offering to pay for surgical fees and any medical expenses I may acrue later on seperatley and out of his own pocket?

I agree fully... but the same can be said for health care providers who dont appear to be clean cut or caring, who cant talk the talk... but truley can walk the walk and provide outstanding care.

Gatta love Army NCOs... they are the only ones who are right, wont appologize, admit or correct themselves when they are wrong but are there for the bettering of their suboridinates. Like Christmas time when you teach your child morals by lying to them. I have the upmost respect for my former NCOs... every pushup that fellow privates pissed and moaned about, every smoke session, and every second of the DS's in our faces... I loved and greatly respected. Check yourself! Thats a great lesson to be learned. ~~~~~~ Anyways, I think proffesionalism extends beyond the care we give. Yes, if your an incompitent care provider then you have more problems than an untucked shirt, dirty ambulance or some in-house jokes. But what good does your compitence make if your patients and the general public cringe at your overall appearance before you kneel before them and put your gear down? If your attempting to build dry ice bombs outside your station (please dont ask I will not explain further) which is convinently located in view of a church, resturant and 3 or 4 homes... then the care you give will be judged by what they see you doing during down time. I can also say that what you demonstrate off duty can be of proffesional matters. From personal experiences I have unfortunatley learned the downside to talking sh*t on your public internet profile while it identifies you as someone the public should trust. Either make it a private profile, watch what you say or dont identify your proffesion. Your personal opinions can easily damage the trust of the public. Again, I agree that the care we provide is what is most important but reputation and appearance is also very important in my opinion. If we make ourselves look bad and lose the trust of the public, it wont matter how good our care is.

Yea what crotchity said... lol Hobbies deffinatley help. Thats how I met someone. Odd part is I was pulling an EMS standby for a hobby I had dropped out of because of other commitments. The girl I met there was there for the event so we had that in common and she just happened to be a Firefighter EMT as well. Interest died out over time though because of varying religious beliefes and I greatly questioned her care and compitence twords people through stories she told me. But regardless... if you have the time, just get out there. Before I got married I was very shy when it came to talking to people, but it does happen.

Aside from lazyness, I fail to see why so many people are so poor at PCRs. Maybe in narrative writing I can see people having trouble... but unless your severley dislexic I dont see how a bunch of check boxes are so hard to fill out. I dont know though, Im OCD when it comes to paperwork and write all forms as if they were going to court. Maybe they should switch to ePCRs? The state of Connecticut has mandated this for all ambulance services. At least with thoes you have meet certain criteria before your even allowed to complete it, of course that depends on the program your running.

Quiet/Busy Day? Usually that one or other variations will get you casterated by the nurses in the ED. Its also one you can generally answer by looking around. Well unless your at the ED in UMASS, that place is way to massive to really know by looking.

Im sure that here in the US there is alot of accountability in the doner system. Not saying there isnt any in other countries but either way I wouldnt know. I read a fictional book series once about paramedics in a fictional town... it was a series called "Night Angel 9" by Peter Telep. In the third book of the series one of the main characters on a medevac flight faces an ethical problem involving two victims in an MVA. They could choose to fly out (from the middle of nowhere) a crittically injured polotician with big future plans that would likley die before arrival to the hospital or a critically injured child who has a chance of survival if they get him to a hospital quickly. The main charachter and his superior debate this and I forgot the outcome. It wasnt a true story either way so it dosnt matter. But I find it related in a sense that is someone whos capable and willing to pay top dollar for an organ just as worthy as the person it was originally intended for? I would guess that there is a limit on how many transplants a person can recieve. Maybe not so much in that exact sense but a regulation as to if you can be put on a donor list. Before my mother-in-law passed one major criteria she had to meet to get on the list for a kidney transplant was to go on dialysiss and make an attempt to better herself physically. I can see how it may be a waste to give an organ to someone who wont take care of themself versus someone who will. How it works in the case of someone who has rejected one or more transplants in the past though, Im not sure.

Just my personal opinion but I wouldnt start with co-workers. I dont want to light a tinderbox here in saying this but there can be enough drama in our line of work (or maybe just here in Connecticut). Ive seen alot of happy relationships work out within an EMS/Fire company, but the way rumors can spread Ive also seen an equal share of relationships hurt over it. In fairness though alot of thoes couples bring it on themselves within the work place. I would say just get to know people throughout your area in other services, ED's etc. Obviously dont make it look like your doing that for dating purposes :twisted: (sorry just being a smart a@@)As far as the internet dating thing is concerned, thats one small detail to be looking for in the ever expanding cyber world, especially if you want to look close by to you. I met my wife online so dont get me wrong good things can come from that way of meeting people, shes great and I love her to death. My one peice of advice though if you meet someone also in EMS... make sure you guys have alot in common. I dated a few fellow EMS'ers over the past years and its all we ever talked about. Its great sharing war stories and having a very cruicial thing like this in common (I say crucial because its nice to have someone understand what your going through on a bad day)... but that all means nothing if its the only thing you have in common. Anyways, Im sorry to hear your marrage didnt work out. Best of luck on the search for a new man lol And welcome to the city.

WRONG!!! Its thoughts and feelings like this that will continue to degrade the differences between volunteer and paid services. Yes there are differences and sometimes the level of proffesionalism is that difference. As a volunteer its one thing to be out doing your normal thing or at your full time job then respond to a call in the clothes your wearing... but if your at a company that has shifts or you just happen to hang out their 24/7 then look the part! Parades, stand-bys, hanging out at the station because of severe weather... oh well then I guess we can still look like civillians just because we are volunteer!? Ive never seen a volunteer company with a dress code, but just because they are volunteer dosnt mean they should be held to lesser expectations. This is my personal and proffesional opinion being both volly and working paid services. And what point do you prove in saying a tech was wearing a miller t-shirt. If hes on a paid service then Im willing to bet hes violating a uniform polocy... which dosnt exactly prove your point. If hes volly, then it dosnt prove anything except that you said its acceptable to wear t-shirts.

I cant wait to start transporting psych patients with this!!! Ones ganna be all happy to the point that the ER will ask why I even bothered to bring them in... Another is ganna think their insides are exploding! ~~~~ In all seriousness though, its not a bad approach to JP's idea.

You laugh... the heavy rescue of a neighboring department (when I lived in another town) was an old garbage truck chassis with a box replacing the compactor. :twisted: water fairies :twisted: Thats a good one, never heard it before... lol I love that. I happen to be a FF but thats still great.

Sorry Fox, that was directed towards someone, I had forgot to quote them on it and after reading what I said it wasnt worded well. Just a sarcastic remark is all it was.

By the way Im not questioning your thoughts of needing to carry a firearm.., I hope it never comes to that in the US and yes then I would agree with you that we need better training. I completley disagree with you on the statement including bullet proof vests however.

If you get to a point where you feel you need a vest and request more training, chances are youll be sued for abandonment once the scene is deemed safe because you refused to return untill your trained. How long have you even been in EMS?

I say we exile this taunton off the rebel base right to the middle of Hoth :twisted: Hope someone gets the reference. Lets just say that itll freeze.

Well, having worn t-shirts, polos and Class B's Ill try to tackle this. T-shirts are generally lighter material and from many experiences on and off duty tend to tear easily. Polo shirts, depending on the name brand are thicker and dont tear as easily. They can be breathable or not. Ive also noticed that I stay a bit more dry in a polo... of course at one point they will start sucking up liquids but not as readily as a t-shirt. So if I have to run outside and get a backboard in the pouring rain but left my coat in the rig, upon my return my hideous man boobs shouldnt be exposed :x As far as bloodborne pathogeons I generally wear a light t-shirt or heavy tank top under my polo as an extra barrier untill I can change. Wearing a t-shirt under a t-shirt though? Eh, weird and redundant. On that muddy bank nothing but turnouts or brush gear will be all the effective anyways. Reason number 1 I always carry an extra uniform in the rig... if my uniform (regardless of type) should be made to appear unproffesional and dirty I can change it. In an MVC, you will never see me wearing anything short sleeve... even in the middle of summer Ill throw a coat on if Im inside. In terms of staying in place... well Im sure as you know theres alot of phsyical motion in our job so unless you have some sort of reverse suspenders keeping your uniform tucked in theres always a chance itll need adjusting through the day. Thats regardless of what type of shirt you wear. Hmmm reverse suspenders... theres an idea. I suppose you could use thoes sock suspenders, just flip em upside down lol

Now Im curious as to what you wear under your class B shirt matters? When I worked for one company we were to wear white unprinted crew neck shirts. I get the white and unprinted part as we would all look uniform with the same color undershirt and additionally if we ever had to change our over shirt nothing innapropriate or offensive would show. I also get the crew neck as nobody wants Father Time from the 70's to have his hairy bear chest exposed :twisted: But our uniform polocy went on to say that underarmor is not permited. I never wore it because Ive heard mixed opinions to is function of keeping warm/cool so I wasnt going to risk being written up over it. But whats the big deal? Get a white crew neck underarmor shirt and unless you take off your overshirt no one will know? Do thoes things even work?