crotchitymedic1986

Complain annonymously to the fire department chief. Tell him that you live on that street and wondered why the fire truck waited -- tell him you took videos of it, and will turn it over to the news. I imagine those employees will be fired. Anyone that with-holds care to a patient in need should have their license taken and should be criminally persectuted. Notify your State EMS Office as well, even though these guys are fire department property, they are EMTs and Medics, and fall under the States jurisdiction. The response time records should prove that they did wait, since they arrived at the same time you did, and you had an extended eta

As far as only whites being racist, why is it that when a 'white only' group/organization/club is formed, it's a 'racist entity', but there can be NAACP, BET, United Negro College Fund, Black Chamber of Commerce, Black Mayor's Coalition, National Conference of Black Mayors, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, National Black Business Trade Association, Black Business Owners Association (to name a few). You still have your whites only clubs, the boardroom of most major corporations, head coaching jobs in professional sports, most country clubs, any afluent neighborhood (the only blacks in beverly hills are a few rap/nba stars and the maids). Without the watchdog organizations that you list, the plight of blacks would be far worse. Since you throw out a reference to the infamous 'n-word', why is it that blacks are allowed to use that word (it doesn't change the context or meaning of it), but when a white person uses it, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan call for their heads?[/color] The same reason you can say to your wife "bitch go make me a sandwich", but if I told your wife that, a fight would ensue. And white people rarely use the work affectionately. We've even invented 'syndromes' to excuse behaviors that have no social redeeming value. I direct your attention to the 'Angry Young Black Male Syndrome'. Why can't we have a 'Pissed Off Middle Age White Man Syndrome' to use as a justifiable excuse to act like a thug? You do, just read all of the answers that have been posted -- lots of angry white folks here, if you wish to elevate it to a syndrome, please feel free. Whites aren't allowed to use 'disparaging references' about any minority group, but yet we have to endure such wonderful terms as 'honkey', 'cracker', 'casper', etc., and nobody jumps up and defends US.... It is your job to defend yourself, not mine. If it is not offensive enough to motivate you to do something about it, it certainly will not motivate me. When's the last time you saw the ACLU fire up the discrimination bandwagon because a white was passed over for getting hired, housing, etc. Don't fool yourself into thinking that it doesn't happen! If you notice, in the article that started this thread, there's been NO mention of the ACLU getting involved. I guess that whites can't have their civil liberties violated, and if they can, it's not important enough for the American Civil Liberties Union to get involved....is this because the complaintants in this case are WHITE? All you have to do is go to their website and ask for help, I doubt any of the whites asked. The ACLU fights discrimination for anyone that asks them too, and has defended whites in the past. They tend to help those who do not have the means to help themselves, so that would not include most whites who have the federal government, court system, and legal system that already protects them. Why is it, that when people like David Duke spouts his anti-black rhetoric, he's destroyed politically, and crucified in the media; while people like Louis Farrakhan can spout their hateful, deplorable rhetoric and people CHEER for him? HATE IS HATE no matter the color of the skin spouting it! I think prominent blacks who have mispoken have been held to the same standard, or worse. Just look at Obamas preacher, he is now unemployed for speaking the truth that whites didnt want to hear. Whereas I think David Duke is still employed, and I see that Dog the Bounty Hunter is back on TV with his show, just a few months after he let his racist views be known. As far as reparations, I think the idea has merit. The first step was made by President Clinton when he apologized for slavery; that was an importan first step. Reparations would not be necessary if whites would just stop discriminating, but that will not happen any time soon. I think reparations for all african americans in this countryt and for the country of Africa would be helpful. I think ten million per household should do it, then each family will have the chance to compete with whites by getting the education they need and start their own businesses since whites will not hire us at the same pay rates or promote us when we deserve it. If that were to be done, I would never complain about the past again, and would say that whites have righted their wrong, and owe us nothing more. Before you say 10 million is too much, let me ask how much is your dignity worth ? Imagine your child being flogged to death and ask how much is his/her life worth ?

I am not sure what questions I have not answered for you lonestar, but feel free to type any question and I will do my best . Please watch black in america this week on CNN and I am sure you will get an education. I do not THINK that a whole race is "dumb", it is just a scientific fact that blacks score worse on standardized tests, doesnt mean blacks are dumb, it is just that tests are written by whites, and are racist. We can go round around about all that, but the fact is that the department in question has a long history of racism that has been proven. As far as the courts making a decision that is right, that is incorrect. The courts have been wrong many times. There was a time when the court upheld that women and minorities should not vote or work. There was a time when the courts upheld the imprisonment of asian americans during WWII just for being asian in america. There was a time when abortion was illegal, and currently the court has upheld the discriminatory practice of not allowing gays to marry. I have not uttered any hatred of whites, I have just suggested that you owe us for the damage you caused. The same as if you wrecked my car, I would expect you or your insurance to make me whole again. Thats all we blacks want, is to have an equal playing field.

you guys are so funny. Yes the schools were desegregated, but try walking into a school as a black child prior to 1968. I seem to remember a historical event where a certain southern governor stood in the doorway of a university, blocking the entrance of black students. As I asked you guys to do, i went to craigslist, clicked on New York City, went to rants and raves, and searched the N word -- here are some of the excerpts from this week/month -- not 1968: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/1274178551.html http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/1274028037.html http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/1273588292.html http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/1272042340.html Lets try Los angeles: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/rnr/1270686505.html How about Atlanta: http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rnr/1273866398.html http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rnr/1273531075.html http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rnr/1272145372.html But we should be happy and quit complaining because all racism died back when Lincoln freed the slaves. What you fail to realize regarding this case is that this department had a long history of only promoting white Lieutenants, so that they would only have whites taking the Captains and higher promotional exams. It took a law-suit to fix that, just so blacks could take this test. The good old boy club at this department provided answers to the test and extra help to white firefighters. The test was written very "technically" with questions that only the most avid fire junkie would know, which has little to do with managing people. It would be like me asking you to draw a dorsal root ganglion -- you were taught it once, its in our book, but it is not something you use everyday on the job.

could give a long winded answer, but the short answer is "thats the price you (whites) pay for breaking the window". I know it wasnt you personally, or anyone in this room, but a price must be paid for what you did to the american indian and blacks. I am sorry your forefathers kept passing the buck, it should have been settled in the last century.

anyone can be a racist, but it does not matter if you are not in power -- only whites have the ability to enforce their racist views through racist policies. If you dont think racism is alive and well ---- go to craigslist.com, click on your city, click on "rants and raves", then type the "n" word in the search box --- see what pops up ? And not everyone is exposed to the same education because they went to school -- schools differ wildly from city to city and state to state. And yes, genetics and family history do have a role in how educated you are --- this is why poor families keep getting poorer and rich families keep getting richer. It is why adopted kids can do better, because of the change of family.

er doc, scroll back a few pages and read some of my links or google "blacks and SAT test or standardized tests". If I had you a test written in chinese, could you pass it ? To pass a written test you have to have a good understanding of the language and grammer that is used. Blacks were not allowed into the real education system until the 60s. Fire is fire. And before you all jump on the "blacks were wrong, whites were right bandwagon, you might want to read some of the history of this Fire Department http://www.slate.com/id/2221250/entry/2221298/

Great analogy, never looked at it that way, but the walmart example is dead on. Much like walmart, AMR comes in and destroys the small ambulance provider. At first you are impressed with the shiny new stuff they bring and the promises they make, but then you realize what you lost when the small providers are all gone. Walmart will put your hometown pharmacy out of business, and will probably sell you drugs at a reduced price --- but they wont open their pharmacy at 3am because your kid is sick, like old John Doe used to do at his pharmacy. Yes the food prices are cheaper, but are the vegetables as fresh as the ones you used to get a John Smiths grocery store ? Will AMR transport that indigent patient a long distance like ABC used to do, or support the local schools, like ABC ambulance used to do. When their employees are in the hospital, do they take care of the family like a small ambulance service would. Luckily, the walmart analogy is also true in that sooner or later, the walmart gets too big and impersonal, and you start to visit the new stores that are opening up in the downtown district that was almost dead (because of walmart). The same is true of AMR, everywhere they are, someone opens up an ambulance service that eventually kicks their butt.

I am sorry lonestar, i saw alot of your opinions, but not sure what question you want me to answer. And your thinking that minorities make up more of the prison population because they are guilty is incorrect. Ever heard the term "driving while black" ? Its kind of like having a supervisor who gets off on writing his employees up, he will look until he finds something to write you up for, and yes just about everyone in this forum could be written up on a daily basis if your supervisor wanted to do it, does that make you a bad paramedic or EMT. Anyone in here that claims they have never broken the law is a bald-faced liar, all of us have sped in traffic, maybe drove under the influence (not drunk), claimed a deduction on our taxes that was maybe embellished, ran a stop sign on accident, vandalized something as a teen, maybe even stole something somewhere along the way. Blacks do not break the law anymore than their white counterparts, it is just that the police focus on us more. All you have to do is look at the imprisonment statistics for powdered cocaine posession (white man's coke) versus crack posession (black man's coke). http://www.ussc.gov/crack/CHAP7.HTM

Good points made by all, and I have to agree, I think you will be hard pressed to get a PA who will turn down urban money to work at rural Paramedic wages. Remember that if a PA wanted to make $30-40k per year, he/she could have attended far less school to do that. I still do not believe that all of these communities can not afford an ambulance service, maybe they cant afford it in the traditional sense, but I imagine there is a way to fund it if you had to. Again, you do not have to start with 24 hour or even ALS coverage. Can this team serve a dual role of on-duty fire-fighter or police officer (to start) ? Can local business chip in on the cost ? Can you have fund-raisers or add a penney to the sales-tax ? Have you exhausted all grant funding possible ? Are you maximizing collections ? Have you thought about the outside the box ideas you could do (ie... Any Paramedic who moves to your county and volunteers for an 8-hour unpaid shift per week is exempt from homeowners taxes ---- or gets county health benefits, but no pay) ? And like I said, if you have a community that absolutely can not afford it, then I think placing the ambulance on the county-line between two counties that share the cost is the sensible alternative (supplemented by volunteer first-responders). How many transports do you guys average in a month ? What are you charging for those transports ?

I applaud you for throwing your ideas out there, if more people acted like you did, instead of just throwing their hands up in the air, and saying we cant fix it, EMS would be alot better. The problem with your premise, as I see it, is: 1. You have to have EMTs and medics to make it a licensed ambulance so you can get reimbursed. 2. You will have trouble getting PAs to work in the rural area. Most rural areas would love a PA to function as a PA , but they cant find them. I would offer three different suggestions: 1. Start with a basic service with paramedic on call, and do the non-emergent transports in your area to supplement revenue. You could pay someone to work 8 hours and still be volunteer at night until you got your call volume up. 2. If you have a hospital, use them to fund it, and use the EMTs/Pmdcs to work in the ER when not on call. The hospital gets some hands to help them, which they would pay more to hire RN hands, and you get some financial backing to get your paid service up. 3. Create a multi-county paid department. If you are that rural, the county on either side of you probably cant afford a service either; so none of those counties might be able to afford 100% of the bill, but maybe they could afford to pay a 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 of the cost ?

Get to add two new categories this month, it seems we are no longer satisfied with just crashing vehicles, we are now going after pedestrians. Unfortunately, we had our first EMS Personnel Death : Ambulance Accidents Jan- June 99 EMS Personnel Injured: 92 EMS Personnel Killed: 1 Patient Injured: 21 Patient Killed: 5 Passenger in Amb injured 1 Passenger in Amb killed: 2 Other Vehicle Injured: 55 Other Vehicle Killed: 12 Pedestrian Injured: 1 Pedestrian Killed: 1

I agree that first you have to figure out what you enjoy, or you will be making this decision again in a few years. Anything in medicine puts you at a higher risk for being sued, but how many folks do you know that have actually been sued --- I wouldnt let that drive my deicsion. I am not saying this is you, but consider whether or not this phenomenon plays a part in your thinking. What I see as burnout is usually self-induced and not the fault of the industry, the patients, or the employer. All of us thought we would be millionaires by the time we hit 30, then we get to 30 and realize that we are working two jobs (usually both EMS jobs). That is the first mistake, living above your means so that you have to work 2 jobs (no you do not have to have a brand new car at age 19). The second mistake is working the same job 100+ hours per week. I dont care if you were getting paid to provide oral sex to super models. If you did it 100 hours per week, you would get tired of it. Before you bail to another industry, think about doing something different in this industry, where you already have some expertise. Can you teach EMS, can you go rural, can you go industrial, can you work for Homeland Security, can you work in a doc in the box or ER ? Can you be a flightmedic, can you work on a critical care or pediatric MICU team, can you become a manager or a consultant.

My response of "typical white answer" is not an insult, it is just the truth, as it is hard to be truly empathetic if you have not walked a mile in the other person's moccasins (another race the white man destroyed). It reminds me of the famous quote of a certain leader who said "let them eat cake", when she was told the peasants had no bread. She had no idea of the damage she had done, and had no knowledge of what it was to be the underclass. Much like the John Kerrys who get $1000 hair cuts. I really shouldnt not have to type more after CBs response, which is the most sterotypical racist statements I have heard since All in the Family went off the air. The closet racist does as much harm, if not more harm than the proud KKK member. CNN is about to air "black in america part 2" in the next few weeks, I would encourage you to watch it, and to watch black in america part 1 on the web.

You are looking at your career choice from the wrong direction. You should choose a career based on what you love, regardless of pay. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a job you hate. The problem with this generation is that you tend to live above your means -- your parents probably didnt have two car payments of $300-400/mo, and a $1000 house payment when they were your age. They probably drove a used car, and rented their home for the first several years. The EMS profession pays very well compared to other industries (EMTI, not EMTB), and as with most industries your goal should be to reach the top, paramedic then management (if you are a nurse you want to be an RN not an LPN, if you are an electrician you want to be a master electrician not an apprentice). Now to those who will say I have lost my mind on the pay scale thing, lets compare your data entry clerk. According to salary.com the average starting salary is $23k/year ( http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouth...OF13000022.html ) EMT is slightly higher (http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_salaryresults.asp?hdSearchByOption=0&hdSearchByOption=0&hdKeyword=Emergency%20Medical%20Technician&hdJobCategory=HC02&hdZipCode=&hdStateMetro=&hdGeoLocation=U.S.%20National%20Averages&hdJobCode=HC07000326&hdJobTitle=Emergency%20Medical%20Technician&hdCurrentTab=&hdNarrowDesc=Healthcare%20--%20Technicians But regardless lets go with a low starting rateof $10.00/hour for EMTI who works the typical 48 hour/week schedule than now dominates the industry: you would be making 27k without any extra shifts to start, and you would still have 3 days to pick up extra shifts at your overtime rate of $15.00/hour (or at another job). Now lets take a 24/48 at $8.00/hour, you would be making 26K to work 2 days per week, leaving you 4-5 days per week to make extra money. At your data entry job, you would probably work Mon-Fri, with little Overtime available. We can argue all day about whether you should have to work two jobs, but being able to pull in two incomes during my early career allowed my wife to stay home with the kids. The pay has doubled since I started in the 80s and you now have benefits at almost every employer. With that being said, it is still a young profession, so you will be one of the early pioneers who helps to make it better for future generations, just as my generation did for you. Most EMTs are starting in the 20's-30s, and most medics are making in the high 30s to low 40s to start, without a 4 year degree. Thats not bad. As I always ask the whiners who gripe about EMS pay, I always counter with, what could you do at your current education level (most are college dropouts) in this current economy, and make the same money ? There are not that many options. Yes in data entry, you would be in a climate controlled building, and would probably never break a sweat, but would punching the same data into a computer 40 hours/week for the rest of your life be rewarding ? Would it be too boring ? No two days in EMS are the same, and you get to make a difference in someone elses life occassionally -- you cant get that in data entry. And to help you understand why you hear only negative, we have a running joke in this industry: Whats the difference between a Paramedic and a puppy ? The puppy quits whining after 6 weeks.

glad they took my advice; i have said for years, if we will just stop working overtime and partime jobs for one month (all on the same month) our pay rate would jump dramatically. Come on people, lets make January 2010 our independence day ---- dont work overtime or your part-time job the month of January 2010 and see what happens to wages.

spoken like a true white person. You can not leave the projects if you have no credit, if white banks will not loan you money, you can not buy a car, a house, or a college education. The statistics from the department of labor show that blacks (hispanics and women) make less than their white counterparts at the same job. That is if we can get out of prison long enough to get a job. Blacks are 7 times more likely to be in prison than whites, even though we only make up 17% of the population, but there is no racism there. http://www.racialdisparity.org/images/demo...hs/table_03.pdf

You cite the exception, not the rule. For every success story you have, I have thousands who are/were in prison, became teen moms, were murdered, and/or joined a gang. But don't take my word for it, go spend the night in your local housing project, and tell me how good you slept.

What is light brown and often found in a baby's diaper ? MJs hand. How can you tell MJ has a hot date ? There is a bigwheel in front of his house How does MJ pick his nose ? From the plastic surgeon's catalogue What was MJs last song ? Dont let your son go down on me. What has 18 balls and 3 pubic hairs ? A sleeppver party at MJs house What does Michael Jackson call a circumcision? Foreplay. What do Michael Jackson and an xbox have in common? Both get turned on by kids!!! What do Michael Jackson and Santa Claus have in common? They both leave little boys' rooms with empty sacks. I just bought a new car stereo... When you shout out "Soul", it plays soul music. When you shout out "Rock", it plays rock music. Some kids ran in front of my car, and I shouted "fucking kids!", and it played Michael Jackson.

no, mj choked on a 10 year old weinny

To address the bigger problem, what are you doing to fight them ? You mentioned you are in a union, which immediately tells me that maybe there are some areas you guys can cut to save your jobs. AMR believes that every ambulance should run a call/hour. My guess is you are probably only averaging half of that if you are the typical EMS agency (you are probably running 24/48 and have way too many trucks up after midnight -- if you are running 15 24/48 ambulances, they will most likely run 12-15 during the day, and only run 6-8 after midnight) AMR will keep everyone for a few months, then they will get rid of all of your supervisors and management. The street level medic and EMT are probably OK, just realize that you will be on 12-hour shifts, running more calls for less pay. So why not do that yourselves and keep your benefits and employer ?

Thanks for those of you who responded without resulting to attacks and name calling, we can only learn when we are openminded. And to answer all, yes I believe poor parenting is a major factor if not the major factor, but lets look at why that is. Obvioulsy black children are more likely to grow up in a single-family household, which isnt necessarily a bad thing (before all you single parents jump down my throat), but basically the last generation of black kids have grown up without a father. You may not want to hear it, but racism does play a role. The inequity in pay for those who have jobs, and the inability to get jobs, moves minorities to the lower end of the socio-economic scale -- which puts them in worse neighborhoods and schools. Like Chris Rock said, no matter where you are in America (and note I appreciate the Canadian facts, but they are Canadian not American) if you are on MLK Blvd, you better get the hell out of there quick. Because the white man put all blacks in public housing in the 60s-80s, and then introduced crack cocaine to the population, the result is higher teen pregnancy, more highschool dropouts, and more imprisoned black males. A teenage black mail today is more likely to die or go to prison than he is to get a white-collar management job. And I fully understand that part of the reason for so many blacks not being able to get into public safety jobs is because they can not pass the criminal background check due to crimes they committed as teens, but that is the viscious circle that whites have put us in --- which I know that you can not believe or see, but it is the truth. It is kind of like the problem with illegal aliens. Because they are illegal, they can not go to the police when crimes are committed against them, and they can not get banking accounts (white man's rules). So everyone knows that on any given day, any hispanic looking male who is not speaking english probably has several hundred dollars in his pocket, which makes him an easy target for robbery. Yes the slaves were freed in the 1800s, but we couldnt get jobs or education until the 1960s (the only major company that was hiring blacks before the 60s was the military --- which is a whole other arguement -- funny how we got to fight for whites freedom when we were being discriminated against in our own country). When you gave us freedom you then put us in a new prison (public housing) which broke apart our families. The Republican (rich white) mantra of pull yourself up by your bootstraps is ironically spoken by people who have not had to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. There are exceptions to every rule, but if most of you look back on your life, you will see that most of you have never had to really pull yourself up by your own bootstraps (sure you have had problems, like everyone else does --- but most of you have never really gone to sleep hungry or cold). Most of you had a great middle-class existence complete with mother, father, nice home, a good education, a car when you were a teen, and college if you wanted it. The black child is more likely to come from a single parent home, with a parent with poor credit (who cant get a college loan for you, or any other loan), poor diet, poor education, and lives in a housing project or in the part of town where drug sales occur within 100 feet of your door every day and night. I will say it again, if the white race had only had access to this country's educational system for 40 years, you would not do well on written or oral tests either. It will be generations before we as a group can compete evenly in that category with other races who have had 100s of years of education in their family. Its like taking a rich white kid from Boston who is the fifth generation of his family that has graduated from Harvard, and putting him side-by-side with a poor white kid from Mississippi who is the first generation to graduate high school and college ----- If you had to bet $5,000.00 on who would do better on any written/oral test, who are you going to bet on ?

some facts and opinions: http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Career...oar.asp#african http://www.news4jax.com/news/10431847/detail.html http://www.bls.gov/cps/labor2006/chart4-7.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/labor2006/chart4-6.pdf http://www.brookings.edu/articles/1998/spr...ion_jencks.aspx ************* http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/51_graduate...sions_test.html ************** http://www.jbhe.com/features/53_SAT.html (blacks and SAT scores) http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2005/0...ores_a_nat.html that should be enough for now.

The rebuttal --- Dustdevil first: I agree with your theory of mirroring the population. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, african americans made up 9% of the public safety industry work-force. I think it is reasonable to mandate that 9% of all promotional opportunites go to A.Americans. After all you guys have not had any problem when the promotions mirrored the white population's numbers, fair is fair. now emtannie: Blacks ARE and WERE discriminated against, that has not changed. Discrimination did not end in the 60s Yes, other races including whites have been slaves, but those races have had more years to progress Yes, immigrants do come to this country and "succeed". Some become wealthy, but most work at 1/2 the pay of whites, and live at a lower standard of living (10 people to a 2 bedroom apartment). Many immigrants have federal programs to assist them in getting started in the US. You describe your parents enslavement and battles, which i applaud --- but how do they fare economically to white couples their age who were born here ? Females have been discriminated against in Fire/EMS, and are still sexually harassed on a daily basis, which is why you should be on my side of the arguement. But you have not sufferred the discrimination that blacks have. The only group that has been more discriminated against than blacks in Fire/EMS is homosexual males.

Hey, there are some good responses in there -- Its a lot of reading so let me read it all again and rebutt --