crotchitymedic1986

Actually, I just asked the question, I am not trying to drive anything. But in both situations, both have no quality of life, so are you saying you woudnt work the child ? I wouldnt fault you if you didnt, but I think most medics would.

Many dont know this, but D50 can be given orally --- smells and tastes like sulphur, but it can be done. In the old days prior to IV's, D50 was mixed with a drink for diabetics who were in the hospital (prior to the EMS days). Most diabetics who can talk, can still swallow, even if you just get a little in her system, it can help. This is not aimed at the OP, but rather, general advice for those who often find themselves in this situation: And although, there are many patients who are difficult to stick, I could usually get IVs in the most difficult patients (even those who had ports due to poor venous access). Not because I am any better than anyone else, but because I did alot of phlebotomy and pediatric sticks at part-time jobs. A good tool to use to practice, is to blindfold yourself and find the veins in your partner's arms. just by the sense of feel. Once you get used to finding veins by feel alone, you will be able to stick the patients that no one else has successfully.

I would like cellphones banned from the ambulance, I can live with them still being used at the station, once all duties are performed, similar to TV time, or sleep time.

This was a blatent lie, and an attack on my character:

If you brought the tv on to the truck and watched HBO in front of the patient, and while driving, it would be the same thing. there is a reason many stations do not allow the tv to come on, or for you to sleep during "business hours". 3rd petpeeve: Nextels or any direct connect radio/phone. The phone has a button to cut the external speaker off. If i wanted to talk to your girlfriend, I would call her. I do not need to listen to both ends of the conversation, its bad enough that I have to listen to you screaming into the handset. And although, I have absolutely no scientific proof to back up my claim, my guess is that 99% of all of these conversations are personal, and not of an emergent nature.

I tell you what, look at your bill next month and see how many incoming calls you had versus outgoing, and how many of those outgoing were to a hospital because the radio system was inoperable. The cell phone is only being used for booty calls and other mindless personal discussions that have no place in the workplace -- remember you are on the clock to work, not plan your weekend.

I commented on the lies, i imagine if someone attacked your character, you would respond.

As usual, when you cant argue facts, you attack the messenger. I will not comment on this post any further, but since lies are being told about me, I feel a need to set the record straight: Here is my inbox, no deletions, no questions about me-- I answer any questions sent to me: possible answer to the scenario defib_wizard Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:05 pm Re: hey there fire_911medic Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:46 pm Re: hey Kaisu Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:54 pm hey there fire_911medic Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:08 am ???? itku2er Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:30 pm hello itku2er Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:42 pm My background is over 20 years in EMS, mostly as a Paramedic, I later moved up into management. I have never been a firefighter, I have worked rural, urban, private, government, hospital 911 services over those years. I also worked in 2 ERs, including a pediatric trauma center. I left EMS of my own choosing, I have never been fired, and I look back on my career in EMS with great fondness. Now, so that some of you may understand my post a little better, I do often take the opposite (most assinine) side of arguement just to see if you can prove your point. Call me a troll, a potato, someone who hates EMS, whatever you like, I call it playing the devil's advocate.

Great answers, but no one has answered the question that was brought about by Kaisus first response: I agree with not working an 89 year old, for all the reasons stated, and yes, "quality of life was part of my decision" (gasps heard all across the forum). But if it were a severely deformed, bedridden four year old with Cerebral Palsey, a feeding tube, a shunt in its brain, maybe on a ventilator at home, I hate to say it, but i would probably work the child, just cause thats the way it has always been. But if you look at it from a humanitarian point of view, you shouldnt work the child either. Do you agree ? If not, what justifies not working one, and working the other ?

Oh, and patient reports to the hospital are a courtesy. If the hospital will not invest in the technology to allow that to happen, then they dont get a report.

Dont get me started on ringtones. Nothing more embarassing than working a code, when some hose-monkey's phone starts blaring "I like big butts, and I can not lie, other brothers might deny". Very professional.

Show me someone that only has "1" 2-3 minute conversation per shift, and I will agree with you. But you know that is not the norm. The next biggest killer of medics is going to be brain TUMORS from having a cellphone attached to your ear every day for 10-12 hours total.

You can not fall in LOVE during a 20 minute encounter with a patient, only LUST.

YOU WILL PUT YOUR EYE OUT !!! Just watched christmas story on TV. You will lose it, or it will get stolen from the truck about 6 weeks after you buy it.

A veteran medic posted a letter to his coworkers, that read something like this: HEY TEXTER It is amazing for me to watch EMT’s/Medics who will not enter a patient’s room until they know every disease that a patient has ever had, and what PRECAUTIONS they should take to protect themselves. But they then immediately climb behind the driver’s seat of an ambulance and begin TEXTING as they drive down the road. Not one or two messages, but an all day message-thon. Scientific studies have proven that talking on a cell phone while driving reduces your driving ability to that of a drunk driver, and that is with both eyes on the road most of the time. I don’t have to imagine what texting does, as I feel it every time you run off the road, hit a curb, or hear the sound of a honking horn as you accidentally drift into the other lane. The number one killer of EMS Professionals is not C-Diff, MRSA, AIDS, or Tuberculosis. The NUMBER ONE KILLER of EMS Professionals is still ambulance accidents. So if you are really all about safety, please practice the same level of caution behind the wheel that you practice before you touch a patient. I have yet to see anyone receive and EMERGENCY TEXT MESSAGE, so I doubt it is necessary to conduct this activity while driving. If you do not care about your own life, at least show a little professionalism/respect towards your partner and patient I am amazed by this generation's need to constantly be on the cell-phone, talking or texting, especially while on duty. The veteran medics in this room can remember a time when you worked a 24hour shift and called home once during your shift to make sure everything was OK. If you had an emergency, your significant other would call dispatch, and they would contact you. Then came pagers, which allowed for a little more direct contact, but they rarely went off. But today, those cell phones ring constantly, and what is amazing is that many people have no problem answering the phone while on a call, or while transporting a patient. The patient should never hear a cellphone ring, much less hear their emergency responders talking on the cellphone (except to call the hospital and give report) while in their care. I beg of EMS managers everywhere, "Ban These Evil Devices". If for no other reason, in the name of SAFETY. If you are going to let them text/talk and drive, you might as well let them drink Jack Daniels on-duty, as the outcome is the same. And, please, dont even start with, "but I have kids and they need to be able to get in touch with me, in case of emergency". I have heard these cellphone calls for years, and i have yet to hear anyone get an emergency phone call while onduty. And if you do have an emergency, your family can call dispatch or your supervisor like we did in the old days.

Well you know, I have read about businesses that will no longer hire smokers, and one company that gave all of its workers "x" amount of time to quit smoking or be fired, because it was costing them too much in health insurance. You could make a realistic arguement for letting super heavy folks be fired because of what diabetes and HBP will cost you in healthcare dollars. But that is a very slippery slope for employers to head down.

good point, maybe we should use body mass index. If you are 6'4 and 225, i guess that would be fine, but if you are 4'10 and 225, not so sure. In EMS, i guess you can be rather large and still do your job, but when you are a FF, I think you are putting your crew's life in jeopardy if they have to drag you out of a building.

I wouldnt fault anyone for not working her, as long as medical control was involved or you had a protocol or policy that allowed it.

Watching the news today, they showed a clip from a fire scene, which showed a fireman that had to weigh close to 350lbs. Over the years I can remember working with some fairly large folks, and it did effect their job performance. I remember a female medic who could not intubate a patient on the ground because of her stomach and breast size. Should there be a weight-limit for our profession, much like the flightmedics have ? Maybe 200-250lbs max ? Do any of you currently work with a morbidly obese partner ? If so, can they do all aspects of their job ?

What if she had no family, and the first CVA made her comatose 10 years ago. ? There are situations where the patient may not have had the opportunity to sign any advance directives ?

good suggestions spenac

yes, i have been accused of that, but if I thought I knew it all, i wouldnt need to come in this room to find answers to my questions, or debate your counterarguments. Although you may not appreciate my style of delivery, I am entertaining, but then again so is wrestlin on TV. If you'all havent tried the "Canadian Position" in sex yet, you should. THats where you do it doggiestyle so both can watch wrestlin on TV.

You are waisting your time guys. This is a 19year old, he knows it all, and there is nothing you can type that will change his mind.

ok, if you agree, why are you still transporting dead bodies ? Is there a written law in arkansas that cant be overturned ? Why cant your medical director write you a protocol that allows you to stop CPR after "x" amount of time ? I am not trying to be confrontational, just trying to understand the situation.

For the record, I would not work it, unless the nurses were pushing it real hard -- if they did, I would start CPR, call MC and get orders to stop. But Kaisu put a funky wrinkle in the scenario, which intrigues me. If I changed this patient to a bedridden 4 year old Cerebral Palsey patient, who aslo has no chance at a viable life, does that change the picture for you ? If so, why work the bedridden 4 year old versus the bedridden elderly patient ?