Arctickat

Chuckle, reminds me of when I went to be medical staff at the 2010 Olympics. We had to go to the event in 2009 to orientate and work out policies and procedures and were told to bring our own kits, so I brought mine. The night before I went thru the kit and put all the scissors, clamps, window punch, anything that might be considered a sharp object into my checked baggage. However, I forgot all about a 1 litre bag of NS, the Tylenol Cold medicine I had just purchased because I felt a cold coming on. A couple of chemical cold and heat packs, oral glucose, and a few other little tidbits. I get to security and get the question "Any sharp objects or liquids?" Of course, my answer is "Nope" because I conscientiously cleaned out the pokey things. Bag goes thru the X-ray and security guy tells the other security guy to check it out. He opens the bag and I have my forehead slap moment when I realise that I have Liquids in there. Security guy asks me what it's all about so I tell him the truth. I'm medical staff for the bobsled and skelton event at the Olympics and blah blah blah. Security guy looks at it, says, "Well, everything is sealed up, so I'll let it go." and send me on my way. Regarding your dilemma, take it in your carry on, just make sure that it's shut off during takeoff and landing Seriously, They have Defibs on the plan already, yours won't pose an issue and the battery is actually supposed to be in your carry on anyways, they don't want it in the cargo hold where it could start an unnoticed fire. You'll notice it pretty quick in your carry on. Just make sure it's not in the device. You may have to turn it on for security though, to prove that it works.

Hiya, welcome to the city.

Being Canadian and a loyal subject of her Majesty the Queen, I just gotta fill in all the blanks you left in that great speech. Well, some at least, that peroration has gotta be one of the best.

Yeah, call your congressman...or better yet, Jon Stewart of the Daily Show, because that, my friend, if a Fuquing travesty. Your service as a corpsman should have kept you certified in the civilian world. Thanks for your service, if I was from the States I might have better advice...but I gotta say, Jon Stewart has managed to shame many legislators into doing the right thing.

Well done Chris!!

Cool, I'm just starting a 5 year project....I'll let you know how it turns out.

Shrug...I just use my smartphone to find a geocache.

This makes 16 so far this year. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower, We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind. William Wordsworth In the United States that is....

http://www.walb.com/story/22527089/three-die-in-fatal-ambulance-crash

Welcome to the city!!

Did you know there is also one on the ISS? Dunno how it could be considered a geocache though.

You geek. Oh, send a friend invite to arctikkat

Mateo. You bring up an excellent post and like Dwayne said, we can sit here and type out how wonderfully compassionate we are for our clients, yet there is still an underlying resentment and frustration for those clients who you want to place a 14ga instead of a 22, or the drunk driver who just killed a soccer mom and SUV full of kids headed to a game. The difference, I think is our ability to restrain ourselves form choking the life out of some of those people we feel would make the world a better place by their absence. I admit that there may have been a time in my past too, where the restraint was a little tighter that it needed to be on the antagonistic patient, and like Dwayne mentioned...times when i just couldn't be near the patient for both our safety. I don't take well to a hysterical drunk punching my 4 month pregnant partner in the stomach....fortunately for me we were in the police barracks with 6 officers who saw him do it.....not so fortunate for him however. What I'm etting at is just that we're all human, and we're all prone to frustration, the difference is that you're able to restrain it and not let it affect the next call. My goal, regardless of who the patient is and how he conducts himself in my care is to leave him in better condition than I found him. Simple as that. If a sternal rub was a little harder than intended..or intended to be a little harder than required makes a difference. To your other point, yes, I think it is pathetic. If an outside and unaffiliated orgainasion were to say "Hey!! It's EMS week, thank a paramedic today" I'd be okay with that, but if the paramedic association or EMS company were to be doing the same thing...It just strikes me that they are feeling insecure and need some sort of acknowledgement to boost their ego and feel better about themselves. I don't care if someone doesn't thank me, however I do appreciate it when they do, and it is far more valuable to me when someone Thanks me for my services without them having to be asked.....it's kinda like the bellboy who stands there holding his hand out awaiting a tip for wheeling your bags up to your room. "Hey, I did this for you, it's time to Thank me now."

Shrug, it's kinda like the new onset dementia patient I had last week. He was upset because his family had sold a piece of farmland out from under him, however he actually sold it himself back in '69. They showed him the sale agreement and everything and he freaked out, saying they were all liars and against him. If he had a gun he'd kill himself right there. A very sad situation for the family and they couldn't control him, so they called 911. When I arrived I sat down with him and chatted for about half an hour. Listened to him, spoke with him, and generally diffused the situation. By the time I was done he was agreeable to go to the hospital. He is still there awaiting placement in a nursing home. His dementia had first been noticed about 3 months ago, but this was the first violent outburst from him. We walked with him to the ambulance and after he was loaded and we closed the doors i turned to his 80+ year old wife who was visibly shaken. She gave me a hug which I returned and thanked me. I consoled her for a bit and gave her another squeeze before we left her with her son. Those are the calls I do this for, not the hot code or the gory crash scene. One thing I will add to Dwayne's litany. If someone asks you what the worst call is that you've ever been on and you glorify yourself with the attention, spouting off some car accident or other situation with the most gory detail you can muster, you're a wanker. When I'm asked that question I Choose not to respond. Ask the person why they would want me to relive such a horrible event in my and so many other lives for their entertainment, or...I tell them: The worst call I've ever been on was the morning after Christmas day. We were called at about 8am to a home to care for a 2 year old child, but when we arrived there was nothing to be done. She had died in her sleep hours earlier, alone in her room, with a small amount of bloody drool dried on the pillow. That family went to bed the night before after celebrating Christmas together and woke to find their little girl dead. Instead of those parents being able to watch their little girl play with all the toys that Santa had just given her, they had to watch her funeral. Usually, the person who asked has a tear in an eye, or is embarrassed enough to have realised just how inappropriate that question was in the first place...one thing for sure...they never get the answer they're expecting. I have twins who are about to turn 3 years old....I can't count how many times I've thought about that call since they were born and had a chill run down my spine at the thought of it being one of them. Chris, my thoughts are with you and your family. Be strong bud, your family member made the choice for reasons he thought were sound at the time.

NP, the thing that bothered me all during EMS week was all the EMS organisations touting that people should "Thank a paramedic" for what they do. I think that's a load of crap. We do our jobs 51 other weeks of the year and don't go around asking for thanks. That's just pathetic. I consider it a week for medics to reflect on the service they provide and renew their commitment to their patients.

Wow, nicely done. I knew there was a reason I like you so much. Just to show that I "get it" I'll share my EMS week Facebook post on here since some of our brothers and sisters don't use the Crackbook. And at the end of EMS week:

Thanks!!! The top 25 voted in go on to be picked for the final 10 winners of 10k each.

Hey guys, little help? I'm entered into a contest that has a $10k prize for a charity of the winner's choice. All you gotta do is click on the link below, then "like" the picture. Only one vote is allowed though, so just once and you're off the hook. http://givewherewelive.ca/en/projects/how-would-you-give/photo/1918 My charity is our local hospital foundation....maybe I can get that indoor ambulance bay I've always dreamed of.

I read a statement at one time that sex and money are not the root cause of of most marital disputes, but that it is who has dominance in the marriage. Sex and money are used as passive weapons in the fights with each partner using is as a weapon to exert dominance over the other. Spending or controlling money...exerting dominance, withholding sex...exerting dominance.

It may be June, but May 31 wasn't done rearing it's ugly head. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/police-allege-fleeing-driver-fatally-hit-conservation-officer-in-saskatchewan-209803471.html The good news is that my friend made it safely out of Istanbul.

So, had a nice sleep overnight, and here's the facebook update i got this morning....

Sigh...and if my day hasn't been stressful enough...I just now learned that one of my medics is on vacation in Turkey and trapped in her hotel in the middle of this shit storm. http://www.dw.de/turkish-police-fire-tear-gas-at-istanbul-protesters/a-16852451 AND TORNADO WARNINGS IN OKC!!!!! Screw this, I can't take anymore. It may be 2000hrs, but I'm going to bed. Maybe tomorrow will be worth my time.

On top of the ORNGE crash...this Kinda puts my shitty mood into perspective. http://firecritic.com/2013/05/31/houston-lodd-4-houston-firefighters-dead-after-5-alarm-motel-fire-others-injured/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Firecritic+%28FireCritic.com%29 http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/05/30/ambulance-involved-in-crash-in-blackwood/ http://gloucestertownship.patch.com/topics/Ambulance+Accident

A sad note to end EMS Week. This morning an ORNGE Air Ambulance Sikorsky S76 Helicopter crashed in Northern Ontario enroute to pick up a patient for a transfer. The two paramedics and two pilots on board were killed. May they rest in peace. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2013/05/31/sby-sudbury-ornge-air-ambulance-accident-moosonee-attawapiskat-james-bay.html

I'm a biker too, and I shudder when I see the guy riding in shorts and a t-shirt, even if it is 30+degrees out today. I do have one theory though. As an EMS provider I am well accustomed to driving defensively. We are always hyper vigilant to what other traffic is doing. Regardless if we're driving L/S or with a patient on board, as a group we seem to develop a 6th sense to be able to predict what that car we're looking at is going to do in the next 10 seconds. I think that transitions well to our motorcycle habits. Although I have no facts to back it up, I have a high index of suspicion that emergency responders are likely very low in motorcycle crash statistics.