HERBIE1

Wow. We've certainly gone off on a couple tangents here, but... To the illegal immigrant issue- I have a friend who is Puerto Rican. He was born here, but is fluent, and still has a lot of family back home that he visits regularly. We've spoken often about the illegal issue, and I mentioned how Puerto Rico has the best of both worlds. They enjoy all the benefits of being a US citizen, yet as a commonwealth, they retain some autonomy. He said that most people there NEVER want to become a US state. I liken this to the illegal situation. What is the impetus for immigrating through proper channels and becoming a citizen when you already get to enjoy all the benefits, yet do not need to accept full responsibility to become a legal citizen? It's the old joke that confirmed bachelors used to say about living with a woman and never getting married- (no offense to the ladies here, it's just an old expression) If I already enjoy the milk, why do I need to buy the cow?

I don't know about the government per se, but thanks to those carbon credits, I think Al Gore and his buddies can probably now buy a fleet of private jets to flaunt their carbon footprints...

High UrinalsA group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, accompanied by two female teachers, went on a field trip to the local racetrack, (Churchill Downs ) to learn about thoroughbred horses and the supporting industry (Bourbon), but mostly to see the horses. When it was time to take the children to the bathroom, it was decided that the girls would go with one teacher and the boys would go with the other. The teacher assigned to the boys was waiting outside the mens room when one of the boys came out and told her that none of them could reach the urinal. Having no choice, she went inside, helped the boys with their pants, and began hoisting the little boys up one by one, holding on to their 'wee-wees' to direct the flow away from their clothes. As she lifted one, she couldn't help but notice that he was unusually well endowed. Trying not to show that she was staring the teacher said, 'You must be in the 5th grade.' 'No, ma'am', he replied. 'I'm riding Silver Arrow in the seventh race, but I appreciate your help.'

Andrea- Listen to Dwayne. He's a very perceptive guy and his advice is sound. What I will say won't help you per se, but it may put things in perspective as to why you feel as you do. You noted that you went directly from EMTB to paramedic school. I have to say that's probably at the root of your lack of assertiveness. Generally if someone is shy, working as an EMT forces them to come out of their shell. Not possible for you now, so you'll have double duty- learn how to be an EMT, and a paramedic at the same time. Step up, be proactive in your education and training. It's YOUR training- fight for it. I've worked in ER's for years in a busy teaching hospital which was also a Level 1 trauma center. I would see nursing students, residents, medical students, paramedic and EMT students. Often times these folks were competing for the attention of SOMEONE to help them out. The ones who got the most out of their clinical experiences were the ones who stepped up and "fought" for the right to help on some procedure, get in the middle of an interesting case, or be able to perform a skill you need to master. Volunteer for the unpleasant tasks like cleaning up an incontinent patient. You will endear yourself to the staff and your preceptor. Everyone wants the "fun" stuff, but if you ingratiate yourself to the staff by stepping up, they WILL remember.that.

Something Bieber said really struck a chord with me. He mentioned that he wishes more of us would become involved in sites such as this- coming together, sharing, bitching and moaning- and most importantly, learning. Many of us tend to become myopic in our views- whether they be professional, political, or spiritual. A place such as this allows us to vent our spleens, and more importantly realize that whatever problem we have, chances are another provider has either dealt with it or will deal with it at some time. (Here comes the geezer part-) I can't believe I am saying this but when many of us started in this business, the internet as we know it did not exist, and computers had the same processing power as today's wrist watch. Often times I wondered what it would be like to work in another area- what their system would be like, and would they have the same problems we had. I had neither the inclination, nor the means to actually explore my questions, so I just dealt with the problems we had. First I helped organize a union at our company, become disillusioned with that after awhile, then I took a management job because I wanted to change things instead of bitching and moaning. Both efforts were marginally successful because I learned that middle management is a horrible place to be, and only slightly better than being on the bottom rung of the food chain. Here we have a great resource, and I gotta say- Bieber is wise beyond his years. He gets it, and it makes me feel good that someone like him is the future of the profession. I see so many guys become frustrated and end up becoming a FF or getting out of the business altogether. They get beat down and figure if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I get that, but I'm too old for that road now. Keep up the fight, dude. I wish you luck-and great resolve- you're gonna need both.

Dwayne- golf clap.. I feel your frustration, bud. I really do. When I first read crochity's post asking if a white politician had ever passed a law that benefited blacks, I had 2 thoughts. First, either he is not even remotely interested in a dialogue, but only stirring the pot because no rational person- even the most die hard idiots like Sharpton or JJ- could ever make such a statement with a straight face and not be called out on it. Not today. Second, he really does believe this. He really thinks the deck is stacked against him- and his race. I provided multiple examples to prove this was not true, but no matter. If someone truly believes an extreme opinion, it's generally contrary to facts, common sense and reason. (Think Reverend Phelps and his crew here.) No amount of evidence will convince the person their opinion is wrong. There will always be extreme opinions. That's the beauty of our nation- we can have those opinions and not be thrown in jail for them. The problems erupt when some of the extreme opinions gain traction, get bastardized, morphed, and become a cause or a movement. I Think the immigration issue is probably the best example of that. Except for the hard core separatist militia types, living in self contained compounds who hate everyone and everything, most folks embrace immigration. Most of us are only here because our forefathers came from somewhere else. Because of our shared border with a very poor and horribly run country, Mexicans have flocked to the US for years. Yes, we have had border checkpoints, but it was like the 500lb gorilla in the room- for decades now millions of illegals have crossed our borders and we essentially turned a blind eye to the problem. We quietly passed laws that gave them free education, free health care, food, and shelter. Now, we have anywhere from 12-20 million illegals living among us, and people have finally realized the burden they have on our society. They have "assimilated" into our society to such an extent that the problem has become very complicated and there is not a simple solution- or at least one that is politically feasible. Would all our financial problems be erased if we suddenly got a handle on this problem? No, but especially in these difficult times, even the most hard core defenders of the rights of illegals(that's an oxymoron, isn't it?) have a tough time justifying the costs associated with our lack of direction and real action on this issue.

Here's something we carry that unless I missed it, nobody else has mentioned-2 MARK-I kits. Since our quick response bag comes with wherever we go, we always have that antidote kit. Thankfully have yet to use it, though.

Welcome to the city, and congrats on the call. Once in awhile what we do really does matter, doesn't it? Jump right in to a topic, pick your poison, and let 'er rip.

Those would be defined as racist laws, tniugs.

You do not have to like your partner, but you do have to be able to trust them. You have to be able to believe they have accurately taken a set of vital signs, relayed a bit of information, or the findings of a physical exam. If the person is incompetent, then it is up to you to document that fact- for the safety of your patient, as well as your own license. It is difficult- especially in a union situation- for someone to lose their job- even for gross incompetence. Too often partners cover for them, people are afraid of taking a stand or upsetting the apple cart. You do not need to be best friends with someone, but there at least needs to be a basic working relationship, and if you cannot trust the person to do their job, then that relationship fails. I've worked with people in the past who have the personality of a gnat, yet their skills are good, and we worked well together.I could count on one hand the number of non job related sentences we shared in 24 hours. Can that make for a long day- sure, but at least I knew I could trust the person to hold up their end of the bargain when it came time to go to work.

Well, I do thank God that the election results from November, prove that many in this country flat out disagree with your opinion. Take a look around the world, crochity. Places like Greece, France, Cuba, the Soviet Union, and now in Egypt, socialist /liberal societies are collapsing under the weight of their entitlement policies. It's simply not a sustainable concept, and for our president and his party to want to not only pursue but expand on such ideas should be astounding to any rational, thinking person.

LMAO Really? You are kidding, right? How about mandates for city jobs that require a certain percentage of their hires be minority? What about entrance and promotional exam results for public safety positions that dictate a certain percentage must be minority? How about scrapping those same exams when they failed to yield a minimum number of minority applicants/promotional candidates? Mandates that percentages of bids for municipal contracts that must have be minority owned and operated? How about mandates of firms over a certain size that force a company doing business with the city must have a minimum minority percentage in their workforce? How about funding, programs, and resources designated only for minority schools? We won't even discuss all the federal mandates. What about dictating(not a law, just "temporary" for the last 10 years or so now) that police officers be redeployed from "white" areas and reassigned to black areas? I also know these mandates are not unique- they happen in every major city across the country. So, tell me again about how the system is racist and unfair to the black and other minority communities.

Older? Damn young 'ins. By this standard, that means I'm already worm food... <Sigh>

If you are satisfied with your gig, more power to you. I just have a few questions- Is your primary motivation a paycheck, or do you desire to advance within your organization? What is the career ladder like? Does your service provide you with the latest in equipment, protocols, and training? Does your service have enough ambos on the street, or are they more interested in keeping FSR jobs- ie outfitting fire apparatus as medical response units? Do single role providers-especially chief officers- get the same respect and consideration as suppression members of similar ranks? Are your run numbers constantly increasing, yet they will not provide additional EMS units? Do you have 2 paramedic providers, and are they threatening to reduce that to one EMT and one medic? Are department rules and regulations enforced equally between the 2 entities, or is one more likely to receive punishment? Don't get me wrong- from a financial standpoint, union based pay is generally far better than private sector, but it's not always about the money for many folks. Money cannot but your sanity or your physical or mental well being. Don't forget what IAFF stands for. Note that nowhere in that acronym does it say anything about EMS. Their EMS division is but a small portion of the entire organization's mission or their budget, and NOT their primary concern. Don't kid yourself- the IAFF will support and fight for EMS only as long as it benefits the vast majority of it's members- FF's.

You are right- history, indeed. I took my EMT-A (yeah, it was that long ago) when I was in college, and I think that book was lost after I graduated. It would be a great collectors item now. LOL

I'm stealing this one...

Those are pretty good. I can't believe he ran out of redneck jokes already. Besides, I did not think that was possible. LOL

There is a HUGE difference between an occasional mistake in grammar, syntax, punctuation, or spelling and the original post. It seemed as if it was written to be sent to someone's BFF, not as a serious question for a board such as this. As a slight tangent, my wife is an administrator and does academic advising in a university. She processes hundreds of admissions applications as well as applications to enter an honors program. You would not believe some of the writing samples and statements she receives- complete with emoticons, LOL's, and smiley faces- similar to the OP. Apparently this is such a big problem the school is considering officially addressing the issue with the local high schools. I suggested they send an anonymous example of one of these texting type applications to the schools to warn teachers about how students seem to have a hard time knowing when it's appropriate to use shorthand, abbreviations, and informal language.

I saw something similar to this using the same song, about Obama, but this one is far better. A tag line from a conservative on another bulletin board I frequent- I love liberals- they're so "cute".

No, the board is not "mostly anti-union", it's mostly anti IAFF, and for good reason. This is an EMS board, and not only is EMS NOT the first priority of the IAFF, I would consider them to be an adversary. Unions have their benefits but do not be blind to the drawbacks- especially if you are a single role provider. It all depends on what you are looking for career wise, and how ambitious you are with your future. Someone recently posted a propaganda piece published by the IAFF that essentially outlined a plan for it's locals to eliminate private, hospital based and 3rd service providers. If that was your career path, how happy would you be with an organization who is trying to eliminate your position?

Sheesh. Memories I had a different orange book(cannot recall which one) as an EMT-with a matching study guide, both long gone, and Nancy Caroline's text for paramedic school.

Funny, sad, and true- all at the same time. The guy has a great voice, too.

Go ahead and write, Ruff. I have always been a Steven King fan- although I hate his Dark Crystal series, but he's the reason I began dabbling in writing. His attention to detail is great, and as you know, when you try to write something yourself, you really appreciate a good quality story and I respect the hell out of anyone who can make a living at it. I am especially envious of folks like King, Koontz, Patterson, and others who can crank out (mostly) quality work so frequently. I simply do not know how they do it. As I noted to this author, I am also a wanna be writer- writing the great American novel. LOL I have several stories and one novel that I have been tweaking for years, and never quite finish it. One that my wife says is particularly good, but I simply do not have the confidence to finish the deal. Maybe some day. Every so often I dig out the stories, add a few things, etc, but unless I am totally into the writing mode, nothing much happens- too many distractions, and nothing flows. Especially with the novel-I need to reread it, get back into the character's heads so to speak, and move the story forward from there, or it ends up being crap.

A joke? Uh oh... \\\Goes back and amends my medical protocols...

Glad he's getting top notch advice from you, Ruff. I applaud the guy for wanting to do this right. Too many writers are not concerned about accuracy- regardless of the subject matter, even if it's "only" fiction. I think even folks who aren't very familiar with a topic know if something is believable or not. To me, it's the hallmark of a good writer and a good story and makes it that much more enjoyable to read. The devil's in the details, and that's what sucks me into a good book. If I am really digging a novel, I have a hard time putting it down- I tend to read them cover to cover-causing more than a few sleepless nights. LOL