FireMedicChick164

we had some kids get their cards recently in my FD and their cards started with 38.....as in 380000.....mine starts with a 26 and ive been a tech for 12 years....what's your start with Doc?

I have a medic friend of mine who owns a funeral home..... The way I see it and the way I have always explained it to people is that I feel that my brain is compartmentalized. There is a little section of my brain where I store all of the difficult stuff during a call so I can still do my job effectively and then deal with it later. Seems to be the way that my brain just set itself up 12 years ago....and it works ok....as long as I deal with the stuff afterward and don't keep it buried. Had a problem only once...after a friend's suicide. You won't truly know how you are going to react until it happens. Just remember to be respectful to the deceased and the family. That's all.

hello fellow LIer!! welcome to the wonderful world of being a vollie on LI!! I've been in this business for 12 years....any questions/need info/have concerns....just ask!

sounds to me like the incident was a bit of a cluster....just my opinion..... usually if we come in with an arrest we will assist in the ER at least until they get more hands in the room. We deliver pt's to a fairly small hospital and sometimes it takes a few minutes to get extra people.

Well then...I am trying to decide where to begin here. I agree with the other guys...if you wanna be a tech, be a tech and stick with it. If you are just becoming a tech to use that as a means to be a firefighter...that doesn't sit right with me. I will share the following with you only because you are being honest with us by revealing your true intentions as far as your job aspirations. I have been in this business for 12 years. Started as a vollie EMT/Firefighter and now I work as a paid AEMT (I still vollie on my days off). I have seen a lot of death in 12 years. Some of it not so pretty. Everyone is going to die sometime and you just have to accept that. Hell, you are going to die eventually...hopefully later in life than sooner. I can tell you that I grew up in the fire department, my Dad was a single parent and joined when I was 4 years old so I spent a lot of time around the guys and the lifestyle. It was just natural for me to follow in his footsteps. The first time I saw a dead body was at age 18 when my great grandmother passed away in my presence. Emotionally it hurt because she was a relative. Yeah, it sucked. I joined the FD the next year and not too long after that I did CPR on my first cardiac arrest ever. They called it in the ER and I went into the washroom and cried for 10 minutes. We sat around the firehouse talking about it afterward and I haven't reacted that way since. You just take it as it comes...if they die, they die. You did all you could to help them but we can't save them all. Haunted by a patient? Bothered by an outcome? Not really...the pedi calls get to you more than the calls for adults but you learn to deal with that too. As much as I know the next call could involve death/dying, I still go to work every day. The live patients that I work with are more my concern and I feel truly rewarded when I can help someone at the worst moment of their life. I'd recommend you vollie if you can...you will get experience and let you know if you are cut out for the job. Some aren't and they find out too late. Good luck to you and hope to see you around the forum.

We just recently got out EZ IO and haven't had the occasion to use it yet. I will inquire as to what our agreement with the company was when we bought it and get back to you.

You asked, I did...I'm an EMT-Critical Care, Captain/Firefighter, and Occupational Health Technician rolled into one figure that out!

we use whatever the hospital buys and puts on the restock cart by the ER doors for us. Usually 60 and 15 drop sets.

That's my favorite trick to show my non EMS friends!

Well we have a pedi board if we need to backboard a kid and we have a built in car seat in the "airway seat" in the back of the bus. Usually I will txp the child on the parents' lap on the stretcher with the seat belts on. Usually that makes them more comfortable and cooperative.

mine was SO worth it...and I didn't pay for it! ex hubby did!!

I am a volunteer and we strive to be professional and instill confidence in our patients and co workers. Our Chief's office holds us to very high standards and expects nothing but the best from us. I am an officer and won't take any bs from my crews.

We all have rough days....trust me....you did what you could. Next case will be better. Be safe!

I was feeling so lousy I actually turned off my phone and left it in the pocket of my coat when they helped me get out of it. Couldn't deal with anything...no noise, no light...ugh horrible. I haven't had one that bad since.

That's what the expired dfib pads are for. You put them on the pt.'s chest and then rip the hair off and then place the good pad where you need it to be. Try getting the pads to stick when the pt.'s skin is slimy....that's more fun.

Thanks to all the replies confirming that I am indeed not crazy. I thought briefly that I was losing my mind. After my stupidly long shift I slept for 16 hours and feel normal again. Survived the rest of the week without incident. Back to my normal night shifts next week...lord knows I am not going through that again!

I had the weirdest experience the other day and with 12 years experience as a tech this was a new one for me. Wondering if this has ever happened to any of you before. I have been a vollie in my local FD for the last 12 years. I was teaching (as my paid job) until recently when I quit to take a job as a AEMT full time working overnight shifts doing job site medical (which I love). The last week has been a little stressful...working 12 hr shifts and not getting much sleep in between. So Sunday I worked 9 hrs, then Tuesday 12 hrs. Wednesday into Thursday 12 hrs then picked up an 8 to cover someone else (with a four hour break in between). This is not my normal schedule as I was covering a site that I don't normally work. Next week I am back to my normal site/hours! Here is where it gets interesting: I had gone home after one of my shifts to sleep (I had 12 hours off) and was asleep for 2 1/2 hours when my FD pager activated. I remember hearing my pager go off and then the next thing that I know I am standing in the middle of the ER that wen had transported the patient to. I have no recollection of the 45 minutes that I was on the call, don't remember anything that happened, don't remember talking to the patient or any of the crew. There were 2 other techs on the call so I didn't have to write out the paperwork. Apparently I was acting perfectly normally and no one had a clue what had happened. When we got back to the firehouse I mentioned it to my 1st Lt. (I'm the Captain currently) as he has been in this line of work for 25 years. He didn't seemed too concerned and said I was acting like I do on every call I go on. I then spoke to two of my other friend who are medics and they both said it has happened to them before. Both said it happened to them when they were over tired/sleep deprived. I could totally see that feasible as I had gotten 6 hours of sleep in 3 days. Any thoughts??

I get migraines so I can sympathize. Last time I was in the ER with a bad migraine they gave me Benadryl IV 50mg, Compazine for the nausea and some pain meds I can't remember the name of. Slept for quite a while after that cocktail! I hope you feel better real soon. Maybe he was referring to Dilaudid?

In your first scenario....as long as there is no difficulty breathing you can really use a nasal cannula and continuously suction (get an emesis basin ready for vomiting) or have the patient hold the mask by their face and move it away so you can suction. If the car accident is that bad and they are on a backboard and in a collar you will need to keep one side of the backboard tilted up otherwise there will be vomiting! I had a patient one time that I gave the suction catheter to and had him place it in his mouth and he did the suctioning himself (long story). I can't imagine a scenario where there would be that much bleeding from a mouth...maybe a severed tongue....but then you'd have facial injuries and broken teeth too...gets more complicated after that. Second scenario...if the patient is in cardiac arrest you will need to suction to clear the airway as well as do CPR. Hopefully if you have an ALS provider there so the patient can be intubated to protect and manage the airway.

Not to bust chops but if you were smart you'd work as an EMT for a few years before going to Medic school. They base everything in the curriculum on experience and it will be that much harder for you to pass going in with no experience on the street at all. I've been in this business for 12 years...join a vollie dept if you can too. That's how I started out.