Dustdevil

I verbalise my BSI and my EMT-B partner doesn't ever notice that I don't really put it on.

Yeah, I kinda call BS on VS's claim too. In my "community," Christians and Jews are vastly outnumbered by Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu. So many that even those groups split up into sub-sects. They're so busy fighting each other that they have no time to fight the other religions. We get told where, when, and how we can worship, what we can wear, say, read, watch, and think, so as not to offend the other groups. How many of the rest of you have to put up with that on a daily basis? If you think other religions are more tolerant of "body art," you're very mistaken. I think I'm going to get the O_RLY owl tattooed on my arse!

lolz@anal verge

LOL! Excellent point! That's why real professionals don't chart by the numbers at all. We either say the patient is fully oriented, or else we say exactly what he is and is not oriented to, expanding on any deficits. This works in the medical world. Unfortunately, as we have seen, in the EMS world, a large percentage of the practitioners were never taught a proper assessment in the first place.

In your crunching, have you been able to come up with a transport time of an hour or more, yet? If so, then this should be pretty self-explanitory, considering all that has already been said. If not, then please continue crunching. Many medical questions cannot be answered in "several minutes," once you begin to think above the DOT level. To lead you in the right direction, ask yourself this; how could this information be so absolutely vital to the hospital staff, yet worthess to us? What are they getting from it that we would not, and why would it not benefit us? If you are thoroughly educated and experienced in the L&D process, and aware of the significance of all that is learned from vaginal checks in both the full-term and pre-term pregnancy, but still don't think this is appropriate for EMS on any level, then we have a legitimate discussion on our hands. But if this is simply your way of saying, "I don't need to know all that" without even knowing what it is that you do not know, then we're wasting our time here.

But not before I made him clean a whole lot of pee out of the back of my ambulance.

It is not a matter of what you prefer. It is a matter of doing a full assessment or not. If you are only assessing three parameters of orientation, then you are not doing a full and proper assessment. If you are assessing all four parameters, but only charting three, you are not doing a full and proper documentation. If you are assessing all four parameters and she is only oriented to three of them, then she is not fully oriented and is incompetent to refuse. And, of course, if you have only heard of three parameters and don't know what we are talking about, your education sucked. This is not some new, regional quirk that somebody just pulled out of their arse. This has been a standard for twenty-five years. There is proper practice, and there is improper practice. For true professionals, there is no "choice" of which one you want to practise.

So... you're saying the "best" programme is "not that bad"? That's an interesting proclamation of quality. :? Learning the material is easy when you're only getting two months worth of material from a two year programme. Wouldn't the "best" programme give you all the education necessary to intelligently take human lives into your hands, and not just the very minimum they can get by with?

But probably not. You'll never do either. You'll never have a medical patient, and you'll have a tactical callout about once a year. That doesn't fulfill many needs.

Never? Ever? You completely lack any ability to ever envision a medical need for this in the field? I don't think you understood what Rid was saying. I agree with Spenac. A lot of people here seem to have no significant OB knowledge experience at all. And definitely no rural experience.

Seriiously man, there is nothing in the EMS world that is not known and discussed here at EMT City. There simply is no better source out there. Everyday, I find subjects being discussed elsewhere as if they are earthshattering revelations when we have already been discussing them here for a couple of years. There is no question you will have that hasn't already been addressed here. Get you a case of Red Bull and some nacho chips, strip down to your underwear, kick back in bed with your laptop, and start reading. Start in the "Students" forum first (or the Forum Rules, if you haven't already), then just work your way around. Don't hesitate to jump in, but remember, there is such a thing as a stupid question here. It's the question you ask without first using the search function to find previous discussions of the same question. Got a specific question? Plug it into the search box and go for it. You'll be amazed at how much useful information you will find without having to post a question and wait three days for replies. First question: What exactly do you mean by "language barrier?" Are you talking about medical terminology, or what? And are you looking to become an EMT and get a job, or are you already an EMT looking for a job, or are you already an EMT and already working at your first job? This can help us better guide you without covering a lot of material you don't need. Good luck!

Oh, the irony!! That reminds me of a quote from George Carlin, who says, "Anybody who thinks profanity has lost its shock value just isn't using enough of it!" Lone Star has it right. If you want people to recognise your right to wear a tat, then you are hypocritical to not recognise their right to judge you by the sign you choose to erect on yourself. I have known employers that do not allow tattoos on the arms at all. Period. They are not covered by short sleeves, which are required during the summer. And they are not always covered by watches or bandages, which must be removed for proper hand and arm washing several times per shift. Therefore, prohibited. If you're a female, you already face enough disadvantage in EMS without intentionally compounding it upon yourself like this. It's just stupid and immature. Who wants to hire stupid, immature people? And, by the way, Chuck Norris has no tattoos. Nuff said. 8)

Not always true. In seriously premature labour, this information can be invaluable to the crew and the receiving facility in deciding what to prepare for, and the possibility of diversion. When you have over an hour of transport, things can and do change very rapidly. Labour-like pains in a preemie mom that is not dialating is a very comforting thing that will allow you to transport without panic, and the hospital to wait without panic. Labour pains in a preemie mom who is rapidly dilating is extremely worrisome. You are going to want to have your ducks in a row, and so is the receiving facility. After a one to two hour transport in labour is not when you want your very first eval done! Especially on these young moms with zero prenatal care and a very limited ability to relate their prenatal history because they speak no English. Think outside of the box, people. Not every EMS system is like Turd Watch, with cookbook medics working 5 minutes from three different Level 1 hospitals. There are some extremely remote and unique systems out here -- including mine -- where your standard urban cookbook won't get you past the first ten minutes of three hours of patient care. And I find it a little amusing that many of the same people who always whine about limited protocols, limited, pay, and limited respect will turn around and try to draw concrete boundaries around our practices.

Wait... do your policies/protocols/whatever address this? If so, what do they say specifically? Why would they train you to do this if they didn't intend you to do it? If they do intend you to do this, are you not practising negligently by not doing so? Talk about not having a leg to stand on! I'm confused.

None speaking English, none with prenatal care, and none over eighteen either!

Yes. Read the EMT City forums carefully and often. :wink:

Yep. Ever notice how many people say they are "saving up" for a tat? Dude, if you have to save up for it, you can't afford it! And tattoo removers charge a lot more money than tattoo artists. Coincidence? I think not. Obviously, society places a lot more value on the former than the latter. But hey... at least Amy's not getting a retarded Star Of Life, Maltese Cross, or FDNY 9/11 tattoo. That's a good sign. 8)

As an EMT-B, on duty, working under the immediate authorisation and/or protocols of a licensed Medical Director, you might be. But none of that applies off duty, which is the scenario you are talking about. And, since you are not yet an EMT, you do not yet have a Medical Director, so no... you are not authorised to utilise it.

Yeah, the whole concept just cracks me up. "Hey, I think I'll show my non-conformist individuality by getting a tattoo... like everybody else!" Stephen Franzoi, a social psychologist who studies physical attractiveness and body esteem at Marquette University, agrees that young adults now view bod-mod as a mainstream form of self-expression. But savor the paradox: "Interestingly enough," he points out, "the desire to express your own unique qualities, is, in one sense, an act of conformity. It's a social norm that an increasing number of young adults are conforming to." The paradox of rebelling-while-conforming is a hoary notion, he adds, that also surfaced in the long-haired 1960s. But long hair can be sheared. Tattoos and pierces are, if not permanent, certainly harder to undo. Could today's flights of self-expression become an albatross in tomorrow's job-market? Perhaps, Franzoi warns. "The people who are doing this are looking at the short-term benefit in terms of self-expression... but they aren't taking into consideration some of the long-term negative consequences.... There is a stigma in mainstream culture against elaborate tattoos, and there will be discrimination in job hiring. It's the same with body pierces, if they are very noticeable and elaborate, people might not be hired for certain jobs." Tattoos are statistically correlated with increased health risks, lower income, lower education, smoking, drinking, substance abuse, promiscuity, self-destructive behaviour, low self esteem, non-conformism and rebellion, an inability to resist peer pressure, psychopathology, and a laundry list of personality disorders. Why would I want to hire this person?

No kidding! About halfway through that, I was like, "WTF are they going???" I thought maybe the jail was just down the block or something, and they were going to walk him there!

Interesting things are said at paramedic schools taught inside of medical schools. Many of the lecturers are MD specialists in the respective discipline that have no real knowledge or understanding of paramedic practice. Consequently, they don't know how in depth to get with us, and they tend to lecture to us as if we are residents. In that setting, I've heard at least three OBs lecturing to paramedic classes advise them to perform episiotomies if the tear appears imminent, and then go on to explain and illustrate the procedure. It's always priceless to see the look on the instructor's face about this time -----> :shock: In the same rural system where we were to do dilatory checks, episiotomies were also allowed, but none of us ever did one in the several years I was there.

:shock:

And the "A" stands for... [spoil:4dffbc765f]ACIDOSIS[/spoil:4dffbc765f] :wink: