Dustdevil

I agree. I see no need for a Class A uniform. The mayor doesn't wear one. The city attorney doesn't wear one. The director of health doesn't wear one. If they don't need one, why would I need one? I'm just not into self-aggrandisement, even at funerals. If I am not working on a scene, then there is no immediate need for special identification.

I hear good things about Stony Brook. Of course, I take all second-hand reports with a grain of salt. While I would definitely not call Stony Brook a "patch factory," there are a couple of negatives to consider. First, you will not get a degree from that programme. You'll have to transfer over to CUNY or something after completion to finish up your degree, and that takes a lot of commitment. Most guys never do it. Make sure that CUNY (or whatever else is around you) will accept Stony Brooks programme for college credit. And second, Stony Brook is not nationally accredited (see http://www.caahep.org/ ). This may or may not be a particularly big deal. It depends on WHY they aren't nationally accredited. Do your homework and find out why. Ask them point blank. If they are totally ignorant (or pretend to be) of the whole process, I'd be worried. But, more than likely, they aren't deficient. They just haven't bothered to apply yet. Still, find out for yourself. If they aren't motivated to excel and show it through accreditation, then how motivated are they to help YOU excel? I'm glad to hear that you are in a stable personal situation right now. Full time school -- especially a hard school -- is a real challenge. How you handle it is a good indicator of how well you will handle your career. Give it 110 percent. Don't take shortcuts. Be the best you can be. We'll be here for you, and I'll be interested in hearing of your progress!

Then why does your location say Ohio? The laws of good taste would prohibit that. But no, there is no federal law that would apply. I cannot speak for every state, but in Texas it is common to carry narcs on your person, although not usually ALL of your narcs, just a couple of vials in a small handgun magazine pouch or something like that. You'd have to be carrying a LOT of narcs to need a big pouch like that one. And in a civilian EMS setting, you'd immediately be ostracised as a complete and total uber wanker. However, out here, I carry all of my injectable narcs in an M-16 magazine pouch on my belt, because when I need them, I tend to need a lot of them, not just one vial. Who is "mo?" And if this "mo" is a student, I'd expect him to be able to type a few sentences utilising capital letters and proper punctuation so our eyes don't bleed trying to understand his posts. :wink:

SOF Magazine! Pop Comm! Paladin Press! CRB! Anarchist cookbook! :thumbright: I have the entire "How To Kill" series from before they got banned. :twisted: Remember when SOF kicked arse back in the Rhodesia days? Good times! :headbang:

There is a mixed message going out here that I want to clarify for you. Yes, you should wait a year before going to paramedic school. But no, you should not wait just for the sake of getting EMT-B experience. That's pointless and quite possibly harmful. Take the next year getting your college prerequisites out of the way first. Now, I call them "prerequisites" even though I know that most paramedic schools in NYS aren't through a college, and don't require any prerequisites other than EMT-B cert and experience. But they are truly prerequisites in the sense that, without them, you have no hope of maximising your paramedic school educational experience. Sure, you can finish the school in ten months and get a patch just like everybody else. But once you are in the field, we don't measure you by the colour of your patch. We measure you by, among other things, your knowledge. They simply don't teach you everything you need to know in most of the non-degree paramedic schools that don't require the prerequisites. Since you specifically talk about wanting to make this a career (as opposed to a hobby, like the idiots taking up space in your class), then I am hoping that you want to take this as seriously as it deserves to be taken. If you truly want to be the best you can be, and you want to come out of school with the best possible preparation for practice in the field, then don't even think of starting paramedic school until you have successfully completed at least both semesters of college Anatomy & Physiology, collge algebra, and intro psychology. Preferably, you should also have microbiology, developmental psychology, and sociology behind you too, but those can be completed simultaneously with paramedic classes without detracting too much from the process. They should certainly all be done before you finish paramedic school. The only people who will tell you differently are those people who do not have that serious education and don't want anybody else too. They simply do not know what they do not know. And it shows. What kind of "trade school" did you complete? Is it something that will allow you do make a decent living during the next two years of school as you study to be a paramedic? I hope so! And what paramedic school are you considering attending that does not require EMT-B experience as a prerequisite? That's actually a good sign. But beware. NYC is full of unaccredited patch factories posing as paramedic schools. Choose your school carefully and wisely. And don't fall for the temptation to take one of those intermediate "AEMTCC" or other silly half-arse courses. Those are nothing more than baby steps for volunteers who don't have the time, money, or professional devotion to go all the way. Go straight to paramedic without any detours! Best of luck! :thumbright:

LOL! Years back, my best friend was working for a private service, and the owner had called an all-hands meeting at headquarters. The ambulances were parked outside, and everybody was assembled in the empty ambulance bays with the owner standing up in front of them and telling them how disappointed he was that he was not going to be able to afford the raises everybody had been looking forward to. Suddenly, during this speech, everybody started laughing at him. He couldn't figure out why until he turned around and looked behind him. A truck had pulled up out front to deliver his big new boat.

I sorta do. I carry all my injectable narcs on my belt, and IV antibiotics in the trauma bag. Trauma is the most common "fast paced call" out here, so that works out well. With those two things on me at all times, I rarely ever have a need for my drug bag.

Exactly. It also depends upon the form of morphine you are drinking. But if you are drinking normal, injectable MSO[sub:3616dae565]4[/sub:3616dae565], like we carry in EMS, you're only going to enjoy about one-tenth of the effects of injecting the same amount. The digestive process breaks down the rest. So, if you down a 10mg vial PO, you'll be lucky to even get a buzz. You'd be better off drinking a couple of beers.

:shock: You're a bloody genius, mate! :occasion5:

Except for the coasts (BC and NS, who wear white over navy), almost every Canadian system I have ever seen wore solid navy blue, top and bottom, just like the cops, except for the reflective striping. There are a few privates in Alberta doing some weird combinations (Grande Prairie and their Barney purple jumpsuits, for instance), but I have not seen green anywhere in Canadia. I'm certainly not opposed to it, though.

I agree, except for government officials and politicians. They should always receive the death penalty in all cases. And I don't even support the death penalty!

Nah, Basics are certainly not the problem. Well, they are a problem, but they are not the problem. I am saying that, without dual medics, you have no effective system of checks and balances at the field level, and you have medics being overworked, leading to more errors. I'm not really saying that basics are a problem. I am saying that more medics are a solution.

LMAO! Look, they were thinking of us!!! They can sew little wanker pockets into them! Maybe even some hot pink reflective stripes for our wanker friends to the north!

Ah! A man who has been around long enough to know how things really work!

Unfortunately for you, you think like an old fashioned dad. Too many fathers today think like pimps. The first thing that crosses their mind is, "I wonder how much money I can get out of this guy?" As if the money does anything to right a wrong.

Exactly. It's typical witch hunt style labelling that the federal government loves to pull, and the media loves to sensationalise. So here's what he pled to; he had consensual sex with a 16 year old girl and her 17 year old friend. Contrary to popular ignorance, that's completely legal in all but a handful of states, and in most countries, including our neighbours to the north and south. But, although the law may allow you to have sex with 16 and 17 year olds, federal law does not allow you to take nude pictures of them. There was no state prosecution, because they knew they had nothing. Just federal prosecution for "Child Pornography" and drug charges. Let's get real. Seventeen year olds are fighting in the military. They are not "children." Neither are 16 year olds. Is he a weird dude who was into some kinky stuff? Sure, I'll give you that. But to toss the "child predator" and "child pornography" terms around that loosely is to cheapen their meanings, which is a disservice to all real victims.

Not hardly. You didn't read the entire report. Regardless, I don't buy your theory. But yeah, awesome book.

What were you doing in his fire englie? :?

LOL! Yeah... I too am visualising about half a dozen different items, trying to figure out which one he is asking about. . You got your nylon holder for a box of gloves. You got your nylon belt pouch/holder for gloves, with the "box" part being a mistake. You got your nylon organiser for holding things that you store in the glove box of your car. You got your holder (which may or may not be nylon) for nylons (as in panty hose), that goes in the glove box of your car. Although the whole grammar thing may seem nit picky to some, this topic is actually a very good example of why it is important.

Incredibly wise and relevant statement! This is SO true in everything we do. This is something that is taught in the police academy (regarding searches, restraints, etc...) that should also be in every EMS textbook. It will keep you out of trouble both legally and medically.

:shock: Ya know... despite how often people refer to this guy's blog here, I have always blown off any urge to go check it out. Franky, I was turned off by the name. I figured it was just another wanker -- albeit a well spoken wanker -- thrilling EMT-wannaB's with his tales of daring-do that would just put me, or anybody else with experience, to sleep. I was wrong. I think I am in love.

Victims of what? For what purpose? He didn't victimise any children. Why should he pay anything to anybody? He paid his debt to society. That's more than enough.

Meh... he was set up. I bought extra books just to help him out.

LMAO! That's beauty! And, I can just picture those wankers -- having ditched class to respond -- going back to their high school the next morning and telling everybody about the lives they "saved."

I agree. This is simple BLS 101. The patient should have had a proper immobilisation and extrication done, utilising full technique, not rapid extrication. Whether or not that could have been achieved under the circumstances before ALS arrived is something I don't know. But I do know that, unless all of your personnel resources were exhausted (not sure if this was the case or not from your description), you should have at least been well into the process by then. Why wouldn't you be? Did you expect that the medics would be any better at working on a screaming, hysterical patient than you were? What, if anything did you do for her prior to ALS arrival? Wendy, "rapid extrication" is for those patients who are so critical that the risk of improper immobilisation is overshadowed by the risk of not immediately managing the ABCs. Rapid extrication is not something you do to make up for dicking around on the scene for too long.