Dustdevil

Sure, but they do not have to pay you for that. I think that is the problem that is concerning K. "Family Leave" is nothing but a fancy name for being able to quit your job and come back later. Not really a "benefit." If you're a valued employee, coming back would not be a problem, no matter how many weeks it's been. Word. But I can't really blame businessmen who hold this attitude either.

Sweet. You are quite right that goals and priorities change, especially in the younger years. You are wise to remain flexible until such time that your heart is solidly drawn to a particular path. At that time though, you would also be wise to discard all other diversions and focus. Time flies quickly. You'll be 50 before you know it. 8) Anyhow, Sounds a little heavily packed to me, but that's pretty hard to qualify or quantify. You can always do the "what if" thing and justify just about anything. You'll be a wanker everyday you carry that 40 pound pack around... right up to the day you actually need it, and then you suddenly become visionary. You're going to know better than me what the potential is there on your campus. I just sure hope that is an aluminium oxygen cylinder! Remember, if you are going to be performing first response duties with another agency ultimately transporting, that agency is not impressed by the thoroughness of your bandaging and splinting, and in fact wish you wouldn't have done it at all because it screws up their ability to assess the patient. Consequently, bandages and splints are something most people could go a lot lighter on for first responder bags. Although, of course you have to consider the possibility of "treat and release" situations where the patient will simply catch a POV to the ER, where a sling and swath or wrist splint would be good. But remember, the liability of "treat and release" can be serious. I think I'd dump the pedi BVM and Broslow tape. But then I don't really care about kids either. Find something better for suction. Even if it is just a 60cc cath tip syringe with an ET tube stuck on the end. That should be a much bigger priority than any of the other things you listed. If you can get them, a fingertip pulse ox and a glucometer would be helpful additions to the diagnostic pouch. What about an AED? Will you have one of those? If you're lucky enough to be in a position where they will be ordering one, be sure and talk them into the Philips with the monitor screen on it. Doesn't cost any more than the crap arse Lifepak, and much better. Good luck!

Hopefully, with all the southern Californians here at The City, somebody will have some specific info for you regarding this particular employer. But I ask you, do you "really want this job" enough to use the search function here and find the previous topics with advice on job interviews? :wink: You will find that quite helpful!

Number one on that list would be, "Why no sitting in on classes?" Unless this guy just thoroughly blew me away with a dazzling and ingelligent answer, my immediate follow-up would be, "What are you trying to hide?" I'd be interested in their national accreditation status. I don't think they will get near that without an examiner "sitting in" on some classes. Are they accredited? If not, why not, and are they working on it? If they weasel word about how accreditation doesn't really matter, laugh and walk away. At least get a tour of the facility. What do their skills labs look like? Are they well stocked and organised, or are they barren and a totaly unorganised wreck? Do they have the latest equipment, or is the place jammed full of foam cervical collars and Thomas Half Ring splints gathering dust? If the place is a mess, that means that not only do the instructors not care, they also don't expect professionalism out of their students. Walk away. What are the qualifications of their instructors? What is their education? Are they true educators, or just moonlighting firemonkeys who never set foot on a college campus before taking this part-time gig? What are their prerequisites for entrance into the programme? I believe it was George Carlin who wisely said he wasn't interested in being a member of any group that would accept him. Similarly, anybody who goes to a school that it wasn't hard to get into is probably screwing himself. Do they want you to have educational prerequisites (a good thing)? Do they want you to have a certain amount of BLS experience (a pointless thing)? Ask them why they believe you should choose their school over others. Their answers should tell you a lot about their priorities and philosophies. For even better insight, ask them what they can tell you about the other schools. If they don't know the competition, that is a bad sign. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What is truly superior about their programme? What would they like to improve on, and what are they doing about it? What do their clinical uniforms look like? There are some schools that I would never attend simply because they dress their people up like security guards and firemonkeys. And again, that says a lot about their professional philosophy. Speaking of clinicals, you'll definitely want to know where their clinical facilities are. Having some experience in the area, that should help you judge what kind of clinical experience you will get. Although, that is not an easy judgment to make. Small community hospitals aren't necessarily inferior to larger centres, depending upon the accomodation of the staff and, of course, your efforts to maximise the opportunity. I'm not so sure about the value of the employment question. It sounds like it might not be really relevant in your area for a couple of reasons. First, FD hiring stats will skew the relevance of the answer, unless becoming a firemonkey is your goal. Make sure you clarify that when they start spouting off numbers (which I doubt they actually have). Also of factor is, with all these private ambo companies around the area, I expect they probably hire anybody with a patch, regardless of where they went to school, making hiring stats sort of random. This has been covered here before, but it was a good while back. I'll think of more questions later. Good luck!

EDIT:Ooops! I just now figured out the "waffle" reference. Beacause of your excellent English writing skills, I was unaware that you were not in the US. Being unfamiliar with the system there, I am unable to intelligently comment upon the state of affairs there. Perhaps you can take a few minutes to tell us a bit about the education, training, and procedures for EMS there? But still, minus 5 for resurrecting a long dead topic with nothing of value to add. :wink:

Impossible. That never happens. NEVER. :wink:

Haha! Good call! I was actually all set to post a literary masterpiece here, but then I realised it had all pretty well been covered.

Cop = Assault with a deadly weapon. Felony prosecution and jail time, in addition to the obligatory firing for using unauthorised force. The state would be very wise to wash their hands of this loose cannon. The firemonkey WILL win if he brings a civil suit for damages, and the state will like like idiots if they are standing beside him. Firemonkey = Well, you can't fire him. He's not employed. :? But I certainly cannot imagine any professionally managed organisation keeping him on the roster after this display of criminally negligent behaviour. As for prosecution, I would certainly do so if state statutes allow for it, which in some states would be debatable. City Council = Fired for failing to provide professional medical services to their community.

You really need to get over that. Soon. :wink:

:roll:

I don't think that Timmy threw the term around unreasonably. Drinking with consequences is, by definition, alcoholism. Yes, I see a lot of drinking in the medical community. When I worked nights at the Dallas County hospital ER, about half of the staff would go straight to a "morning happy hour" at a club that was open just for night-shifters every morning. Fifty doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, cops, firemen, and medics stumbling out, completely blotto, into the noon sun and driving home. Popularity doesn't make something right. I have had two paramedic friends kill themselves with alcohol over the years. Face down in your own vomit is no way to be remembered as a medical professional. The "weakest of the herd" analogy is interesting and applicable. You see, it is the weak ones who feel the need to follow the crowd. And losing them occasionally only makes the herd stronger. Personally, I have a very strict rule about drinking. I won't touch the stuff if there is even the slightest chance that, within the next eight hours, I will have to drive, fight, or fornicate. And, because I remain eternally optimistic about my chances of getting lucky, I basically don't drink. :wink:

Careful! You're falling for VS's trap! We could turn that question around and ask, what good are all those drugs when you don't have the educational foundation necessary to appropriately utilise them? The knowledge base is necessary BEFORE the skills. Education is not something you go back and get after you start killing people with your skills.

What blowjob nonsense? :? I must have missed something. The only part of any of those that was worth watching was the last five seconds of the first video when the arsehole with the camera gets busted, haha! I hope he was thrown out of the class. :twisted:

Having thoroughly trashed Helicopter EMS, Dr. Bledsoe may now be turning his attention to this running joke we call "Tactical EMS." Here is an interesting abstract he recently posted (but did not author) to another forum. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Effectiveness of Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS): A Systematic Review Michael J. Feldman, Laurie J. Morrison, Brian Schwartz, Sunnybrook-Osler Centre for Prehospital Care, Toronto, Ontario Introduction: Tactical law enforcement operations pose an increased risk of injury or death to civilians and officers. As many as one third of missions result in injuries. There are no current systematic reviews of the effectiveness of TEMS. Objective: To systematically review the evidence for the effectiveness of TEMS on patient outcomes. Methods: Medline (1966-2005) and EMBASE (1980-2005) were searched for citations indexed using one of the subject headings "emergency medical services," "police," "law enforcement," or the keyword "tactical." Three blinded authors independently conducted a hierarchical selection based on title and then abstract. Agreement between reviewers was calculated at each level of the review. In addition, a hand search of The Tactical Edge, the official publication of the National Tactical Officers Association, was conducted for 1989-2005 for all articles on TEMS. Articles were selected for inclusion if they pertained to outcomes, effectiveness, best practices, or guidelines in civilian TEMS. Results: The literature search yielded Medline 184 citations and 135 from EMBASE. Of these, 15 articles were selected for full review. An additional 18 articles were identified in the hand search. The kappa statistic between the authors was 0.51 ± 0.03 for titles and 0.63 ± 0.04 for abstracts selected. Study quality was limited. Only four studies examined outcomes, and none were randomized or blinded. One evaluated tactical awareness training for emergency physicians, and three reported outcomes in psychiatric patients to which police responded. There were three position statements by major U.S. or international organizations. The remaining articles reported on standard practices in specific areas of TEMS, team configurations, and training. No articles specifically addressed tactical considerations for disasters, and only one discussed issues pertaining to terrorism or hazardous materials events. DISCUSSION: A large body of TEMS literature exists, which describes team configuration, training, planning, preventative and emergency care, communication, weapons safety, specialized equipment, hazardous materials, terrorism, evidence preservation, considerations for austere environments, medicine across the barricade, medical intelligence, response to psychiatric emergencies, and postmission support. Despite this, there is little evidence on effectiveness of TEMS. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In other words, the Tactical EMS community and concept are analogous to a Democratic politician. A lot of big talk, promises, and pectoral puffery, but when it comes right down to it, the Emperor has no clothes.

LOL! Pretty much! But really, I don't lose sleep over the wanker factor unless it is hurting the profession or putting the public at risk. If somebody wants to wear a plumbers pouch full of haemostats and paste giant Star Of Life stickers all over his piece of crap pickup truck, that's fine with me. It's only when they start jumping runs they have no business on, or driving dangerously that I take public issue with it. In this case, it was beginning to sound like you were contemplating a little freelancing, unassociated with any reputable EMS provider agency. If that is the case, I take issue with it because of both of the above stated reasons. You have already made clear your intentions to go on to medical school. That makes you not an EMS professional, but merely an EMS tourist. You're apparently not interested in becoming a real member of the profession who contributes to the betterment of the art or strives to make it a better career for yourself and those who come after you. For you, it's just a hobby. Something to whet your appetite for blood and guts til you can move on. Nothing personal, because you are a well spoken, intelligent, accomplished, and ambitious young man whom I respect, but you will find that those of us who have devoted a lifetime to trying to make this a real profession do not appreciate those who come along and cheapen it by treating it as just a stepping stone to something better. Think about it. You are calling the thing I have devoted over thirty years to, nothing but a temporary diversion, not worthy of your lifelong commitment. Can you understand why many of us might take offence to that? And if you are giving it away for free, just for the thrills (Lone Wolf ops are not "experience."), not only are you not contributing to the profession, you are hurting it. You're taking away a job from somebody who actually wants to make this a career and raise a family on their education. If you're here for serious business, I ask that you please take time to re-evaluate your motivations and your plans to fulfill them. If you're just passing through because you think this is something fun to do for a couple of years, then please at least get serious about those couple of years and try to do as little damage to the profession as possible during that time. Thanks, and I truly wish you the best of luck.

From what he tells us of your medics there in Lee County, it doesn't sound like either of you have anything to be proud of, outside of employment. And to think that I actually respected you two short posts ago. :?

Who is paying for all of this? And please tell me you are getting paid for doing this.

LOL! What a load of self-aggrandising crap. :roll: If they can only do with their Medical Directors orders what the ordinary citizen with a Red Cross card can do at the mall, I'd have to say their team sucks. And using the $15 thousand dollar AED doesn't make you any better than the guy who uses the $15 hundred dollar one either. Wankers.

Hmmm... I feel a conversation with Dr. Bledsoe coming on.

Okay, so he gets a 30 day vacation and no longer is required to get up five times in the middle of the night for BS. So where exactly is this "discipline" they are talking about? :? If he had screwed up critically on a fire scene, do you think they would have taken his fire cert and let him continue to be a paramedic? :roll:

Before this topic continues, I have to know... Is anybody even currently selling a full auto defib? Or is this just a theoretical discussion about some dinosaur you found on eBay? I thought those were completely abandoned when the SAEDs came out. WTF? :?

Since when did legal theory have anything to do with how it actually works in the judicial system? I'd say that, after paying for the lawyer to get out of the drug bust, there was no money left for a lawyer to fight for the vehicle.

LMAO!! That's hilarious!! That sounds like something straight out of a movie. Like "Kindergarten Paramedic" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Just NEVER tell them if you have a headache!

Haha! Well then I guess I have nothing else to add to that, lol! Personally, I have a great distaste for the Thomas packs altogether. Quality is good. And they have some visionary ideas. Their packs can be well suited to specific applications. But in general, they are just too heavy and complicated for normal EMS work. ALl those little compartments and wrappers add bulk and weight. Plus, who the hell wants to unwrap an IV bag twice? Isn't once enough? Same thing with all the other little inner bags in there. What benefit is there to wrapping every single item up in a cute little colour coded bag? It just slows you down and makes you have to work harder at memorising where everything is. I prefer the KISS principle. The only benefit I see to the Thomas packs at all is that they are indeed packs instead of bags. That is good for SAR work, but it sucks arse for EMS work. I have two of them here that I would LOVE for somebody to take, because they are useless to me. Too big and heavy. I'd rather carry two smaller bags than one huge, unwieldy bag like the Thomas. I keep one packed tight with combat dressings and IVs just as a Mass Casualty bag, but even here it just sits and gathers dust. I can't imagine an individual ever needing that much crap in one place. I just find the Thomas bags completely pointless altogether, but yes... they are fine quality bags. Their little Aeromed pack is nice, and I have found it useful. But it's overpriced and really doesn't offer that big a benefit over any other bag. I dunno. If you got a good deal, great. But for your own personal use, you'll never find a need for all that. You'll decide you want your trunk space back long before you ever use that much crap, lol. Nice avatar! :thumbright:

Canada. :wink: