Dustdevil

Minus five for using unapproved abbreviations. CA is in most agencies' approved abbreviation lists, but it doesn't usually mean whatever you are using it to mean. And, luckily for us, most of us on this board aren't in the Northeast, so please speak English if you want people to understand you. ADVICE for your first shift, and for your career: Pay more attention to medicine and procedures than trying to fit in with the cool kids by learning the local lingo. Good luck!

We have completely eliminated the problem here. Instead of working 24's, we work 24/7. There is no shift change. We simply never go off shift. :?

Haha! Right here on my desk! It takes forever to send anything out of here though. First, I have to get free of patients long enough to go to the main post office on the other side of the base (30 minute drive). Then I have to stand in a line that lasts, at a minimum, two hours to get to the counter. Then they have to inspect the contents of every outgoing package before I can seal it and mail it. Before I do that again, I am waiting to get several packages ready to do at once. I haven't forgotten you. Should be soon!

I don't know what brought up this "x3" and "x4" crap, but before you get too self-righteous about it, you should go back to school. Only uneducated, wanker, protocol monkeys use either one of those terms. Medical professionals actually understand and describe exactly what their patients are and are not oriented to, and understand exactly what it means. The numbers you are using are pointless and will only get you slaughtered in court, or by any medical professional reviewing your documentation. And, by the way, by pointing out the error of your ways, the members here are being supportive of you. If all that happened here was people telling you what you want to hear, that would not be supportive. If you have half a brain, and any inclination of being a true professional, you will listen to them. Before you buy another thing, I would seriously check into how much they are going to reimburse you for malpractise insurance. You're going to need it more than any piece of equipment in your trunk.

Sweet! I knew there had been some pending legislation about ALS supplies on commercial flights, but I was thinking last I heard it was stalled in committee or something. I knew about the AEDs, but that's just first aid now, albeit "advanced" first aid. Anyhow, despite all the whining about liability and jurisdiction, etc... I find it extremely hard to believe that there would be many medics in the country who would silently sit by on a flight and not respond to the call for help. Even the most hardcore burnouts.

Screw them. If the wankers spent less money on electronic cardiology stethoscopes, star of life tattoos, and useless crap from Galls, they could afford a $30 dollar co-pay for $300 dollars worth of medical care. Don't like that co-pay? Move to Canada and wait three months for your "free" doctors visit that cost you ten percent of your salary. :roll:

I reiterate... it doesn't take a licence to perform first aid, which is the only thing you can do up there anyhow, so the licence issue is a non-factor.

Hmmm... well, I can highly recommend the STOMP bag, but I am not sure it would be convenient for general trauma use in the civilian world. You have to undo 6 buckles and two zippers just to get at the first compartment, which is a hassle. You have to lay it down and unfold it to get to the contents. And for strict BLS use, it really holds a lot more than you probably would need for anything less than mass casualty. I mean sure, you cold pack some big bottles of irrigation and burn dressings and splints in there and fill it up, and that wouldn't be unreasonable. But again, it would probably be more bag than you want to carry on your back while riding. I don't know anything a bout the Stat-Packs, but they have a good reputation. I would definitely get something smaller than a STOMP. The Blackhawk "Special Operations Medical Pack is a good choice. It's what the Navy corpsmen carry here instead of the Stomp. It's not made for jumping, so it doesn't have all the fasteners, and it's a tad bit smaller. Definitely more practical for most uses. As for the tiny instrument loops in the front compartment of the STOMP, I also find them useless. I solved that problem in fifteen minutes with a scalpel. Just carefully cut the stitching out of the little loops and they become big loops. Look carefully at the photo and you can see that where the tiny loops were, I now carry the TraumaDex pouches. They would also hold Kling, triangulars, Surgipads, or whatever. Just be careful to not cut out the stitching that goes through to the compartment dividers below.

Wow! Lots of wonderful news in your life! That's awesome to hear. Well... all except the New York part. Ugh! Thanks for thinking about me! Best of luck to both of you at USMA. That's a great position!

Seriously. It takes about twenty seconds for each page to load for me. At first I thought it was just this lame government connection, but then associated it with the beginning of the ads.

First of all, I was not playing forum police. I was just joking around with Nate, who is a friend of mine. Thus, the winkie smilie. Second, the only reason I quoted the rules is because YOU asked. Third, it is just as much my place to comment on his posting as it is your place to comment on mine, so don't get all self righteous on me. You mind your business, and I'll mind mine.

According to City rules, PM would be the correct forum.

Minus five for posting in the wrong forum. :wink:

Cover what? First aid? They're just EMTs, not brain surgeons. There is nothing they can do that any other passenger couldn't do. There is nothing they can do that needs to be "covered" by a certification or licence. Legal issues like that are irrelevant unless you're talking about professional practise. EMTs are not professionals, and first aid is not a practice. But yeah... this whole thing sounds absolutely pointless to me, and I could have told you without even reading the article that it was pushed through by a Democrat and some firemonkeys. I fail to see what it achieves except putting our names on a list that could end up in the wrong hands. Thumbs down.

Good deal. You do have an excellent point. Most lay persons who take CPR are indeed sent out with very inadequate preparation, both for the performance itself, and for the aftermath. I wholeheartedly agree with you that this is something that we as educators need to seriously consider. My only contention is that CISD as we know it (i.e. routine debriefing of all involved in so-called "critical incidents," even before they complain of problems), is very definitely not a vaid option. Many professional rescuers recognised this problem a long time ago and, like myself, have made very real efforts to give their students realistic expectations. The last thing I want is for one of my students to hear a crack or get vomited on and freez up wondering WTF just happened. I know that there is only one thing that will suprise any student who learned CPR from me. That is if the victim actually survives.

I could, but obviously you do not understand cardiology well enough to understand the answer so I won't waste my time. I'll just leave you with one word to ponder: multifocal. Go spend a week with the Dubin book, then a few months in a hospital reading 12 lead EKGs (not staring at a monitor), then get back to us if you still have any questions. If you have never seen A-fib present semi-regular, you obviously weren't a monitor tech for very long. Or else you simply sucked at it. I've seen it twice this week. And barging in here to tell everybody they are wrong when you yourself can't even tell us what is correct is just plain stupid. Oh, and occurrence is spelled with two Rs. Minus five for not using spell check. Minus five for replying to a topic that has been dead for four months. Minus ten for the most horrible first post I have ever seen made on this forum.

Before you get too carried away with this train of thought, I would spend a few minutes researching the current literature on the validity of CISD itself. It's crap. It's worse than useless. It is potentially harmful. And about the only people supporting it anymore are those who have a vested financial interest in it. I'm sure the supporters of CISD would love your premise, because professionals are dumping CISD right and left. Those whose whole professional identity is attached to CISD now need a new audience to sell their snake oil to. Lay persons would be a prime target for that. There's a sucker born every minute. And yes, I DO teach my CPR students about ALL of those potential occurrences. Any instructor who does not sucks!

Plus five for an excellent first post! :thumbright: It is refreshing to see a newcomer actually give serious consideration to something more substantial than what kind of stethoscope and light bar he is going to buy. Should you choose to actually pursue this career (which I advise against), I have great hope for your success. Yes, there are tonnes of places where you do not have to wait years to attend paramedic school. In fact, probably most places, you do not have to. And I advise against working as a basic before attending paramedic school. All it does is give you an attitude and bad habits, both of which are hard to break. Working for three years between EMT and medic school makes about as much sense as working three years between middle school and high school. Nada. If you can avoid it, do. Best of luck!

Bingo! BEorP beat me to it. The only way that bubble contributed to the collision is by giving your friend an adrenaline rush and a sense of invincibility that caused him/her to drive like an idiot. You are right. Without the bubble, he/she probably would not have wrecked. But alas, I must admit... I have a gumball too! :oops: But it's damn sure not on my personal vehicle!

I never wear gloves, unless it is a sterile field. I always wear my seatbelt. Even in back. Helmet too.

The best tip I can give you is to not take shortcuts. Congratulations, and best of luck!

What's with all the double posts lately? :? I'd be happy to share the stats with you if I still had them. Maybe you keep every newspaper, magazine, and journal around long after you have read them, but I don't. I absorb the info and discard the source. Otherwise, there would be no room to live in my home. Not to mention the fact that I am NOT home and won't be for quite awhile. Suffice it to say that I did not pull this out of my arse. It was a long study with published statistics, evaluating the impact of the law a couple of years after its passing.

LMAO! Those aren't sheets. There are no sheets on the bed in that pic. Just two sleeping bags (one used as a cover when it gets cool in the middle of the night. The other used as a mattress pad under the sheets). The sheets were in the laundry that day. There are two mattresses on the bed. The bottom one has big flowers or something on it, I think. Now I guess I'll have to go look at it tonight! What you can't see in the pic is the air conditioner unit that is in the wall directly over my bed. By the time all the other beds finally cool off, mine is farking freezing, come about 0300.

I brought it with me with just my basic tools in it (otoscope, opthalmoscope, stethoscope, pulse ox, scissors, suture set, laryngoscope, and a few bandages), and stocked it out with consumables when I arrived. I figured I'd be the odd man out with the LBT bag, since most of the Army uses the STOMP. Interestingly, the issue item in this area is the LBT, which are identical to mine. Although, the Marines are utilising another similar bag that is OD and covered in MOLLE webbing and, I think, only has one compartment. I have yet to dig into one. You still also see some of the basic woodland camo MOLLE bags with all the big mesh flaps that fold out. Pretty much, when you get here, you dump out all your old standard battle dressings and replace them with the Izzys, CAT's, etc... For both civilian and military, most guys will recommend that you bring your own bag and basic tools. You never know what you will or will not be able to get when you get here. Leave all the consumables at home, but if you want to be sure you have the bag you like and the blades you use, bring your own. As for the haemostatics, what is carried varies from AO to AO. Being on a Joint Service base, I am lucky to have access to everything. The only one I have used so far is the HemCon dressings, which I absolutely love! They plug a hole like a tampon and do a very good job of stopping bleeding without the mess or side effects of QuickClot. I hear conflicting anecdotes about QuickClot and TraumaDex, but if used properly under ideal conditions, it seems to help. Problem is, proper use and ideal conditions are elusive in this environment, accounting for many failures. And, of course, they really have no place in civilian EMS. We don't have the EZ-IOs here. Or, if we do, I am unaware of it. We should! Now I am going to have to go scrounging and see if I can find any. As for Quick Trake, I haven't used it and probably won't. I can do a scalpel/Shiley trach faster and more efficiently. But I'll still keep the kit in the bag just in case. Hespan is what we currently carry. I get no choice in the matter, and actually haven't really kept up with the debate. Whatever I can get, I use. The only other fluid we carry is NS, just for simplicity. The cool thing we have is something that is new to me, adjustable drip sets that you can change from 10 to 15 to 60 gtts/min. I love those! There are plenty of STOMP IIs around here. We even have one in our response vehicle. I prefer it to the more expensive LBT bag. The STOMPs are a tad bit roomier because of the way they are sewn. They expand better. The handles and straps are more ergonomic. It wears more comfortably. And frankly, they are just better constructed. The layout is identical between the two bags though. I don't have any pouches set up on my vest as of yet. I have been trying to find pouches that suit my needs. So far, all I can find are those that have a bunch of useless little loops and pockets in them for wanker supplies. I need some that are just wide open for stuffing 3 or 4 Izzys into, like the Navy Corpsmen carry. The vests are MOLLE webbed, so I can hang crap anywhere on it. Once I find some good pouches, I'll post a pic of the vest. And yes, I do carry bandaids! That little OD green pouch hanging off the side of the bag is nothing but bandaids, wipes, bacitracin, and NuSkin.

Awww... I'm honoured to be the subject of your first post! Thank you for your kind thoughts. I wish we had gotten to meet up before I left. So close, yet so far. I'll be home for a week at the end of October though.