Dustdevil

Maybe where you're from. Not me. No EMT's in EMS here. Although I suspect you probably consider carrying grandma to dialysis for Joe Bob's Ambulance and Wrecker Service to be "EMS." I don't. I would not live in a community that did not provide full-time professional paramedics. I care more about my life and my family than I do promoting wanker jobs for unemployable illiterates.

Searching the term "thorogood" here at EMT City brings up the following topics that may be of assistance to you: http://www.emtcity.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4360&start=0 http://www.emtcity.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph...642&start=0 Notice that those topics are in the EQUIPMENT forum, where this one should be. There are also other "boots" discussions there. As I stated back in the second topic... 1. Don't buy anything you haven't actually worn on your own foot first. 2. Nothing is more important than fit and feel. Forget about looking for specific name brands. Buy what feels best on YOUR foot for the price you want to pay. NOTHING is more important or even worth considering.

I completely disagree with the both of you. In my extensive experience teaching both full-time and part-time for the Red Cross, I see that the majority of those who take FA and CPR courses are there ONLY because they are required to be for employment or certification. If they could get the card without taking the course, most would be happy to do it with absolutely no second thoughts about it. They just don't care. What that means to you is this; the single most important factor to them is time. They want out early, regardless of course content or how much they learn. Consequently, the best way to make them happy and get good ratings from your students is to get them out early. Does this sound familiar? It should. It is exactly what we see with most EMT and Paramedic students too. They want the shortest school they can possibly get, and the faster it ends, the happier they are, regardless of content. So, you should be able to relate. Now... what do most of us -- Race included -- think of this approach in EMS? We think it sucks and is unconscionable. It should be in FA training too. I have experienced the opposite problem in my FA classes. Admin and some students constantly whine that the class goes fifteen to thirty minutes overtime. It's not really the FA portion that holds the class up. It's the CPR portion that holds it up. Studies show that even when CPR is done 100 percent perfectly, it results in only a very small fraction of the circulation necessary to sustain life. How many FA students REALLY perform 100 percent perfect? How many know exactly what to do when the victim aspirates? How many are even told that the patient WILL aspirate? How many actually find the proper hand position correctly? How many know how to proceed when an airway obstruction develops during (not before) CPR? I find it extremely rare that lay instructors teaching FA/CPR to lay persons demand any significant level of perfection in student performance. Mostly because the instructor has never even done CPR on an actual patient and has no clue how a real patient responds. As a PCP student, you are probably in that same boat. But guys like Race and myself can't use that excuse. I don't care that my students' main priority is to get a card and go home. MY main priority is to prepare them to render competent lifesaving aid to my fellow human beings. As an experienced EMS provider, you simply cannot do that in the minimum allotted time in most cases. As an inexperienced, lay instructor, you can. MedicDude, you don't know any better yet because you have no experience. Consequently, you are limited to only that you learned from the lay instructor who taught you. But once you have some real experience and street time, things change. You will realise how inadequate the information you were giving was and hopefully you will adjust to make your instruction more relevant, even if it takes a little longer. But honestly, you probably won't continue teaching once you start working.

Yes. Period. Nobody with less education than my barber and exterminator should be inserting anything into another human body for vocation, profession, or hobby. End of discussion.

I am.

Check the "EMS Off The Road" forum. That's what it is all about. Nice signature line.

They can get there faster, because they are not at home, five miles from the station, watching "Turd Watch" or "Saved" with their pants around their ankles. They can do a better assessment and render more proficient treatment because they get more practise. They can respond to ALL calls for service because they are required to, and not ignore the tones for the fever or the elderly broken hip at 0200 becuase it doesn't sound exciting enough for them. They can attend more continuing education because they aren't working a second full-time job somewhere taking up all their time. That's just for starters. I could go on, but it's already been done here a million times. I never said you were closed minded. I only said you were not yet seeing the big picture. And, in fact, I said I felt confident that after a little education, you were quite capable of seeing the big picture, instead of making myopic "face value" assumptions. And YOU are the reason why. If you were an experienced paramedic, you would know the point. If your mother died of a heart attack because there was no paramedic, you would know too. Or, you might possibly just complain that volunteer EMT's should be allowed to do paramedic skills in your community, but I sure hope not. I do. I have frequently stated so. I give them as much credit as I give anybody who takes a first aid course in hopes of helping their fellow man. It's wonderful. We need lots more people like that in every community. But they have no business on an emergency ambulance. And, in fact, their 120 hours of training would be laughed out of the station in most every other civilised country in the world. I don't doubt that is your motivation. I am not questioning your personal motivation. I am only saying that you are misinformed and misguided, because if you really wanted to help your community, you would be at every city council and county commissioners meeting pushing them to provide full-time professional paramedic services to YOUR community, not giving them excuses to not do so.

NR does recognise the current SOCOM paramedic cert. I assume you went through before they integrated with NR curriculum. If you are certified in any state, you can challenge NR for national certification. That's what most Texans have done, as the state only recently went with NR. You can have NR carry you under your particular state, or your branch of service. It gets sticky there though. Air Force is not recognised by NR as an ALS provider. Only the Army is, since the SOCOM school is considered Army by NR. Consequently, my cert is carried by the Army, which raises eyebrows with the paper pushers at Fort Sam who are still wondering who I am. But yeah... the Cypress Creek and HK tac medic courses are almost exclusively about civilian law enforcement SWAT tactics and integrating with a team. They teach you very little-to-nothing about medicine. Medical knowledge and proficiency is assumed. The courses are seriously over-hyped for medics and almost completely useless to most who complete it, as they never become part of an assault team. If you're looking for real tactical med positions, Blackwater (Iraq) or DynCorp (Afghanistan) are the only two real choices right now, I believe. Other government contractors are doing mostly clinical stuff, although it is still in the combat zone. If you have any questions about those or want some contacts, PM me.

Not compared to the Level III with Level IV inserts I get to wear in the 58 degree desert! At least it's not dark blue! :?

:shock:

Actually, a paramedic would be a much bigger help. Especially as far as the patient is concerned.

LMAO! That's hilarious stuff! And oh so true! :shock: I have a few more days of anti-terrorist and NBC training and then should be flying out before next weekend. I only get online access occasionally here, and not for very long since there is a line of other people waiting. I skipped lunch today to sneak on for a bit. At least I'll have a laptop after Monday, so I can get online from my room! I'll catch up with y'all soon. Thanks to everybody for your kindness and concern! :notworthy:

Of course!

Thick is easier seen than skinny. But really, thick or skinny... WTF is the difference? :? I'm a medical professional, not a cop. And if my shirt is soiled, I change it, not hide it. Besides, it was 32 farking degrees outside. Only an idiot would choose dark, polyester clothing. Personally, I don't like "crests" on either arm. Nobody reads them anyhow, and I have yet to see a doctor or nurse wearing them. And again, I am not a cop. Most of us are neither paranoid nor ashamed of our names. You're just weird. :wink:

Word.

Hamilton, Ontario

Your state licenses EMT-I's? :? Congratulations. I'm not surprised about the practical station. After my experiences with NR practicals, I am convinced that probably at least half of all so-called failures are nothing more than misunderstandings between the examiner and the applicant. They need to somehow assure that examiners all understand English well, because this is a recurrent problem.

But why? Other than "because that's what my protocols say," of course.

It's a Canadian thing. You wouldn't understand. 8)

You show that you are not part of the solution by continually running others into the ground!

Hey VS, did you catch the 6-6-6 story on The Colbert Report last night? Funny stuff!

Quint, read previous discussions. This has all been covered ad infinitum. Funding is not a problem. Parents' wallets don't get raped to send their kids to school, yet we manage to fun hundreds of times more degreed teachers than we do paid paramedics. You really don't think they can do the same for EMS? Use your imagination if you're too lazy to search the forum.

LMAO! I'll work on that! Right now I'm in Canada trying to catch a beaver. :twisted:

Depends upon the protocols. If they are the typical flow-chart, "if A happens, do B" paint-by-the-numbers protocols that do not allow for the medic to forumlate a plan of treatment that is best suited to the patient's condition, then yes, those are cookbooks. You don't get out much, do you? You should. That is exactly how it works in many locations, as well it should. Yeah. And...? You honestly don't think this would be better?? That is exactly our point! It SHOULD be the norm! We SHOULD be able to assume that everybody who calls themselves a paramedic has the education, training, experience and aptitude necessary to diagnose a patient's condition and prescribe a plan of treatment appropriate for them. That is why educational standards are going to have to increase significantly -- measured in years, not hours -- before this joke of a passtime becomes a true profession. I take no pride in being an exception. In fact, I am ashamed that it takes so little to be exceptional in this field.