Dustdevil

You forgot to mention ugly uniforms!! But not one-third as ugly as what the same company makes their employees in Texas wear. :pukeright:

Casino work sounds fun, actually. I've thought that might be fun. Maybe on a cruise ship. Best of luck in your military service. See you in Afghanistan!

I already worked with enough losers from Oregon to know I wouldn't like it, lol. So they can't do the Polo shirt or t-shirt thing there, I guess?

Won't work with me. I rarely ever wore a paramedic patch anyhow. Just the agency patch, if any. Patches are for wankers.

Eliminate from what? From existence, or from practise on ambulances? I'd eliminate Intermediates from existence. But I'd also eliminate Basics from 911 ambulances.

Depends on their local system. But no, the standard scope for most EMT-B's in this country does not include any injection except for an Epi-Pen, and even then, usually only if it is prescribed to the patient. As for hypoxia, yes they can correct it, but they are not given adequate education to assess and evaluate it utilising pulse oximetry. And the use of a pulse ox only encourages them to treat the machine instead of the patient. Their patients should be getting oxygen regardless of what a pulse ox says, so the expense of the machine and the time expended dicking around with it on a scene is too costly. What do you expect out of 110 to a maximum 250 hours of training?

Oh how I wish we could freely import medics from other countries! Let them all in, I say! Flood the market with them! Then all the slugs that are already here will have to either elevate their game or get out. And there will be much rejoicing! They can't treat it. Why should they be encouraged to sit on a scene with a patient and hook him up to machines that do not treat him? The hospital is going to run it all over again. Hell, why don't we just do MRI's and CAT scans in the ambulance? Sure, we can't treat anything we find, but hey, since when did that ever matter to EMT's?

None. I guess I am missing your point too. :?

Well, there are dozens of acronyms for them. Too many to list here, and more being dreamed up everyday on the east coast. But for now I'll just say it means anybody whose title begins with EMT and ends with anything other than P.

You have to understand the history behind this whole thing. The whole reason the "intermediate" and "special skills" courses were implemented was for trauma resuscitation. This was instituted back in the 1970's when we still thought that a couple litres of Ringers in the field was a prudent thing to do for the exsanguinating patient. Although that theory was absurd, it did at the time provide not only justification, but necessity for a great many more field personnel to be able to start IV's. After all, the military had been doing it for over a quarter of a century with no more training than a Paramedic. Those days are long past gone. We haven't believed in isotonic fluid resuscitation for trauma victims since before I left the field. Consequently, both the justification and need for a quickie skills class for IV's is gone. Poof. Kaput. No more. Nil. Nada. Nicht. It died not long after Johnny and Roy left the airwaves. Yes, they still teach it. Old habits die hard. And apparently nobody wants to be the Grinch who breaks the bad news to all the kiddies out there that they can no longer have their toys. Therefore, we are stuck with this culture of entitlement among sub-paramedic providers who believe they should have this little bone of advanced practice, whether they really have any justifiable need for it or not. I want it. I earned it with my extra couple weeks of school. Give it to me. Personally, I don't see how anybody -- especially a medical director -- is impressed by any such argument from people who can't even tell us why they need it. It always comes back to saying they "need" it so they can give this drug or that. And since giving drugs is really the only true justification for IV's in the field, it is an open and shut case. They don't belong in the hands of sub-paramedic providers.

American EMT's? Absolutely not. They shouldn't even be on an ambulance at all, except as a paramedic student. Alberta EMT's? Probably not. A year is barely enough to drill the basics into you, much less advanced physiology and pharmacology. I hear from Ontario PCP's all the time that 2 years was hardly enough.

Thank you. And I sincerely do wish you the very best in your education and career. I was not looking for conflict. I was looking to give you the wakeup that I -- just like Rid -- wish I had gotten much earlier in my career to focus on what was truly important to me and go straight for it instead of continuing to make so many excuses and take so many side roads. You see, there was nobody to give he and I advice when we were young in our careers. There were no old vets around in the 70's and 80's. We had to figure out all this stuff as we went along. Today, you kids have the benefit of nearly 35 years of experience to help you along the way. Take advantage of it. You've got to make that decision now. If you intend to be a doctor, you better be taking a full load THIS SUMMER! No EMT school. No paramedic school. We don't need anymore tourists in EMS. If you're not going to devote yourself seriously to it as a career, then please do us, yourself, and the profession a favour and focus on med school. Without focus, you will NEVER get there. If you intend to be a paramedic, then again, get into school THIS SUMMER and start taking the prerequisites. And forget medical school, because, again as Rid said, it simply doesn't work that way. Paramedic is not a stepping stone to medical school. It is a stumbling block to medical school. Good luck!

Nope. Apparently you have forgotten that not all EMT's are great. In fact, a very large percentage of them suck as 911 providers. No need for anybody here to get defensive about that if it doesn't apply to them. I don't get bent out of shape when people talk about nurses or medics who suck because I have confidence in myself. It's a general discussion. You can't take this stuff personal.

I don't get your drift. Are you saying we should eliminate the PCP level of provider? :-k If you're saying that more drugs and skills should simply be added to the PCP protocols, that would require a total restructuring or extension of the current PCP curriculum to include the new drugs/skills. You obviously can't just say, "Well, you have two years of school, so go ahead and do x, y, and z, even though you never covered it in school." And US medic school is actually much shorter.

Horsecrap. It is my experience that tells me she is on the road to failure, because I've been there. More than once. If she has what it takes, she'll get her head together and overcome the odds rather than complain about them. If not, she'll fail like me. And enablers like you who did nothing to encourage her will share the blame. I'm not wishing her failure. Far from it. I'm pointing her current destination out to her so she can either accept it or change it. And I'll be the first to congratulate her if she succeeds.

Prove me wrong. Quit making excuses and feeling sorry for yourself. Git 'er done! Then you can thank me someday for kicking your arse into gear. Otherwise, I get to gloat about being right. Your choice. :wink:

Forget it. You don't have a snowball's chance. Not enough discipline or dedication, and your credits are too old now. You'd be starting over from square one, yet you can't even afford to go to school full-time, much less give it the kind of effort you'd need to be competitive. Continuing to talk about it will only cause other medics to laugh at you behind your back. For that matter, it's looking like you don't have the discipline or dedication to be a paramedic either. Get your head straight or find another career before you're too old. Tough love, baby!

Anybody with me in thinking this may be a much bigger problem in private services and non-emergency services than in public services and 911 services? From the descriptions I am hearing, especially that last one, I am really starting to see a pattern. I honestly never, ever saw this happen in nearly five years with a major metropolitan FD EMS. I've only seen it with private companies. And even then, only with private companies that ran a lot of transfers. And, of course, that observation leads to speculation on several causes.

If you disagree, then you misread the original post. It very specifically said that I did NOT want discussion. And especially not discussion of what you think of other people's ideas. I only wanted you to list your own ideas. Okay, so how about preference to Veterans? Anybody believe in that? Again, please, NO debate. Just tell me what you think, not your opinions of what other people think.

Ah, okay. Perhaps I could further clarify by acknowledging that I am fully aware that many full-time EMS employees of all levels are also worthless slugs who are not professionals. I did not mean to intimate that all full-time employees are worthy of the title of professional. Many of them are just as worthless to us as the tourists and hobbyists.

Tennessee's misguided attempt to eliminate EMT-B's. You and I both hate it, but for different reasons. :wink:

Point taken. But I would say that we do it not because we enjoy it today, but because we want to be a part of the progression of the profession by improving ourselves and, in turn, improving the profession tomorrow. The professionals are here to move this beast to it's ultimate destination, not to just jump on and off when we have something better to do. The professionals are here because we want to see the profession elevated into something that mature, educated, dedicated, full-time professionals are proud to call their career and are rewarded and respected accordingly. The thrill seekers and tourists are just here for a hobby and hope the profession does not progress into a well-educated career job that excludes them. Then they'd have to take up something like bass fishing, where they don't get a spiffy uniform and a siren. And groupies. It's the difference between being part of the crew on a ship and just being a passenger. Professionals aren't here for the ride. Professionals are here to steer this ship and, if necessary, go down with it.

I would start with your employer. In fact, I wouldn't work for an employer who made me provide my own equipment. And if you are not employed, you probably don't need one. I stop at serious accidents several times a year and have yet to use anything more than a few 4x4's, instant kold packs, gloves and shears. Everything else in your bag will expire or crumble to dust before you use it. And if for some reason you commonly find yourself in a wilderness situation or other unusual need for medical supplies, you would be MUCH better off tailoring your bag to your specific needs instead of relying on some schizophrenic, off-the-rack model that isn't particularly well suited for any purpose. There is a good thread here on the board about what people recommend for personal "jump bags" at http://www.emtcity.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph...002&start=0 . It will offer you some good information. And, of course, if you would like specific advice on preparation for specific situations, then ask away. Somebody here can definitely help you. Galls is as good a place as any to start looking. Or you could be a good EMT Citizen and support this site by buying through one of the links on this page. Congratulations on graduation!

Sounds like a textbook definition of a thrillseeker to me. Doing something because you "enjoy" it is not professionalism.

No sir, I did not misread the thread. I took the thread in the genuine spirit in which you intended it. I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is if you ask a question and then don't want to hear the answers people offer. Anyhow, this isn't about you personally. This is about your last post in which you spoke about all intermediates, not just yourself. And, the conventional wisdom here is that you are wrong. An extremely large number of EMT's and intermediates DO live with the impression that they should be given greater scope without exponentially greater education. You would have to be in a seriously myopic type of denial to not see that.