Dustdevil

Yep. Had a supervisor call me in for a talk once. Said none of the rookies wanted to work with me and so he didn't know what he was going to do with me. Me?? He didn't know what he was going to do with ME because some slackers didn't want to work with a professional who required that they actually do their job?? Yeah.... there is the extent of management's concern right there. :roll:

You must sit behind a desk and write short stories for the Readers Digest then. In ten years as a field reporter, I had people make references to Lou Grant several times a week to me, asking me if I was like "Animal" and all the other stereotypical behaviour they had come to believe from watching television. I used to have a whole list of Frequently Asked Stupid Questions that people asked us everyday, and yep... almost all of those questions came from watching television shows and thinking they knew exactly what news journalism was about. And that was over ten years ago. People certainly aren't watching any less television now. And the absurdity of television drama has escalated proportional to the amount of television people watch. So yes, people DO believe the nonsense they watch on television. I have experienced it as a medic, a fireman, a cop, a nurse, and as a journalist. People are stupid.

Ugh! I wouldn't wear that for free! I wouldn't wear that for $40k a year! :pukeleft:

Yeah, but it sounds like it is his father or med school prof that is telling him that. It's not him or another medic. But really, it's true. :? Apparently the producers never bothered to look at an actual ambo in Portland. That $hit would never fly there. Lame. :roll:

Where are you seeing pics, Rid? :?

That is definitely a winning idea. I too used it once and ended up getting hired because of it. They actually called me the day they received the thank you and thanked me and said they wanted me after all. Turned out to be one of the best jobs I ever had too, and I would have hated to miss out on it. You could also take this concept a step farther and send such a thank you note when you get fired someplace, or if you are just leaving under negative conditions. Burning bridges is a bad idea in this business and others. The idiots in charge now may not be in charge forever. And when they move on, you have a better chance of going back to that place someday if there is something positive like that in your personnel file for the new managers to see.

LOL! That's a whole 'nother thread right there!

Ever asked for an explanation of this policy? If it were not policy, would you still do it?

True. The ones who insist one perfection and people being professionals have come to be viewed as the troublemakers simply because they upset the rest of the slackers who comprise the majority. It's not about professionalism. It's about not rocking the boat. After all, considering what they pay, management is perfectly happy with the slugs they hire. Now I'm depressed. :?

Good point, Rid. Today, the problem isn't so much the overwhelming number of slackers in the field as it is the system having come to accept them as the norm. :?

So what's your point? :?

First baby I ever delivered, mom was denying she was pregnant even as she was crowning. So yeah... sometimes you will have difficulty communicating with patients if you aren't absolutely direct with them.

Old buddy of mine, medic since the very first medic class in Tarrant County in '76 (same one Dr. Bledsoe was in), worked for almost 20 years as a diabetic. But in his last few years on the streets in the early 90's, it started taking its toll on him and it got harder to regulate. He was frequently falling asleep on runs and hard to arouse at the station. He finally fell asleep at a patient's side during a transport one day and that was the end of his career. Shame, cuz he was one of the best medics I ever worked with.

Yep, and I am still wanting to know how Akroeze is carrying the patient, the stretcher, and all of his equipment at the same time without jeopardizing both his own and his patient's safety. If his employer is knowingly allowing that, I would be very disappointed.

Must be a Mass thing. I haven't seen any management courses in the BSN core in Texas. All the BSN level courses here cover very useful and practical subjects like advanced patient assessment, critical care, and patient education. So yes, at least down here, the BSN education is extremely applicable to nursing practise. Apparently Mass (abbreviated because I have no farking idea how to spell it) nursing education is as bad as their medic education. :?

Nobody said they wouldn't bring it when the patient was ready for transport. But the patient is not ready for transport when you first arrive on the scene. You're wasting time for nothing, with no other justification other than "this is the way we've always done it."

I really think the quote in my signature says it all. Any of y'all ever been in a position to interview EMT school applicants? It's a joke. When you ask them why they want to get into EMS, they all lie their arses off. They all repeat the same mantra: "I want to help people." It's utter bollocks! They all need to be told this: Those who still want to do it after that will then get the opportunity to keep me from washing them out over the next two years of school. Actually, anybody who still wants to do it after that is simply too stupid to be a paramedic, so I wouldn't let them in.

Get a better job. Teach. Join the military. Work on a masters. Become a CRNA, NP or CNS. That's about it.

Sorry, I was in a hurry to get back to looking at porn.

Take my opinion for what it is worth, considering I have not worked in the field in a decade. But this has always been a problem, at least back to the mid 1980's. The field has always been saturated with undereducated, under-motivated, self-absorbed, low-intelligence losers who lack the mental capacity to even understand their role, much less even carry it out. But yes, from my exposure to EMS in the last decade, the problem does appear to have grown significantly worse of late. Not only do they have all the negative qualities I mentioned above, but they also lack any respect for those who paved the road for them and are trying to teach them. I remember even in the 80's having rookies roll their eyes and say "NO" when I told them to do something that was simply a part of their job. The question is, what exactly is the problem? Yes, standards have been lowered a great deal, but again, what is the root cause of that? And is the general decline of the new generation of EMT's really reflective of the new generation of young adults as a whole, or is this simply an EMS problem? Whose fault is it, and how do we fix it?

All you jokers who think you want nationalised, universal health care, read that paragraph again. That is exactly what you are asking for. :roll:

Exactly. It only takes one person to fetch a stair chair. Why would you need to leave the patient alone? :?

From: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006604110321 Boy's 911 calls put trouble in spotlight Death of Detroit boy's mom results in lawsuit April 11, 2006 BY MARISOL BELLO, FRANK WITSIL and JOE SWICKARD FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS A Detroit mother couldn't save her son five years ago, and now her heart breaks anew because another child couldn't save his mom. In both cases, pleading calls to 911 failed to bring help. Anshiree Martin's 9-year-old son, Damion Cottingham, died in her arms in 2001, gasping for breath in an asthma attack after a Detroit 911 operator repeatedly assured her that help was on the way. Martin -- who sued the city in 2001 and won an arbitrator's award of $325,000 -- said Monday she knows the grief felt by 6-year-old Robert Turner, whose calls to 911 in February after his mom collapsed were considered possible pranks. Sherrill Turner, 46, died of complications from an enlarged heart, putting Detroit's emergency response system under harsh criticism and intense scrutiny, and prompting a lawsuit filed Monday. Police say they are investigating the incident. Union officials have defended the actions of the operators, whose names have not been released. "It's sad, and all because of one person who holds your whole life in their hands," Martin said. "I can imagine how that little boy feels, three hours with his mom like that. Every day I deal with this." On Monday, attorney Geoffrey Fieger -- with Robert at his side playing with a Spider-Man toy -- filed a $1-million lawsuit on behalf of Robert and his mother's estate, claiming gross negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress on the part of Detroit 911 operators who took the boy's calls. Saying Sherrill Turner's death isn't an isolated case, Fieger also said he represents another woman whose calls last year to 911 -- she said she had been shot in the head -- were met with skepticism and delay. A dispatcher asked her if she was a mental patient. Fieger said Lorraine Hayes is a paraplegic because of her injuries and only got help after she called relatives in Minnesota, who contacted Detroit police. In a telephone interview with the Free Press, Hayes said Monday the dispatcher "treated me like a piece of garbage." Such a sentiment comes as no surprise to Martin, 31, who said the grief over losing her son won't go away. Every weekend, she and her 5-year-old daughter visit his grave. "He passed away in my arms in his bedroom because of the negligence of one operator," Martin said. When Damion was stricken with an asthma attack, Martin, an accountant who lives on the west side, said she called 911 and was told an ambulance was on its way. When none arrived, she said she and her fiance called again and again. She said an operator told them an ambulance would arrive in 7 to 8 minutes, even though EMS technicians told the operator and another dispatcher they did not know when they could arrive because they were on the other side of town. But Martin said the operator repeatedly told her the ambulance was on its way. It took the ambulance 22 minutes to arrive. By then, Damion had died. Martin said Monday if the operator had been truthful, she would have taken her son to a hospital. "If she had told us the truth, maybe he'd be alive," she said. Martin said she doesn't know if the operator was ever disciplined and, in light of the latest incident, said it's clear dispatchers have to receive more training about dealing properly with emergencies. "I wouldn't call 911 now," she said. "I've been there and I wouldn't want my life in their hands." But city officials have said the 911 system hasn't been a hot button issue in years. Detroit Ombudsman Durene Brown said her office has gotten only one complaint about the system in the past six months although she said citizens can also complain directly to the police or fire departments. Second Deputy Police Chief James Tate said the number of complaints received by his office was not available Monday. He added, however, that Detroit's 911 system is a busy one, handling about 2 million calls a year for police, fire and EMS services. Many of those, he said, are for nonemergency situations. According to this year's budget, 23 operators handle emergency calls and another 20 operators handle nonemergency calls to the system. The city spends $3.4 million on the system. Union officials have estimated about one-quarter of the calls are pranks. Fieger, however, maintains in the lawsuit that city dispatchers have been too quick to shrug off some calls. For instance, he said when Hayes called 911 in January 2005, she clearly and calmly asked for an ambulance, saying, "I've been shot in the head. I'm dying." In a tape and transcript Fieger claimed is a record of Hayes' call, the woman provides her name and answers the dispatcher's questions politely with "yes, ma'am," and "no ma'am." She tells the dispatcher she has been shot in the head twice by her husband and is on the floor and bleeding. She gives her address and repeatedly asks for help. The dispatcher continues to question her, asking at one point: "Are you a mental patient?" Hayes responded, "No ma'am." The dispatcher also warned her -- much as Robert Turner was scolded by a dispatcher this year -- that she would get in trouble if she made a false report. In a second call, according to Fieger's documents, Hayes told a dispatcher, "I'm getting ready to die." The dispatcher told her that police and EMS were on the way. Hayes repeated her address and said she had been shot in the temple and the chest. The dispatcher responded, "But you are able to call on the phone? That's a miracle." "I'm dying," Hayes said. "I swear to God." Contact JOE SWICKARD at 313-222-8769 or jswickard@freepress.com.

AK STARTED IT!!! :evil:

The proper term is "pimping." :wink: