FireMedic65

bummer... but shouldn't this be in "On the personal side"?

Right, SF has no HEMS or even helipads at any hospital. Helicopters have to land at an airport or something and have an ambulance go the rest of the way. Sounds really silly to me. As for what Dust was asking, Rabbit was lurking around the EMS station and was put on street duty from the ambulance peoples boss. It seems to me, like they are one in the same on the show.

I figured you wouldn't take my post like that. I just wanted to be sure, so you didn't get the wrong idea. Well said though. We can actually learn a few things from this show.

I know "jake" as refereed to a lazy person not caring about/doing their job.

Working while high/drunk is bad no matter what the job is. EMS is no exception. The place I work and have been at, even volunteer organizations, all have rules put into place that you are not to consume any alcohol 24hrs prior to your shift. If you show up to work still drunk/hung over. You are sent home and most likely fired. Smoking pot should be controlled the just same as alcohol. Be a certain age to buy it, a certain age to smoke it. Get caught smoking/buying it for some one else. You are arrested and fined just like you are now. Smoking and driving should not be allowed, just like alcohol. But this isn't about legalizing it for general public use. It's about medical use, which I stand behind 100%! If it helps the patient, if it helps them feel better, why withhold from them?

You can bash this reply all you want, but I ALL FOR THIS. Marijuana isn't all that bad. It's surely not as bad FOR YOU as cigarettes are. I will admit, when I was younger and I did smoke it a few times. It wasn't super duper awesome or anything. It was, relaxing. I had a good enough enough on my shoulders, that I treated it just like I do with alcohol now. If I smoked, I did not drive. Yes, it does impair you! Face it though, so does alcohol.. A LOT WORSE. Anyway, it my my belief that it should be allowed for medical use, if not for everyday use. But only if it is regulated like alcohol is. My father, had MS. He smoked it. His disease left him in chronic (no pun intended) pain. He was dizzy all the time from medications treating the MS. I don't feel I need to list all the symptoms he had with the MS. But when he smoked the marijuana, he felt better. Hands down, felt better. That was enough reasoning for me. He was a sick man, and it made him feel better.

For most people, you can either deal with it, or you can't Some people it doesn't bother them at all. Me for example, I have see a wide variety of "gore" and gross things. I kept my composure where it needed to be. Seeing such things doesn't always get to me, but sometimes it does. We are not statues, we are human. This is one of the many reasons there are CISD teams. So you can talk things out, or even get further help from a professional. Don't be embarrassed! Seeing pictures of things is definitely like it is in person. It kind of hits home more, but looking at pictures might prepare you for what you might see. People try grossing me out by sending me nasty pics, and quite honestly, I don't even look. I deal with this stuff in person, I don't need to go looking for it on my down time. If you come upon a scene and you don't feel good, excuse yourself and walk away. There is NO shame in it, even if some people give you a rough time for it. But it's all in good fun! You will make it through.

Lots of good points. I don't know how to multi-quote, and there is no need to recap on them all. Just a few and probably out of order. Yes, you can buy an ambulance off of craigslist if you look hard enough. Whether it is stocked or not, I guess that is up to the seller. (The phonies only saw the outside anyway, they didn't know for sure what was inside) Dressing up for hallween at work (in EMS/Hospitals) is unprofessional, but I suppose depending on what you are wearing, it could be alright. For example, a lab tech wearing a vampire costume or something. I am only 26yrs old and I know about Goldfinger and the chick laying there near dead in blue, did remind me of the chick from the movie in gold. I have seen flight crews do ground calls in extreme situations, but not actively "running" calls from dispatch. LifeLion, out of Hershey, for example has a NICU ambulance. Also, seen a flight crew transport by ground when they came onto scene and the helicopter had maintenance problems and was not flyable. But again, extreme circumstances. When weather is bad, HEMS is grounded until further notice, like Richard said, weather breaks. Now your crew is out joy riding when they could be landing on my house to save my choking dog. The collar guy was asked to leave, and it appeared he walked away. I would still have called PD because these people often do come back, which this guy did. PD showed up REALLY quick and I don't recall anyone radioing for help. Sorry, but San Fran is a very known city for homosexual population, and The Castro is also a well known gathering spot for them. They are famous for Halloween there. As far as Boone not liking gays, maybe he doesn't. A lot of people feel uncomfortable around them. As for his "partner" being gay, that was just funny/ironic. Not sure if Rabbit hates kids, or it just intimidated by them. I think maybe he had a rough child hood or something like that. The kids he was around, he was nice to them. I think there is a lot more to this guy than they are leading us to believe. He is a know it all jerk that is a rebel. We all know people who are like this, in AND out of EMS. I think this char will develop a lot more and end up being a cool guy teaching others (like he did with hot pilot chick). Pilot chick turns out to be pretty cool and capable of doing her job outside of her "job". Even though it might be out of protocol? Not sure if EMT-B can do IV there. these are not hits on you Richard, just my views on the things you pointed out and yes, we should discuss each episode. It's not THAT BAD of a series. Needs a lot of work, but it gives us something to talk about.

I am sure it probably actually happened!

Glad to hear you made it back alright. As for anyone else, be safe out there! I am losing too many friends lately.

I never have a problem with getting a helicopter unless the weather is bad. A few things are still a bit unrealistic, but it is getting "better".

That's a lot of reading to get into the field. Quite honestly, I am glad to see that. Too many people want to take the shortcuts into their jobs. Dealing with life and death, should never be taken in shortcuts.

The statpaks are really nice. I like them.

Welcome to the city. Hope you enjoy it. Lots of people here are very helpful know what not (just some don't like FFs for some reason, might be jealousy). As far as Maine goes for being behind, they aren't that bad

I run epocrates, merck medicus and er suite on my pda and phone. They work alright but would like to get pepid too.

Try on a few different pairs. She what is comfortable TO YOU. Get those gel insoles or something, They are nice. My boots are 3/4. They come up to my calf muscle. Excellent ankle support, which is important. Ceramic toe and shank for added protection.

Only service patches I have really are from my personal collection and on my uniform. I don't have any of them to spare. But if you want a PA EMT/Medic patch, its all yours. I'd love to expand my collection too!!

how would you have known it was me? and yes, I did get the humor. I was being sarcastic back at ya

Of course not. I am not afraid to speak my mind to anyone. I am just saying it could cause unwanted conflict/drama and get things off topic. We can only hope that we are professional enough not to take things so seriously.

Just a suggestion, if you get that working it may not be a great idea to allow people to see who gives them negative feedback. Maybe if they required an explanation of why they gave negative, but it might stir up conflict?

Just giving you a hard time It took me a little getting used to, but I was familiar with this format/forum from another site so I had a little edge of the deal. Great post though.

I think you forgot something vent

Sorry, ignore my previous post. I didn't notice that you were in Canada.

They are hard to come by actually. My course was taught during medic school by nurses from the one hospital who did it as a favor to our lead instructor. If you are having a hard time finding one, I would suggest contacting your hospitals that have OB/GYN department.

I do not do billing, so I don't know what they charge a patient for what I do and don't do. I don't do unnecessary stuff though. A place I briefly, and I stress BRIEFLY, did volunteer BLS for was terrible with that. They would bill for EVERYTHING. Itemized down to o2 use, airway (NPA/OPA), gauze, NRB, nasal cannula, etc etc. If they used it, it was billed for. All fine and good I guess. Until I realized any of those products used, the hospital replaced them at no charge to the ambulance. Example, if I were to put a patient on o2 using a NRB, I would get restocked that mask from the hospital for free. The hospital would charge them for whatever they used on the patient I guess. Very shady business, I got out ASAP. As ruff stated, would said equipment be needed for that patient?