Nate

With the exception of a few of those services, I could believe HFD has a better save rate.

I don't really think they were trying to show EMS as theifs. All your going to get is a "we apologize" sent to you in an email or a letter on their site. It isn't like they are going to air a commerical saying "we are so sorry, please forgive us." The damage is done.

I would, I've seen some girls that look more like men then most men do. :shock:

520 calls, we do 140 on average a day.

In Texas your ambulance wouldn't pass...you'd get laughed at. I don't actually think I'd work for a service that didn't put an AED on a BLS rig. I have never seen a service carry an epi pen. Wait, I take that back. I have an epi pen (some assembly required :wink: ). ASA and Albuterol are basic medications in Texas.

We have two AEV's with the nets at the end of the bench. They stopped a 220 lb. guy when the ambulance impacted at 45 mph with no signs of failure. :shock:

I wouldn't say that Houston sucks. Cypress Creek EMS, Montgomery County Hospital District is very progressive, Liberty County EMS is making hudge strides with their "dream lab" ambulances. Beaumont is pretty good for trauma (you might get shot at), and by far one of the best services in Texas has to be Austin-Travis County EMS in Austin, Texas. No matter where you go, it all depends on the crew your with.

It was EMT-B school or cleaning cop cars the judge said. Just playing.

The local ER's around here will call all of the major services they see; but it would take to long to call every single 911 and transfer service in Houston.

We make that choice ourself, but I'm not going to take a patient with a suspected head injury to an ER that doesn't have a working CT machine. I'm going to take another 5 to 10 minutes and go down to another one that has a working CT. We also transport based upon the patient's status and their current problem. There are two doctors at the local ER who usually ship everything out that is pedi related, so when they are on duty I will transport to Texas Children's ER if it is something that looks like it will take more then a quick fix. No need in keeping that child at the ER for two hours, then having to be transported to another Er a few hours later.

Call me an a*shole, because I think that is freaking funny.

I won't go on Viagra when my member won't lift up, I'll just change to a better looking women. <~~The most ignorant statement of the day.

How much toliet paper does it take you on average to whipe your bung hole after you go take a dump? Thats the best I could come up with.

Para*God- See Dustdevil 8) Just playing with you old man. Paragod, someone who thinks they know everything and is to ignorant to realize that they don't.

Then you know Jay Could their paramedic instructor. I look back at the material we covered and you can align that with the DOT requirements and you see that he covered them all and went above and beyond and taught you more. Between him, the clinical settings, and the intense labs; I feel like I really got a good education as an entry level paramedic. That is key, because that is all they say they can produce is an entry level paramedic. Unlike many other schools, San Jacinto understood that you can not teach experience. That is the thing we have to get people, services, and college to understand.

I would take it further, combine your CNA/MA/EMT into one course. Thus you have three general levels: [*]Doctor [*]Nurse/Paramedic [*]MA/EMT/CNA I know some might find it degrading that I put CNA with EMT, but if you were to take the EMT or "tech" out of the ER they would be doing the same job as a CNA. Combination jobs would make it easier for those who wanted a change in pace to be able to jump from the ER to the ambulance with out taking a pay cut. There are a few flight nurse/paramedics that I know of who enjoy being able to dabble in the ER, ambulance, and bird. It is also good for when you get close to retiring because if you weren't able to perform in an ambulance or helicopter, you could take a teaching/administrative position either in the hospital, ambulance service, or school. You would gain the benefits of the various nursing associations, and you would see a huge increase in respect, pay, and demand for quality workers.

Truth be told, it would be so much nicer if they just kind of combined nursing and EMS into one degree. That would allow for a smoother flow of patient care IMHO. The doctor wouldn't have to worry about if it was an EMT, I, or P. The nursing staff wouldn't have to look to see who was standing before them (as far as certification). There are a lot of nurses and doctors who still don't understand how we operate. Both fields would benefit from the cross training. Oh wait, that concept has already been thought up.

At work we use a Nextel (trying to get them to go to Verizon). My personal phone is Verizon and it's an LG. The thing that gets me is these new blue tooth and regular ear pieces. I think that people look like dip sh*ts with them in (and I like to point it out). I see no reason why you need your phone in your ear at all times. No one is that important!

Knock on wood I haven't had any of those issues. I will admit, I'm very lucky to have two other paramedics at my station on opposite shifts who support my education and believe in me. Often I make the deal attractive by offering to trade my weekday for their weekend shift. The 24 hour shifts make it easier, I couldn't imagine going to school full time, working four 12 hour shifts, and trying to have a personal life. Also keep in mind that I'm not working on an ambulance, so I only go on the calls that are dispatched as ALS or that request me (so that helps).

I remember at the college I took my paramedic course we used the five volume series from Brady along with many other texts. The problem that my college faced was that a "private school" was offering the EMT-Basic in six weeks, the EMT-I in nine weeks, and the EMT-P class in three to six months. It is hard to attract new students when: [*]your limited by the state at five semesters from EMT-B to EMT-P [*]they strike really "cheap" deals with city services to send their personal there [*]there is no one to answer too other then the DSHS The college was limited in both hours, semesters, and budget. There are 5 major universities in the city of Houston (population 4,000,000); four very large community college chains (with 4 to 10 schools each); and countless small one campus community colleges. By far the best one has to be San Jacinto College, yet they have the lowest enrollment rate compared to the others. Why? Because HFD pays Houston Community College to teach it's paramedics because they just rent space, and HCC coordinates the whole thing. They also happen to have the lowest passing rate of them all. North Harris Montgomery Community College (NHMCD) has several campuses, and they have deals with most of the volunteer departments to provide "reduced" tuition to their programs. Their students do okay, but the minute they leave the safe haven of North Houston and walk into the low income South East Houston they are lost. Paramedic education is a major problem, it is the reason why we are short staffed at my service. Simply put, we can't find any decent paramedics that can pass the test, make it through FTO, and not get weeded out once on the streets. You would think a paramedic would know better then to fake vitals, yet on his first day of FTO a new hire flat out lied. Why? We don't know. I've given report to countless crews only to get that ghost look on the face of the crew after I just gave them a simple report. Have you ever noticed that EMS is the one field of medicine that doesn't really use all that much medical terminology? People like to say things like "we can't afford that," or "this is all we can afford out here," and my favorite one is "we just don't have the time to go back to school." It is funny how almost every rural hospital seems to have RN's there, why can't they get educated paramedics? If so many people are still gung ho about volunteering, then why do they have such a problem conforming. Wouldn't they want to see these changes take place? You know education is an issue when you see a job discription that states the following: "ACLS, BTLS, PALS, preferred..."

I agree 100%, but tell that all of the people who fear their "club" being taken away from them. I remember how hard the fight was when the idea of making all Texas firefighters required to be certified as an EMT-B.

Maybe if everyone on opposite shifts hates you, then I could see an issue with being able to go to school MWF, MW, or TTH. I have no problems going to college full time and working a 24/48 schedule. I simply happen to be nice to those I work with and they are willing to trade the three shifts a month I need switched so that I can go to class.

Your right, I don't see it as a matter of perspective. What I see is a bunch of people wanting to "play" while I drive 30 miles to the other side of Houston to work for a paid service becasue the one around my house is volunteer based.

24 hour shifts work if your at a service that isn't running 24 hours a day, 365 days straight. I ride around in a Ford Explorer, so I'm not always on every call. I get to sleep most nights, works out great for my schooling.

If they don't want to be here, I'm more then happy to show them to the parking lot.