Nate

Just becareful about who knows. We all know there are those "sue happy" people that would take the issue of being hearing impared (read not deaf as in can't hear a thing) and would try to sue.

I've also heard of some facilities hiring and training paramedics to function as resp. techs. Personally, I kind of think that paramedics should stay paramedics...kind of feel like the "hoe" of medicine with all of the different ways people are finding to use paramedics.

Congrats, and nice job on having a day off...study time. :wink:

Hmm...my paramedic program gave me the option to an internship (which I took) where I rode every shift the crew I was placed with did. So I was on their rotation, at their station, with their engine company, and their patients, and their supervisor, and their hospital, and soon it was mine too. I agree with Race, this really made a BIG difference in getting me ready to go on the streets as an entry level paramedic (which is all you can expect a college to produce).

I have to agree...it isn't hard...it is just that it requires you to manage your time and be on top of things.

I once tried the "hearing impared" act with dispatch...it didn't work. :?

Anything less then 32 and you are no longer "full time" which means they won't owe you any benefits.

He is on my shift at another station...so I always have to deal with him.

If one might remember, we discussed the ability to transport or setup transports of non-emergency patients to urgent care clinics. I wonder what the effects of taking a few bus drivers and getting them certified as first responders are even EMT-B to drive a few small (air port style) busses around and could pick up non-emergency patients that would be better off being treated at an urgent care clinic as opposed to the actual ER (long waits, over worked staff, etc.). Just a suggestion.

I actually sent an e-mail to our compliance office about under trained medics. For the past several months I've had to "help" another paramedic out because he didn't know who to do this or that, and always called for another paramedic when he should have been able to handle it on his own. (At least he called I guess.) The second part was EMT-Basics that always say "but my instructor said this" or feel like they have to cut me off when I'm in the middle of patient report to the nurse or doctor (at the ER) to tell me the patient has a temp. of 98.6.

Been tracked by % of billable runs and $ amount of runs. Kind of depressing when you see how much you've brought in and how much you get paid on the same page.

I work two jobs, averaging 60 hours a week, with an 84 hour week every third week. I also take 15 hours a week where I'm in class from 1000 until 2100 Tuesday/Thursday. I do it with a GPA of 3.83.

I became a paramedic at the age of 20 (three months shy of being 21). I don't feel that you can set a true age limit on either of the issues at hand. Every single person is different, and I think that maybe we should have an evaluation program before ANYONE is allowed into this field at all. Most police departments require an applicant to undergo a psychological evaluation to see if they are even capable of dealing with the job at hand. So why not adopt this to EMS, there are fire departments that are heading that way. (I'm talking more beyond the polygraph test and typical questions asked.) As someone who became a paramedic at a young age, I was discriminated against. I feel that this has to do with a combination of my generation being so mentally undeveloped and the things learned from the older generation who developed EMS. I have had issues with paramedics accepting me, but once they saw that I was serious about doing this, that I wanted to learn, and that I did not have that "I know it all" attitude, they relaxed. I now have four to five crews that work under me, a mix of paramedics and basics, and all have faith in me. So to end this statement, it depends on the person in question and I feel that generalization of an age could be bad for EMS. I also agree with Dustdevil, that 20 seems about right seeing as how most states require the age of 18 to become an EMT and most decent paramedic programs take about 2 years to complete.

I was just wondering, I know when I work at the city I will offer to call a private ambulance service to transport the patient if they are stable and the hospital is out of our district or their problem isn't a true emergency. (We wait with them until the ambulance shows up.) Most usually say no and just get in their car and drive off. I've never told anyone "no I won't take you," most understand when I say this isn't a true emergency and will then ask me if it is okay for them to drive themselves or have a friend do it.

Is an alternative form of transportation to the ER being offered?

To me, it is a safety thing.

I don't know to be honest, I haven't gotten a serious of medics that were an inch apart and tested to see at what point are they to short. I will say that 4'8" wouldn't allow for the person to use the stair chair today, and if the patient codes they would have had to lifted onto the cot to do CPR effectively. The shortest I can recall that I've worked with was 5'2" and while she only weighed in at 106 lbs., she could lift three times her body weight. :wink: BTW: I'm only 5'7.5" <~~~have to throw in the .5"

Not to change the topic, but I've raised the same question about a min. height requirement. Both tie into the same issue, how safe can it be with them operating on a day to day basis.

We have a guy who works for another service, but that I see at the ER all the time and is tone deaf, he has his own eletric BP cuff he carries.

I thought the machines use the pulsations they feel (needle tick) to get their version of the BP? I trust my own ears over any machine any day, however I can't tell you the last time I saw someone out side of EMS (flight or ground) or the ER use a manual BP cuff.

They should have ran the call, and delt with whether or not they should have gone after the call was completed.

Watch out, the cops might beat you up.

If your on the streets long enough your going to end up working a pet in some way shape or form IMHO.

There will always be those who are for RSI and those who are against. Personally, I view RSI as a last resort. If you have (and I have) ever been tubed in the back of an ambulance, then you have no idea what it is really like. Let me tell you, realizing that you can't breath on your own will make you panic, so for those who do use RSI, do it right.

That is in May right?