yakc130

Maybe try doing some weight training. I think deadlifts might be the exercise that you want to do. That motion is similar to lifting the cot.

If they have no desire to take care of themselves, there isn't much that you can do for them no matter how hard you try.

Wow. Hadn't realized that it's been almost a year since I was here. The joy of daily life getting in the way.

There are many brands of quality boots out there. But you need to figure out what you need. Height. You have that with the 8" requirement. Type of sole. Does it need to be solid, composite, or not matter. Insulation requirement for winter wear. Do these need to double as a fire fighting boot, or just as uniform wear? Personally, I've worn Rocky and Danner over the years. These have worked well with my extra wide feet. Feet are important. Don't cut quality for savings when it comes to your feet. You will regret it.

I have an account on the Book of Face, but I rarely go there. There have been so many issues with cyber attacks and things like that through the accounts. I'm not even sure why I keep it. The other thing is that employers are really big about using it to check on current and potential employees. There have been a lot of people who have committed occupational suicide by FB. I prefer online.

This is a problem nationwide that has been going on for years. You have guys in the military who have been doing advanced stuff, but then when they get out, no one recognizes their certs and abilities anymore. Many of them have had to start at step one and go to EMT school all over again. I just saw a post on another forum that I am on that said that the Army did not renew the contract for CEU's. So basically, they are kind of throwing everyone under the bus to do their own CEU's to maintain what they learned/earned in the Army. Walle, I would keep calling to get an answer, but I would also plan on starting all over again, unfortunately.

No worries. This is the kind of info I'm looking for. What do folks have or do in their neck of the woods. More info is better.

This is what we discussed when he brought this up. Why would you need to continue? Apparently, he was asked this by someone from a neighboring department. I guess this other person had thought that they had heard about it being done somewhere and were curious if anyone else had heard about it.

I have a friend who asked recently if I knew of any department that had a policy in place to continue resuscitation in the field in order to maintain status of the deceased for organ donation. Does anyone do this? I know that time is important, but is not a single determining factor. Info appreciated.Thanks.

I will preface this by saying that I was raised in a two union household. Was part of a "closed shop" EMS union. Even if you weren't a member of the union, you still had to pay a certain amount "for what they do for you." I was told that we had one of the best union attorneys on the east coast, yet we never won an arbitration in the 11 years I was there. The city walked over us constantly. Police and fire ignored us unless they needed us for something. And finally, all of the administration were former union officers. Hmmm. I had a disciplinary hearing once for backing into a parked SUV. I was trying to get out from underneath low hanging electrical wires from a MVA scene two pole lengths down. My partner spotted them from the streetlight glare after he got out and started walking toward the car. Only time I had ever seen this guy get worked up. He spun around and began screaming at me to back up. My union rep literally didn't do anything during the step one hearing. Before the step two hearing, I went to the electric company on my own. I asked them about their downed wire training to see if it was similar to what I had received elsewhere. I took everything that they provided to me, and I used it at the next hearing. Everything was overturned immediately. My rep then had the nerve to say that "they" did a great job. Personally, I have no use for them. They have outlived their need. Your mileage may vary.

I've only used something like that if none of our c-collars fit the patient. And then, we tried to never crossed it over the throat. If we had to, it went as low, and as close to the collarbone as possible. It was pretty much one of those airline pillow set-ups with the head secured to the board.

Sweet. I'll look into this. Thanks!

Well, one of the reasons that I want to do this is because the Saudis are refusing to issue me a license to practice here due to the lack of a diploma. So, they have moved me off the squad into logistics for now. To put it simply, the Saudi Commission For Health Specialties says that I must have a diploma or degree to work as a medic now. They refuse to accept the certs that I got twenty years ago, and do not grandfather in even with my verifiable experience. They have demonstrated a preference for someone with zero experience and having paper degrees/diplomas. So, I guess it should be EMS, or medical related.

The associate's is in paramedicine. The bachelor's is for something that they call emergency medical care/emergency services option.

Like I was saying before, I'm interested in trying to get the associate's degree. I'm hoping that this may make an old dog a bit more marketable. I already have a wide variety of experience on my CV, but one thing that they are really anal about here in the Middle East is a diploma of some sort. It doesn't matter if you don't have any experience backing it up. They require you to have a diploma. This is what has forced me off the squad over here into Logistics with a lateral promotion. No diploma, no Saudi medical license now. Even with over 20+ years of documentable street experience; no diploma, no ambulance. And no grandfathering, either. So far, the only school that I have come across that definitely has 100% online classes has been EKU. I need it to be this since I am here in Saudi Arabia still. I was also a bit familiar with them because we had some Saudi EMT's go there to obtain their paramedic. When I did the night classes from George Washington to get my medic, there was no problem applying. I even was able to get the college credits for the classes. No need for an ACT score. I'll keep looking around to see if there are other options. I just can't believe that they refuse to proceed without a 30+ year old ACT score, or one of their exams.

I was looking to just start with the associate's to see how it would go. Then maybe try for the bachelor's.

Originally, I was going to go through Mid-Plains Community College because they had indicated that they did 100% online courses. I spoke with a woman there who told me as much. After I had spent the money on transcripts, I received an email from a gentleman who asked me when I would arrive for classes. After some emails, he told me that they did not do 100% online courses. I saw an ad on EMS1.com advertising EKU doing 100% online EMS courses. I confirmed it with them, and started the process all over again. More money and time spent on transcripts and such, and now I am stuck at the ACT scores. I just sent an email back to the two young ladies letting them know that ACT said that they cannot help. I also told them to put me in contact with their supervisor. This should be interesting.

I've been dealing with them for over two months now. They have basically stopped my application process because I cannot provide them a good copy of my ACT scores. I took it in 1979, and the results were on microfiche at my high school. Obviously, the results are not going to be very good. Now, they are telling me that I need to contact ACT directly for a copy because they still can't read my results. I called ACT the other night (from here in KSA). Unfortunately, they cannot help me because I don't have an eight digit ID number, or a test date from 1979. I'm sure that they can do something. They told me that they have results going back to 1969. Now, I'm sure that EKU has had other 52 year olds apply for schooling from them since they now offer "100% online classes." And I'm sure that some of these applicants can't obtain, or never took the ACT exam. Really. How valid are test results going to be from 1979? I think that I have been able to do math and English fairly well if I have been in EMS all these years. This is getting to the point of being asinine. It's almost like these two females I have dealing with are a couple of interns who have been told that if it doesn't fall into any prefabricated category, don't pass it through. I want to take the classes, but I also have to work FT here. We've had a MERS epidemic going on in our hospital for over a month now, and all hell has been breaking loose. The CDC and WHO have been here inspecting stuff, and they were not happy with what they found. The 88+ bed ER is down to 9 beds, the hospital is closed, and they are ripping different sections apart to rebuild them with negative pressure rooms. We have a military field hospital set up in the front parking lot for drive-ups, and next to it they have been building a 20 bed respiratory isolation clinic. The amount of money that they are spending is insane! If they had only acted at the beginning instead of hushing things up, it wouldn't be like this now. I mean, seriously. You don't want to take my money? Insert rant here with many choice and colorful four letter words.

Trying not to say "old." How about "non-traditional students?" Basically, someone who has been out of school for more than say, twenty years. Someone who didn't go to college previously, and is trying to go now.

Throwing this out here, as well as maybe some other places. How many other senior types have applied to them? Are you have any issues with the process? This is all I will state for now. Once I hear some replies, I will go into it further. Thanks.

We had some good conversations about specing ambulances. Rest In Peace.

It figures. When the wife and I were on leave in the Philippines, I thought it would be cool to teach there. The only issue is that unless you are employed by a foreign business as an employee based there, you are not legally allowed to work. I know that USA Jobs has lots of interesting things. Unfortunately, if I took a Federal job, I would have to resign from my DMAT team.

Saw that this morning, but haven't had a chance to go there, yet. See you there.

That's among the problems. The ones who do hear "Middle East" automatically assume a salary of $100,000+. Those days are gone, unless you manage to get a PSD gig. With the wind down of ops in Iraq and A-stan, not many of those around. And the ones that are have their pick of former military medics who may have even been based in the same area. International recruitment seems to be the weak link. I learned through a female friend who worked admin stuff in Iraq. She said to just google it, and that's what I did. I think maybe there could be also the news reports that turn people off from these jobs. It sounds too dangerous to them. The funny thing for me is that I was recruited by a Canadian firm, and not a US one.

Thanks. Part of the issue appears to be the lack of real advertising stateside. 95% of the US medics I know have no clue about overseas jobs unless they were prior military.