DFIB

Welcome to EMS.

Yep, he is well deserved toast.

In Texas the entry requirements are pretty simple but become more involved as the class advances. To register: Picture ID that proves address and citizenship (SS# nessesary to get background check when required) High School Diploma/GED/or College transcript Having at least 10th grade reading/comprehension skill is recommended. AHA Healthcare provider or American Red Cross Professional Rescuer CPR CARDS In order to begin clinicals and before having patient contact. Drug screen 10 or 15 pannel depending on the school. Complete shot records that include. 1. Complete Hepatitis B immunization series, 2. Tetanus Shot, 3. Chicken Pox vaccine Prior to patient contact, students born on or after January 1957, must show acceptable evidence of: 1. Vaccination of two doses of measles-containing vaccine administered since January 1, 1968; 2. Two dose of rubella vaccine; 3. Two dose of mumps vaccine; 4. TB skin test. I positive presentation of a Neg. Chest X-ray is required. 5. National Criminal History Different schools may have different requirements. This is my experience.

Aside from antibiotics what treatment would be given? Would they drain it?

Good one. I had never heard of that before. How would someone aquire a Pyothorax?

I don't know how you eat yours but you can smother it in a sweet potato and brown sugar chunky gray and it makes it tolerable. Anytime in life that I was "spam poor" I could go shoot a squirel or rabbit instead.

Welcome AED, Congratulations on going to shool. I think you will find life in EMS to ge very gratifying and rewarding. Welcome to the City

I am not sure what your experience has been with the FDs and Colleges but I was thinking that to begin to understand the complexities of EMS this information might be give you some reference points to begin to form an idea of the complex network of coordinated services providing various levels of care to a community that define modern EMS systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) developed 10 EMS system elements. 1. Regulation and Policy 2. Resource Management 3. Human Resources and Training 4. Transportation 5. Facilities 6. Communication 7. Public information and Education 8. Medical Direction 9.Trauma Systems 10. Evaluation Although there is some standardization of the EMS curricula as developed by US DOT every state and medical director has authority to infer in their state and regional and local policy, protocols and procedures. In short, everyone does it a little different. So you can understand the complexities of EMS of which the posters refer. After 9/11 the NIMS system was formed to help all of these different agencies be able to coordinate efforts in the event of a National or Regional emergency. You can take NIMS training for free on the FEMA website. http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/NIMSTrainingCourses.shtm This information should give you a lead to begin to follow and learn about EMS Systems.

He said he was in and out of EMS. I guess he is out.

I rode with a service that had cameras in the box so the driver could see the medics at all times. I don't know if they record the runs. Probably not, but at least the medics have a witness to to their behavior. If this guy was in the back alone with his patient he may have a very weak defense. Dwayne, I am sure you remember the Duke Lacrosse Team and the fake accusations made against them. Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent, families put through hell, reputations tarnished all because some chick had a fantasy of making some money of some "rich kids". In a professional sense a simple false accusation is just as damaging as a conviction, all thanks to sleazy reporters. I return to the perspective that we all serve the same community. I am not saying that bad behavior should be condoned or covered up, but because of the impact that reporting has on the entire community stories should be written with care. All EMS personnel spend considerable time and effort educating the public as to what we do and how we do it. It is part of our job description and one of the responsibilities of our profession. This kind of reporting does not build solidarity but negatively impacts an entire industry ability to adequately serve. Based on what? The word of a person who may or may not be telling the truth but only thought to mention after she left the Hospital. I mean, Most people cry foul if the medic misses the IV. She isn't accusing him of poking her with a needle but waits till later to bring it up. The entire thing sounds fishy to me.

My wife is the only person I ever proposed to. We are working on our 23 year. What is it with chicks and uniforms anyway?

Welcome Seth, If you are looking for professional opinions and unique perspectives you probably will not be dissapointed. I wish you luck in your quest to learn everything about EMS. I expect that most of us are still trying to figgure it out. You will find a great variety of posters with different levels of training and very different life experience. Something you might want to look at from a jounalist perspective are some of the opinions about the way EMS is covered by journalist. Stick around and please jump in.

Welcome to The City! It is good that you know what to do with your life so young. Jump in and participate.

Some people are more talented than others. I guess it would depend on the type of ambulance as to if the driver can see the patient compartment. The story sounds pretty squirrely to me. I wonder why newspapers are so quick to run a story based on an accusation. It would seem that we all serve the same community and would try to give EMS the benefit of the doubt until there is some semblance of proof. The reporter is just as skuzzy as the alleged perpetrator in my opinion .

I bet co-ed boyscouts swells the ranks! I began studying EMT because I live in a rural area where EMS exist but just barely and there are no Good Samaritan laws. At the time I enrolled there were maybe 4 EMTs in about a 100 mile radius. I frequently would come across MVCs in remote areas where people were looking at least an hour response time and could not help because of legal liability and I had no clue what to do.. As Dwayne I hated that helpless feeling when faced with trauma. I saw a granny colide with a motorcycle with similar results as Dwayne's story. In this region EMS workers are required to render aid and have protection under the law. So when the course came open I enrolled. I talked my son into taking the course with me in hopes that I would spark his interest in medicine. It was a great opportunity to spend time with him as well. We got involved in high angle rescue and he liked that better. He is a fireman now, I am an EMT-B that is starting paramedic classes. For me it was all about my love for the medical sciences and helping people.

The camaraderie that exists between EMS works is one of the aspects of our vocation that inspires but tugs the heart strings as well. When news like this is heard it always elicits feelings almost as if I had known the victims. It makes me sad to hear that our brothers are suffering from work related hazards. Best wishes of peace to all the families.

Unfortunately this situation is one unique of Edmonton. Recently a thread was opened that addressed similar problems in Detroit. http://www.emtcity.c...post__p__273012 I think that in these situations, in the absence of criminal activity, the reason for the deficiencies are more important than the individuals that are in the positions of leadership. Most systems that reach a breaking point in maintaining a proper standard f service have been lacking in one important area for years. They have not formed and implemented a structure for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). Most systems have some semblance of Quality Assurance (QA). By definition Quality Assurance is process that identifies problems and (sometimes) finds solutions. The deficiency of this system is that it frequently tends to be reactionary in nature and often removes removes useful resourses instead of investing in training for the future. Quality Assurance covers the well after the child has drowned. Continuous Quality Improvement in contrast establishes a process for ongoing evaluation and assessment that reviews trends and implements ongoing improvements without waiting for a problem to arise first and tends to be preemptive in nature. This system notices that the well is uncovered and provides a boundary to impede a child from falling into the well as well as educating as to the dangers of wells, swimming for kids, CPR, etc. In the Edmonton case (in my opinion) worker morale is not the primary problem and it’s increase by other means will not offer a long term solution. The underlying problem lies in the administration of the resources of the EMS system. I hope that the “New board” will be more focused on overall service from a patient advocate view than simply “fixing” morale. If they solve the causal problem they will resolve the effectual result. I wish all involved well as they make the hard choices of Quality Assurance. Edited for context and clarificaiton.

For starters, researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more than 28,000 additional seconds per day ...... to try and squeeze pee through an inflamed prosatate! Very funny post.

Thank you, Ready or not I am moving ahead. In all reality I am very excited about EMT-I and expanding my scope of practice. I get so tired of transporting people that I could help if I were an ALS provider. I already have my books and should formally begin next week. I am probably going to pester you some for free advice in the near future

I just recieved my results. You can all add me to the list of new NREMT-Bs. What a relief. I guess I can unpack the new textbooks and get back to work. Eric, it is too bad we are so far away, I think a guy's night out would be would be in order

I am glad that my despair can entertain you. I am most definitely giddy about this one. There is no real way of having a good sense of how I did but I hope I did well. It was a weird test. Everything was cognitive and sign/symptom based scenarios. The first 5 or 6 questions were pretty easy. All the rest were challenging choose the best answer questions that leave a lot of uncertainty. Multiple correct answers to choose from with what you would do first answers. I think there was only one straight question and it was something about Beck's triad. It only offered me 70 questions out of a possible 150 (I think that is the limit) so I finished in about 1/3 of the allotted time. My son took it at the same time (that was really cool) and win, lose or draw I am really proud of him. He is a great young man. The way I understand the early cut off is that I either did really well or was a total idiot, so I am on pins and needles. I have a lot riding on this one since I am already registered and paying for EMT-I. The real scare was when I received my Paramedic 1 books today (ACLS, PALS, Basic Dysrhthmias, 12 Lead ECG and acute coronary syndromes) not counting the “orange” book. I am going to have to find time to learn all of that stuff, geeez. You Medics just earned an entire new level of respect in my eyes. You know I had several allergic reactions questions as well. More than any other scenario. I think they were trying to bait me into sticking them all with an epi-pen. If they were not then I screwed the pooch on those. I am really proud that you passed and now truly appreciate your accomplishment.

Congratulations amigo! I am glad that all the hard work you have invested payed off. I just finished taking mine and now have to wait for results. One thing is sure How did they inform you? Do they update your status on you account or what? When did it cut you off? I mean how many questions were you offered before you were cut off?

Probably the best thing you can do for him is to love him unconditionally and let him see that you love his mom. Spend as much time as you can with him. It means more to them than it does for us. They will be grown up and gone before you know it. Print some of the pictures you take. I have tons of pictures that never made it past digital. Congratulations!

I understand that seizure activity can be very mild, Sometimes just a twitch or other uncontroled movement but it has been a long time since I thought about it. I will have to research it when I have a little more time.