DFIB

Have you completed the fire academy and have your firefighter certifications? Class B drivers license? NREMT-B? Many fire departments require these things.

Who needs shoes when you live on the beach

I know what you mean. The guys I mention had the cool embroidered shirts but didn't seem to get the reason they were there. I don’t particularly want to dump on them but I saw one student get a lecture about how if their attitude didn’t change they would have problems in EMS. The case in point was that the student did not have the proper EMS uniform and was not very well kept. When the preceptor made the observation the student kind of blew her off. This preceptor was one tough person, a RN and paramedic that really cared. The preceptor was on the verge of tears when the students’ “ I don’t care” attitude was apparent. I heard one nurse say about another student “that person is going to be the worst paramedic ever”. I don’t know about the worse … but pretty close. All of this to exemplify that clinical are what the student makes of them. I think preceptors like to see students that are eager to learn and help with menial task in order to gain access to more information, skills and learning. So be self motivated. Ask questions. Ask if you can help. Find out if there is anything you can do, “can I empty that bed pan for you?” “Can I spike that bag?” “can I attach those leads for you?” I pestered the nursery nurses for about 10 hours to get access to the nursery and watch the pediatric nurses work. I didn’t get in but it wasn’t from lack of trying.

Has your company ever had to defend that position in court? If so, how did things turn out?

Genltemen are hard to come by these days.

The article states they were working 12 hour shifts with a four hour hold over, 16 hours max. So one week they work 36 hours with a holdover time of 12 hours for a total of 48 hours. The second week they worked four 12 hour shifts for 48 hours with a possible 16 hours in holdover for a total of 64 possible hours. The article says the holdovers are mandatory but then states that they “which can make their shifts 16 hours or longer” So which is it 12 hour shifts or 16 hour shifts? Is it 8 hours overtime or is it 24 hours overtime? How far into overtime was the medic at the time of her snooze? I am not sure the employer can "force" you to work overtime and if they can force overtime; How much overtime can a company make you work? I just don’t know the law. Either way, anyone should be able to handle a 16 hour shift without falling asleep on the patient. Did she have another job? Was she partying on her time off? Is she a single mom with small children? What does the law say about overtime where the incident occurred? I think that is the true jury. I think there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Welcome dsetevens, Jump right in and give the forum a whirl.

I don't think it is a whistleblower case allthough it could possibly be construed as one. Falling asleep on the scene means that 1. The medic had lost control of the situation or her own faculties. 2. Was not in control of scene safety. 3. Was not aware of his enviroment, patient or the changing status of either 4. Just unprofessional and embarrassing. Any of these things would be sufficient to terminate.

I think there is a factor that we have not considered yet, ( if I missed it, sorry). EMS Health care is not a long term relationship and care. The care is not psychological, at least not therapy. People meet through a variety of circumstances and means. The chemistry of love can spark at any time. Nothing says I love you like a OPA and an IV. I really don’t know. In any post service contact that is "accidental" and not "pre planned" HIPPA should be respected. The patient should not feel intimidated or harassed (unless of course they want to). I suppose the patient could strike a conversation with the medic without crossing any lines. The single medic might possibly wait for the patient to make the first move Good questions all. Not sure what I think. Having been married for so long my dating skills and protocols are a little rusty. My standard line is, that is very flattering honey but I’m married, it isn’t you … it’s me I'm married, and you have beautiful eyes and a wonderful smile as well, but I’m still married.

And ..there was this one time .... at band camp ...

Clinicals for me were 36 hours with 9 mandatory patient contacts in the ER and 40 hours on the ambulance with 4 patient contacts. I had to witness one live birth as well on a 12 hour shift. I think I had close to 50 patient contacts in ER and 6 -9 on the ambulance. I never could understand why EMTs and Paramedic students as well would get their patient contacts and "sit on their hands" for the rest of the shift. They would say stuff like " we shouldn't have to clean the rooms" or "It's not my job to change the sheet". Needless to say I was not impressed by any of them. I would not like to end up on their crew. I saw a busy ER as a great chance to get some first class experience with a lot of good mentors standing over me. I spent one day in triage, culling the herd and loved it. The ER was great. We had access to the charts and labs. After three days I was helping the nurses and docs with some pretty cool stuff. I would follow the Docs into the initial consult, ask questions, help with whatever they would let me, take vitals, help with the EKGs, monitors and 12 leads, etc. all kinds of great clinical experience. Both Doctors and nurses seemed amused ( I would like to say impresed) by my eagerness and shared a lot of medical knowledge and information with me. My ambulance preceptors were great as well and let me work my entire scope of practice and even help them with some of theirs. I think the key to good solid clinical rotations is to not be afraid to get in there, help where you can and ask questions. I cleaned ER rooms all day just so I could talk to the next patient coming in. After two days the nurses would call me when something interesting would come in and let me help them with some of their nursing jobs as well. I loved my clinical rotations. I wish they had been longer.

Almost every trauma scene, MVC or medical emergengu could benefit from a trained EMS professional on the scene.

So how did we end up on the decorticate guy? Is he 90+% likely to recover or not? Mobey posted a great study but other articles ( mainly off the net) seem to indicate the opposite. Do any of you guys know of a different study that shows a good prognosis for traumatic decorticate patients?

ob·se·qui·ous  

Pull a nose hair and it will make your butt pucker.

Welcome to the City.

This article seems to have a real political ax to grind with the new system in Houston and are using an alleged dispatcher screw up to dump on the entire system. Notice the progression. It starts by mentioning Unknown critics. Who are the critics? Might as well be Mickey Mouse if they are anonymous. Lots of hearsay, It seemed forever before the ambulance arrives. Seemed like forever is not a very precise measurement of time. The article says that Mrs. Olinda said that too much time was wasted because of the new protocol. How would she know that? Does she work for the city? How does she understand how an 8 minute ambulance ETA factored into a 1 hour arrival at the hospital? Informants of people close to the investigation” That won’t give their names but will offer dispatch times. Then the grieving mom sais she would like for the system to change “in time to save the next child that needs it” And finally they say it was the dispatchers fault. It sounds to me like someone at the Chronicle is taking advantage of Mrs. Olinda and her grief to push an anti new system agenda. The entire article with it’s hearsay, phantom critics, hidden informants might be dead on. It just seems kind of fishy too me, more like BS.

You have a beautiful family Ruff and Katerina is a wonderful addition. Congratulations!

I read your post again and think I was thinking of a different “hero complex” than you. I think you where thinking more on the lines of the narcissistic, egomaniac that thinks their patients should adore them and feel privileged that they had time to step away from their mirror long enough to run a call “hero complex”. Society does not owe us for choosing a profession of public service. Maybe instead of the patient paying for their transport they could instead give them the The Disney Princess Magic Talking Mirror Set that parrots “you look lovely today” and stuff like that. Or a battery powered box of applause so they can feel special at their leisure. All joking aside. Some folks just never grasped the concept that you don’t deserve thanks for a job you are being paid to do and the idea “that it is more blessed to give than to receive. However, when people do say "thank you" it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside for several reasons. First I am human and appreciation is always a bonus. To me a thank you means "you helped me" it means I was able to be cordial and connect with the patient on some level. Thank you, means the level of care met or exceded the patients expectation even when the results are poor. Thank you means the patient perceived my genuine empathy. Thank you means I was able to be professional, thank you, means the patient perceived that I was able to make a difference in their life. Thank you means I made the patient or relatives feel I was willing to go the extra mile. Thank you means i was an patient advocate,Thank you means I did my job. So yea, I enjoy a thank you as much as the next guy but never expect it.

I am going to have to disagree with you on this topic. In fact I am going to approach it from an entirely different angle. As a preface a would say that we all are “risk takers” to a degree and have a desire to contribute to our communities in a positive and most importantly proper way. I am assuming that by “hero complex” you are referring to the whackers that ride around with scanners, equipment ect. The persons that have a constant desire to ride up on the MVC that requires Extraction or the CPR victim so they can “crack some ribs” and tell their buddies about it later. I would contend this is not pride at all but a delusional projection of an alter ego that is rooted in their low self esteem, past failures and current inadequacies. This is why we often find them on the fringe of a formal service. They don’t like rules, have training but not always the adequate or proper training and have difficulty relating to professional providers. It is almost like they would like to project a person that they would like to be but are not. The rest of us are proud. In fact most of us are very proud of our profession and skills. We worked hard to get them and use them for the greater good. We show our pride through professionalism. We perform the right job, through the right means based on the right training. We show our pride by dressing sharp, showing up on time, treating people with courtesy and working within the rules and regulations of our protocols. I would conclude that for me, pride and the “hero complex” are opposite behaviors with opposite results. No thank you is required.

Well, I don't think you are a troll. whatever that may be. I would not apologize to a person who I thought was just causing trouble. I kind of miss going back and forth with you. Even though we don't agree on a lot of stuff I enjoy your tenacity. You are corerect in saying that if we all agreed the forum would be a boring place.

I would suggest a class load that you are accustomed to and at a level you know you can handle. I understand that the desire to advance quickly creates the temptation to take a full load. Take into consideration what your grades were for you last semester in school. How easy is it for you to learn new ideas and procedures? Find out how long you will be in EMT class and figure out what the credit equivalent would be and fill in the spaces up to 12 credit hours. If it is your first semester in school I would not recommend taking 16 credits and a lab, and EMT as well. You might feel more comfortable with two, or four additional classes to EMT. You need to take into account that you will have to spend time in the Emergency Room and doing ride along in the ambulance. Also if you are not in a hurry to finish give yourself a little time to enjoy EMT. It is a really cool time of study and introduction into a lot of new practices and knowledge.

I think you have been in the land of the Mongols long enough to start getting sentimental. No worries about me brother, I’m picking up what you are throwing down.