paramedicmike

If you're looking for a pedi bag get a Broselow bag. Exepensive? Yes. Worth every penny? Damn right!

You're not, by chance, writing for that *insert derogatory adjective here* show "Saved", are you? Just a few curiosity questions... For what/whom are you writing? Without spoiling the story...what's the story? What type of writer are you? Screen plays? Television? Movies? Short stories? Novels? Newspapers? Magazines? Subpoenas? You're welcome to ask anything you want. If nothing else, please browse and enjoy the forums. Contribute if you like, even! The more the merrier! Perhaps, though your readings and subsequent writings you can help positively influence the public perception of EMS-ers out there in the world. I think, however, sharing a little info about you/your project(s) would help us better understand your motivations. For all we know you could be a lawyer or reporter trying to jam up one of our fellow providers by masquerading as an innocent "writer". And yes, you could call us suspicious. Some of us you could even call paranoid! -be safe.

Actually, Dust has said that paramedics are woefully under educated on many occasions. I suggest, since you're new here, you do some reading on some of what Dust has had to say. And try not to gag when he chews you up and spits you out.

I used to be a hard core LP12 fan. Then I used the Zoll M series. I now despise the LP12. I would much rather work with the Zoll M. But, listen to Rid's advice. There are many many threads dealing with monitors already here. A good search will yield you quite a bit of info. Good luck. -be safe.

Robot You are 71% Rational, 14% Extroverted, 42% Brutal, and 0% Arrogant. You are the Robot! You are characterized by your rationality. In fact, this is really ALL you are characterized by. Like a cold, heartless machine, you are so logical and unemotional that you scarcely seem human. For instance, you are very humble and don't bother thinking of your own interests, you are very gentle and lack emotion, and you are also very introverted and introspective. You may have noticed that these traits are just as applicable to your laptop as they are to a human being. You are not like the robots they show in the movies. Movie robots are make-believe, because they always get all personable and likeable after being struck by lightning, or they are cold, cruel killing machines. In all reality, though, you are much more boring than all that. Real robots just sit there, doing their stupid jobs, and doing little else. If you get struck by lightning, you won't develop a winning personality and heart of gold. (Robots don't have hearts, silly, and if they did, they would probably be made of steel, not gold.) You also won't be likely to terrorize humanity by becoming an ultra-violent killing machine sent into the past to kill the mother of a child who will lead a rebellion against machines, because that movie was dumb as hell, and because real robots don't kill--they horribly maim at best, and they don't even do that on purpose. Real robots are boringly kind and all too rarely try to kill people. In all my years, my laptop has only attacked me once, and that was only because my brother threw it at me. In short, your personality defect is that you don't really HAVE a personality. You are one of those annoying, super-logical people that never gets upset or flustered. Unless, of course, you short circuit. Or if someone throws a pie at you. Pies sure are delicious. To put it less negatively: 1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive. 2. You are more INTROVERTED than extroverted. 3. You are more GENTLE than brutal. 4. You are more HUMBLE than arrogant. Compatibility: Your exact opposite is the Class Clown. Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Hand-Raiser, the Emo Kid, and the Haughty Intellectual.

It's to be used on a witnessed, monitored arrest. So you have the monitor attached and on to see the change from a (hopefully) perfusing to a shockable rhythm in order to use it. And then it needs to be done PDQ. If you find someone down and aren't sure how long s/he's been there, it's better to just start CPR and go that way. Hope this helps. -be safe.

Ok. Without hijacking this too much...did you even bother to read the above posted link? Have you googled this particular topic at all? Have you read any of the studies out there? Expand your knowledge base a bit. Read the thread to which I posted a link. Do a search on the efficacy of the Trendelenburg position. And then go back to that above referenced thread and try to argue that it's worthwhile. I don't think you'll be able to do it. It's nothing but a myth. Myth! [(beautiful woman peeks out from behind the billboard): "Yes?"] Oh...and Rid's forgotten more about emergency medicine and patient care than most here could ever hope to learn. Cut him some slack. He's earned it.

Ridryder gives an excellent description of what's going on here: http://www.emtcity.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph...32&start=15 Let's not duplicate the discussion, please. -be safe.

I'm sure if you called up your local Zoll rep s/he would be able to help you in more ways than you could imagine. Zoll could probably also help you find grant money to pay for the things, too. Good luck. -be safe.

I have worked for several combination services. At each service the policy was if you weren't on duty at the station (or returning from the hospital in the ambulance etc...) when the call was dispatched you don't respond. There was no responding from home. There was no random showing up on scene. And it worked well. It saved a lot of stupid people on the road (responding vollies, that is. Not civilian drivers.).

If anyone feels like going through them, here's the link to MD's statewide protocols: http://miemss.umaryland.edu/protocol2005.pdf The trauma decision tree can be found on page 138 (out of the entire document or page 128 out of the table of contents). Hope this helps. -be safe.

Aw...c'mon! It's not that bad, Nate! Same goes for MD as it does for TX. There are places where the closest trauma center is by air. There are places where it's just down the road. And just like everywhere else, there are medics who do well and understand what they're doing. And then there's everyone else. -be safe.

I also used to live and work in Maryland. Just like every other place it has it's problems. It's not better or worse than anyplace else. It's just different. Please keep in mind that things are very different when it comes to 911 and private ambulance services in MD. Please don't assume that they way it works in your area is the way it works in other areas. Someone mentioned that the MSP aviation units are always in the air. Not so. I've gone in for fly alongs with an aviation unit. We sat at the base all day and didn't turn a rotor. The issue of flying someone from an accident in MD came up in another thread recently. Maryland protocols do, in fact, have a list of MOI issues that meet the statewide trauma criteria. However, if you read carefully, it says quite plainly "CONSIDER helicopter transport". It doesn't say you have to fly them. And I'll agree with others who've said that it doesn't sound like they needed to be flown. So they were hurting more than they initially thought. Big deal. They still didn't meet any fly out criteria. They met the "consider helicopter transport" criteria. But by all accounts they were good for ground transport. Perhaps the paramedic was just lazy? Didn't want to deal with traffic? Rehkopf, why don't you invite the paramedic who, like you, misquoted the protocols to defend himself here regarding this call. That way, we can tell him, too, that being a protocol monkey sucks and that he should be smarter than that. -be safe.

tool

The Onion is an online "news" site full of sarcasm and assorted "literary wit". It's all in jest and you need to be able to read between the lines. While this wasn't one of their better works, I did find it quite funny. Just gotta take it with a grain of salt. -be safe.

They shouldn't have to turn everyone's POV into an ambulance. They should have a properly stocked and supplied ambulance there for you to use at a standby event such as this. If they don't, to borrow a phrase from Dust, then they suck. My understanding of EMTs who work at standbys is that of a provider who is hired by a company that owns everything they might need. The EMT is an employee paid to partake in the event as needed. Supplies are stocked in the provided response vehicle. Personal stashes of equipment and POVs are rightly and justifiably left out of the equation entirely. How can you volunteer for several organizations but only belong to one? What does this mean? I'm also confused as to what you mean by "freelance". You either volunteer or work for an existing squad as an EMS professional. Otherwise, you're nothing more than a glorified first aider who has no business being involved in anything where you would have to buy such equipment. Your posts to this point are not painting a favorable picture of you, any organization with which you might be affiliated, or the racing circuit you frequent. As was noted, this is not a hobby. You don't go out and buy equipment to stock your POV. Please either clarify your position here or come to terms with the fact that you're both a whacker and a troll. At the very least, for your own personal protection from a lawsuit, please affiliate yourself with a reputable, professional organization that takes the role of providing EMS at such events seriously. If you continue here it sounds like you're setting yourself up to get hosed. -be safe.

While you may not use a KED on a biker, the original question still stands. Why is the organization for whom you're working/volunteering not provide the equipment you (might) need? Do they provide everything else but not this? Do they provide nothing and you're trying to stock yourself? There just seems to be a better way to do this than you potentially getting stuck with a bill for equipment you shouldn't have to buy. -be safe.

I remember this, too. Are you sure it was JEMS? I seem to remember EMS Magazine having something along this line. I don't remember which mag or when. If you strike out with JEMS try EMS Mag and see if it's there. To answer your question, ALS = my chart. BLS = BLS partner's chart (if I'm working with a BLS partner. Most of the time we're dual medic. So it can also be BLS = my chart, too.). -be safe.

So...about the Hespan.... Why Hespan over something else (like, say, albumin)? Advantages? Disadvantages? Do you like using it? Or is it something they make you carry? Have you run into anything over there regarding a hypertonic saline solution? I think there was a thread on here not too long ago discussing that. I'm doing my own reading on this. I'm just interested to hear first hand usefulness, thoughts and rationale for carrying. -be safe No! Seriously! Be safe!

Many states have programs in place like this. While I have not personally been a party to such a reception, I know and work with people who've taken in the kids and followed the protocol for care and turn over to child protective services. While not ideal, I think it certainly gives the kid a better chance than staying with a mom who either doesn't want to or can't care for the child. On what charges would the mother be brought? She didn't abandon per se. She didn't endanger. In fact, I think it shows that she just might've been looking out for the best interest of the kid. And to people who have a problem with this, I wonder what they'd prefer happen...drop the kid in a dumpster wrapped in a plastic trash bag? -be safe.

You guess? Or do you know this happens?

So how do they deal with the insurance of under 21 year old drivers? My experience has been the same as Rid's. If you're under the age of 21 you're typically not considered for hire due to insurance regs and the potential for needing to drive the ambulance. And this is consistent over several states in which I've worked or had dealings with EMS...not just one. I also agree with Rid in that there's plenty of time to take an EMT class. Go to college. Get some solid educational experience behind you. That will help make this class a breeze for you. Plus, it'll give you the opportunity for some solid life experiences. Especially if you take advantage of a lot of the programs offered in a college setting (including study abroad). If you really want to do right for yourself, go to nursing school first. Then earn a paramedic certification. The education received from both will compliment each other and you'll be better off both job wise and financially in the long run. EMS will always be here. There will always be a roll of EMS in todays society. And there is no shortage of stupid people waiting to give us something to do. Enjoy life some before getting involved in what can be an emotionally draining career. -be safe.

JEMS Magazine Vol 31 No 7, July 2006 page 32 "First - and this blew our minds - 54.5% of those who are not now practicing reported that they had never practiced." This comment was made as part of a study on a completely different topic. However, the results do back up AZCEP's statement. There are more people out there who have it and don't use it than you think. For some it was a "cool" thing to do. For others it's an occupational thing. For others yet it's simply something good to have just in case. (As an example, I used to work as a white water guide in West Virginia. I knew so many people who had an EMT cert simply because they thought it was good to have in case you had an injury while in the middle of a canyon with no immediate chance of evacuation. That and they were paid an extra couple bucks for the training. These folks never practiced anywhere. They didn't volly or work anywhere, nor did they intend to.) AZCEP, once again, is very astute in his observations and right on with his assessment. -be safe

Working in EMS gives us a greater responsibility towards our work than other professions might have. It's not about us. It's about our patients and the people we serve. If these providers strike then their employers should take every step within their power to have every one of their sorry a$$es fired. There are other ways to get your message out and raise awareness of your dispute. By striking you only alienate yourselves further.