island emt

Did the QA/QI person give a reason of medical necessity for you to administer the nebulizer treatment other than "because you can do it"? Often times we get the same from the regional med control QA/QI board. Why didn't you do this? or Why didn't you start an IV on this Pt? My normal answer is that there were no sound medical needs for the treatment to be given , even though our protocols allow us to do it. No Treatment is completely safe or without risk, & I don't do things "because I can".

Thank you! It's been a really hard month for my wife and her family. and not getting much info from the "company" about what happened.

it all depends on where overseas the assignment is. Some postings are very good and a great experience and others not so good.. Many times these contracts lead to some real shithole third world nations . Others to places where you are not wanted and will be in for a really hard time. My Brother in law just returned home in a box from his work as a contractor in Afghanistan.

Thats awesome AK Years ago the small company I worked for had the VA contract from northern New England area's to take Vets down to Boston for major procedures. Some of these trips were over 5 hrs and the only time some of the guys had to get out of the VA medical center where they lived. We had a regular stop on our return trip at a certain rte 1 north steakhouse in peabody that was very accommodating to us. They had many smaller private dining rooms and would give us one with an outside door to bring the stretcher in through. They always charged the GI's $5.00 for there meals no matter what they ordered. They were treated like royalty by the staff , and if the owner was in the house he personally would come in to greet the vet and thank them for their service. When it was time to leave the cashier would always hand us a box of cannolie's to take for the trip north.

Thank you to all of you for your thoughts. We just returned home tonight from a very long & trying 10 days since were informed of his death.. Paul was laid to rest in the veterans cemetery yesterday. He was working as a Law enforcement trainer in Afghanistan, training their police officers in how to be a good officer and how to do criminal investigation work. He was ambushed along with another member of the team while traveling in the province.

Please keep him and his family in your prayers. Paul was my wife's kid brother, A former member of the 82nd Airborne, A 20 year Ct state trooper, EMT and most recently, was deployed to Panjshir province as a Police trainer for a DOD contractor. He was killed in an ambush by a Afghan officials bodyguard while on duty. Thanks Ed

I've heard from him and yes he is in country.

Hey AK: Are you still in Afghanistan ? If so can you PM me Thanks RIP Paul Protzenko LEP PRT Panjshir 10 1 1964- 7 9 2011

I would guess that keeping this whale alive while cutting away fat eating bacteria for 16 months while in hospital and rehab probably cost well over a million of your tax dollars Mobey. The odds ARE GOOD THAT IF, SHE WASN'T MORBIDLY OBESE SHE WOULD NOT BE A DIABETIC WITH DEPRESSION AND HTN,COPD,HEART DISEASE and all the associated medical issues that go along with it. She probably would not have gotten flesh eating bacteria growing in the fat rolls and would have been able to clean her ass to keep it from growing cheese cultures. It is a well documented fact that I have little to NO sympathy for people that eat them selves into a state of multiple chronic illnesses, that burden the healthcare system and make us break our backs. Obesity is not an disease: It causes illness and disease to grow uncontrolled, It a free choice to be fat and not do anything about it, except keep shoving calories into their pie hole. If that make me an uncaring prick , then so be it!

It was intended to be! Sometimes the truth is blunt.

Sounds like it's time for a consult with Dr Kevorkian. ! Seriously now: How many million $$$ of healthcare have been spent trying to keep this train wreck alive over the last few years?

That's because you got taken for a ride in a horton. Your salesman's daughter can now go to Princeton for another year ! :-} Our last truck [2009] was a full custom type III ambulance and it cost 142k with lot of options.

This is so far fetched: Even as a hypothetical idea. Have you been staying up at night to think of things such as this? If they only wear traditional dress then when they applied, they would have been told of the required uniform to be employed. If they stated no on religious reasoning then I as an employer do not have to make those accommodations to allow them to be different from the rest of my employees. There are no reasons for hiring this person for your service unless you are providing EMS in rural Afghanistan. Sorry AK

But thats the issue here dwayne, The pt is on hospital property and really never was his pt. When he arrived the pt was already being taken care of by hospital employees. Thus EMS has no duty to act even though they were called by a lookie loo with a cell phone. Maybe he has his knickers in a knot because the hospital staff didn't defer to his superior medical knowledge, but take an open eyed look at the info given! Edit to add: There are cases where we were called to a local Emergency Room canopy area to package and extricate a pt that had CC of severe back pain from a fall and then had been driven to the ER by a family member. There were already hospital staff on scene and had requested us to provide the equipment & expertise in removing the pt safely from a vehicle. Outside their field of knowledge and they deferred to EMS experience and knowledge.

Many years ago [ 1978 ] , I had the closest call of receiving my angel wings in my career. We were called for an assault with stabbing to a third floor walkup in the hood, PD on scene. We arrived and toted all our gear up to the railroad apt and on reaching the proper floor found one cop at the back door and two others in the apt with the "victim". While treating the pt's knife injuries we heard a door open and low & behold the perpetrator pops out of the closet at the end of the hallway with a mac 10 in his hand. As we all dove for the exit door the two cops mowed my partner & I down trying to get clear. Lucky for us Hector had lousy aim and sprayed the ceiling over our heads. That was a night for a couple shots and a change of our uniform pants. :-} ever since that august night all those many years ago, I never put much faith in the cops clearing the scene until they have checked every square inch of the residence. We all run into the agitated and potentially violent patient from time to time, but that doesn't mean we need to be punching bags or worse for them. Trust your spidey sense and if your radar goes off get out.

Lets see: Person with a medical problem on the hospital property being taken care of by hospital staff ::::: You have a problem with this why?

Rest in peace Dr. Jack

If you can't come to work without the 5 hour energy drinks, stay home. The last thing we need is someone amped up on caffeine & sugar trying to act calmly and responsibly. Step back and take a deeeeeeep breath before leaping into action, it's not your emergency!

The national registry as a whole is nothing more than a sad joke. From the basic level on up all test are written to the eighth grade level of comprehension' .'NR is a money making venture for providing a standardized test and nothing more. The current DOT curriculum at all levels is so inept as to make the courses a rush to teach just enough to pass the test. My wife adds 35 hours to her basic courses on top of the required minimum 150 hours and it's still hard to get all the needed information to the students above the minimum DOT standard materials.

remember those who gave their lives for the freedoms we have ! Unfortunately for many of us , it's just another work day.

#1 appears to be a middle class family from suburbia that would like you to think they are outdoorsman. Jeep commander is not the vehicle of choice of trailer trash rednecks. None of them spend much time outdoors [pale pasty skin, no tan lines on arms] . #2 Could be anyone but a serious biker who rides with a club or gang. Can't tell from the colors on his vest as we can't see them. Could be a stockbroker or a drug dealer or anything in between. Expensive Harley Davidson full dresser. #3 could be an institutional setting, but no bars on the windows. Kinda looks like several of my regular customers.with a fear of running water & soap.

Hitler thought 6 million people was pretty significant ;;;;; just sayin!

Paid , Volunteer or in between. It still takes a lot of time and effort to say nothing of the expense to get newbies up to speed and able to work in the street. They have probably been burned in the past and want to know up front how much return for their investment there is going to be. Every newb wants to be a rotary wing aviator medic, so that tells them you really have no clue how few providers there are in air med systems. Pipe dreams are wonderful , but reality will score many more points in any interview process. What I want to hear in the interview is that a newb wants to continue to learn and be a better provider.' If they tell me their goal is to have my job their hired. :-} Can't wait to retire

Kinda makes me wonder how many million dollars the "REV" spent on all the bill boards and pamphlets to pass out to nonbelievers. Then you got to wonder how many church of the airwaves parishioners he stole their life savings to fund it. Seen one california crackpot seen em all

"Cardiac Arrest Survival statistics have not improved in over 20 years," Last time I checked ,we are not god. We can't fixed dead in spite of what you may have been told. statistics for in-hospital arrest survival pretty much mirror what is seen on the street. I do agree that there is a push for some folks to do more with less, but that is generally coming from management and the insurance companies that expect more service for less cost.