AnthonyM83

When a government entity, workplace, or community DOES infringe on your rights, though, it wouldn't be wrong to oppose that. If anything, it'd be impressive, because the people who don't have time for it need people who do have enough interest/energy/time to dedicate to those issues, otherwise they would never be resolved. This goes for all forms of protest or legal change, not just gay/race issues. PS Well said Dwayne.

My agency just a got a few dozen of them, I believe through a grant (seems like you can get all sorts of things in the name of homeland security nowadays). But only supervisor units carry them and they're to distribute them while staging for GSWs....which is freaking stupid, as 1) they're bright blue (aka great target) though they do say EMS (which a bad guy would probably mistake as an acronym for SWAT or ERT/HRT 2) By the time the supervisor gets there we've usually already been cleared to enter the scene 3) They have the bulky covering. I think the main purpose, though, is in case of civil unrest (they have extras to hand out to most on-duty crews in the certain areas).

And still is. The latest plan I heard is having ALL LAFD FFs attend medic school (probably PTI, the super cheap, short, super easy joke school...from what I've heard)...seems like an assembly line

In my a previous job that test was used to gather build a case that the person was under the influence of drugs....

See, that's where you're wrong. A lot of people do. I've heard people verbally say it. Just like the race issue, people do still discriminate on race. Problem is there's lazy people, drama people, etc etc in all ethnicities and sexual orientations, so you'll still get people that overdo it or cry wolf. But do know that people do have a problem with people's race or sexual orientation, even if we don't have a problem with it. You've wrongly pegged a lot of people with the above comment...

Los Angeles county only uses A&O*3, but I was told it was due to a lot of medics upgrading patients when they couldn't remember the exact event, such as car accidents...where it is apparently common not to remember the exact impact even though there wasn't loss of consciousness. My fav around here is when a patient is obviously confused, definitely not able to make a proper decision, often piss drunk, but he can answer the when, where, who questions, so he's A/O*3

Anyone know how many actual patients a tactical medic will see in a 20 year career at a BUSY agency? I can't imagine that many officers are shot per agency....maybe some heat stroke or cardiac problems following training... I know my interest is heavy in both, so that wouldn't really fulfill my interest. But it might be something good to do after some years working the streets in an ambulance for a number of years.

If you're ever really concerned, could you have them them speak to your online control / medical base? Then it can call on them?

No, no, please, continue

Haha. As a side note...anyone have that 1989 article on the art of medical pimping?

One thing about CA is they always try to be about the consumer I've only seen those at the hospital and I think some high class con homes?

What would you offer to the scene that isn't already there? Does what you offer outweigh the temporary confusion or delay as they figure out who you are, what your level of training is, what your competence is, and how to use you? So, if it's just a standard MVA, doubt you'd offer much. If it's a "slinger" and there's people everywhere with only two ambulance crewmembers there, I wouldn't mind. Stopping should be the rare exception that probably will never happen.

You don't test positive for alcohol/drugs on-scene. On-scene you test positive for not being able to follow commands properly, impaired motor skills, impaired cognitive skills, and driving ability. Then you go get tested (the little blow tests they give on the site of the road are preliminary tests only)...at least in CA. But yes, we don't know what caused him to be under the influence. It might have been a medication OD.

Oh...let me tell you.... One that's not so scary, but should scare you: and of course... http://www.inkietos.com/wp-content/200509/29/venom.jpg

*blink blink* It never occurred to me that any services out there don't. I thought that was standard training from the BLS level. We did it just last shift and we were way more hesitant about it than the patient was. She was just in incredible pain and just wanted us to do what we needed and get her to a hospital. Most pregnant women know we need to do that and it's probably on their mind more than ours (is my baby going to be born in my living room floor?). Not only are you checking for dilation, you're checking for crowning. You want to know what time frame you're working with and certainly don't want a baby to start emerging without you being ready...

If they're privately funded, get as many as you can. Like they said in the other thread, a lot of people probably aren't going to be showing up because of their own situation/family not being stabilized yet. Also, each area seems to have a different kind of team...and able to respond at different stages of the emergency. Some teams are specific to a very small area, the city has enough money to not have to count on countywide or national teams to reach them (smart).

In LACounty, it's pretty much this way. What will make a difference is whether the EKG says ***ST Elevation*** or not, if so they go to a cath lab. No critical thinking required, unfortunately :-/ FF523, you're really missing out on the point...he's saying if you have a suspicion...he didn't simply say that tearing=dissection. You're taking things to equal either A or B...without allowing for critical thinking

How long till you get to work with her?

What's the patient's normal pulse rate? Was his pulse regular? Was he put on the monitor? Bradycardia is listed as a cause of widening pulse pressure...if that was the cause, then what was the cause of the bradycardia...

Perfectly reasonable discussion topic. No, our system does not have that option in place.

Realistically, that'd probably be it here...except probably no mask. BLS.

In LA County, I can't think of a single ALS transport that doesn't require base contact for orders (though you can start doing certain procedures prior to base contact). It's a nurse that answers.

To who? Most citizens don't even know what the heck a CERT team is. To me it wold seem like societal fault to not have some kind of emergency plan with emergency volunteers setup, regardless of how well it'd actually turn out working...

I think that kind of goes without saying....

What if you're required to report in? Then you're on-duty.