mikeymedic1984

I do not recall that article, but I do know that your statistic sounds very close to "Firefighter" death rates --- broaden your google search to firemen instead of EMS or Paramedics.

More people die from the flu --- i am sorry, even at 400, it is not an epidemic, at best, it is roughly the same number as those that drown in bathtubs. Is it sad, sure !!!! But to claim it as an epidemic is ridiculous. The CDC's official definition of an epidemic is: "The occurrence of more cases of disease than expected in a given area or among a specific group of people over a particular period of time." Does anyone have any proof that suicides in our industry are increasing, or are higher than normal, or higher than any other industry ? According to this article, we (our industry) do not even make the top 18 among the highest group that commits suicide (white men) : http://www.newhealthguide.org/Highest-Suicide-Rate-By-Profession.html

HMMMMM , if I had a dollar for everytime I had to remind a flightmedic that he/she was spending too much time trying to RSI/Intubate a patient, I would be retired now.

There have been many studies that show throwing trauma patients in whatever vehicle immediately and transporting, improves outcomes of trauma patients. The sooner they get to the OR, the better, regardless of how they get there --- and there are some studies that show we actually do more harm than good ---- google "hypothermic trauma patients". We cut all their clothes off, throw them on a cold back board, and then dump 65 degree NACL into their body.

If you believe wikipedia (if you don't, google your favorite resource), in 2005, there were around 35,000 suicides in the US ---- if 400 (to use your exagerated number) of them were EMTs, that would be less than 1%. I am sure there are many professions with the same or higher rate (stockbrokers for example, or in the past few years in the US, maybe construction or real estate folks). Suicide is sad no matter what their profession was, but to think that EMS is leading the category is proposterous --- if anything, I would say the EMS folks probably have the lowest rate as we see how precious life is every day as we bag up the ones who died at too young of an age (for whatever reason). You guys love your facts, scientific surveys, and stats on here, so prove me wrong with some science. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States

It's not an epidemic, if only 34 died in a year, Sorry !

Hey, put your efforts wherever you want, for whatever cause you want. I am just saying that in the grand scheme of things, if only 34 people die from something in a year, regardless of the reason, its not a big deal. I am sure at least 34 people died from bicycle accidents last year, but I am not going to outlaw bicycles or start a fund raiser for those who died; if you wish to, go ahead. I doubt that the suicide rate in our industry is any higher than any other industry, and I seriously doubt that it is the highest of all industries.

Far more medics and emts are killed in ambulance crashes. Far more US citizens are killed in bathtub drownings and lightening strikes.

Regardless of what you like or dislike, I have noted that my company has several Chevy Duramaxes with close to or over 300k on them (and yes, they run well, we are not a poor company with a bunch of raggedy pieces of shit on the road like AMR or RM), that was unheard of with the Ford 6.0, or gasoline engines back in the day. Now of course, the new gasoline engines have not had been around long enough to see how long they will last, but with today's technology, I am sure they will last longer than their grandfathers did. The old rule was that you got rid of, or remounted an ambulance at 100k miles (gas or diesel), say 15 years ago.

I agree with the above, it should be whenever you need it, as the weight itself is not always a determiner (do you have stairs, an awkward exit to the ambulance, are they 4 foot tall but 5 feet wide). Our general rule, is that any two person crew should be able to handle 300lbs on their own, anything above that needs a 3rd or 4th person, anything above 500 requires a team. In my area, the Fire Departments are usually very understanding and willing to provide a lift-assist (except at 3am), so use that resource if your company can't provide you with internal folks. I come from the days of two-man stretchers, where we had to lift every patient from the ground or to the ground on the stretcher, luckily in those days, we did not have many patients over 250lbs. With today's lard-asses, you need to use help when you can, you only have one spine, and the damage will probably show years after you lifted your last cow into the truck (not at the time).

Actually the best I ever had, was a pair of boots from the army/navy surplus store (before desert storm, so they were black and polishable). If you can find them (and it is not always easy), a shoe cobbler/repair guy, can put zippers in the side for you. I wore one pair of boots over 8 years (resoled them once, with the same guy who put the zippers in), it was the best $30, I ever spent. It sucked the first week while I was breaking them in, but once they were broke-in, they were great.

Could it be that we know that the National Registry is just a testing machine that prefers that you fail so that they can collect more money ? My State had an instructor that was caught cheating by giving the answers to the test to his students (years ago). Every since, we have had a very high failure rate as the National Registry made sure that students in our state got the hardest test they had. Those who failed two or three times, went to neighboring states and passed the test with flying colors on the first take. Now we can argue who is right or wrong, but to claim that all students who fail the test are automatically stupid is not fair in my book. As with all things in EMS, there is more grey, than black and white.

How do we improve ???? Not sure since I am "memeograph paper" (still love that smell) in a texting age; but some thoughts: 1. This generation is all about the cell phone (they are all going to have tumors), does this site work well on a cellphone ? 2. Are our topics IN TOUCH with what the younger generation wants to talk about ? Do we need a "relationship advice" tab, or a "You won't believe what my dumb ass company did" tab. 3. Should there be a tab just for vollies ? Should Admin award a free subway sandwich card to the best post of the month ? Should all posters have to put their nude pics up as their icon image ? Most importantly, I think there needs to be respect for all posters, no matter how dumb --- we recently had several adults beating up on a 14 year old for his stupid post; is that smart ???? I remember reading something about how all the "Christian TV stations" that beg for money all day, did not have a problem with the channels that were in direct conflict with their so called christian beliefs, on the satellite/cable package. Why, because they were all lumped in, in the same tier, if one of them failed, they all failed, so the Church channels were happy with the stations that sold vibrators. Maybe being "EMS Purists", with no tolerance for the ignorant, is our problem.

I will further say, if you look at any corporate business commercial on TV, most are not steered towards us old farts (unless it is Depends, ED drugs or other drugs, or Senior Life Insurance); most are reaching to a younger demographic to keep the customers coming. Maybe we should stop eating our young posters, and welcome them with open arms. We were all young and dumb and some point, if this site is to continue, we need young folks to come in and post. Otherwise, in five years, it will just be the same old 8 posters on here.

Wow ER Doc, can't believe you went there -- that is sacreligious on this site !!!!