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 !!!!

I would say it was snarky or ass-holish, there is nothing in the OPs post to suggest whether they were taking the EMTB, EMTA, or EMTP test, they just said they failed the NREMT exam. Yes, it was probably EMT B, but who knows. Maybe this is why this site is dying ?????

As mentioned earlier, this site has slowed way down in the past 2 years as far as posts and meaningful conversations. I checked the competing site and noted that most of the forum posts were from June/July of 2014, so they are faring much worst. I have seen more posts on here from kid-emt-wantabes, rahter than from true EMS professionals, so are these sites going the way of pagers and black and white TVs ? Have we already answered every EMS Industry question, so there is nothing left to talk about ? Is there anything we can do to drown out the sounds of the crickets chirping ?

Echoe the same, I have no idea about the wait time in your area of employment, but it is not uncommon for fire service/ems jobs in big cities to have 400 applicants for every 20 open positions. It takes time to do drug tests and background checks done, so keep applying at other places to give yourself options; if it takes 6 months for them to contact you, you can always put your 2-week notice in at the places you may get hired at tomorrow.

I have never sat on a bench seat, typically those were installed to transport a second patient (those aluminum cups on the lid of the bench were used to stablize the pegs of the second army type canvas stretcher in the 60s-70s). It is way past time that we look at a safer/more convenient way to design the back of an ambulance. I remember a study from years ago, where an air-medic/engineer looked at the sharp corner designs of the cabinets and the lack of proper restraints in the back of our boxes and said he would never ride back there without a helmet on.

Not in my neck of the woods, which could be wrong or right. My blood pressure could be that on any given day, but since you posted it, I assume something whent horribly wrong. At the pressure you stated (after treatment), I would have started an IV (you stated already there, so no reason for you to do that), and I would monitor her closely, but I would not do anything more unless some other sign or symptom presented, but my spidey-senses would be hightened by her history.

I don't think you will find a more gay-friendly career for "gay women" than EMS. Gay males still aren't AS accepted in many places, especially the more rural you get (the same as I expect gay males find in other occupations ---- big cities tend to be more friendly).

No, but I think with obvious signs and symptoms of something more serious i would ere on the side of the most serious, do you disagree ????

No my local hospitals can handle everything except neuro, pediatrics, open heart, and trauma (mechanism or actual real traumatic injury requiring surgery). Oh, i forgot ---- and renal, they don't do dialysis.

No, I heard you, and in a perfect world that sounds good, but is that a reality ? Not likely with an adult patient. I doubt she will go for it. Whether she does or not, the school stills has a liability issue as of today for this patient or any other. I would still think that following the advice of their attorney is best for them.

Hey its like urgent care centers that are not open 24 hours, when in doubt, or if it is time to close, send them to the ER. My mom is a school nurse and treats at least 50 patients a day (meds, diabetics, special needs), but you can bet if there is anything strange going on with a patient she is calling the family or 911. What would be your defense if the patient died ? Lawyer to teacher: Please tell us what medical training you have ? Teacher : I took a CPR class once in 1992. Lawyer: so when my patient started having a seizure, what part of your neurological medical training told you that the patient would be fine, and would not aspirate on their vomit and die ? If you were in a Walmart and saw someone having a seizure, would you not call 911 or at least notify store employees that a medical emergency was occuring ? If your child had a seizure tomorrow, would you set them in the corner and let them sleep for an hour ? I don't want her to call 911, but absent any further training or agreement with the family, I think she is on dangerous legal grounds if she fails to follow what is the accepted societal norm for the community. OP, please talk with your school's attorney, and follow whatever advice they give you.