mikeymedic1984

no it was serious --- nothing like bringing a knife to a gun fight ---- I responded to a GSW in my subdivision (my agency) with nothing on board, just because it was around the corner -- dude blew his entire face off, and I had nothing to deal with airway or his continued efforts to rip the rest of his skin off his skull while he was combative --- a bloody mess; me and my gloved hands were no match.

Dwayne, this is the first time I have uttered shut it down, but the reason is simple --- 22 pages of response have been offered and another 22 pages will not change either position's mind. Seems like a waste of time to me, but I could be wrong.

Richard, I am not sure it was the first, but the Abortion Clinic bombing was in Atlanta, with the secondary device being in a nearby dumpster that made a news reporter wet herself; maybe it was the first. You all are correct that logic would say put another where the first responders will be, or at the hospital you think most would go to. Don't give me. "I havent been there, so I do not know". Surely you have been in other dangerous situations and made a choice to go in, or stay out, whether it be fire, entrapment, scaling a cliff, diving in cold water, etc.......

In the infamous Boston Marathon bombing clip where the elderyly gentleman is knocked down by the blast, if you look at the bottom left of the screen in that video, you will see a uniformed Police Officer who is facing the finish line. Upon the first blast occurring, he turns back and heads toward the first blast. As soon as the second blast occurs, he turns and runs away from the blast sites, while others continue to run towards the first blast site, which would be the, correct, right thing to do, as it regards to scene safety (2 blasts close together -- get the hell out). So what would you have done in that situation; Go towards the injured/dismembered who are bleeding to death, or seek safety until all is clear ?

I would say go big or stay at home. I live in an urban area, so response time is not an issue. But once you get out of your car to render aid, you are committed. Are you ready to do mouth-to-mouth, do you have proper PPE in case of heavy bleeding or vomit ? If you are gonna stop, be prepared for anything and everything.

Hate to say it, but this issue is just like "abortion", we can all argue for the next 50 years and no side's arguement is going to change the other. If you are a knuckle-dragger you believe you are entitled to own every weapon up to a "M-1 Tank", if you are a tree hugging hippie you believe the only gun you should own is a water pistol. Time to shut it down.

Sorry, too much to read, but here is two cents worth on all of these "issues". As I explained to my daughter, in the 70's you could smoke cigarettes everywhere (airplanes, McDonalds, every public indoor place). People have fought to ban smoking, which will never happen, but after all of their efforts, you can now eat in McDonalds anywhere without getting second hand smoke. Mothers against drunk driving have not stopped drinking and driving, but there is a big difference between now and the 70's-80s, when at worst, the cops would drive you home. There is never going to be a ban on all of the weapons, but maybe one day we can find the happen medium.

Lets put everything in perspective. You have about a billion chances greater potential of getting killed in a vehicle accident on the way to this call. There is no reason to keep the belongings with the patient, you have external truck compartments, and you can always put bags up in the cab. Terrorist typically want to kill lots of people, the chances of them targeting one ambulance is pretty remote. Good question, but you really dont have the right to search and seizure as a medic in most states.

Thank GOD you are looking at real uniforms, I am so sick of EMS personnel dressing like landscapers (t-shirts). I would not use jump suits, just because they tend to be tight in the crotch for dudes, its hard to pick a suit that accomodates breasts well, and anyone you have that weighs more than 200lbs will not look professional in a jump suit. I would stick with the traditional shirt and pants, if you do not know "Dickies" makes a pair of EMS style pants with pockets on the side, that are half the price of EMS Pants (like $25.00), they do not "fade" as fast, and they are sold at Walmart in the men's section (most cities have walmarts that are closer then public safety uniform stores). Polyester pants will melt on your skin if flames ever get close. Dont be afraid to use non-traditional colored shirts (lime green, yellow, red, orange) it makes your folks stand-out at large scenes or events, and may make them more visible in the road-way. P.S. If I had the power, I would have us wear clip on ties (male and female), it is time we go back to a professional look.

Pregnant teens are emancipated adults in my state also.

Me and my partner (male) have already decided on a "signal" and to rush the assailant at the same time, regardless of weapon. He has told you that no one is leaving alive, I have no reason to not believe him, one of us will take our chances with a single GSW versus dying at the hands of a maniac (remember that many folks are not that accurate with hand-guns). OF course, I probably would have had a different answer when I had young kids, but the world was different then.

Just wondering how you guys handle this. A medic was recently found acting "altered" while on-duty, and was sent for a drug screen that he failed. The rumor mill has it that he tested positive for many substances, which may or may not be true. Anyhow, I thought my employer would report this to our "State" (governing body -- not Natl Reg), but they opted not to, citing their lawyer's opinion that going after this person's livelihood could produce reprocussions. What does your company do, do you just let them go to the next employer and hope they do a pre-employment drug screen ? The chances of this person getting a local job is not likely (rumor mill), but if goes to another state or a distant location in our state, he might be practicing while high again.

No, he means to get employed; many insurance companies will not cover someone with a DUI (vehicle insurance), which makes you unhireable. Everywhere is different, but 7 years of being clean will help. Most insurance companies frown more upon a 35 year old getting a DUI than a 18-22 year old, but like suggested, the best advice is to go to the employers directly and ask. You may have to start out at a smaller company at worst, until 7 years has passed and its no longer on your record.

Agree with most of what has been said, but I think you do need to clarify the mission of the vehicle, to help choose the right vehicle. If no mission can be defined at this point, I would probably go with an SUV that could haul at least 2 people besides you and the basic equipment to first respond to an emergency. I think you will regret a small vehicle, a cargo type van/truck with no seating capacity, but you could also be unhappy with a vehicle that is too large and drinks too much fuel. Also think about warranties and quality of the manufacturers reputation (the vehicle isnt useful if in the shop every month for repairs), and whether or not you have a repair facility near you (ie..... Mercedes makes some great vehicles, but if you dont have any place that can repair them nearby, it could be a problem)

Just a side note, do you yankees keep your backboards inside the truck during conditions such as these, so that they will be warm(er) ? Nothing like being naked on a 20 degree backboard ?

Sorry Island, but right and wrong are not different, they are always right or wrong, we just choose to try to blur them to get the outcome we want. For instance: answer this, "If you were hungry, would it be ok to steal a fresh baked pie from someone's window sill, or a piece of fruit from the grocery store ?" Many would answer yes, but that is not correct, stealing is stealing -- just because you have an unusual circumstance in your life does not give you the right to take from someone else (it's like Obamacare LOL). The definition of being a responsible adult ? Doing the right thing when no one is looking ! JNG, you should not feel guilty about turning them in. It is like I have said many a time, if you ask my employees how many people I have terminated in the last 5 years, they would come up with a number (I dont know how many have been terminated). But if you would ask me, I would say I have never terminated anyone in my whole career; the employee terminated themselves by their actions or inactions, I just filled out the paperwork for them.

This is not an old school vs new school or vet versus rookie argument. You could make the same argument that CPR is not useful in out of hospital cardiac arrest, because very little is useful in out of hospital cardiac arrest. Yes, you may see ups and downs in ROSC, but survivability is still about the same. All I am saying is don't pin your hopes on whatever the new "study" says. I base the validity of "scientific studies" on their "OUTCOMES". When the outcome does not change, you have to wonder how valid the research was; but I will give credit to the scientist in that there are way more variables to consider in pre-hospital cardiac arrest, that are way out of there control. But I will take the bet; everyone throw away your laryngoscopes, let's take a look at "YOUR" data in 2/2014 to see how many more arrest patients survived in your jurisdiction than in 2012 ? I will buy lunch if I lose.

Oh Lord, to be young and gullible again. Scientific studies are no more unbiased than what you politicians tell you. Studies are funded by someone, and often the outcome of the study slants towards whatever drug or technology that the company that donated the money wanted it to produce (not always, but often). AHA has put out numerous scientific studies over the years (I have been at this almost 30), changing the ACLS drugs to whatever was deemed to be the drug of choice after the last ACLS book expired. Guess what, cardiac arrest survival rates have not changed any despite all of those expert scientific studies and STATISTICS that suggested that the old way was stupid and that the new way will save everyone. ACLS has to change the curriculum every few years to sell more books to us, and that is all this is about. In a controlled setting like an OR, and for a short period of time, a supraglottic airway is sufficient, but in the field, the ETT is king. And to correct the rookie who stated that vomit in the airway is due to over inflating the stomach, I have worked two arrests at buffet restaurants this year (2013) where the vomit was in the airway before CPR was started, not to mention the numerous GSWs to the face (or other facial/head trauma) that put tons of blood in the airway.

Have you guys actually ever worked an arrest, and had copious amount of vomit coming up the airway from compressions ? How in the hell could you suggest that an unsecured airway is ever a good thing. I don't care what one study suggests, anyone who has actually worked in the field knows that this is a bunch of crap. As stated earlier, I am sure that I can produce a study that shows anything I want it to.

Good points by all, but seriously, do you really believe your HR department is going to hire a dude with 5 oclock shadow and 36 DDs ? I do not see the dude ever getting the chance; if you disagree, please tell me how many trannies you currently employ at your service ?

The family has put me in charge of planning this year's vacation, so I wanted to ask for your help. Where would you go in the US for the perfect vacation ? I think Hawaii and Alaska are probably out of my budget range, we have already done Florida and Washington DC to death. Any thoughts ?

I am "old school" and disagree. I dont think the "device" used matters, I still believe "proper ventilation does". I can not tell you how many times I have watched Para-Gods dig in someone's throat for minutes in an attempt to get the tube in, versus just ventilating with a BVM. I do not see how the deprevation of oxygen improves anyone's survival chances. I have been around long enough to see "new studies" that prove what we have been doing for years is now somehow wrong, but the success rates never improve. I say go back to two rounds of Epi, Bicarb, and D50 for any arrest; it worked just as good as what we are doing today.

After the comments of the dumb 49ers defensive player (football for those who do not care about sports) this week, I thought it might be a good time to ask this question: I think we have all had a gay male or lesbian female partner by now, but would your organization hire a transvestite, and would you work with him/her if they did ? Be honest !!!!!!

I imagine if the driver was a 350lb dude, the results would have been different, we all know that there is little any man won't do for a chic, especially an attractive one.

1. First and foremost, I still think the stats for out of hospital arrest are around a 95-99% death rate, so it really does not matter what airway device you choose to use or not use. The odds are against you despite your best efforts and technology. I could probably produce a study that shows rubbing "deer antler spray" over their heart works better than intubation or epinephrine. Just saying. I think we spend too much time valuing our jobs and existence on these patients, lets spend more time on patients that we can have a positive outcome on.