DwayneEMTP

Serious question...do I have specific protections under the constitution as a heterosexual man? Is there somewhere in the labor laws that protect me specifically because of my sexual orientation? I once not long after Dylan was born I was out of work and scrambling so applied to be a bartender at a gay bar. They asked if I was gay, I told them I wasn't...Do you think I got the job? So much of what you want to be protected from is simply the learning curve involved in normal human social interaction. Should my son be legally protected because people look at him funny when makes funny sounds in a restaurant, or refuses to make eye contact when speaking? Of course not, because it would make no difference. People aren't discriminating against him, they are acting strangely in the face of something that they are not familiar with. In no way am I pretending this is the sum total of discrimination, but instead referencing your comments to sitting on the same side of the booth or talking to your mate on the phone. Much of our country has a deep seated fear, and many, dislike of homosexuality based on our long Christian history. You can't legislate that away, can't cry it away, can't wish it away. People need to learn that their inherited misunderstandings are incorrect. No different that blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Jews, Irish, Muslims, and women in this country. Choosing to be as brash and offensive as possible won't do anything but make that process last much, much longer than necessary. People can not be expected to react 'normally' to things that they haven't experienced before. When I took my NR practicals I walked into the KED station and the preceptor was about 6' tall, long hair well styled in a feminine fashion, fashionable makeup on a very masculine face, bulging muscles and hairy arms. My mind went completely blank. I had nothing. I said, "I'm checking PMS..." and did so...Trying to move on said, "Errr...I'm checking PMS.." S/he had this funny smile on his/her face and said, "You going to be ok?" I said, "Sorry man, just one sec...I seem to be processing." S/he laughed, all was fine and I did my thing. (S/he as I'm not sure to what sex they identified and didn't ask.) We bumped into each other later having a smoke and I said, "I'm sorry about that. No offense was intended...I just didn't have a place in my brain for you yet." S/he had no issues at all with it and in fact seemed comfortable with my initial confusion. You've got to stop blaming people for being people Flaming. I'm sorry that your path in life is harder than some, but it's way fucking easier than many because of those that have come before you. Being uncomfortable sometimes is a reality for you and your mate as it is for me and my son...we're never going to legislate away human nature. It just takes time. Then that should be mitigated when dealing with patients. I've got medic friends that speak much of the time as if they're living in some ghetto drug war movie, yet there is no sign of it when they treat patients. I am often blunt and verbally aggressive, but non of my patients would recognize that tone. If people are picking up on your 'gay accent' when you're treating patients it's because you choose to allow them to do so. You're trying to be 'you' instead of treating patients...and that's not good medicine. Thanks for your response... Dwayne

That is my experience as well. When I was doing my OB clinicals in school twice I was witness to patiens with ecalampsia/pre eclampsia. The first the patient had begun to seize, the Doc came in and pushed 7mg of Mag over, maybe 30 seconds. I just sat there and waited for her to crump, when in fact, over just a few minutes she was fine. The preeclampsia patient was the same, same dose, same delivery, and again, no adverse effects that I could see. Like most of us I'm guessing, they scared the hell out of me in regards to pushing too much/to fast with Mag, but in these two cases at least that proved to be untrue. I'd asked him about it later and he said that we all freak out about it too much, that 7mg IVSP/2 mins is pretty standard treatment for him. I mentioned this to the physician instructor, 25 year ER doc from Denver General, that we had at our school and she said that she'd commonly seen it done though would never feel comfortable doing it herself...So... It's a mystery....Maybe one of our brainiacs can spell it out for us? Docs, Chbare?? Dwayne

(Edit: Sorry for the redundancies, I was posting the same time as the other. Bernhard, I swear to God that if you didn't make the sedom, small grammatical error I would never know that English isn't your first language. Also, thanks for taking me to task on this Brother...though I know that wasn't your intent, it feels so good to know that you all are paying attention and not allowing me to be a bigger idiot than absolutely necessary.) You know, it seems that I've spent the last week following myself around after getting contrary opinions saying something to the effect, "Hell...It looks like I didn't know what I was talking about." I have sort of a love/hate relationship with this task.. I developed part of my opinion from a while back when someone posted some articles about people dying from CO2 poisoning. It seems like, though I can't find it now, that several people died in a relatively small area because they were picked up by basic crews who believed them to have the flu, or to be drunk or hung over, but in fact had gas leaks in their furnaces or issues with their wood burning heating units. The SPO2 showed 100% so they weren't treated well and some of them died. Again, I can't remember exactly, but it was something like that. As well, the treatment that the crews delivered likely had almost nothing to do with their morbidity/mortality. And I think we write off CO2 to quickly. I can raise my SPO2 by 5-7 points by having a smoke. It doesn't take long, and it lasts for a while. We had a bunch of gym rat medics when I was in Afg that hated that I smoked . I used to make them crazy when they'd start of a lecture as I'd run outside, smoke like a demon, and then go back inside and challenge them to compare SPO2/vitals. Thanks goodness it never occurred to them that smoking might have be the reason for a falsely elevated reading as opposed to me simply being healthier than they were. Of course I've probably traded the joy of tormenting them for about 20 years of my life. I got really sick when on the oil spill in LA, skin hurt, joints ached, headache, N/V, seemed to have a hard time catching my breath, developing over about a week or so. I assumed it was a flu. One of the other medics finally stepped up and did a half assed assessment, put on the pulse ox and it showed 100%. He said, "Hmmm...Lungs are clear, SPO2 is good, so you're oxygenating great...so that's not it." As soon as I saw the SPO2 reading I was able to put it together with the other symptoms and tore the trailer I was living in apart. It was one of the really cheap FEMA trailers, and discovered that the exhaust for the water heater was located directly below the scoop for the exhaust for the stove, funneling the exhaust back into the trailer. I sealed it closed, spent every spare minute sitting in the trailer on a non rebreather, and began to feel better after about a day, and after 4-5 days my SPO2 had returned to around 96% which I knew was about right for me at sea level. (I was shocked by how long it took!!) Had I been in the care of the other medic solely I may have died in the poisoned trailer before he figured out that I wasn't really doing so well. I have a real issue with giving people tools that they don't understand, so probably I let that cloud my comments. I've rarely seen in the hospital where most question their machines at all, leading me to believe that they are more reliable than I have come to believe. Also, the pulse ox rarely tells me anything that I didn't already know, though at times it's comforting if it helps to validate what I thought. It's just so rare that I put it on and go, "Holy shit! What the hells going on here!" that I probably don't have the respect for it that I should. I was Googling for arguments to make my point and my point is tough to make. But what is easy is to find a gazillion articles, many of them in medical journals, that crow about how SPO2 changed the face of medicine, or comments to the like. So, maybe I'm off in the ditch again. If the pulse oxs that people are using are giving low readings for the most part, instead of high, then maybe there is no damage at all other than to the assessment quality of the basic, and as shown above, medic providers that learn to lean on them. One caveat. Should anyone find that there is a huge number of CO2 issues in the country, much higher than I intuit, then I go back to my previous argument and you all can go and screw yourselves... :-) Dwayne

It sure looks interesting, but the vid on the site has been removed...

I've not used it very often..maybe 5 times, and each time I mixed what I considered the appropriate dose in a 250 mL bag of saline and let it run...and loved it every time! No secret to the size of bag, we simply had 250/1000mL bags... Dwayne

No, was referencing Toni's post saying that it isn't like that in Texas. It was my understanding that the state always sets the maximum standards and then services/medical directors accept or remove items at will... I don't really have any idea when or where I came to believe that, but it looks like I was off in the ditch. Dwayne

Man Ter..Heh...just kidding..Toni, that's pretty cool. I wonder how many states have that? Maybe many and I just wasn't aware of it? So it sounds Brother as if the answer to your question, as stated above, will be service specific as opposed to state specific. The main reason is that the majority of basic providers don't have the education to understand that it's just a tool, nor the assessment skills to know that it's often a foul-able tool. To many times people are/were suffering, and/or dying because providers didn't treat them because the pulse ox said that they didn't need to. I would rather give basic providers glucometers, which is still a mistake, then pulse ox. Dwayne

Yeah brother, two issues I see with getting participation. First is that you've asked people to spend hours defining this for you...that's a big 'ask.' Second, if you want them to take that time it will take some more effort on your part, though I can see that you expended quite a bit of effort already. Perhaps open for discussion one type of pathology that it might be used for and explore that, asking appropriate questions as you go? Not meaning to bust your balls...just trying to help you get what you're looking for. Dwayne

I think that maximum protocol regulations are determined by the state and then can be adjusted down from there by individual services, right? I can't help with your question, sorry about that, but we do have some wicked smart TX medics here, I'm sure that they will be able to help further when they get a second. Dwayne

Where did you get your EMT that you can get it at 16? Welcome to the City! You've just joined and yet I see your posts in several different forums...man, that speaks really well of you. I'm happy to see it. Good to have you girl...I look forward to your thoughts. Dwayne

This is the last of my time I'm going to waste on you Flaming as you're either intellectually unable, or uninterested in discussing topics instead of simply making the same comments you've made before over and over. As to 'seeing it in the father's eyes' if you are seeing such a thing then you don't belong on those calls. There is a reason that most services don't allow facial piercings, or uncovered full sleeved tattoos, or long/unkept hair, because it makes people uncomfortable. Do those things define the person and the provider? Most often not, in my experience. Is it unfair to be judged for such things? I don't know...it's not my way to judge people on such things but many if not most of the patients we care for come from much different backgrounds and generations than I do. It is what it is, and a professional provider will take such things seriously. If your behavior is making your sexuality so obvious that it makes patients uncomfortable then you don't belong around them and you need to stop the hypocritical patient advocate rants. But of course you see the father as a oppressor and deserving of the discomfort that you bring to his emergency situation, right? It seems that, like most radical minorities in my experience, you believe that you know all about me, but that I know nothing about you. Bullshit. That is the nonsense that you use to stay blind so as to also allow you to stay weak. I'm sorry to see it in you. I can't imagine the service stupid enough to ask your specific sexuality on an application. It's simple really, if you don't get hired then take that to ANY lawyer, it doesn't even have to be a good one, and you'll be financially set for a long while. I don't believe you when you say that this happened. And I don't believe that most gays are stupid enough to tolerate such a thing. Anyway, until you learn to discuss like an adult instead of a child claiming for the 100th time to be right despite the evidence...I'm not wasting any more time. And for the record....Love you too Flaming...Merry Christmas man... Dwayne

I have no idea what's going on here, but just a thought until Mobes opens it up to the great unwashed... Are you all sure that the Smurf look is due to hypoxia? Dwayne

And again, you may not take the above statement in the spirit intended, but it's very true, not a criticism. Cramming is for those that are unprepared. I didn't touch a book two weeks prior to my Nat Reg. for this very reason. If you studied all along and did well, you should be fine. If it's class finals you're looking for then it's you class material you'll want to go back to, if you insist on doing so, as that's where the information for the test will be coming from. If it's the NR you're speaking of, it's too late now as the information you glean at this point will be temporary and likely just make the things you are already solid in more confusing. See? Good luck Dwayne

Are you talking about your class finals, or the NR? Did you take a college level course or one of the fire based classes? You almost certainly won't take this in the spirit intended, but for your career as an EMS professional? Start here...http://lessons.englishgrammar101.com/EnglishGrammar101/Module5/Overview5.aspx Dwayne

Man, good logic from both. And major Kudos for not Googling your answers but answering from your head instead...really strong. The monitor gets really confused with Afib. It's picking up electrical activity from all over the heart and isn't always really sure what to report as a pulse rate. We have atrial contractions and ventricular contractions, right? They most often are in sync, but, as in this case, they're not. So you have the ventricles beating at a slower rate then the atria. It's the ventricular contractions that you feel in the peripheral pulses as the ventricles are the big boys, they swing the big hammers...the left ventricle in particular. Very often we can have the atria doing very little yet still have a viable, even thriving patient, as the ventricles are still getting enough blood to be able to cram it through the rest of the body, at least temporarily. So to answer your question, at least in the way that I would do it, you would report to the hospital that "I am showing Afib on the monitor with a ventricular rate of 68/full/irregular." The reason being is that your monitor is just giving you shit right now where pulse rate is concerned. Your SPO2 would likely report more accurately, but it's a wuss move to use that instead of your own fingers. You're not missing 'weak' vent contractions, it's just that each electrical signal that's creating a contraction on top isn't being transmitted all the way to the bottom. What I truly love most about this post, besides you showing that you have the balls to not only ask your question but also define your logic, is that it shows your innate distrust of the machines. And this should always, always, always, be the case. They are amazing and useful tools, but they will not take the place of your own touch/smell/hearing and logic....at least not in our careers. They are always your partner, never your instructor. Each time that you choose to use one try and get a really good idea of what it's going to tell you before you do. Then compare what you thought to what you see. If the information that it gives you is far off from what you expected, but makes better sense, then your assessments need to be stronger. If what your assessment shows, as in this case, makes more sense that what the machine is telling you, then it's off in the ditch for some reason. And they are often going to be off in the ditch. Particularly in the prehospital environment. When you get a peripheral pulse, that is an excellent sign in the 'average' patient that you're getting end organ perfusion. Combine that with your patients respiration, mentation, (How focused are they, how quickly and clearly do they answer questions?), and their skin color and you're on pretty solid ground. Good on you for participating man...thanks for doing it. Dwayne

Great question! Let me answer it with a couple of other questions. What is the monitor telling you? What is more important to end organ perfusion, the monitors findings, or what you feel peripherally? Why? Dwayne

Yeah, ditto Mobes... I downloaded it too but haven't had the time to look at it. I was excited to see that someone had actually uploaded some educational material though! Chin up Brother.... Dwayne

Me too! Or Jesus... Pretty cool that they left up to people to decide for themselves, right?

yeah, man, when he gives that pretty little girl some change and then stares at the phone? I can't think of a single phone call that she might have made that wasn't worth crying over.... I love that he didn't tell anyone anything...simply gave them opportunities and seemed to hope for the best..Coolest thing I've seen in a long time... Amazing vid with amazing spirit... Dwayne

Wait just a second....I know what you're talking about now!! But no, don't use it here not anywhere that I've worked other than Afg... Dwayne

Really not being a smartass brother, but I don't know what any of those caths are... Some people seem really good at knowing the names of the caths, or the types of ambulances and such. I'm more of a "That's my ambulance? Does it have something in it that pokes into veins? Some O2 tanks, a couple of small ones and a big one? Yeah? Awesome, lets roll..." kind of guy. Likely a weakness, but it is what it is. If you can explain I'll certainly give you my thoughts, though there are many, probably most, that are more qualified to do so than I am. Dwayne

Happiness.. When speaking of why lesbians seem attractive to some when gay men don't, speaking of fantasy porn as I've never actually just sat in a hotel room and watched either pairing have sex, my theory has always been more along the lines of givers and takers. Generally speaking women have always been in the 'giver' category to me. It's late and I'm to tired to make a good argument for that so I'm just gonna run with it. Put to givers together and you end up with what seems more like my natural view of most sexual contact. Two people that want to fulfill each other. That seems like a natural pairing. Put two takers together and it appears to me to be just ugly, in the context of sex. Just a couple of pigs rutting, and rutting pigs has never really made my nipples hard. Follow JP's thought of powerful/less powerful and that pairing makes sense as well as in that context even a 'taker' can gift the less powerful with kindness and be fulfilled by it. But of course that's fantasies and pornography. Something I'd know almost nothing about if Babs didn't force me to constantly watch her disgusting collection...just sayin'... In reality, I don't really know. One of my favorite medics in Afg, that became a pretty good friend while I was there was gay. One day I made a joke about butt sex, he looked shocked for a second and then said, "Oh, I don't do that.." I was equally shocked and said something like..."Err...What??" He said, "What? Straight people assume that I do that just because I'm gay?" I said, "Well...not being a duly elected representative of all straight people, I can't say for sure, but I can say that this straight person thought so." I'd assumed that, like most straights that I know, that gays would do everything, in every way, at least as an experiment. He claimed that some gays are only oral, others only anal, some only pitchers, others only catchers, some like everything...it was terribly complicated and made me aware that should I ever suddenly become homosexual that I would likely need some type of cheat sheet to be able to keep everything organized. Anyway, my point being is that I don't know what's right or wrong where such things are concerned, and have not even the tiniest motivation to make such judgements. But I am pretty comfortable in what I find respectful, and not, in public or in front of my family. And I believe that most other people are comfortable with that as well, which is what causes me to call bullshit when two men peeing on each other in a public street are met with criticism, and then pretend to be aghast that straight people are offended my the simple, loving contact of two people that are just accidentally in public. Dwayne

Hey Brian, Welcome to the City man...I think it was a rockstar intro! Jump in...I look forward to your thoughts.. Dwayne

I have no issue with that. My only issue is when you cry like a little girl when I push back. You've asked for it, as you do here. You do things that are purposely offensive, 'push buttons' and then act shocked when you get the results you were truly looking for. I've not tried to oppress anyone. I've been very vocal about allowing everyone to be themselves. It is you, in your tiny little mind that is unable to see more than two kinds of people, gays/oppressors, that labels me as 'bad.' You're full of shit. But by hating and blaming me, weak spirits like you able to deny your accountability. It's a fantasy brother, it's hurting you and making you unable to do good things. A perfect example of your shallow and childish logic. The same argument hosemonkeys use when I make it clear that I don't see them as heroes. "Ahhhh...you're bitter because you applied and were rejected, weren't you?" What a pussy argument. If I catch someone fucking a sheep in front of my house I'm going to burn his ass down. Do you truly believe it's because I'm simply jealous because I wish that I had the balls to fuck a sheep and not because I want to teach him not to be sexually inappropriate in front of my family? Wait...so I see then, when you are offended by me or the other straight males here it's really because you want to get a little pussy but aren't brave enough to do so? So that pussy envy that is actually making you frustrated? Great, I'll try and remember that...it certainly could explain some of your arguments. Ever heard of Chipendales? Bow ties, big dicks, I've taken Babs a few times...and guess what? I didn't melt into a smelly homophobic pile of goo by being around a bunch of hot naked men with hardons. I've lived in big towns, small towns, redneck towns, conservative and liberal towns...they've all had gay bars in them that were left to their own business. I've even gotten really, really drunk in some of them. So stop with the "If WE ever tried to be happy someone would stop it!" Bullshit. You don't want to be left alone, you want to be publicly supported. I'm not going to actively march in CMs S&M parade, as it's not my thing. I will certainly stand in defense of her, as I would for you. But I also won't shed any tears when/if she purposely flaunts behavior that is contrary to common societal acceptable standards and then has to endure the opinions of those that she's purposely offended. Though of course, that's not her way. I don't really see the issue with this. I have what I consider to be a very fulfilling and creative sex life, but I have no need to fight for the right to fuck in the middle of the mall to prove that the world isn't prudish. Can you not express yourself fully in either private, or with a group of like minded individuals? Is it truly necessary to get the entire world to bless your public display before you're validated and fulfilled? Many of my sexual habits/desires may not be approved of by society as a whole. But it matters not at all as I don't force society to judge my private business. Those with sexual habits that they consider outside of the norm are famous for saying, "Just stay out of my bedroom!" But then tend to publicly push their kinks into the faces of those that they know won't approve. When that approval isn't necessary then I have to believe that the public display is meant for offense only. And much of that is because of the misunderstanding that non gays have when the only information that they are exposed to are the attitudes and behaviors of those like Flaming and others that make the news reels from the gay pride parades. Gays are not being discriminated against by those in most of America because they have a same sex lover, but because they insist in getting in peoples faces in the most offensive ways that they can think of while claiming, "If you want to prove that you're not a bigot or hater then tell me that there is nothing that I can possibly do that you'll speak out against!" Yet there are many things that I will speak out against in public that I have no desire to mitigate in private. I get that...but again, don't cry when people act in exactly the manner that you expected them to. Because you can absolutely trust than when certain lines are crossed that I will stand up and do something about it. I will do that in your defense and I will do it in my own defense as well. An excellent example :-) Extremely adult link!! http://www.spankwire.com/articles/116669/Old-Man-Kicks-Street-Flasher.html As a sexual practice, no. As a sexual attack to try and instigate a response? Yeah. I happen to think that farting is natural, normal, and healthy. But if the guy at the next booth next to my family begins to fart simply to prove that he has the right to do so I am going to snatch his stupid ass up and drag him away from my family. I know that you all fart, and I'm happy for you. Choose to be purposely offensive in front of my family using any of your normally private bodily functions/habits and you will certainly get what you were looking for...along with another reason to crow about being unfairly repressed. We can continue to pretend that there are no ways of using normally loving things to be offensive and continue this discussion in some kind of fantasy land, but, well, I'm not gonna. If I see two men/women cuddling, kissing, and/or being romantic in the next booth, I have no issues. Few things in this world make me as happy as seeing two people truly nurturing each other. Start slurping and grunting and making animal sounds so that I have to move my family and I'll make you sorry. Because I think that doing those things is 'wrong?' No, because it's inappropriate in front of my family in that environment, you know it, so there is really only one reason that you are doing it. To generate a response...and, well, you know I'm a giver...I like to see everyone fulfilled. I've not seen anywhere in this thread where anyone has claimed that any of these things should be censored or mitigated in any way in private. Where did that happen? Dwayne

I have no issue with that. My only issue is when you cry like a little girl when I push back. You've asked for it, as you do here. You do things that are purposely offensive, 'push buttons' and then act shocked when you get the results you were truly looking for. Pretty stupid. I've not tried to oppress anyone. I've been very vocal about allowing everyone to be themselves. It is you, in your tiny little mind that is able to see more than two kinds of people, gays/oppressors, that labels me as 'bad.' You're full of shit. But by hating and blaming me, weak spirits like you able to deny your accountability. It's a fantasy brother, it's hurting you and making you unable to do good things. A perfect example of your shallow and childish logic. The same argument hosemonkeys use when I make it clear that I don't see them as heroes. "Ahhhh...you're bitter because you applied and were rejected, weren't you?" What a pussy argument. If I catch someone fucking a sheep in front of my house I'm going to burn his ass down. Do you truly believe it's because I'm simply jealous because I wish that I had the balls to fuck a sheep? Ever heard of Chipendales? Bow ties, big dicks, I've taken Babs a few times...and guess what? I didn't melt into a smelly homophobic pile of goo by being around a bunch of hot naked men with hardons. I've lived in big towns, small towns, redneck towns, conservative and liberal towns...they've all had gay bars in them that were left to their own business. I've even gotten really, really drunk in some of them. So stop with the "If WE ever tried to be happy someone would stop it!" Bullshit. You don't want to be left alone, you want to be publicly supported. I'm not going to actively march in CMs S&M parade, as it's not my thing. I will certainly stand in defense of her, as I would for you. But I also won't shed any tears when/if she purposely flaunts behavior that is contrary to common societal acceptable standards and then has to endure the opinions of those that she's purposely offended. Though of course, that's not her way. Dwayne