DwayneEMTP

Dang it! I would love to give them out based just on my choice. And if it was a $50 dollar bill I would do that in a second. But this feels different.... For this I would need, say, 30. I think I could be happy if I had 30 of them...but 5? Fuck me....No way!! I thought, so I'll just ask some of the people that I respect their opinions and see what they say, but of course those are some of the most valuable posters here! So I'm going to punt. I'm going to ask some of my friends and just cheat them out of the opportunity to win. Now, I say my friends, but understand that they may not necessarily consider me their friend as well...know what I mean? Just cause I love 'em doesn't mean that they love me back, and certainly no one can blame them for that. If they deny it, believe them. I'll ask them to nominate, tentatively, a person for.... 1. Old Guard. 2. Outstanding BLSer. 3. Most improved poster. 4. Most inspiring up and commer. 5. The soul of EMS/EMTCity. I would ask for help from, Ruffster, JPINFV, 46Young, Herbie, Anniemedic, Crotchitymedic? If you all would consider playing that would be awesome! Just a nominee for each category, and of course different categories if you have an idea, and why you think they would be great. Thanks..sheesh. I feel like such an idiot... Now, if you're one of those people that I bag on constantly, attack whenever I can, argue with and most often lose and your name isn't in the list you know then that I believe that you should be considered...see? Also, if there is anyone with a journalistic bent that would consider creating a little bio for the winners? I love Fiz's idea...We don't know enough about each other..I think it would be awesome to know more. This is kinda pitiful I know, but I'm going with it still. :-) Have a great day all.. Dwayne

Thanks girls...I like that too... Really though, this is all of the interest? Us four? Dwayne

Did no one find this paragraph, from the article sited above, strange? "As Smith tried to comfort and reassure Mrs. Moore, four police officers worked in “tag team,” providing CPR, and repeatedly calling on their radios for medics. At one point, Mrs. Moore gave her cell phone to the officers, asking that they call her husband Timothy." As well as the fact that no cause of death was reported? It would appear their airport EMS and local journalism operate at about the same level. Dwayne

No offense intended to you at all, as I love the fact that you're proud of where you live....but this is an EMS site, not a fire fighter site. This post would be more appropriate on one of their sites I think. Have a great day! Dwayne

Where was this? No ALS at all in this area? They did kind of perform like a volly company. Does anyone know if this is the case? Not hating, just curious. Dwayne

I like those ideas a lot! And I really, really like the profile idea! Will give it through the weekend for ideas. Thanks for participating chbare, you're a gift. Wait, for the voting, should there be a list of criteria to vote on? Maybe 5 different? Most helpful, most improved, etc etc?? Hmmmm.... Dwayne

Hey all! I got the letter found here, http://www.emtcity.c...ibal-hollywood/ , from Tribal Hollywood secondary to the thread I started here about how I feel about their product. They sent the cool letter along with a necklace for me and 5 of my EMS friends that I thought deserving! First rate, right? This is it, http://www.tribalhol...tail.bok?no=173, and , http://www.tribalhol...=652&cat=Chains , it looks like a $50 dollar value or so each! I had no idea that they might do such a thing when I posted, nor did I contact them and brag on myself, the letter and jewelry was the first that I'd had any idea that they even knew that we were here. And though I'm guessing that they would most likely expect that I would be a pig and keep them for my own purposes I think it's cooler than hell that they did this and I want to keep the positive energy moving forward and hand these out as they were intended. I had one of my favorite people in the world (Birchy from Australia) tell me once, "Have you ever noticed how gifts seem to bring good luck? You can't really buy your own good luck charms." And man, I agree with that so much. So, as these were gifts to me/us, lets pass that luck forward, yeah? My question is, in what form? I thought about a contest, writing a paper or such? Or maybe simply have people vote on who is most deserving based on their past forum posts? I'd thought about an educational paper of the writers choice to be voted on, but then didn't want people to pull up their old papers, as I'm confident that EMS thrives on new information and exploration. Then I thought, what about 5 topics to be chosen by those here and then awarding them based on the educational value of their papers concerning that? Not sure...I could use some help. All I'm really sure of, as they asked in the letter I really want these to go to folks that have an EMS spirit, and to have them be reminded each time they notice it around their neck that it's there because their peers felt them extraordinary. Know what I mean? Thanks for you help all!! Dwayne

Did you fail? Of course. Your patient arrived at the ER in a condition worse that when you took over pt care, right? And it's your job to make them better, not allow them to get worse, right? So isn't the fail obvious? The questions really is, in my mind, did you do the best you could? Were you lazy, complacent, fail to reassess thoroughly enroute, yadda, yadda, yadda. No? Good on you, then you did your best today, and tomorrow I am more than willing to bet that your best will be better. And you know what? Without a fail today, tomorrow your best would be the same as it was yesterday, right? I'm confident that I've failed on every call that I've ever run, and certainly on every significant tall that I've ever run. The proof? That at the end of each of those calls I've looked back, either alone or with the help of my partner, and thought, "Dang it, I wish I would have done X instead of Y." "I wish I would have hit my first IV,..." I wish, I wish, I wish.... What is the epic fail? To run your calls and not learn from them. It sounds like your logic was good, your assessment sounds good, but I don't believe that this pt was sound until the moment the ER cut her pants off and then spontaneously developed a bruise and a fracture. Unless there is 'Flash Hematoma" that I'm not aware of? (I know it can sometimes happen pretty quick, but you know what I'm saying.) So yeah, you likely failed, and that should make you want to be better. When you don't fail...when you finally do every single thing right on one of these hinky calls? You will then have entered the club of those folks we all know that bullshit themselves about how good they are and have excuses for everything. My ultimate goal is to someday consider myself a peer of those hardcore medics that we also all know, the ones that make way fewer mistakes than I do. Good post man. What should you, could you have done differently? No friggin' clue. Dwayne Edited to fix typo.

46young, I get what Bieber is saying, that this is a war of efficiency, productivity and evolution not an exercise in unemployment management. Fire, unfortunately as a national union wishes to draw EMS backwards, make it more ignorant where everyone can play without too much effort, like back in the 'good ol' days' as they may see it. That is not what's good and/or healthy for EMS. I was talking to a fireman the other day and we were having this argument, in an amazingly good matured way, (Meaning not once did he imply that I held my opinions because I was rejected by the fire dept, or that a fireman had slept with my wife.) and he made a really great point. His original argument was that there was no way to stop fire from taking over EMS, but later theorized that either fire would leave EMS or would begin to be pro education as the 'old guard' that defends ignorance (an unfair generalization. All respect to those that don't fit this but we all know that many do) are retiring now, and the young up and commers are those that were forced to go to at least medic school and many to college, so their respect for education will likely be different. I thought that that was an awesome point and the first inspiring thing in the EMS/Fire conflict that I've heard in years. Young master Bieber is the future my friend. He's smart, and he knows it, and intends to get smarter. He's tough and he knows it, and is pissed of at the status quo, so the old guys are going to have to figure out how to deal with him. Dwayne

Mike, thanks for taking my comments in the spirit intended. And your above statement is, as I'm sure you know and being the reason you posted it, the crux of my argument. Why are you willing to advocate for one pt and not the other? What makes one grandmother's emotional comfort more important than another? I would suggest that it's perhaps your involvement in the creation of these animals that pushes you towards seeing them as needing special rights and protection. Most here I'm willing to bet have a tv tainted view of the abilities of the vast, vast majority of aid animals. I once trained a dog for a lady that could only blink her eyes reliably. No purposeful hand, body, facial movement other than that. So I not only had to teach to cue off of only the eyes, but to ignore all of the other random cues coming from the involuntary body movements. I don't remember her medical issue. I taught her dog to turn lights off and on,her tv off and on, pull her blanket back across her when it fell, fetch her drunken aid when necessary. It's was the most complicated task I'd ever undertaken as a trainer. But you know what? That dog, as accomplished as it was would have been near useless without a LOT of addl training in the hospital environment. He would have needed to be trained to recognize and avoid IV lines, monitor lines, cath tubes and bags, etc, etc, etc. The staff would have needed to be trained not to queer the behaviors already in place as well. Now, if you're going to tell me that your dogs are just so well trained that they would immediately recognize all of those potential hazards and avoid them, then I'll believe you, but I'll call bullshit on anyone else that tries to claim so. I was involved in animal behaviorism for 15 years, so not exactly a virgin on this topic. In fact , I did try a couple of times to get involved with organizations that train aid animals and even gave a demonstration to several hundred trainers in Phoenix once, but their training methods were so archaic, and their resistance to using scientifically proved methods of behavior modification so severe that I finally surrendered to the fact that I couldn't do any good there and trained aid animals privately instead. The only reason I explain the above is to try and give you confidence that I do have some idea of the subject matter that we are discussing and can say, with almost no doubt whatsoever that a handicapped pt in the acute phase of their medical treatment will gain nothing from their aid animal that another person in the same position wouldn't gain from their pet. It's been a good topic! Has certainly made me think my ass off trying to create and defend my point of view. Dwayne Ruffster. I was referring to you in my earlier post here. I saw that you sent a PM but the City generates an error whenever I try to go to it so have no idea what it says.

I have no questions about the laws, so I don't know if that was meant to address my questions Richard or not, but if so, I'm not really sure how it does. It seems the ones most vocal on this subject have become most quiet now that I've asked that we cease with feel good generalities and get down to specifics. (Mike and Kate excluded of course. Thanks for participating!) Dwayne Edit. Perhaps it's not clear on this thread that I am not arguing to separate these folks from their dogs? I'm not. I'm curious why many feel the need to defend this when they would not, have not, defended with the same vehemence the need for the elderly, who are often much more infirm then those with aid dogs. I understand there is a law. I could give a rats ass about the law. I can't think of a single good or kind thing I've ever done because a law said that I had to. Why are the handicaped more entitled to have the emotional security of their aid animals in the hospital than anyone else who would benefit just as much from the emotional security of their pets?

LOL...No, I didn't see that coming for a second. And what made it so funny is I, like I'm willing to bet many others here, was just thinking, "Traded the dead guys suits, that's kinda funny, but not a LOL funny." and then I did in fact LOL. Thanks man.. Dwayne

I would be grateful if you would. When Dylan got the diagnosis I truly could not catch my breath for three days.. I thought I was suffocating. My beautiful son had just been stolen with almost no chance of ever getting him back...it's crazy. From normally developing to completely silent in 5 days. I'll be sending them thoughts for strength, as life will go on, and it will be amazing, but it will be different. Ask them not to hesitate to contact Barb through the website. She has an amazing perspective and endless resources for families with autistic children. And these early years are so vital. Thanks girl... Dwayne

I think that these are really good questions. It is a tough thing to understand when what we consider a 'devout' Catholic looks silly in comparison to the weight another culture may give to their religion. I had a badly hurt Afg National at Bagram Air base overseas. He'd fallen through the 14' ceiling of a new hospital they were building, at least I think that's what it was. On the way through he hit his shoulder and L face on the exposed edge of unfinished ductwork. Sliced him like a scalpel and then he fell the entire distance directly on his ass. When we arrived there was blood and vomit everywhere, truly it was a mess. There were 15-20 other Afg men around yelling at him and...well. not really sure what they were doing as we didn't share a language. I jerked out my pocked knife and started cutting his clothes off (Yeah, I know I'm supposed to use shears...sue me) at which point two of the men pushed forward and spread their hands over his groin yelling, what I assumed was that I couldn't expose his penis before the crowd. I thought about it for about....ok, I didn't really think about it at all as his pants were soaked with blood, called security and management to move everyone outside and stripped him naked for my exam. Before moving him outside I covered him from about his navel to his knees. So, I don't know what the right answer is. But as he was unable to advocate for himself I had to assume that he wouldn't want me allow him to die to keep a couple of people from seeing his dick, right? I'm not sure if I had the legal obligation of implied consent in Afg, ak would probably know, but I certainly had the moral obligation in my opinion. He will get over his embarrassment. But, it's easy to say, "He will get over being embarrassed, but he won't get over being dead!" But what about the woman that will not get over it, when it will never be forgotten by her or her community? When she wouldn't simply have been embarassed, but for all intents and purposes had been raped? I don't have an answer for you here brother, and I hope I never have to make such a decision. I do believe that they take some responsibility by moving to a country with our standards. If I moved to Afghanistan I have to accept the fact that if I'm seriously injured that there is every chance that I will die due to lack of medical care if I'm out in the villages. If you come here and are seriously injured I believe that you have to accept some responsibility that you may be disrobed in front of strangers of both sexes. Tough questions man... Speaking of which? What the hells up with you and your lack of posting lately? Getting to good for us? Dwayne

Actually, I think I get what he's saying here. I always looked twice at medics that came to a call without a pillow and/or blanket. Did I usually have a blanket and a pillow on my cot? Yeah. Mostly because my early partner Bubba wouldn't allow it any other way. (Friggin' guy had severe challenges with the whole medic/basic pecking order...and I'm so much better of a medic because of it.) But was it always easy to have both of those things? No, sometimes I had to beg, barrow and/or steal them from the hospital, other ambulances, WalMart, (Ok, not really walmart). But, like Crotchity said, more or less, unless you're clearing the ER after the plane load of nuns crashed into the bus load of hemophiliacs? There really aren't many reason you wouldn't have both unless you have a point to prove, right? Just a thought. I'm in my little trailer on the oil spill in Southern LA and don't have an ambulance, but I do have a pt pillow and blanket strapped onto my LSB. And if you're smokin' hot, I might even have a place for you to stay! (While you recuperate of course) Dwayne

I've asked very specifically over and over. This disabled person that can't live without their dog, what will this person perish from that the dog can provide and a human can't? I know we all feel good saying, "This dog is this person's link to a normal life!" But what makes that true in the hospital environment? I feel good saying, "The Taliban are kind, but misunderstood souls. I believe that there is every sign that they will reverse their political/religious positions any day now!" That felt fucking awesome!! But don't you think that I should have some sort of examples to back that up? Even when dealing with those with special needs, shouldn't we have to be bothered to defend out points? Why does the person with special needs need their animal in the hospital more than a cop needs his gun, or an elderly person needs the emotional support/comfort of their pet? Dwayne

A long ride on the short bus Is Barbara's blog on her life with Dylan. Its personal as well as has links to many Autism resources. If you feel like it, it would be amazing if you could stop by and take a look, maybe leave a comment if you want? She's terrified for people to see it, but I think the writing is amazing, beautiful, revealing. Those that are curious about autism will find useful information, those that are curious about what goes on inside the head of a person living with a handicapped child will get what they're looking for too I believe. It's a labor of love for her, but I don't know how she does it really. I can't read through it except for maybe 10 mins at a time or so because it makes me cry. She is my hero, truly, and Dylan her fearless sidekick! :-) I know from my PMs that there are some here that don't care much for me, my ideas, or my way of presenting them. I get that, I really do. Sometimes I don't like me much either. But I've always respected you both publicly and in private, and now I'm asking you to do the same. Please don't make your points by going there and hurting the feelings of this kind, beautiful, power, delicate woman. Have a great day all! Dwayne

Again, I was trying to take it to the 'extreme scenario', of course I would if I could figure out any realistic way to do so. It just makes me ask the question, if we're bringing this animal for emotional support, why is the emotional support of a blind person more important than the emotional support of a non blind elderly person who lives with their pets as their only family and truly sees them as such? And if you don't know the type of person I mean here, then you've not been doing EMS very long. So again, we should be bringing the dogs/cats for the older people that live with their pets as their family, right? As those pets could offer an amazing amount of emotional support that the hospital staff can not. And again, other than emotional support, no one has explained exactly what these animals are going to be doing for their owners in the ambulance/hospital environment. Mike says they are more like a tool than a pet. So I would see it as being akin to a police officer and his weapon. I'm guessing that many feel naked without them, but are police officers allowed to keep their weapons in the hospital because it provides emotional support? But what Dylan really needs in that environment, as he will have Babs and I, the same as other challenged people will have their family, is his desktop computer. Are you then going to dismantle his computer, transport it, and set it up in his hospital room for him? I will guarantee you that he will get at least as much comfort from that as another will from their aid dog. And if you're unwilling to do the former, then why will you jump through hoops for the latter? I think what bugs me about this is the whole class thing. Handicapped deserved more consideration than none, women more than men, kids more than adults, etc. We talk and talk about how EVERYONE gets our very best efforts every time, but this conversation seems to put the lie to that... Dwayne

You chemically converted and used Diltiazam in the same day? Holy shit.... I've never pushed Diltiazam and have only cardioverted in any fashion maybe 8 times...Good day man! Dwayne

Hey Brian! Welcome to the City! Jump right in man... Dwayne