ClutzyEMT

You took the words right out of my mouth Hellsbells.....I've always felt that the 'initial' proficiency level of a certain skill will remain the single most important factor of whether the providers experiences atrophy of that skill or not when not given the chance to use it often~~ I border more on relying on excellent BLS skills on an out of hospital arrest and making sure we are doing excellent compression, getting the AED hooked up and attached as soon as possible, and ventilating with a BVM before worrying about putting in an airway. If there is good chest rise and lung sounds with the BVM then most likely I am not going any further with the airway at that point and time. The last time I did need to tube someone I did it during compressions....can't see the reason to stop if I have my landmarks. But that's just my two cents...

Sending you some snow from central North Dakota Tina

Maybe it's just me, but seems like everyone is assuming this girl wanted to "work in EMS"....maybe she just needed a few extra credits, or had an interest in EMS because of her Epilepsy.... And yes, I did find the original question offensive for some reason~~

I have to disagree on the search issue island EMT~~if their "belongings" are getting into my ambulance with them, then I either I am searching their belongings, or their belongings are getting a ride with someone else or being left behind. This comes from having a suicidal 14 yr old pull a switchblade out of her backpack whilst we were traveling down the highway many years ago. Since that day, anything my patient deems necessary to go along with them (unless it's old grandma mae down the street who's going in for CP) and even then, if I don't know her well enough, her bag may be subject to my search as well. When it comes to "recognized" mental health disorders, the site that aussiephil linked to has eating disorders linked and paragraphed under "Psychiatric Disorders" so if we disallow "everyone" with a psychiatric disorder from legally owning a firearm this is going to include eating disorders as well as sleep disorders, sexual disorders, etc..... I have to agree that we need to stop laying "all" the blame on mental health disorders and look at the issue on a broader scope. We can include such things as they did in the olden days ~Demand that the parents accept some responsibility for the actions of their children. Although I realize that there truly are situations where a parent is overloaded or overcome by one thing or another and no longer has the knowledge or the means to deal with an unruly or hostile child I still feel it is then that parents responsibility to contact the appropriate person/facility that can either give them tools to deal with the child, or refer them and the child to the proper authority to deal with it. I don't understand a parent or parents who can, or will, turn a blind eye to their little Johnny who is constantly in trouble at school or is a bully or a thief. Why do we make it so easy for them to just throw their hands up in the the air and say "It's not my problem"? Why don't we drag little Johnny to them every time he hits another student or steals something and ask them "What are YOU going to do about it? He is YOUR child, your responsibility and if you don't deal with it and discipline him then YOU can go to prison for it, or pay the fine for it, or whatever the consequences there may be and from now on, we will discipline little Johnny in Juvenile Detention, or wherever may be appropriate." ~Allow Teachers and Principles some form of punishment for misbehavior rather than a "time out against the wall or name on the bulletin board". Teachers have 90% of the nations children 85% of their waking hours and by taking the ability away from the teacher to rap a child's knuckles with a ruler that is being disruptive in class or directly stopping their disruptive behavior immediately we are just allowing the concept some children have of "I can do anything I want because "It's my right." I clearly remember being smacked upside the head with an eraser and being made to feel ashamed of myself for teasing another student in the second grade. I also clearly remember being made to apologize to that student in front of the class~~ And possibly my biggest Pet Peeve in regards to the whole human condition is......wait for it...... Why in the hell do we watch or support some of the stupidest programming on the television on the face of this earth like "Honey Boo Boo" or "Jersey Shore, Mobster Wives, Toddlers and Tiara's, etc. " or supposedly "real life" reality shows who's only purpose is to highlight stupidity, selfishness, or the need to be number one regardless of the cost, etc???? Why?? I think it just speaks to the generalized decline of the American Spirit and the ability to be proud of working hard for what we have and valuing good morals and strong working values and relationships. Once we begin to allow "life" to be degraded in such a way, we begin to accept that as the "Norm" and all values and discipline becomes lost......... whew....that was quite a ramble and possibly off track. I may have been able to condense it in a nutshell by saying "we've allowed this to happen by cheapening our values one by one." And P.S. I honestly don't see the need for anyone outside of police or military to have a clip for any firearm that holds more than 10 bullets. Honestly.

So we aren't the only ones experiencing a colder than average winter I presume...the older I get, the better the Islands begin to look I still remember my initial journey to the south, was working my way down when I somehow lost my mind and decided I needed to move home and be closer to family...lol...had I not had that thought I'm sure I would be in Hawaii by now.... but this too shall pass I suppose and soon I will be relaxing alongside the lake with a fishing pole in hand and screaming at the eleven year old to get out of the water and get back to the serious job of fishing......

Leave it to Kat..... A lot of it escaped to North Dakota but we have some pretty impressive windmills blowing it south right now only bad part of that scenario is what blows, must also suck...LOL so we are still getting his artic air~~ Thank you for the hugggggggg I have missed my friends and am glad to have found you guys~~I look forward to interactions with all of you again!! So far this 'city life' appears to be very efficient in moving around and finding things and have to admit that I like it. Have not been to the village for months because it wouldn't let me in so many times I gave up maybe next week on my "hour" off I will try it again!! P.s.... 53 is friggin cold?? LOL that is picnic and "hold my beer and watch this" weather here...

Due to the current weather conditions here in ND and no foreseeable rain in the future I shall have to finish it myself and buy another round at your earliest convenience...

Can I play with the troll?????!!! I haven't had a new toy in ages.....

I've been doing well my friend but it was a looong time between "bear" hugs and I have missed the participation in discussions!! **offers up a sip of her Rum and Coke** **waves at Mike** Thank you for the welcome and I shalt try not to whine.....but if I do, I shall offer cheese.....

**sneaks in the door, crawls over to the fireplace, grabs a wool blanket and sets a spell in the rocker** Hi all, I'm an old villager looking for a new home~~not sure I'm up to the "City Life" as I am truly a country hound.... but I will try to play nice with all my toys and be agreeable to disagree at times . I'm an EMS'r from the dinosaur years at times it seems, things I learned when I was brand spanking new in this world have gone away and somehow been reinvented and come back again... Truth be told, I started EMS in the early 80's and hit it hard for about fifteen years, then took a five or six year hiatus to try and make it in the "real world" but found that they didn't accept my way of thinking that sometimes, just sometimes (not always) you just have to just let natural selection run it's course and they forced me back into the world of EMS where I've been 'at home' ever since and will probably die doing this "job". Actually, I've never really considered this a job if I think about it, more of a way of life..... I've been known to be stubborn at times, but if forced with an appropriate and knowledgeable mallet, I may sometimes admit that I may have, or may not have, been wrong~~only time will tell if I can be housetrained for the "City Life" and I look forward to meeting and greeting all of you...I think I see a few "villagers" here so maybe they will accept me and still have one of my broken toys lying around somewhere and will allow me to sit in the corner and gnaw on them while the discussion goes on around me if I am contentious.... **waves at Kat and Ed** I am currently an Intermediate who is also an instructor~~soon I will be a thing of the past again and will be considered an AEMT and I'm really hoping that it's true what they've told me that my knowledge and wages will triple the minute I open the envelope that labels me as an AEMT...I think they also said something about "World Peace" happening as well... but I am excited about the national push to stabilize, equalize and verifize EMS across the board in the states and if it brings more uniformity and "togetherness" to the world of EMS to help us all grow up, then I am all for it~~yeah, like I said, "world peace" as well :0)~ I also work full time EMS, work at a local store on my off days to collect a pay check that makes up for what I don't make in EMS...lol, and run a rural volunteer ambulance service which has seen it's call volume almost double in the past year due to the "oil boom" in the western part of our fine state, and as the call volume doubled, the crew numbers decreased to half the size.... So as I said, I will try to play nice here in the "City" but I am a bit biased at times and if nothing else, have always been a strong advocate for my patients and what is and always will be right for them.... **sits back down in the rocker and sips her Rum and Coke and plays with her bloodhound SAR dog**