Eydawn

Well, in case anyone sees this and is still wanting input... I work 3rd shift. My husband works a 7am-4:15pm desk job. I also get thrown into a few 2nd shifts. I can tell you that we both FAR prefer the days I'm working 3rd shift, as it means that I sleep while he's at work and then get to be home and awake with him in the evenings before I go off to my next shift. When I wok 2nd shift, I'm gone before he gets home and don't get home until he's ready to go to sleep. You can definitely make it work! It just takes some actual thought. Wendy CO EMT-B

Can't wait to see what the charges are. I'm livid about the whole situation, let me tell you... Poor kids. Stuck with idiot parents like those... Wendy CO EMT-B

This isn't about being careful with what you say, it's a valuable lesson in identifying pathological issues in someone who's supposed to be a patient advocate. I'm glad this guy's license has been revoked, at the very least. I'm surprised that it got this far, with allegations of roughness throughout his past... if that is the case, someone screwed up somewhere along the line and this guy should have been identified and yanked a long time ago. Scary stuff to be sure. Wendy CO EMT-B

I have mixed feelings on this topic. To give you a sense of where I'm coming from, I started as a first responder at the age of 16 with a local venturing crew. We did a lot of standby support at Boy Scout events as well as other public events, and we were also given the opportunity to shadow in a local ER and ride along with one of our advisor EMTs on a 911 ambulance. I thought it was cool as hell. I was very interested in medicine, and this experience helped draw my interest further. Here's the pros, as I see it: You get in early, and you learn early on whether or not this field is for you. You are younger and stronger, and have better reflexes, which is always a plus. Exposure is always a good thing. You can develop some very good habits, as you are malleable and impressionable. You can also develop bad ones if you don't have good mentorship, just as it is in any other field. Here's the cons: 16 is way too young to be on an ambulance. I'm lucky that I had a good mentor to guide me, but in all reality I was a liability. I didn't see it then, but I surely see it now. I don't regret having done the program, but I wouldn't have let me do it if I were my parents. There's a reason the program has been discontinued. I'm not the reason, but some of my age-mates were. You really don't know how much you don't know at the age of 16, or even 18. It's very easy to buy into the hero-mentality at that age- all of us wanted to do something amazing, and damn, riding in the ambulance can't get much more heroic! When you're that young, it's very exciting... which can be distracting. Getting into EMS that young and not pursuing a degree traps many at the Basic level for years to come... you're making decent money (better than you would at most entry level jobs in my area), you're doing something interesting, why would you invest in a degree? There are exceptions to this rule, as I can name some younger paramedics who are excellent at what they do. But most of my compatriots from that crew dicked around at the Basic level for a whole lot longer than they should have. I also know that emotional and intellectual maturity vary by age, but there is a reason we have the age of majority. I know that I was much more adept at handling myself and difficult situations at age 18 than I was at age 16, and I know that I am eons beyond that point now at the age of 23. I also recognize that there's a whole lot more for me to learn, and that there is a lot that I simply just don't understand. Also, think about the fact that many companies refuse to insure a driver until they are 21... it's not just because 21's a pretty number, it's partly because statistics show that younger drivers have more accidents. You need time to gain driving intelligence and experience, just as you need time with many other skills. I would not be comfortable allowing me at age 17 to drive an ambulance... and I have always been a very cautious driver. With all due respect to FormerEMSLT297, I would have to argue that the military is a whole different world. Most people are forced to grow up fairly quickly when they enter the military, and it is a very positive experience for many of them. I would say that an 18 year old who has been conditioned properly by the military is better suited to take care of blast injuries and the trauma of war than an 18 year old civilian who's just barely out of Mom's house. There's a system of accountability and personal development in the military. But, I would also argue that the military molds people too quickly in some ways, and doesn't give them enough of the emotional and cognitive tools to deal with the horrors that they see. There's a reason that PTSD and other mental illnesses are so prevalent in returning veterans. I really wish that our armed forces would step up to the plate and provide better mental health care. I see it in my cousins, I see it in a coworker of mine... and if there weren't such a stigma against receiving mental health services, our returning soldiers would be better off. As it is, many of them suffer needlessly and find it difficult to near impossible to re-integrate fully into civilian life. But that's a whole different can of worms! Bottom line: I would say that it doesn't matter if someone is in high school or just graduating, but they must be at least 18 prior to entering EMS. I also don't think kids should be on the ambulance. It's too risky on a variety of levels. I also think that this wouldn't really be a problem if EMS education were more similar to traditional professional or academic education, as that provides you a minimum of 3 years to develop and reach an age where you can be insured as a company driver... ;-) Wendy CO EMT-B

Ever looked for a kid that thinks he's in trouble? We spend HOURS looking for cub scouts that wander off on the scout ranch, and we've spent up to 13 hours looking for kids who end up being about 5 minutes from their campsites up here on SAR. And they end up being in the same place they've been for the last 5 hours we were looking. So, yeah, while most kids think time is longer than it is, kids who hide will stay put for a long period of time. Trust me on this. I will agree that not everything is adding up here. I also agree that the parents are a little camera happy. I'm still waiting to see what the official investigation ends up saying. I'm still just super glad the kid wasn't on the balloon. That would have been the worst possible outcome for this whole event. Wendy CO EMT-B

We'll see what the official investigation reveals. I must say though, that'll be pretty expensive if it was staged... Wendy CO EMT-B

Alright! Kiddo was found safe and sound. I can't begin to tell you how relieved we all are... some of us were very afraid that we were going to be recovering a dead kid. Never fun for anyone. Here's some of the inside info, and I would like to state that this is my opinion and does not necessarily reflect any official statement by the sheriff's office my SAR team operates under, and also does not represent any official statement by SAR. This is purely from my perspective as a SAR member for your entertainment and edification. All indicators initially were that the kid HAD actually gotten into the balloon. You believe the witness until there's reason to believe otherwise, even if your best witness is a 9 y/o kid... once the balloon came down (props to the folks waiting for the balloon, that was handled GREAT) and the kid wasn't in it was when the focus of the incident changed. And yes, that balloon was large enough to lift 40lbs, which is what the little guy weighs. I also was evaluating balloon motion and thought that the erratic listing indicated a load. Right after the balloon came down, local SAR on the launching end was put on standby for a search. There was also simultaneously an eyewitness report in Weld County that something had fallen from the balloon over by Platteville, and so immediate search by Weld County folks was initiated there in case the object was the kid. This was a HUGE multiagency incident. We even had OEM coming in at one point in Weld County, according to the radio traffic I was listening to. Which meant that things took a little longer... we had local FD, local PD, local Sheriff, SAR, national guard, media... it was a big operation!! Once the gears got turning, they decided they needed SAR, and we were paged out. We ended up staging in a local neighborhood park surrounded by media sharks and it was determined that we'd send up a SAR member with each media helicopter we had available to be trained eyes in the sky. Note to any non helo media reading this: if I *TELL* you to get out of the backfield when we're landing a helicopter, you BETTER listen! Same with bystanders. I swear to you I was pulling people out of bushes less than 5 feet from our landing zone, as other members of the team were bringing the choppers in. Drove me crazy... We really wanted to get a dog team out right away to search the house. We were declined. For the sake of politics, I'm not saying who declined. But it was really frustrating, especially for our dog folks who have made multiple "kid missing" finds at the home with use of a dog. So they were getting ready to deploy us as though the kid had run away/crash landed nearby, and we had just broken into teams when our lead hopped out of the command truck with a big grin. Safe and sound!!! I'm telling you, this kid couldn't have hidden better if he had tried... and in hindsight, we're probably going to be a lot more insistent about bringing in dogs way earlier in the future. As to whether the kid let the balloon go and then hid, or tried to get in and got back out, or whether his brothers did it and tried to cover tracks by saying he was in it, we'll never know... I would also like to emphatically state that this was NOT a publicity stunt. You didn't see the parents, obviously, or you wouldn't be saying that it was a stunt... it was just a genuine "whoopsie" that really could have happened to any backyard balloon enthusiast. It's only riveting because the balloon was home-made and looked like a UFO. I'm sure the family will be keeping the kids away from any potentially mobile science projects in the future. This was kid stupidity and a bit of parent stupidity, but it was not a ploy for attention. PM me if you want more info... Wendy CO EMT-B

Aircraft is down, kiddo not on board. Possibly basket detached, possibly kiddo didn't stay in basket. I'm thinking SAR is about to get paged. I don't think this is going to end well Wendy CO EMT-B

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=125161&catid=339 This sucks for the kid!!! In Fort Collins, a family was doing some hovering tests with an experimental mylar aircraft, basically a UFO-shaped helium balloon. Dad thought it was tethered, and the 6 y/o kiddo climbed in and it broke loose. It's traveled over towards Hudson in Weld County now... and it's headed for DIA. Air National Guard is going to try to get the kiddo via helicopter, but no word yet on the modus operandi... Good luck to the kid!! Hope everything turns out ok. Wendy CO EMT-B

I will do my best to try to get out here!!! Here's hoping... Wendy CO EMT-B

Hey, wait a minute!!! Did anybody else notice the amazing disappearing black chick with gunshot wounds?! How did Mr. "You're just bleeding" end up being the first one into the ER? *_* Just wondering... Wendy CO EMT-B

As I'm home sick with oinker's disease, I'm going to probably watch it so I can finally puke instead of just being nauseous, which will hopefully make me feel better... Wendy CO EMT-B

Why can't I give you plus or minus points, Ruff? I'm confused. You're the only person I can't access that feature on. Wendy CO EMT-B

Yo, EMT11... You thought the show was pretty accurate, and put a winky face after the code red reference. Tell me where in here you expected us to infer that you were one of the more professional members of our field? Most of us failed Psychic 101!! All we have to go on is what you say here and how you say it... sorry, it looked like you were in the "Rabbit" warren based on this post... glad to hear you aren't! Vent's not stereotyping, she's accurately assessing the situation... Wendy CO EMT-B

I get how to use the system... but how do you see details on your "rep" in your profile? I can't for the life of me figure it out. --Wendy

Uh oh. I hope those guys realize that their comments are admissible in court. Wow! That's just ridiculous... Wendy CO EMT-B

It's true that "House" isn't accurate either. But it's so much fun to watch a brilliant actor with marvelous character development play an egotistical zebra-hunting doctor... A lot of us don't watch "House" for the medicine or the "thrill" of watching idolized heroes in action, we watch because Hugh Laurie plays one of the most emotionally complex and fascinating characters I've seen (just my opinion) in a long time. A lot of people don't accept "House" as reality... they think "ER" is where it's at. ROFL I agree, that "House" doesn't put doctors in a good light, and many doctors probably have just as many complaints about "House" as we do right here for "Trauma"... but the quality difference is inescapable. At least "House" attempts to put more emphasis on the cerebral stuff (Kutty's boobs aside) and doesn't rely on explosions and gratuitous sex to keep viewers interested. Maybe if the acting and story set-up in "Trauma" were better, we'd be better able to forgive the blatant medical follies... but I still say that EMS is enough of the bastard red-headed stepchild that we don't need any more negative public images. We struggle enough with our dear compatriots who run over people and abuse people and make headlines for just plain being crappy providers... you don't hear as much of that from other medical fields. Wendy CO EMT-B

I'll admit this freely. I struggle with IV's. Haven't done one since I left the prehospital service I was with back in February. I practiced with mock set-ups during a lot of my down time. I came on here and solicited advice. I poked people who were kind enough to let me stick them. I studied venous anatomy until I was sick of it. I don't think people resort to IO's from sheer laziness, I think a lot of people initiate IO's when they face ridiculously difficult vascular access and decide that time is more important than multiple failed attempts at difficult venous access. There is a reason the IO is a tool for things like pediatric cardiac arrest... you don't have time to screw around, and even in the best of settings some patients are going to be extremely difficult to gain venous access on. Weighing your options and utilizing them appropriately (and to protocol) is intelligent and in the patients' best interest, not just "lazy" for the sake of not wanting to get the IV. In my circle of acquaintances, most of the folks I know hate going for an IO and won't unless they feel the need to. As far as the original question, I would really try to obtain venous access where I could ascertain patency via being able to aspirate blood. If that wasn't possible, I'd definitely use many of the other techniques mentioned to ascertain whether or not my line was patent, and I would proceed very cautiously with D-50 administration. Just pondering... if I as a mere care provider can administer a rectal suppository via a Medication Administration Record (following a doctor's order), why couldn't we write up protocols for rectal glucose access? I know I've said this before... it just occurs to me that you could be trying the honey-bear approach in conjunction with your D-50 in a difficult situation like this... Wendy CO EMT-B

This is not a simple issue. Here are my thoughts, in no particular order: 1. The influenza vaccine does not afford a high degree of known protection against influenza infection, as Vent so concisely pointed out earlier in this thread. It is impossible to predict which strains will be dominant and the most virulent. Therefore, mandating vaccination really can't be proven to reduce the risk of transmission to the point where those who are opposed to vaccination for various reasons will be convinced of its merit. Also, many people have had personal or anecdotal bad experiences with the flu vaccine- my husband being one of them. Since people are already leery of the traditional influenza vaccine, they are that much more so about the H1N1 vaccine due to its speedy production. 2. Some protection is better than no protection, especially when you take into account the dynamics of population immunity. If you have 30 folks and only 10 of them get vaccinated, any given individual in the population doesn't really have his or her likelihood of infection reduced. If you have 28 of them get vaccinated, the remaining 2 un-vaccinated folks are much less likely to become infected, simply because the other folks are less likely to become infected and the risk of exposure is decreased. This is much more certain with something like polio, where there is a good idea of the effectiveness of the vaccine... the flu vaccine is such a crap shoot in all reality that it's harder to determine whether population immunity would come into play here in any significant form. If you assume that there is something like 40% protection (just for giggles), then population immunity would be significant enough to push for higher vaccination rates. If the effectiveness is only 10%, then it's really not worth the time and effort. 3. The issue of personal choice vs. public safety is ALWAYS a matter of contention. ERDoc raises some very valid questions that I think we shouldn't ignore. I personally feel that the choice to refuse vaccines is one that should be safeguarded, but those who choose to forego mandatory vaccination should also be able to accept that there will be consequences if there is a serious, community threatening outbreak. There is a reason that parents who don't vaccinate their children have to sign legal waivers acknowledging that their children will be barred from attending school during disease outbreaks. If you don't get vaccinated, be prepared to be isolated when the caca hits the fan... (this applies more to say, MMR than it does influenza, because you can titer immunity levels with MMR...) 4. The issue of personal choice is much more difficult where we as healthcare workers are concerned. We work with the populations that are the most vulnerable- the immunocompromised, economically disadvantaged, those who suffer from chronic disease, the very elderly and very young... Is it worth it to insist on your own personal preference at the potential expense of your patients' well-being? You might not get a very bad case of the flu (A, B or H1N1) but that grandma you transported for CHF might die from it if you give it to them. How many of us have come to work sick, knowing full well that we could pass on what we have, because we don't have sick time or have employers who are unsympathetic to illness due to short-staffing issues? Even if the vaccine only buys you 40% protection (again, hypothetical number), it is still statistically better than playing the odds with no protection. I really don't have an issue with employers mandating vaccination- they can tell you how to wear your hair, what treatments you can perform, and what your physical fitness level must be... if they deem mandatory vaccination to be in the best interest of the company and the patients the company serves, that is their prerogative. It is also your prerogative to choose to work for an employer who doesn't institute said policies. Most employers know that it is far better to strongly encourage (and provide incentives for) voluntary immunization, and mine has already developed and implemented a policy regarding flu exposure and infection. 5. Anyone who is more concerned about a WMD pathogen than a natural epidemic is really not looking at things clearly. We're much more threatened by something along the lines of an influenza epidemic than we are by an artificial pathogen release... looking at it solely from the perspective of statistics. Also, the quibbling over "personal rights" would not really be a factor in a WMD attack, as martial law and mandatory quarantine (at the expense of all civil liberties and probably enforceable with deadly force) would be implemented fairly rapidly. I am going to go think about this a little bit more and see if I have some other things to add. I know that I will probably get the regular seasonal influenza vaccine, as I am asthmatic and work in an assisted living for the elderly. I have not yet decided if I will get the H1N1 vaccine, as I would rather wait to see if there are any statistically adverse reactions, and as the protection I would get wouldn't really kick in until after the peak risk time at this point anyway. If my employer offers it for free, and I don't see bad reactions, I will probably get it. Wendy CO EMT-B

You need a hug. *HUGS* And you also need a statement from the fire folks that were with you on the call with their statement of what happened on that lift. That was retarded of your partner to not TELL you that she'd been hurt on that lift. You didn't drop the stretcher, she did, because she shouldn't be lifting. I'm sorry it was such a rough shift!!! And I'm sorry that your monkeys who run the "who's on first" system don't think things through. Get some good sleep!!!! --Wendy

I'm not offended, I'm pissed off. You want to know why? This is how the public sees us... And it sucks. Wendy CO EMT-B

Wow! I thought the trailer was bad... at least it had better music... Echoing what everyone else said. Why is the "family man" a poon-chaser? Why does nobody use a damn ET tube? Oh boy! Let's take a patient's mother in my helicopter, so she can freekz out and putz herr finger in da hole... *_* ROFL! Oh well. Same old schlock, different show. Wendy CO EMT-B

I agree that marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol. I disagree that driving after use of either is intelligent, regardless of the choice. The impaired driver is dangerous, no matter the cause of impairment... (texting, sleepiness, alcohol, prescription drugs, pot etc.) The fundamental issue here is that it is ILLEGAL. Until laws are changed, smoking dope is ILLEGAL. You get fired for getting caught engaging in illegal activities, especially those that have the potential to impair your safe performance at your job. It doesn't matter that you don't do it while you're on the job. Whether or not you think that smoking a little bit of dope recreationally is OK or not, you will still get fired if you get drug screened. Which will probably happen if you are involved in ANY sort of accident while on the job. If you're going to toke, you better accept the potential for consequences. I agree that societal perceptions of alcohol and marijuana use are skewed, and that alcohol is more socially acceptable to abuse, and that it doesn't make any sense. Personally, I don't have a problem with a responsible marijuana user, just as I don't have any problems with responsible drinkers. But the bottom line here is the legality of said recreation options. You choose to smoke pot, you choose to put your career on the line. Wendy CO EMT-B

Dwayne hasn't let this really percolate enough. Here's my analysis of this: The problem you were called for is just a symptom of the real problem. Someone who's had multiple diabetic exacerbations within a short time frame is suffering from an acute diabetic crisis, not just an isolated episode of hypoglycemia. While we often track ourselves into thinking only about the short term problem, we do treatments that affect long term care. Dwayne's brain jumped from looking at the short term problem to seeing the bigger picture problem, and chose the appropriate treatment for the actual problem. The way I see it: He treated the symptom. He didn't fail to treat. You *have* to treat what you see... your time frame may vary depending on the situation. For example, the climber who falls is going to get morphine/fentanyl for the pain of his tib/fib fracture... but is it more prudent to dangle your paramedic on a rope with an IV setup, or is it better to wait until the patient is on the ground and stabilized? Is it more appropriate to treat hypoglycemia right this second and bypass the issue of addressing this diabetic crisis, or is it more appropriate to ensure that the person receives the care they *really* need? It wasn't that Dwayne wanted to pull a power play and take away the person's choice... he just wanted to give the person the chance to accept care or refuse it in the presence of an actual doctor, where the actual problem stood a chance of being addressed. Someone really doesn't want care, they'll refuse it just as well in a hospital as they will in the back of your ambulance or in their living room. It's not like Dwayne left the guy completely zonked so that the hospital staff could also operate under implied consent... he just started treating en-route to change the venue of potential refusal. Which to me ensures the best possible outcome: It gives the patient a chance to refuse, while upping the odds that the problem will be fixed. Refusing this guy in his home would have led to several more calls and probably permanent damage to the patient's system. Doesn't take long for diabetics like that to spiral downhill and crash hard. Just my thoughts... Wendy CO EMT-B