Eydawn

Then you're prolly gonna have to pay for it... I didn't see anything else nifty and free. Wendy CO EMT-B

Some women prefer thongs because it apparently eliminates the "panty line" underneath their pants... wouldn't that end up looking more professional? Wendy CO EMT-B

I have never, God strike me dead if I am lying, been drunk to the point of vomiting. I actually have only been tipsy a few times... and I would consider myself having been "drunk" after an 18 oz microbrew wheat beer the other night. Stumbling, couldn't have passed a sobriety test if I had tried. I don't dig alcohol all that much. Something that tastes good that I like- sure, but my body rejects it after about 1-1.5 drinks. I was a drunk sitter. I didn't drink because I didn't want to end up like them. Now that I'm older, I only drink what I want, when I want, rather than "I'm bored, let's go... etc" Wendy CO EMT-B

Ah! But it is in fact a piercing... not a normal lady's ear piercing either. So... since they have it, but it doesn't show, should they be fired? Wendy CO EMT-B

While many people cannot master subjects by self-teaching from adequate, approved materials, many people can. I know many people who have taken science courses where the lectures were posted online, and who only went to class when they came across a lecture they didn't really understand just from reading it (and the text). Guess what? Some of those folks had the highest grades in the class. While there is something to be said for having the dedication to sit through several classes and their lectures, there is also much to be said for being a self-motivated active learner... which you must be to understand material from an online course. Tamaith, Ruff posted that thread, I'll see if I can find it for you. No harm in studying on your own until life presents you with the opportunity to enroll in classes that get you credit! Wendy CO EMT-B

Also, my condolences to all who knew the crew killed in this crash... Sorry, not trying to derail, just trying to illustrate how many of these we've had and the need for reducing them... including deep evaluation of the patient's true level of need. Wendy CO EMT-B

The more of these I hear about, the more I think really hard about the risks involved with flying a chopper... My patient had *really* better need it before I put a flight crew (and potentially my patient!) at risk. Not just because it's easier... if it doesn't benefit the patient, it doesn't fly. Wendy CO EMT-B

http://www.imagingeconomics.com/issues/art.../2005-05_10.asp Scroll down. http://www.thoracic.org/sections/clinical-...ages/Slide7.jpg You should be able to see this ok. Will either of those work for you? Wendy CO EMT-B

Michael? Is there any way you can mount the can with a locking device of some sort (with a key to prevent theft) on the exterior of your vehicle? Wendy CO EMT-B

Certain second degree BSN programs in Colorado *require* a CNA license before entry, as well as certain prerequisites such as philosophy, microbiology, etc. It isn't just Kalifornia... and it's not Boulder, either, before anyone asks. And I would like to challenge the statement that any educator requiring a certain length of experience in the prehospital care field is a substandard monkey trainer who produces substandard paramedics. The fact is, that in certain areas, it is very difficult to get hired as an EMT-B due to the number of applicants versus available positions, so one must in fact be an exceptional candidate to obtain and MAINTAIN placement as a fielded EMT-B. You must demonstrate some superior qualities, either through additional education, obvious competence or suitable personality. Therefore, an educator from that area would require work-time as a way of measuring in some part the ability of the candidate. Perfect situation? Of course not. Until we change the EMS system to require degreed professionals, however, it doesn't make sense to waste teaching resources and time on glory hounds who will burn out right before or within a year of finishing their paramedic education. And I would also argue that while one can pick up poor habits working in the field prior to paramedic school, one can also pick up good habits (such as pursuing more in-depth understanding) if one is paired with the right partner. It also gives people time to learn to adapt to their own personal adrenaline response... and no matter what one might assume about a student learning to control that as a student rider, it is a far different experience when you are cognizant of no longer having the safety blanket of an additional, more experienced team member there to watch your back and make sure you don't screw up too badly. Again... perfect system? No... but some people fail to learn without being thrown in the deep end for a while. Wendy CO EMT-B

This is a very tricky situation. It hinges on a couple of issues; firstly, can nodding and blinking represent conscious, fully competent consent to anything? If she can shake her head "no" when they ask something and can also shake "yes," then I believe it can be legal consent. Now... here's the rub. Let's say you have a patient who's able to speak, whose life is maintained only by kidney dialysis. They cannot survive without being hooked up to a machine to perform the function of their kidneys. They decide they no longer wish to be hooked up to the dialysis machine, ever... and they have the right to refuse that care. They are refusing kidney support, which results in definite death (albeit, taking a little longer to get to that stage). Is that their right to refuse? Are they in fact committing suicide, or simply refusing care as is their right? Answer that for yourself before you read the next part. You have a woman, who can communicate by blinking and nodding. Her life is only maintained by artificial respiratory support provided by a machine. The machine, in effect, breathes for her, which is necessary for life, much as kidney dialysis is for the other hypothetical patient... she decides she no longer wishes to be hooked up to the machine. This will result in definite death. Is it any different from refusing dialysis? There's a difference between unplugging someone from a vent who cannot communicate at all, and who has no living will, and unplugging someone who can communicate and indicate that they no longer want a life-sustaining treatment to be administered. It feels different, because it is much more immediate and visceral to unplug someone from a breathing support. But in effect, it is no different from someone being unplugged from a kidney support, or pacemaker... as long as THEY are the ones dictating the action, whether through a living will or ability to indicate intent. That's my take on it. Otherwise, we head down the road where we say that no living, conscious, decision making being has the right to choose to refuse an intervention that is maintaining their life- no matter what that intervention is. Choosing to no longer intervene is very different from active euthanasia... Wendy CO EMT-B

He's back! Welcome back, arsehole! Missed you!! And I believe that having a tattoo on your person, if hidden by your uniform, is your business and your business alone. If it becomes visible, and you work for a no tattoo company, then you better either get it removed or get another job... What're ya gonna do, Dust? Have everyone strip so you can see if they've got a tiny tattoo above their buttcrack? Wendy CO EMT-B

Either taking care of their puking friends, their puking girlfriends, or studying. That or doing something crazy like playing zombie tag in the academic buildings after hours... Wendy CO EMT-B

No way that a lone paramedic, who's already worried about their injured partner, should leave and head to that original call in the middle of the fustercluck that has eaten my home town for the moment. Political affiliations aside, that thing is a mess and rather inconvenient for most of the denizens of Denver. Stay with your partner, call dispatch, get a new team dispatched. What the article didn't say is if it was a hit and run... Wendy CO EMT-B

The account of dorm life rendered here is amazingly hilarious.... because there is so much truth in it! Dorms can be fun... but when you're ready to grow up and be an adult, the dorms start to suck. Not to mention watching drunk jocks wander around at 3am is not always the entertainment of choice... Wendy CO EMT-B

Marfan syndrome is pretty sad in most cases. It is rumored that Abe Lincoln had it, but there's no official way to tell whether or not that was the case. Pleurisy... I've had that. That hurt like a mother! Wendy CO EMT-B

Oh come on... I know someone's called you that before. You know what I mean. Wendy CO EMT-B

Here's the rub. Were our education better, the experience that one gains from working on a 911 car as an EMT would be integrated into the paramedic degree. However, it is not. Therefore, based upon the learning style of the individual, the adequacy of the Basic class, the life status of the individual, and the surrounding environment, there may be pros and cons to both going zero to hero and working in the field prior to entering medic school. I'm telling you... if you had surrounded me with individuals pushing for me to go zero to hero instead of staying in traditional college after getting my basic, I never would have decided to try for nursing school. Why would I, when I can work in the field of choice with only 2 years of education? Crap, I'm in my 5th year undergrad (due to a transfer and major change) and have at least another 2 years ahead of me for nursing... I would also like to say that I don't think I would have been as good a provider at age 20 (which is how old I'd have been if I'd gone straight through paramedic) as I am now at 22 (still a Basic) and will be at 25 when I finish nursing school. I was a smart 18... but I was an inexperienced 18, in every sense of the word. While it is true that the educational foundation gained in school gives you some of the tools with which to approach patient care, it is also true that common sense can't be taught, nor the ability to use good judgment in those tricky scenarios that fall outside our pretty lines... Let's put it this way... if you're mature enough to know that you're enough of a n00b that you don't think you should go straight through without figuring some things (like yourself) out, then you're mature enough to go for it. Find yourself a job and work your way through school... you can gain that experience concurrently with pursuing your education. If you think you're the kind of person who needs to understand the deeper picture in order to give patient care, and are not comfortable practicing with the level of education you've been given as a Basic, then you're also ready to go for it. If you're just going straight through to medic because the more vociferous of us are advocating education above all else... sit back a couple months and think about it real hard. No other medical professions push people to get a taste of what they'll be doing, but I know a *lot* of doctors in my personal world who regret having stuck it through and gone to medical school, straight out of undergrad. They feel locked in and like they wasted 8-9 years becoming something they don't really want to be now. So if you have any doubts, if you're not sure that medicine is your passion, then yes, please get a taste of it somehow. Ride third rider with someone and be a go-fer. If your gut says "well, I could do it, BUT..." then consider bailing. If you force yourself to do this because you don't know what else to do, you'll become another jaded, inefficient lackluster provider. Let's leave the fire vs EMS for yet another thread, so this one doesn't get locked, mmkay Spenacky? :wink: Wendy CO EMT-B

Hmm... The one over in Battle Creek must have lost its accreditation between my leaving Michigan and this article. I remember distinctly that it was an accredited school. Wonder what happened? And I agree... the whiners, instead of freaking out, should be looking into how to accredit more programs so that it will provide more options... Wendy CO EMT-B

Rofl.. and you know, this must be based on someone's actual experience... No one could have made this $h!t up. Wendy CO EMT-B

Bingo. This kiddo is displaying symptoms of iron overdose... along with whatever else she might have gotten in that multivitamin. Pediatric Iron Overdose Overview This kid needs a doctor, fast. Liver problems, GI scarring, kidney problems... baby has a long road ahead. Wendy CO EMT-B

Ah. Sachet = dose pack. Thanks! And movicol... the things they call laxatives... "move yer colon!" ROFL. Wendy CO EMT-B

What's the kid's temperature? Blood pressure? Is this bloody vomit red streaky, or black icky? Agreed with asking about anything else in the vomit. Screw having mom call the babysitter, give me that telephone... Any respiratory distress? Head to toe exam reveals? Wendy CO EMT-B

Can you Limeys and Aussies provide translation for the following drugs? I followed some of the gist, but I haven't memorized international pharmacology yet. This poor Yank is in need of edification! Nifedipine = ? Movicol =? and what is one sachet? Lansoprazol =? Thanks kindly... and glad to see that tentatively, it's an easy fix... Richard, I think RTC stands for Routine Traffic Collision... or some other R word and Traffic Collision. It's their equivalent for "MVA/MVI" Wendy CO EMT-B

My boy and I are engaged... both members of a search and rescue team. Both EMT's. It works very well for us, since we speak the same language (so to speak... when I start on the in depth biology, I get the deer look.) We both understand the risks associated with what we do... and right now, we both have other jobs as well. I think that helps to balance it out a touch. Can it work? Certainly. Anything can work. Does it take effort? Heck yes... and is anything guaranteed? Nopes. As long as you keep that in mind, you'll be a lot saner. Wendy CO EMT-B