Eydawn

I don't think that Dust was implying that the man's performance as a medical provider was deleterious to patient welfare... rather, that the entire Jolly Volley system keeps many individuals from having access to ALS care from providers who have been well monitored. The whole argument is that the presence of volunteer EMS is a stopgap measure, making people feel safe when really they should be asking for paid EMS in their area. Dust is inferring that this guy, by continuing to support the Jolly Volley mindset, is not helping people get adequate paid coverage. Also, the argument is that the Jolly Volley folk make it very difficult to change our system; if they work for free, and administrators/cities see that, how do we convince our own powers that be that we're worthy of better pay? Do engineers work for free for the city? How about plumbers? Doctors? No? One might ask why that is, and why volunteerism is seen mostly in combination Fire/EMS departments.... It's definitely a hairy argument. How do you convince a township that has one stoplight in the center of town and no budget for road repair to staff an ambulance with a full time, paid EMS professional? Isn't the volunteer EMS enough? Don't people in rural areas kind of accept that they're going to be further from advanced medical care? All issues that go along with this... Dust is passionate about his views and very blunt. He prefers the sledgehammer tactic. I prefer not to simply say something's stupid... but that's me. There are many issues to be considered with this... but recognize that Dust's input is valuable, even if you disagree with it, as I do in many instances. Wendy CO EMT-B

Has anyone seen the thermometers that someone places against your forehead and rolls from side to side? The last couple times I've been to see a doc for whatever reason, that's how my temperature was taken. Is that one of the ones that takes a reading from the temporal artery? It looks darn useful on squeaky kids and wigglers and the like... but how does it work? Wendy CO EMT-B

Ok, someone with FDNY EMS or who works EMS in NY clear this up for me. When a higher level of care arrives on scene, and you are still on scene with the patient, you are *required* to relinquish care. Right? Same with a rendezvous... Wendy CO EMT-B

Ah, you're going to implement the flow of conversation... by effecting it... I think you meant nothing that will AFFECT the flow of conversation... Sorry. OCD pet peeve moment. Get it right! Why are you pulling its tail? It's a lovely day outside! What was the effect of that punch you threw? Did it affect you? Walk right on through... watch out for that snowball he threw! /grammar nazi mode. Wendy CO EMT-B

I've never found it to be to my detriment to walk an idiot through an assignment with me. Actually, I find it quite enlightening because I have to *figure out* how to teach it to someone else... which means I have to understand what I'm doing. If I teach it, I remember it better... Wendy CO EMT-B

You need to figure out where this nurse has her licensure through and file a formal complaint against her. It was an unprofessional act and deserves to have a paper trail behind it. If you just let her slide, what's she going to do to the next person she doesn't like? Put lasix in their coffee? Accuse them of violating privacy laws? Accuse them of malpractice/negligence? If she'll steal log sheets that have nothing to do with her, she's got no moral character... Wendy CO EMT-B

Using dogs, as with anything relating to search and rescue, is an inexact science... If you're interested in training a dog for SAR purposes yourself, I suggest you google for a SAR agency near you. If you just want to learn more about the dogs in general, then I'd go for the nasar link... I've watched both air scent and trailing dogs work now, and I think they're absolutely cool to have on a search. I'm training to be a dog support person at the moment (carry extra water, navigate, safety officer for the dog team) and my fiance and I are getting a golden retriever pup who is going to learn to be a SAR dog if he's got the right yen for it! Wendy CO EMT-B

Actually, I'm not terribly familiar with them. Not a huge fan from what I've heard so far. Wendy CO EMT-B

Everything by Buckcherry. I really like this song for some reason! I think it's got a good mix of sounds in it... and an interesting combo of minor and major tonalities... Wendy CO EMT-B

File after file of links to resources... sounds like a database to download to me. With free access privileges once you've bought the database program... Here's my beef. If I buy something from a coworker or someone that I share space with, I make sure I pursue all avenues of communication with them PRIOR to reviewing everything with everyone else... and if that's failed, then it's fair game. I'm just sayin', I can see how EMSSolutions felt blindsided. Unless there's part of the picture that I'm missing here. Live and learn, it didn't work for you... lol! Wendy CO EMT-B

Dwayne, I appreciate the review... but you shoulda contacted him again before lambasting it all over the forum... lol! Just good business policy IMHO. Now, if he had TOTALLY screwed you and been completely evil about misunderstandings with the product, then you could toast him as a business person and roast his product to your heart's content... How about trying other products? Or posting what worked for you and what you were able to get out of the product? It is a good resource, albeit a bit difficult to navigate, no? Kind of like a journal database from what I'm hearing... it's all there, it's all FREE (whoopee!) but it's a little awkward to find. Is that what your experience was? I found your review a little confusing TBH. Wendy CO EMT-B

Dwayne, the reason he didn't address it is because there is no solution. The assholes will always be able to procure firearms. I can build one from hardware store parts. The best we can do is regulate it, try to track it, and make sure that the badguys don't have access to anything nastier than the average citizen as much as possible... so that the average citizen isn't put at a disadvantage on the playing field from being a good citizen and following the law. I agree with Dust. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for a Colt 45... and neither would my mother. If I repeat something I've posted before, I digress... but my mother was 8 months pregnant with yours truly, taking a bath, home alone, when someone invaded our home. Butt naked at the top of the stairs, she chambered a round in that hand cannon and yelled down at the intruder "I have a gun! Get out of my F*&*(ng house!" He left. If she hadn't had a gun, he would have been able to hurt her immensely. She was HUGE when she was pregnant with me and her joints were very loose. Not a chance. I'm for gun ownership. I'm living proof of the benefits of it. Wendy CO EMT-B

I like the concept. It *does* look like a normal ambulance from the pictures, because the orientation within the patient cabin hasn't been spelled out... that door you're seeing between the two awkward looking folks who are strapped in isn't the rear door of the ambulance. It's the side of the ambulance. That means the dude is back to back with the driver and the chick is facing towards the front of the ambulance. I'm also digging the concept of 5-point restraint seats that slide and move towards or away from the cot... that means you can stay put while moving close to do something. I'm wanting to see a lot more pictures, with views inside and outside the cabin. That would make things a lot easier to see and good for the textually challenged... Wendy CO EMT-B

Asys, you misread the intent of what I was saying. I was not laying any sort of personal blame on any of the victims of any of the mass school shooting incidents that have occurred in America. Here's what I'm trying to get at. This is a novel problem that nobody has managed to find a solution to yet. I'm proposing a hypothesis that could potentially decrease the total number of casualties in this sort of situation, one that seems feasible and logical to me. As to your question about my personal experience with gunfire... there are bullets lodged in the front door of my childhood home and I have been in close proximity to live fire from gang and drug related activity multiple times in my life. Yes, the instinct (and a damn good one at that) is to get away and get down low where you can't be hit by errant fire. The situation changes drastically when you are in an enclosed space with limited exits that may actually be TARGETS for a deranged gun wielding asshole. I *don't* know that people didn't die trying to disarm the assholes. Well, in the case of Columbine, if you've ever viewed the tapes... but who could blame the kids. That was Hell visiting Earth that day. What I do know is that the standard modes that we've been taught to deal with crises involving weapons are no longer applicable in situations like Virginia Tech... except for those lucky enough to be outside of the immediate room. We've been taught "go along with the bank robber... get down... do what they say... give them your wallet... they'll go away and leave you alone... you have one life, your schit is replaceable" etc. But that's not what these school shootings are about. These school shootings are a rampage intended to take as much life as possible. These psychos go and shoot people who are cowering under desks, pleading for their lives to be spared. Ergo, what I am saying is that since we haven't developed a model to deal with violence of this nature (and nothing disparaging against any campus police force, but they simply will *never* be able to get there in time... especially on any sort of larger campus like my own or VA Tech... with miscommunication, deployment time..) that I advocate taking responsibility into your own hands. This is a purely personal decision. You can choose to attempt to take down the person bent on killing you with whatever resources you have at hand, or you can try to escape. The choice is yours... My choice is to attempt to gain the upper hand, especially if the doors are a target... because effectively, if I sit there, I'm already dead. At least I'll die trying to do something contributing to my own salvation. Wendy CO EMT-B

we're number 6 on page one. Didn't you get the message? Wendy CO EMT-B

The thing that gets me about all of these incidents is that the gunman had TIME TO RELOAD... If I can eliminate reload time, I can decrease total casualty number. If I can eliminate reload time by shooting the whackjob, I will do so. If I can eliminate it by getting out of the room and returning with 6 frat boys and 3 fire extinguishers (can't aim if your face is full of anhydrous ammonia...) I will do so. Am I willing to get shot in the attempt to take out a gunman? You bet. Better I get hit fighting back than wait for him to come shoot me as I cower under my desk. I don't think we need to arm students PHYSICALLY as much as we need to do so MENTALLY. You know what? If this had been a hundred years ago, people would have been diving at the person throwing everything they could lay hands on at them. We've been brought up to be sheep... and as sheep, we are slaughtered... I refuse to go out with a BAA. I've known ever since I entered the public school system that it only takes a few people to stand up and change the course of history. Don't let yourself be shot. Try to go down fighting. You might just make the difference... and odds are you weren't making it out of the room alive anyway after Mr. Whacko decided to go out in a blaze of glory.... Wendy CO EMT-B

Turf the ones who are consistently freezing to a 3 person team. Make sure they're getting some focused attention and coaxing through difficult concepts, and make sure the team they're with is running "dry" scenarios when they're not on a call. Then when they show improvement, put them back in a 2 man team... and if they continue to freeze, consider that they may not be suited for this field, and hence, no longer worth employing... Wendy CO EMT-B

Damn. Think that only works if you're already registered... but it was a thought! Sorry bro, didn't find anything to help. Wendy CO EMT-B

I thought paramedics could challenge the national registry by exam! I did to recert my Basic this year... just waiting on a medical director for when I actually become part of LCSAR to sign my paperwork so I can send it back in. You might want to consider that option. Let me see what I can find. Wendy CO EMT-B

ROFL on the snack administration. Some canuckistan medic students had waaay too much time on their hands... lol! Wendy CO EMT-B

Did ya miss that part, Dwayne? Didn't say I didn't want to discuss it... just wanted to put emphasis on what I feel to be the higher priority here. What I'm saying is that it is extremely easy to consult fellow EMT's and paramedics with health concerns, and to just take what they say and go "oh, well, yeah, that makes sense" and never follow up with a doctor. It's easier, and cheaper, to discuss things here in the forum than it is to confront a possibly serious health problem in the doctor's office. Many of us hate going to the doctor... that old adage about EMT's being the worst patients, no? PCB is an adult... and a very intelligent person. Which is what makes me worry... because the last thing I want for any of us here on the City is for anyone to get hurt, or to potentially ignore an illness when early diagnosis is so key for many health problems. If I came off strong in that post, it was because it's borne of concern- not that I think he's stupid or NOT going to see a doctor. I was trying to make sure we avoided the trap of "well, my friends on the City think it's this, so I must be ok" because I know from *personal experience* that is very easy to slip into. Syncopal episodes have many possible causes. As one who's had them in the past... yes, usually it's pretty simple dehydration or low blood sugar... but sometimes it's something important that needs to be addressed. Especially in someone who's not prone to "dropping out" for whatever reason... multiple syncopal episodes are a warning sign that makes my spidey sense go nuts. Wendy CO EMT-B

No! We don't need the S/S like he'd give on a PCR. *His DOCTOR* does. There could be a multitude of factors at play here! Could be psychological, could be phyisological, could be an underlying illness that was previously undetected, could be neurological... Without a lab at my disposal and an M.D. behind my name, I don't want to say anything more specific than that. There's plenty of 'it coulda beens' but that's not what PCB needs at the moment. PCB, I'd love to hear what happened during the episodes... but not until you've seen the doc and you have "and this is what the doc said" to post at the very end of that post. It was dangerous, whatever it was. It affected judgment, breathing, motor function, and level of consciousness. It was such a near miss that I'm surprised that it wasn't a headline. Good on you, PCB, for recognizing how stupid continuing to drive was... but you're going to be doing yourself and the rest of the world a disservice if you continue the stupidity by trying to get a diagnosis online instead of seeing your primary care doc. Since you don't know what it was, you don't know if it's coming back... which makes me worry for you. Wendy CO EMT-B

Did I read that right? You had 3 blackouts of unknown etiology after donating blood? It's time to go see the doctor for you, mister! There may be something else other than low blood sugar/ wooflies from donating going on here. Could be one of those adverse reactions... the rare incident type things... can you afford not to find out for sure? Wendy CO EMT-B

Yeah, dunno how that "myelosis" ending got in there. Rhabdomyolysis. And I spotted that extra "e" in envenomation just after the friggin' edit button vanished on me. What can ya do? Wendy CO EMT-B

Read that post you quoted closer... I did misspell something. Look hard... you'll find it! Wendy CO EMT-B