Eydawn

Welcome back, Tiffany! Glad to see you posting again. I once had a friend send me a letter, some M and M's, and an unexpected bit of money. It wasn't much, but it created a point of light in a pretty dark semester. It changed how I thought about him, to some extent, and helped me get through the rest of the term. Changed the way I thought about friendship, as well. I also recently had the fortunate experience of working with a child with Down's syndrome. He was a wolf scout, and needed to participate in a flag ceremony to satisfy one of the requirements for moving on to the next level. Working with this child touched me in a way that I had never been touched before. It was fascinating to see how he saw the world. I think it is part of the reason that I'm seeking employment in a setting that works with adults with developmental disabilities. You never really realize that there are so many different ways of perceiving things until you try to communicate with someone who literally processes the world in a different manner from what you're used to. Fascinating worlds. So many of them. Wendy CO EMT-B

Thoughts and prayers for him, family and friends. May God guide you and keep you safe through this hard time. Wendy CO EMT-B

My grandmother woke up from a sound sleep, went over to the window that was closest to the direction her sister's house was in, stared out across the city, thought about her sister and went back to bed. The next morning they came to tell her that her sister and her brother in law had died in a house fire caused by smoking in bed. Some of the kids survived though. I've had more than my share of the creepy cold sweat spine chill "uh oh, here it comes" moments. Happens more often than not. Share the phenomenon with my fiancee. Sometimes it's a distinct sequence of images, sometimes not. *shrugs* life is wierd! If you want to know about some of the specifics, message me. Wendy CO EMT-B

Thanks, Dust. Obviously you can't maintain and treat everything. That's what Memorial and Parker hospitals are for and that's why we have strict rules about handoffs to helos or the local BLS crew when stuff exceeds our capabilities. And pardon me if I'm wrong, but don't you remember the nurse I told you about that took the job last year? The cert, education or license behind your name means very little. You have to prove yourself capable. I'm sure we'll find people capable of stabilization and acute treatment, just like we need. Good to see you're still goin' over there in the sandbox! Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. Yes, this definitely lends itself to the younger folks w/o a lot of responsibilities, haha! Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Hey, y'all. As a lot of you know I work out at a boy scout camp in Elbert County, CO; The name of the camp is Peaceful Valley Boy Scout Ranch, run by Denver Area Council Boy Scouts of America. We're currently short 2-3 medics. So far, they've got me and a noob both in other positions split shifting coverage on the cub scout side, but they've yet to find our head medic or medics for either of the other two camps. Pay is terrible, but includes room and board and is negotiable at this point because if we don't have medics, camp doesn't open. If you're out of state, at this point Council will probably pay for your airfare. Here's what you need if you're interested in this: 1: Must like children and have a clean record 2: Must be EMT-B or above (they're looking desperately for an RN or Paramedic, but will take what they can get) 3: Must be able to tolerate dust and being near horses; must be able to negotiate moderately rocky/tricky terrain. 4: Must be able to work from June 1 through July 29th. 5: Must be able to tolerate having one day off and one night off per week until camp close. I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, I'm sure Admin will put it where it belongs. If anyone is interested in this, please PM me and I will get you further contact information. Help me out here guys! If you can't do it, ask around, especially if you're in Colorado. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Huevos does indeed mean literally, "eggs" in Spanish. It's slang for testes. Think about the relative size and shape... do I really gotta go into this? Kind of like how we say "balls".... you don't *really* have superballs in there, do you? Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Thank you guys... I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one sitting here going "now wait a minute..." with this article. My journalism professor linked it in her blog. She links a lot of things. I wanted to get a little feedback from folks on the 'City before I went off on it and completely irked her. I've read a lot of *BS* this term... including, but not limited to, an article on the movie "Zoo", which is about bestiality; an article from Mother Jones that basically said that VT happened because we ignore violence against women, and an article about how wonderful it is that this up and coming young singer gets to wear Prada to the Grammys. There's a difference between journalism and actual news. That's something I've learned far too well this quarter. Write something, get it published, it's journalism. There's a lot degrading that particular craft out there in my honest opinion. I thought there must be reasons for doing stents in a non-emergency type setting, now I know why. Thanks folks! Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

I want to know what everyone thinks of this article. I know most of us aren't cardiologists... but I want people to think about how this article was written, what kind of message it conveys, and what you think about the subject itself. http://www.slate.com/id/2165826/fr/rss/ I reserve my own opinions for a bit later. I think it's an interesting article, at the very least. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Kind of scary that my name's Wendy, given what I'm about to link here... it's amusing and/or highly disturbing. You *have* been warned. First, here's the gentleman's Peter Pan Page: http://www.pixyland.org/peterpan/ Now, his FASHION page... keep scrolling. It gets weirder. http://www.pixyland.org/peterpan/petersFashionPage.html And now, his Ministry Page.... Let the madness begin! Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Welcome to the field! I hope you find a lot of enjoyment and worthwhile experiences while you're here! May your education never cease, inside of the classroom or out. Congratulations! Best of luck to you! Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Yeah, the pain with the forearm is when you accidentally grab the fine point sharpie instead of the ball point pen... I've had vitals in a temp. tattoo for *days* after a call, haha! Almost as bad as the time my coworker was teaching a bunch of boy scouts how to triage and wrote 2204 in red magic marker on my forehead. Still have yet to repay him for that little trick... didn't see what was coming until it was too late. That'll learn me to be the "demo dummy"... As a side note, I keep those little 80 cent flip notebooks in my back pocket. I tend to lose index cards when they're solo and I like having a writing surface right there, so if I'm in an awkward position I'm not trying to reach my thigh (though you'd think I'd have no trouble finding those of late, haha), and I have multiple pages so I can jot notes to myself for my patient care report later. I'm a verbal thinker... little kickers to remind me what happened are extremely helpful. But I have been known to use the tape and the forearm. On occasion. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Dwayne, do you know who you're going to ride with? As a CO gal who knows people who work for several services, I might be able to give you a heads up on who you could be encountering. If not, I can at least go "oh, that's where that is". If you don't want to shout it to the world, PM me. I'm honestly curious at the very least. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Wow. Good analogy... interesting to say the least. Makes you think a little more about the situation... Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

What kind, doczilla? I'm partial to coffee myself! Would you like doughnuts with that? Or real food? Oh, wait... I'm a college student, broke, busy and probably cleaning up the puke in Room 4 because I'm a young'n and easily nabbed for yuck duty! I'll get back to you on the coffee and food thing... after I get cleaned up... lol! In all seriousness... y'all aren't perfect, but neither are we. Glad we've got senses of humor, otherwise we'd all die! Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

I'll never burn out of medicine. I can't tell you why I feel that way; it's a calling and a passion for me... I'll also never develop a dislike for chocolate, or hate Irish stepdancing... just one of those things. I may not be able to physically cope with EMS at some point; Lord knows I'm only 20 and I already have screwed up joints... but I will never leave the medical field. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Alright, since we're going to hold up certifications here, what kind of educational history do you hold, firefighter523? What is your paramedic's license from? An associate's program? A certification program? Let's hear it. I want to know. I'm not saying you're not smart; I'm just curious. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Ah, firefighter523... I've got to tell you something. We don't listen to the 2 doctors in this forum because they're doctors. We listen to them because when their statements regarding medicine are evaluated critically and reconciled with available knowledge and literature they, to put it bluntly, "know their $hit". Doesn't mean they're perfect, doesn't mean we must bow down and worship... they're members of this profession who come here to work together with us and further our understanding of medicine as a whole, as well as theirs. Without performing the appropriate in-hopsital tests you have very little basis for ruling out a neurological insult with the diagnoses that you are able to perform pre-hospital. As such, it is far better to exercise caution in this situation rather than acting quickly and possibly detrimentally. Tell me truthfully.. in the 10-15 minutes that you have this guy in your care prehospital, does the possible benefit that you can confer from dropping his pressure (and subsequently maybe having to treat for hypotension) outweigh the benefits of providing supportive care until you can have more exhaustive tests done to ensure that his problem is not neurological in origin? There are very few "no excuses" cases with things that are this physiologically and pharmacologically tricky. Not putting oxygen on an asthmatic, well, that's a no excuse scenario. In this one, please allow room for considering other treatments. Do not assume that yours is the gold standard and that, since you are a paramedic, you *must* be right. We all fall prey to human error. I guess what I'm trying to convey is that while your treatment may be valid in this situation it does not mean that other treatments are not also valid. Consider the complexity of the situation and the human body. Don't get offended when you get challenged; it's part of the learning process. Also keep in mind that a lot of communication is lost in the forum; a brusque reply may appear to be pissed off, when, in fact it is just a pithy reply because the writer is pressed for time for some reason. Remember that all you have to communicate with are your words, and be willing to cut people slack as much as you deserve it yourself, because at no time can we completely convey everything we're trying to communicate through this forum. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Espresso does the trick, huh? How about that! Good thing I like coffee! As I said... I'd rather go for the standard treatments first... but hey, if you're in a rural situation and it could potentially benefit your patient (I mean, drinking hot water sometimes relaxes the person enough to help them control their breathing... I've seen that one work a few times, so tea or coffee potentially might have the same effect, psychological or not...) then you might want to consider it. But you better have a good documentation for why the situation necessitated something unorthodox like this. Since we're going on the asthma alternative treatments at the moment, who has a take on the ye old throw them in the bathroom and run the shower full blast trick... I know I hop in the shower for the warmth and the steam and it seems to help me, especially if I'm also battling some sort of upper respiratory infection, but what could be the pros and cons of this in home use with family/friends or as something you've seen a patient do? Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

It is true that caffeine can be administered with some bronchodilatory effect... I've been known to grab a cup of coffee or tea, and the combination of the warm liquid plus the caffeine helps me a bit. (I'm an asthmatic, FYI). But it's not in my scope of care and better results could be produced in a *patient* by getting them to an ER and providing supportive care enroute... Now, if you're out at a summer camp, it's a staff member that's well known to you, and all the BLS rigs in your area are tied up and you're waiting for advice from A: your boss and B: your medical director, then I could see asking the patient if they were a tea or coffee drinker and asking if they wanted some... if the attack was mild enough to warrant stay and play instead of calling for the helivac. If not... well, it's time to fly... Tricks of the trade aren't what you want to look for I don't think... you want to start asking some questions with focus... Don't be afraid to ask a stupid question. You'll get a smart-aleck response and a link to the appropriate thread in most cases. There's any given number of tricks for any given number of situations... but you gotta make sure you've got a good handle on what your situation is first. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Since this happened to a buddy of mine recently with a similar onset... could it possibly be a varicose vein around the testicles? Caused some nasty pain, slower onset.... Any evidence of this? Other than that, let's see what others have asked for.... Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

HAHA! That was great... Now let's see if my stats prof will buy a similar answer on the next essay exam.... Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

For a general understanding of asthma, go for WebMD. Good simple explanation of what it is and exactly how it works. Also, if you want to learn a lot about asthma, go ahead and PM me. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

No likee, no clickee! Free forum, no? You had to click the link to watch the video... Everyone's opinions are well known on this particular poster and post. Threadlock! Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B

Keep in mind the CDC statistics are also skewed by including gang violence victims in the "children" category. All the 16 year old gangsters in California, etc who blow each other away are still technically children and get put in that category. Not just referencing the 10 year old sheltered suburban boys, or drive by victims... Not to invalidate the point, just adding some more context for it. Also, since you've got the reference right off the bat (North? Was that you that did that?), can we get the numbers for bike accidents, child poisonings, car accidents and other child accidental death? I actually just want to see those numbers out of curiosity. Wendy CO EMT-B MI EMT-B