Lone Star

Sexual harrassment laws were enacted to protect employees from predatory supervisors/bosses who would do things like base emplyment/promotions on obtaining 'sexual favors' from the employee. Unfortunately, it's been so loosly worded that people who get 'the story' second or third-hand can be 'offended' and file a complaint. While working with a female partner, we spent a couple shifts swapping jokes that those who are more conservative than we were might blush at. Neither of us were 'offended' by the jokes and we had a good time. Someone I thought of as a friend asked the female partner what it was like to work with me. When she (the partner) told her(the alleged friend) about the shift with me, the alleged friend went straight to the Operations Manager and filed a sexual harrassment complaint. I was caled on the supervisor's carpet and given a 'stern talking to' about the company's "Zero tolerance for sexual harrassment" policy. After giving the female partner the 'cold shoulder' the next time we met, the story came out, and we were able to figure out who filed the complaint. The complainant wasn't in attendance when the 'offending jokes' were being told (by BOTH of us!), and therefore shouldn't have had any grounds to file a complaint. You CAN'T be 'offended' for someone else!

I posted this video last November; I want to repost it this year and follow it with another related song: I would like to thank every soldier, salor, and airman (both men and women) who served before me, with me and that will serve after me. Your country owes you a debt that they will never be able to pay. While some of us are honored, and called hero; those who have served their country have always been and always will be my heroes. To my military brothers and sisters, the civilian population is notorious for having a short memory. For every civilian that has forgotten WHY you answered the call of service to your country; those that will condemn you for wearing the uniform of the greatest military on earth...those that will curse you and the deeds that you were called upon to perform; remember that there are two people that not only support you, but cherish and thank you for having the courage to answer that call! * Edited to include the commentary after the second video.

While I don't agree that the phone number is a violation of HIPAA, I readily agree that it was unprofessional for the medic in question to obtain and use the patient's phone number for social reasons. I've run into several people that I've either treated on scene, or during my clinical rotations...(the pony tail is a dead give away). I've never attempted (or even considered) asking the females out on a date or other social event. Morals and ethics: Some people got 'em; and, (quite obviously, this medic) some don't.... I'm not the greatest looking guy, but I have been 'come onto) by a couple female patients. They were all told "I'm flattered that you're interested, but I make it a point to never date my patients.". In my opinion, this is not only immoral; but unethical as well. I'll never be looked up to as a great 'moral compass', but one MUST adhere to the gudelines of professionalism in order to be taken seriously as a professional. Unfortunately, it's guys like this (and yes, there are gals out there too) that are working hard to undo every step forward that we take.

I was one that stated that was against transporting the bariatric patient on th floor, I've never said that we couldn't transport multiple patients in on vehicle; simply because I've been in a position to have to do it on more than one occasion. In the above scenario, I would have snatched the highest provider on scene who seemed to have his head together so that which ever patient I wasn't currently involved with had at least EMT-B monitoring until I could get back to that patient. I am by no means a 'Super Medic/Paragod', but I would damn sure do my best for each of the patients! Ultimately, the difference of transporting one on the stretcher/ one on the squad seat and transporting one on the floor of the truck is that the two patients can be restrained with the proper devices, whereas the one on the floor has nothing (unless you're talking about the cot hardware in the floor) to restrain your patients movement in the result of a hard stop/crash.

Those of us with any kind of longevity in this field have been forced to 'think outside of the box' during emergent situations. Transporting a patient from one hospital to another isn't an emergency. It's not like the patient has anyplace to go right away. I can understand the patient being transferred to another facility for more definative care, but I cannot fathom a patient not at least being stabilized at the sending facility. Once the patient becomes stabilized, the 'emergent status' is removed, and it becomes a 'non-emergent transfer'. In a Utopian society, no one would be this large, thus there would be no need for ANY bariatric vehicles. Unfortunately, this ain't Utopia. As a manager, if you're so quick to fire your employees simply for doing what they're morally and ethically bound to do, is utter nonsense! How can you expect to keep ANY valuable assets (employees) with that kind of B/S policy? This neither speaks well for you personally or the company you represent. With someone who has as much experience as you claim to have; how can you, with a clear conscience, even entertain such an idea as firing an employee for being a patient advocate? Patent advocacy is PARAMOUNT in EMS; this is something you should not only KNOW but practice, on a daily basis. Based on how fast you've advocated firing people, we can only surmise that you are nothing more than a corporate TYRANT who cares only about money. I would suggest that you go back and not only read the EMT/Paramedic oaths, but the Oath of Geneva and then seriously re-evaluate your position and practices. Patient safety is secondary only to crew safety.

Ok, let's start by dropping the istant defensive attitude; no one is out to bust your balls because you've admitted how you were feeling during the code. What you felt was perfectly normal, and as you can tell, is almost expected. If anything, you may have already earmarked yourself as a compassionate provider As far as the nurses reactions during the code, could it be that maybe you're unintentionally exaggerating this because you were so shocked by it? As you get more experience, you'll find that your sense of humor in stressful situations will become more 'dark/black'. It's nothing more than a coping mechanism (as tcripp pointed out). It's not that they've been through it so many times that they don't care, or they think it's a joking matter; it's how they deal with the stress of the situation so it doesn't drive them from the field because of 'burn out' or PTSD. As far as the "...let's get in there and break some ribs!' guy....do NOT follow his lead! He'll be up on patient abuse chages in no time flat. To WILLFULLY and DELIBERATELY inflict paininjury to the patient simply for the amusement or humor of the provider is ABUSE! There is no 'grey area' here. There is nothing wrong with wanting to continue on this path, but if you find out that it's 'just not for you', then by all means, walk away. There is no shame in admitting that you have limitations. There IS shame in knowing that this is outside of your limitations, but staying in simply for the 'cool factor' or 'hero points'! By no means am I suggesting that based on your original post that you get out of EMS, I'm only pointing out that if you DO stay in EMS, that it's for the right reasons.

I've got experience in moving a patient who's weight fluctuated from 1,020 pounds down to 860 pounds and then ballooned (no pun intended) to 1,685 pounds. I was part of moving this patient at least 120 times. Do you REALLY want to compare records here? I've also helped with patients who have ranged from 350 pounds to 800 pounds. I'm 46 years old nd currently have more than 27 years of experience in Fire/EMS ( 15 years in the Fire service and 12 in EMS) under my belt. I've also worked in Metro Detroit. I've pulled as many as 38 calls in a 24 hour period. Granted, I'm just moving into the ALS world, but that negates neither my experience or my credentials. One must ask though.....if you're willing to misrepresent something as trivial as your age; what else have you misrepresented here?

First off, since the patient wasn't an emergent transport; there was NO reason (other than the sending facility trying to 'offload' the patient), there was no reason that they couldn't have taken the time to arrange APPROPRIATE transportation. As for the contacted service, they should have made it clear that they didn't have the appropriate means to transport this patient. In my opinion, the OP made the appropriate decision in refusing this call. It has NOTHING to do with discriminating against obese patients. It DID however, have EVERYTHING to do with being able to transport this patient safely. While patient advocacy is paramount in EMS, there are other considerations that MUST be included when deciding patient transport. Not only the safety of the patient, the general public; but the safety of the providers. It was stated that the patient was approximately 6" too wide for the floor space available. This means that the patient is crammed and cramped into the space available. In the event of a side impact, all of the energy that is transferred from the 'ramming venicle' to the ambulance body/chassis is directly absorbed by the patient's body. Removing the safety equipment in order to take an IFT transfer only opens not only the responding crew, but the transporting company up for civil litigation. We know that we live in a highly litigatious society. As a memeber of the managerial echelon, one must balance the well-being of the employee against the liability of the company. Based on the information available, the responding crew made the appropriate decision, and the supervisor should be the one getting 'sacked'! Those who support the transporting of the patient despite not having the proper equipment and vehicle need to go back to school and learn what 'patient advocacy' REALLY means!

Oh no! The kiwi's are getting as numerous as the ozzies! Welcome to the City! While we may not give the 'textbook answers', or answer them in the "feel good 'kumbaya' fashion", we will answer your questions in as much detail as you can possibly handle, (and in more cases than not) , more detail than you thought was possible. Remember, EMS is a 'dog eat dog world', and anyone that gets into it is wearing 'Milk Bone knickers'! LS P.S.: As far as making friends in the Psychology Department, I'd start by getting cozy with the instructors (they know more than the students)!

As the day gets closer, you'll find SOMETHING that you've forgotten to attend to....(watches Scotty running around like a headless chicken)..... There is an 'up-side' to all of this...... Being a nurse, you won't have to make a trip to the ED when she beats you for stepping out of line.....you already know how to take care of the injuries ROFLMAO Congrats mate.......you should have run when you had the chance......now....resistance is futile....

I'll echo what the others have said, and will only add this: By the time you get out of your EMT class, you WILL know all of your classmates more intimately than you know most of your friends, because you WILL be putting your hands on their bodies, and they in turn will be putting theirs on you. This is NOT the time to be 'shy', and be sure you've got clean underwear on!

Some options are: Fire based EMS Police based EMS EMS based EMS (private carrier) ER Technician (working in the ER) Industrial EMS (manning a 'first-aid station, as say, in a factory/industrial setting)

Congratulations on the new Ruffle-ette! I hope mom recovers quickly, and that the new addition is hale and healthy! LS

This isn't about making ourselves feel better, it's about answering your question with HONESTY! *Lone Star raises his hand and impersonates Horseshack from "Welcome Back, Kotter"*

The hospital program is acceptable if you’re going only as far as EMT-B. If you’re going to go any higher, I would suggest that you look into the college program, simply because of all of the core classes you’ll need for your degree. They may seem unrelated, but trust me; they all will serve a purpose in making you a better medic in the long run. My program was 9 months: 6 months for EMT-B and an additional 3 months for EMT-I (they were combined into one program). My Medic program is 15 months with 500 didactic (lecture) hours and a minimum of 360 clinical hours. In GA, I had to hold at minimum an EMT-B license, or the NREMT equivalent. Since I started medic class directly after EMT-I, I was ‘golden’. I’m going to have to apply for my state EMT-I license soon, so that I can continue in the class (the NREMT is going to expire before my medic program ends). As far as the ‘experience’ part of your question, it IS a ‘hot topic’ with two schools of thought; the first advocating at least a year of experience before medic school, and the second advocating going directly to medic school. The biggest problem with the ‘experience gathering hiatus’ is that it gives you time to build bad habits, which will have to be broken during your medic school. If you’re serious about becoming a medic, then by all means, go directly to medic school. This will keep the information learned in EMT school fresh and keep you in the ‘school mode’ of thinking. The job definitely has its good points and its bad points. When you step into a bad situation and can actually do something to pluck the hapless soul from the jaws of death (ok, I’ve been watching too many of the ‘whacker shows’) it’s a feeling that compares to nothing else you’ll do. Make no mistake though, you’re not even going to come close to saving them all, and when you lose one despite doing everything right…it will crush you like a cigarette butt beneath someone’s heel. It’s a devastating blow; not only to your ego/spirit, but to your confidence. Many will tell you that tattoos should be ‘coverable’ while in uniform. The geriatric population of your patients aren’t always comfortable with the ‘colorful’ healthcare provider. With the ‘patch mills’ churning out mediocre providers, it DOES make it tough in some areas. Obtaining a degree will help set you apart from the masses of ‘cookbook providers’ being turned out by the ‘patch mills’ Good luck in your endeavors, and welcome to the City! You’ll find a wealth of experience and a few hundred folks that are willing to help you along the way.

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" It doesn't matter how deep you've paved the road with your 'good intentions', it's still the road to Hell.... First off, you stated that you administered the Nitro, then you change it to you 'helped him by getting it out of his pocket'. In the world of documentation, you're dispensing medication without a license, and THAT my friend is illegal. Secondly, in all your 'gear' that you have stashed in your personal vehicle, how much of it are you traned in using? How much education (aside from advanced reading the EMT books) do you have in interpreting your findings? How much of an assessment are you trained in performing? What education do you rely upon to interpret your findings there, and what education are you basing your planned course of treatments on? What equipment do you REALLY have available to you in case the patient needs more than band-aids and a c-collar? You jumped a call for the 'adrenaline rush' and you put yourself, your 'patient' and anyone that had to come rescue you and your patient at risk because you have no clue what you're doing! The fact that you 'snuck off' after the EMS crews took over (especially when they made it perfectly clear that they wanted to talk to you) shows that you KNEW that you did things wrong and didn't want to face the consequencs of your actions. This is NOT a 'good quality' for a future EMT to have! Compounding things is that you came to this forum and asked 'What did I do wrong?', and when your errors were pointed out; chose to try to 'justify' them and shif the focus from your screw-ups to blaming everyone that responded for being 'mean to you'. Another negative attribute. As has been pointed out by people who are much more intelligent than I am, you 'screwed the pooch' on this one, and all the heat you're taking is well earned. I've noticed that your story is starting to change from your initial post to the incarnation of the tale we see now. There are several facets of this whole incident that beg to be addressed: 1. DITCH THE SCANNER! It and your actions have already dumped you in a steaming pile of cow puckey, and potentially cost you everything you've ever HOPED to have (up to and including your dreams), and you could be facing jail time on several charges. 2. PUT THE 'GEAR' AWAY UNTIL YOU'RE EDUCATED AND TRAINED IN IT'S PROPER USE! Just because you've read a couple books doesn't qualify you to do anything more than stand at the edge of a scene and look at the pretty lights. The best way you can 'help' right now is to keep your cell phone bill paid so you can call 9-1-1, and get QUALIFIED/EDUCATED responders en route and on scene... 3. LEAVE MEDICATIONS ALONE! You're not qualified to administer drugs, or even assist in the administration of drugs. If you keep this up, you WILL find yourself in jail on some SERIOUS charges! 4. DROP THE RANDY/RACHEL RESCUE MENTALITY! This will only set you up to get sued, land in jail or injure/kill the person(s) that you're supposed to be helping, because you've got no education/training do do ANYTHING other than put a band-aid on a 'boo-boo'. 5. OWN YOUR FUCK-UPS! The sooner you start owning up to your mistakes, the sooner you can start learning that every action you do has consequences. Even the 'Good Samaritan Act' has limitations on what you can and cannot do. You've violated most of them; if I were you, I wouldn't expect that act to provide much cover from the shit-storm you've started. If you REALLY and truly want to help people, leave it alone until you've completed your education and training so that you can do it without doing more damage than you prevent....

Every patient gets new linens, blankets, pillow cases, towels, etc; every time, guaranteed! Most hospitals in the areas that I've worked had a 1:1 swap policy. Normally, there was a rolling shelf unit that had linens and such just for EMS use. I have been known to pull an 'extra set' from time to time, simply to have on the truck in case something goes wrong and I need them. I wasn't greedy about it (grabbing several sets of each at a time just to stock the truck), but it's reassuring to have a couple 'back up sets' just in case.... There's no reason to NOT change the linens and wipe down the stretcher (straps, mattress pad, side rails etc.). The ONLY reason it isn't done is out of pure laziness on the part of the on-duty crew. I mean, it's not like we're having to maintain 'military standards' on how we make up the stretcher between patients. I'm sure that no one would willingly lay down on the cot after ANY of our patients, so WHY in the world would you force the patients to do what you would never consider?

Back before Admin changed the chatroom (back when we still had voice/video chat), and before the demise of my external hard drive, Dust and I spent many hours discussing music; and reliving all the ‘good tunes’ and the memories that they held for us. To say that his musical interests were eclectic at best is an understatement, (knowing Rob like a lot of us do, is this REALLY any great surprise?) Doogs, How DARE you come into OUR ‘house’ and start casting aspersions based on YOUR belief system! You condemn AK for his beliefs (or in your opinion, lack thereof), and insinuate that YOUR beliefs are the ONLY way to find peace and comfort in these sad times. How can you say that AK’s beliefs aren’t the ‘right way’, and imply that he’s a heathen because he doesn’t believe in the same higher power that you do? One can only conclude that since you’re so willing to castigate AK, that you are in fact, a religious person. That being said, let me provide a couple of bible verses that are extremely relevant and important at this point. Philippians 2:12-15 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Matthew 7:1-3: 1Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Revelation 22:18-19: 18For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book. In my best Will Smith voice: The difference between you and me, is that I make this shit look GOOD!

At 46, I'm still working on my medic degree. I was an EMT for 12 years. As long as I'm still able to do the job and provide the care that my patients need, I'll be 'in the field'. When I can no longer do the job at hand, I'll either teach or simply leave the field. Most of your patients will trust and respect the 'older medic'. Kind of the same way they relate to the older docs. They automatically figure that you've been in the field longer than you really have, and therefore must know a great deal more than you think you do....

http://www.emtcity.com/topic/20732-littmann-cardiology-stethoscopes/page__p__265446#entry265446

There used to be a couple of interviews that Rob took part in, one being at EMStock...(a couple others were webcasts); does anyone have the links to these?

I offer my sincere condolences to his family and his friends. I know that I've probably done more than my share of driving him absolutely 'bat shit crazy' at times, but I have to admit that through some of the absolutely knock-down, drag-out' battles we've had, I was honored to call him 'friend'. It is because of Rob that I've not only changed my view on becoming a 'degreed medic' or 'collegiate medic', but has made me the vociferous advocate I am on trying to increase the educational requirements for entry-level EMS. I will continue the fight, and can only pray that I can bring even half of the passion and tenacity that my friend had! Rob Davis was one of those 'love him/hate him' kind of guys. There was no 'in between' with him. Like many of you 'old timers', I've spent many hours simply chatting with him in voice/video chat and in text. I can't help feeling 'cheated' that I never got to meet him in 'real time'. Because of Rob, I've gone through miles of Hell to get back where I am today. Every time I thought about just throwing in the towel, Rob would somehow intuititively know, and would magically appear and put a boot in my ass to get me moving in the right direction. For that, I will aways be in his debt. Rob never allowed any of his friends to 'half-step' along, you either marched full bore or you didn't join the formation. One of his favorite (and most used) expressions was, "Go big, or go home!"...a creedo that I've adopted along the way. Rest easy my friend, your job is done. It's now time to pass the torch, and let someone else continue the fight you and a handful of others have started. I will proudly carry that torch and light the way along the path that you have laid out!

Susan, First off, welcome back to the City! I'm impressed that you would share your story with us like that, and I'm even more impressed that you've taken the initiative to stand your ground and actually DO something about your problem! We've all seen many that fall into the whole drug use/abuse cycle, and never do anything to break it. Your courage and strength are to be an inspiration to those that are where you were. The fact that you voluntarily surrendered your license before something 'bad' happened was an intelligent move on your part, and I can only hope that in doing so, it will be viewed in your favor if you attempt relicensure in the future. I can only imagine the difficult road you're facing, and can only offer the words of encouragement to stay strong in your quest. Best wishes LS