Lone Star

You get a half eaten package of Mentos and 3 pieces of sugarless gum! *puts in 1 dime, 2 nickles and 5 pennies*

You get a chicken salad sandwich on white bread from The Wheel of Ptomaine! *inserts quarter*

You get a 'diamond ring' with the adjustable band (which will turn your finger green) *drops in a quarter*

Pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

Drops out a minature deck of playing cards *thumbs in a quarter*

There's the rule of "The 5 R's": Right Patient Right Medication Right Dosage Right Date (expiration date) Right Route To that add: Right Documentation

Considering that the two EMT's in question were accused of doing nothing to help the woman because they were 'on break'? http://www.emtcity.com/index.php/topic/17175-news-feed-fdny-emts-allegedly-ignore-pregnant-woman-in-distress-jemscom/page__p__231559__fromsearch__1&#entry231559

When I was working EMS in Michigan, the EMT-B could not honor a DNR order. For those patients that we encountered with a valid DNR order, we were instructed by protocol to begin resuscitative measures after calling for an ALS unit, (Paramedics were the only ones that were allowed to make that kind of call in the field). The DNR order isn't clinically REQUIRED for terminal patients, (It's my understanding that if they're in a hospice program, then it's a 'requirement'). Ultimately, it's a document stating the patient's wishes.

First off, they were already on "Non-Patient Contact duties" in their 'everyday routine. IF they actually make the statement to the effect that they couldn't do anything because they were on break, then suspension isn't enough! As far as them returning to work without the investigation being complete, I have to agree with Phil,et al. What kind of 'punishment' is a 2 week 'vacation'? Being banished to some FDNY EMS Siberia is hardly a punative action at all. Like Phil said, they're still earning a paycheck, they're still associated with the FDNY EMS and the FDNY EMS is still retaining this pair. AUTHOR: Friedrich, Freiherr von Logau (1604-1655) QUOTATION: Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all. ATTRIBUTION: Retribution. (Sinngedichte.) BIOGRAPHY: Columbia Encyclopedia. This is the only reference I could actually find to the quote and an author,(30 minutes of surfing to get that much).

I've watched most people preparing for the NREMT written test completely freak out because they found out that the test is computer based as opposed to written or oral. The advice I give anyone on any test is this: 1. Relax, and rely on your education! 2. The test medium doesn't change the content of the test! 3. Take the question at 'face value'....do NOT read more into the question than is presented! 4. Don't assume that just because you stopped on #XX that you've automatically failed! 5. Don't try to 'cram' the night before the test! 6. Get a good night's sleep on the night before the test! 7. Do NOT get drunk the night before to 'relax'! 8. Most 'test anxiety' is self induced. 9. Don't rush, this isn't being graded on how fast you can finish the test! 10. Don't forget to breathe! Just because the testing facility is testing YOU for the NREMT, doesn't mean that the staff will be able to take care of you! Ironically, I find myself in a position to follow my own advice. I'll be scheduling the NREMT-I test within the next week. I'm not too worried about the medium; I know I scored well throughout the course, so that tells me that I know and understand the content. What will be 'interesting' is just navigating through the test, as the right hand (the ever popular 'mouse hand') is in a splint, which makes using the mouse 'interesting'. I may see if the test center will accomodate me by reversing the mouse buttons for the test. *Edited for spelling, because I didn't proofread before posting to the thread.

Truth be told, I never got a chance to look at the protocols at that point. I knew (based on C/C, S/S, Vx and Hx); the patient was in 'a bad way', and there was a good possibility that she wouldn't have made the 30 minute trip to the hospital of choice. There's a big emphasis put on the patient expressing 'feelings of impending doom', but rarely do they address the situation of when we walk into the room and get smacked in the face with it!

Ahh yes, seniority sucks.....when you don't have it! My first call was to a woman complaining of chest pain 10/10 x4-6 hours. NTG with no relief. Closest appropriate facility was on 'diversion' to cardiac. I opted to override the diversion due to patient condition. On arrival, patient was placed on a 12 lead and noted to be in 'active infarct'. The nurses were extremely mad at me for showing up, but when they saw what was on the monitor, they suddenly changed their tune! Admittedly, I don't know what can be done for a patient to stop the infarction, but I'm thinking that by overriding the diversion, I did something 'good'?

I'm not trying to invalidate education, I'm standing up for those that are just coming into the field and getting hammered because of the mentality that 'if you're not a paramedic, you don't have a place in the EMS system. There's nothing wrong with further education. Again it's the 'seek out the lower license levels, destroy them and drive them from the field' that I've got a problem with. I've also been working on furthering my own education to be able to provide better care for the patients I come in contact with. But nowhere in the books I've read is the whole 'seek and destroy method' advocated. Is it not the same message sent if you refer to someone as a 'woman hater' instead of calling them a 'misogynist'? The fact that I came out and put 'the word' to the mentality is nothing but pure semantics. *edited for spelling*

I realize I'm going to infuriate a lot of these 'super medics', but what I don't understand about the whole 'Basics keep your hands off patients' mentality is this: not one of you were born with this 'super brain' pre-filled with all the knowledge you've acquired over your years of college education. Some of you were 'educated' in EMS practices while the program looked a lot like what we saw on "Emergency!". Many seem to have forgotten that they too, started out as the same 'advanced first-aiders' that you refer to the EMT-Basic as; and your education at that time was even LESS than what's being required today! The whole point of what we do, is to gather as much information about the patient's condition on scene as we can; (whether we actually are able to understand it or not), and pass that information on to someone who actually DOES understand it. In order to gather this information, we have to TOUCH our patients *gasp!*. There has been a lot of comments about the EMT-B being 'ignorant' because they don't fully know what they don't know. But who is actually more 'ignorant'? The Basic that doesn't know that they don't know, or the 'old-timer medic' that seems to have forgotten that they didn't always know what they know now? I've been in this profession long enough to have seen the arrogance of some medics manifest in many different forms. From being 'too good' to respond to the late night nursing home call because it was 'beneath them', to what I'm seeing now. *DISCLAIMER*: I'm in no way implying that ALL medics exhibit this mentality! EVERY job/profession/career has an 'entry level', EMS is no different! The biggest 'difference' I see is that only EMS tries to eat the young and drive them from this field. You don't see the lawyers circling like sharks around a paralegal, you don't see the MD's/DO's attacking interns like piranhas that haven't eaten in a month either! Only in EMS do we smell 'fresh meat' and attack like a pack of wild hyenas.... It seems that the whole mentality has shifted from 'teach those that know less than you and encourage them to continue on in their education', to 'seek out those that don't know as much as you and drive them from the field after destroying them'! We've all bitched and complained about how 'short handed' the field is, but you have to ask yourself if it MIGHT be a direct result of the latter mentality listed above.... Just because the 'lower license levels' may not know as much as you 'super medics', doesn't mean that they don't belong in EMS; nor are they to be relegated to only putting 'band-aids on boo-boos'! There are a lot of medics out there that have the 'collegite credentials' that still can't function without 'the book', and not everyone without a college education is a 'blithering idiot'! It seems that 'ignorance' has been confused with 'not knowing' lately. Ignorance is not admitting that there's things out there that you DON'T know, and a lack of knowledge is NOT ignorance. Remember people, arrogance can kill just as fast and just as dead as ignorance!

Got some good company, hey mate?

Kaisu, The only posts I've ever seen from you are to educate the unknowing, agree or disagree about a topic ...and some 'joking around'; none of them could be considered a violation of HIPAA. I would have to echo the sentiments stated by others; this appears to be a childish attempt to drag your good name through the mud. I would lay low, watch what I post and get a lawyer. Somewhere along the line, I would imagine that your accusers wiil have to actually 'put up or shut up' and either show you the 'evidence' against you, or let the whole thing drop. My best wishes for a speedy resolution that culminates in your vindication. LS

Just remember that you have to dress like the people in the video too! And we want video 'documentation', or it didnt happen!

Isn't the USPDF part of the USOC? It's not? Well, it SHOULD be! USPDF? Is it any wonder why things that end in .pdf need Adobe ACROBAT to open?

I'm guessing she wanted to ace the job interview at Scores! Woman sues gym over pole-dancing injury NEW YORK - A woman has filed a lawsuit alleging that a Manhattan gym left her hanging when she tried a new workout: pole-dancing. Sue Ann Wee is seeking unspecified damages from the companies that run the Crunch fitness center chain. Lawyer Nicholas Warywoda said Wee seriously hurt both her shoulders when she slid down a pole and fell onto the floor while taking a Crunch pole-dancing class in June. Warywoda said Wee told an instructor she couldn't hold herself up during an upside-down maneuver, but the instructor didn't help her. Wee alleges that the gym chain didn't supervise the pole-dancing class properly. New York-based Crunch declined to comment. The steamy dance form has become increasingly popular as exercise in recent years.

Here's what the stamps here in NZ look like......now give 'em back!

We KNOW you're nuts! Did you notice the 'flying' part in the second pic, terror?

Sorry Richard, I just SHAD to do it!

Terror, you DO realize that 'driving an airplane' requires you to actually be FLYING? (We know thats something that Terror DOESN'T do!) Richard, Richard, Richard, I couldn't kelp myself!

Not to worry though...I'm sure he's got a good 'firm grip' on the problem! He'll soon have the solution 'in hand'!