Lone Star

*whacks JP on the top of the head* you are now!

When you use phrases like: It's a little hard to just dismiss it as 'just talking'. When you insult someone from a particular region, someone's going to take it as 'bashing' and they WILL be offended. Whether you intentionally did it or not, is a matter yet to be proven. Tell us megan, with your incomplete 8th grade education (by your own admission), just how much time have you spent in the 'deep south' with us 'backwoods hicks'? I'm sure that the employment opportunities for someone of your 'educational level' provides enough disposable income for you to travel to other countries and be able to make such observations first hand! My suggestion to you: the next time you open your mouth to stick your foot in it, you might want to make sure the shoe laces are tied, so you don't end up gagging on them!

well said Dust! I loved the 'disclaimer'!

It seems to me that we are bound by protocol to prevent any and all abuse to our patients. I think things like a 'titty twister' (that you find so 'cool' )would fall under the 'abuse' category..... For those of you that might not know what this 'titty twister' is, imagine someone grabbing your nipple, pinching it and violently twisting it. I see no 'justification' possible for this behavior!

As far as the state of Michigan is concerned (the only state I've been licensed in), ALL titles in EMS (regarless of level) are preceeded by "Emergency Medical Technician" Again, based on Michigan standards, and the other states that I've inquired with, the common course of progression (I have yet to find any variances), is to start with Emergency Medical Technician-Basic, and then progress to Emergency Medical Technician- Paramedic. Even the colleges I've checked into, require at least a successful completion of the EMT-B course prior to enrollment to the Paramedic program.

Yankee Origin: 1765 From the beginning, Yankee has been a fighting word. We first come across it in the names of pirates: one Captain Yankey, also known as Yankey Duch (presumably meaning "Dutch"), mentioned in 1683 and 1684, and a Captain John Williams, known as Yankey or Yanky, in 1687 and 1688. By 1765, it had been applied specifically to inhabitants of New England, and not as a compliment. A poem published that year called Oppression, a Poem by an American, has as its hero "a Portsmouth Yankey," with the note, "our hero being a New-Englander by birth, has a right to the epithet of Yankey; name of derision, I have been informed, given by the Southern people on the Continent, to those of New-England." The British liked Yankee, too, when they wanted a derisive epithet for the New England provincials. They set it to music in the song "Yankee Doodle," said to have been composed by a British army surgeon "in derision of the provincial troops." Then came the American Revolution, and the word as well as the world turned upside down. What had been an insult became a boast. Yankees used that name proudly for themselves as they fought the British, and "Yankee Doodle" became the marching song of the revolution. But if Yankee was now a term of endearment, how could southerners express their derision toward the people of the North? Simple enough. Add a prefix, and you have fighting words once again: damned Yankee or plain damyankee. They appear as early as 1812, in this threat: "Take the middle of the road or I'll hew you down, you damned Yankee rascal." Even in the twentieth century, when Yankees has often just seemed to signify the name of a baseball team, southerners still call northerners Yankees when they are annoyed with them. And during the World Wars, when we told our allies "the Yanks are coming," we meant fighting men. "Cracker" is a derogatory slang term usually used to mean a poor white person resident in the Southern U.S., especially in the state of Georgia, which is sometimes referred to as "the Cracker State." More than simply a regional slur, "cracker" carries the implication that the person is a racist, and is sometimes applied to any white person perceived as harboring racist sentiments, regardless of class or geographic particulars. There are theories tracing "cracker" to the crack of a slavemaster's whip, or to "corncracker" (slang for country folk, who presumably ate a lot of corn). But the actual source is almost certainly the much older slang sense of "to crack" meaning "to boast or brag," first seen around 1460, and its derivative "cracker," meaning "braggart," which appeared around 1509. The earliest use of "cracker" used in the "poor white" sense discovered so far bears out the connection. In a letter written to the Earl of Dartmouth in 1766, an observer named Gavin Cochrane, referring to bands of outlaws operating at that time in the Southern U.S., noted: "I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas and Georgia, who often change their places of abode." Evidently these outlaws were so successful that their exploits, along with their bragging habits, became legendary throughout the eastern United States. By the early 19th century, "cracker" had become a term applied to poor Southern whites in general. http://www.word-detective.com/100699.html I too, never cared for buttermilk, but would watch my father pour a glass of that chunky stuff, add salt and so much pepper that the top of the liquid was pretty much evenly blacked out, then sit back and drink the stuff. I figure if you gotta cover the taste like that, it probably ain't somethin you should be drinkin' in the first place!

You know, Jess, it's funny that you would have to mention grits....I just finished breakfast which was eggs, sausage and grits (made nice and tight, served with butter and brown sugar!) I absolutely REFUSE to eat grits that I need a straw with!

Sweet tea is nectar of the gods, behind good fresh ground coffee....and Paula Deen will always be the Queen of good ol' fashioned home cookin!

Amen and pass the biscuits and gravy!

Since all levels of EMS (EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate, EMT-Paramedic) all contain the common title "Emergency Medical Technician", it's logical to refer to them as EMT's. Only those who are suffering from an over inflated ego MUST be labeled by distinction. Even your college courses are broken down in this fashion, so it stands to reason that the National Registry will also use the 'lump grouping'. You don't see doctors going through this 'chest thumping, degree waving' amongst themselves, to make sure that the public is well aware of who the top 'doctor level' is! Could this be part of the reason that we're not viewed as 'professionals'? How many times have you seen or heard of a doctor getting bent out of shape because they weren't addressed by some title that reflected their specialty? Podiatrist Smith, Cardiologist Levenstein, Proctologist Green, Orthopedist Thompson, Neurologist Malik, or Proctologist Sharpton? You dont! They have moved on from this petty 'stand out from the crowd' mentality and realized that they're all doctors, just as we are ALL EMT's! *DISCLAIMER* By putting names and specialties together, I am in no way implying that certain ethnic, racial or gender groups are more predisposed to certain specialties. These were just simply the first name I could think of as well as the first specialties I could think of to illustrate my point! I personally think that as soon as we stop this 'I'm more important than you are!' mentality, we may have just taken a huge step toward being recognized as the professionals that we are! Let the fireworks commence!

Bring me back some crawfish pie and crawfish etouffee?

Since you seem to think that PETA stands for People Eating Tasty Animals, welcome to the 'real people club'! I mean, first off...if God hadn't meant for us to eat His little 'woodland creatures', He would have NEVER made them out of MEAT! Second, what you describe is only a 'quirk', not something that will get you lumped into the Tree Hugging Grass Eaters Society! As far as the stuffing goes, I have two words for you: Stove Top! ... lol Seriously though, not eating anything cooked in something else is just your thing, (I absolutely REFUSE to eat things like stuffed bell peppers and stuffed cabbage, but for different reasons), but unfortunately, you get to miss out on some really cool dishes. Stuffed pork chops, butterflied shrimp stuffed with crab meat, are two pretty good examples, not to mention cannoli, manacotti, ravioli, etc. You get the idea!

So, only being CPR certified qualifies you to be on an ambulance? Or is the 'go-fer' status that qualifies them? Either way, in EMS, the higher license is held accountable for the screw ups of the lower licensure/certifications. This explains why there is a Med Control Doctor, we are ultimately working under his license (even though we have our own licenses as well). On a Medic/Basic truck, the Medic will ultimately be the one with the feet held to the fire if the Basic does something wrong. Remember the phrase "Respondeat superior"! It's a Latin phrase that means let the superior speak. In this case, the Medic (superior) will be acting through the Basic (inferior). Any action that the Basic performs that is either detrimental to the patient, violates scope of practice, or violates the local or state protocols will be deemed to have been committed by the superior license level. This 'vicarious action' can and in most cases WILL travel up the food chain to the Medical Director, who will ultimately have to accept the responsibility for those actions and the consequences that are attached.

thats just FOWL!

Call me 'nitpicky', 'fussy' or whatever, but I don't see where you actually answered the question presented to you....What do you consider 'acceptable tasks' for the new employee to complete in order to 'prove themselves' worthy of 'full member' status?

What real 'value' does that program have? Is it a training aid for the new EMTs or Paramedics? No, it's nothing more than sensationalizing photodocumentary/drama for attracting viewers. If it's that 'important' to show what we do, then stage the whole thing, its simply amazing the 'injuries' that can be replicated with a simple moulage kit!

I'm not risking MY license, reptation and credibility by having an explorer, junior emt, or other 'tag-along' in my truck! In Michgan, the higher license takes the heat. So even if I have a MFR (Medical First Responder) on the truck with me, its MY license on the line if something goes sour. It's always been my stance, that if you want to ride in the back of the rig, whether you attend or not, you had better be either the patient, or the family member. Either way, I'm either working on you, or you sit there with your mittens in your pockets and stay out of my way! I don't agree with the 'non certified ambulance driver' as well. If I need help, I want a partner that is able to pull off to the side of the road, and jump in after contacting either the company or med control for me!

Hey y'all, watch this! I done saw it on the cartoons, but I think I done got it figgered out! Talk about your 'cheap drunk'!

You have to sympathize with them, and the ones that get packed off to the nursing homes and forgotten. I had one patient who had been put in an extended care facility, had been there for about 6 years, (confirmed by the pt's chart) and stated that not once had any family members been to visit them, or take them out for a drive....nothing. Out of sight, out of mind!

You raise some good points, Boeing! The '6 month medic' (or product of the 'medic mills') retains less of the information presented because of the deluge of information presented in a very short time. EMS isn't a field where you want to learn as much as you can in as short of time period as possible! We've got peoples lives in our hands! It's thes 'medic mills' and '6 month heroes' that are the basis of the expression 'cookbook medic'. They can't justify a treatment, nor can they explain the desired results, why they're looking for those results, nor can they explain what can go wrong, and what to do if the desired results arent achieved.

When there is a glaring discrepancy, one has to speak out so that clarification may be made. Did you stop to think that the reason we're asking questions is because we weren't on scene, and you haven’t been articulate enough to give enough information to prevent such questions from being asked? I'm not familiar with NYC operations styles or methods, so I cannot comment on how long to wait for ESU to show up. Was the Fire Department on scene? What equipment do they normally carry? I know that on the department I belonged to, we had an engine that was set up specifically for extrications (Hurst jaws of life, cribbing material, rams, etc) Secondly, I don't know if there were any tow trucks on scene either, which could have been used to raise the back of the vehicle high enough to log roll the pt onto the LSB properly.... Your justification for 'hungry and wanting a burger' seems a bit self centered and makes it sound like you're willing to cut corners in patient care in lieu of personal desires. I personally would think that the burger could wait, so that proper patient care could be rendered..... Secondly, you stated that you used the ‘sublingual method’ to swab the area before ‘dropping a line’…did you swab the area with the underside of your tongue, or did your partner? One would think that it’s the responsibility of the person doing the sharing to do so in an intelligent manner, and failure to do so will result in questions being asked, and comments being made!

I had always been told that G.O.M.E.R. was: Get Out of My Emergency Room

It's hillarious to watch some of these reactions on the subject. You can tell the 'bambi lovers', the vegetarians, and those that think meat just 'magically appears' at the local supermarket! I've had turducken, but its not as big deal as everybody makes it out to be. I personally think (both before and after trying it), that it's just a 'social thing'....an 'exotic sounding word' to justify excessive behavior. Think about it, we make up exotic sounding things so that we appear to have a higher social standing than we really do..... Do you think you could have thrown any more stereotypes into that comment?

I've only called them 'frequent fliers', but.... You know its a good day when you can 'cure' a frequent flyer by following all protocols! I had a frequent flier that called us one night for N/V x4 days, accompanied by fever and chills. On arrival, found the pt laid out on the couch, glass thermometer suspiciously by the lamp on the end table, mercury read 108... Pt, who is a bi-lat AKA, further states that he's been suffering for the last 4 days (didnt seem to be 'suffering' 2 days ago when I took him home from the hospital), and to further compound his 'problems' hes also afflicted with vertigo and syncopal episodes. In fact, he 'fell out of his wheel chair just before you got here'. I asked him if his neck hurt, to which he 'tried' to move it and wincing, says 'yeah, hurts real bad'. After I told him not to move, I turned to my partner who had magically 'disappeared'! It seems that he dashed out to the truck and got a C-collar and LSB. After applying the collar, and putting him on the LSB, he started to tell us how this 'wasnt really necessary'. Per protocol, we had no choice but to take c-spine and spinal precautions because of the complaints of neck pain and back pain from falling. The hospital was STUNNED that we had put so much effort into packaging the pt (who we all knew was only there for a Demerol 'tweak'. It got around the company that we were able to 'get even' with this problem individual, and the other crews were insanely jealous! It seems that we never heard from him again, but I DID hear a crew from a different service get toned out to his address a few days later........

My question is this….if he’s stuck in the wheel well, how did he simply ‘turns over as if he’s working on the car’, and secondly, why the attending crew actually allowed that to happen….. Secondly, if he’s underneath the vehicle, how did you put him in a backboard without risking spinal/C-spine injuries, or exacerbating any possible internal injuries? Doesn’t sound like a place I’d want to go if I get into an MVA! I’m thinking there may be more ‘reasons’ to call shenanigans here!