Katiebug

I just took it a few weeks ago and passed. I injected a 10cc flush then aspirated to ensure placement. It's all still pretty fresh in my mind, so if you have any other questions, fire away. You can PM me if you want.

Now wait a minute. The article says that the test was biased because too much emphasis was placed on memorization and written skills. To say that those skills should not be emphasized on a test taken by multiple cultures is racist in itself. Don't you think? It's simple. Study and educate yourself or fail. That is something everyone on this forum is familiar with.

it's the same test given to everyone. Everyone had equal notice for the test. Everyone had equal time and recources to pull from. Either you studied hard and were prepared, or you didn't. How could a test like that be discriminatory against a race of people? I have to call bullshit. Seriously. Everyone had the same opportunity. Period.

CPAP as a field tx is something we are just getting into here. They are talking about nixing Furosemide for tx of CHF and using CPAP instead. Probably would have been a good idea for this guy if available. Since we don't do it yet, I didn't think of it.

Based on info here, I believe I would have done an albuterol or duoneb updraft. My reasoning is this: the tachycardia seems to be caused by inadequate O2/CO2 exchange in the alveoli. Perhaps if resperations were improved, tachycardia would be relieved. I wasn't there, you were. Seems that you got the pt to the hospital in good shape. That's the main thing.

That's his point. If they wanted to search him, they should have obtained a warrant. He felt the search was unreasonable and it was his right to refuse it. I buy it. I can totally see it happening. There's no point in debating it though, just pull the tapes.

One million. Is my prize a million dollars?

Ha! Now that's funny. Seriously though, my wife knows I would never jeapordize my family for a piece of ass. Perhaps you should just convey the same thing to your wife. Just a suggestion. May or may not apply to your situation.

I have seen very competent RNs at nursing homes and I have seen some that are completely brain dead. We all have our nursing home stories. By the same token, we all have our stories about the EMT that was a complete moron too. At times, most of us have felt like that moron. To answer the OP's question, it's pretty cut and dry. Do the transport. If there is an ethical question about it being abuse of the system, discuss it with your medical director the next day. As the medic, it is not your place to go stepping on toes without first going through the chain of command. If you can't get any satisfaction from those in charge, and you feel you must get on a soapbox and make a crusade of it, then so be it. Just be prepared for the backlash. Make sure it's worth it to you. In the meantime, be nice, be professional, represent your company positively and do the transport you were dispatched to.

That should make you feel better about yourself. Here's another thought. Suppose this former medic does something that lands him in court. Maybe it's something he did while you were there. Now suppose you get a subpeona. You have to testify that you knew he was unlicensed. Now there is another can of worms for ya.

That happened here at a transport company I used to work for. They let an EMT work for six months on an expired license. It was pretty ugly when it got exposed. Medicare refused payment on the nearly 200 calls he had run. The company was fined for every one of those calls (The rumor was $1500 per call, but I don't know if that's true). The EMT then had to go before the diciplinary board in Nashville. The guy was a friend of mine too. Nobody knew what he was doing though, so we weren't in the delimma you're in. Just imagine yourself doing it and not doing it. Do the one that makes you feel better about yourself.

You said the patient had recently been to the doc for med changes. Since the behavior is new, it's probably important that the doc knows about it. Any idea what the meds were?

Dude, you forgot to tell us to eat the mushrooms before we watched it. Sheesh.

Glad to help. Got three kids of my own. I'll send my email address now.

I use lights and sirens as little as possible. If your pt is stable, why are they jeapordizing everyone's safety by running emergency? As far as hospital to hospital txfrs go, the pt is generally not discharged from the originating hospital unless they are stable. I said generally. Running hot is for emergency situations. Doing it just to do it is assinine and dangerous.

And there it is. What needs to be done is raise the competency level of the skill, not take the skill away. It's the same thing that keeps getting preached over and over. More education- more training. The more interventions we have at our disposal the better. As long as they are (as much as can be expected) done rationally and appropriately.

The registry is a minimum competency standard. It insures that no matter where you go, the provider with that certification has proven through skills testing and a written test that they have the knowledge and ability to treat you with at least a minimum competency. That can only be a good thing. The reciprocity it provides is also a good thing. I will be taking advantage of that reciprocity this year ( assuming I pass the written portion of the exam. I completed the practical yesterday). I do however disagree with the way the written test is put together. The test bank is derived from way to many sources. The pass/fail ratio of the paramedic exam and the cost of taking/retaking the test is likely why some people feel it is a scam. It's not a scam, but there is room for improvement. If you can come off the $70.00, go ahead and get the certification. The basic exam is not that hard. I'm about to pay $110.00 for the paramedic exam, plus state fees, plus background check, plus MS reciprocity. It's not in my budget either, but it will pay off in the long run. Dust is right about it not being about the letters after your name, but it is also cool to have them.

THAT is what would keep me on the straight and narrow. Those are the best points yet.

All said is true. I admit that regretably I jumped to a conclusion without all the information. That's not like me either. Hopefully we will get a follow up to the story.

Holy crap. They hit someone with an ambulance and didn't even stop to treat him. There's something else to make us look good, huh? Thing is, the driver's partner is just as guilty.

Its only happened to me a couple of times. The last time, I was offered ten bucks by a family member after a particularly difficult time with a very heavy patient and a stair chair. Of course I refused and said thank you. Now let's pose the question a different way. Suppose you make a scene like this: You make a scene where ambulance is requested but no C/C is given. You arrive on scene to find two DOAs, both victims of the other's GSW. In the same room is bags upon bags of drugs, several guns and what appears to be millions of dollars in cash. Mountains of one hundred dollar bills. What do you do? Can you answer honestly? My answer is I don't know what I would do. That is my honest answer. I like to tell myself I would take the moral high ground. On most levels, I hope that I would. But not having been put to the test, I'm not sure what I would do. Anyone else?

"Doughbt" all you want. It is an ABC shift. With the OT it works out to $65,000. That was the offer. I have no reason to make up bullshit for your entertainment. Good day sir.

I do mean IVCs.

Because it rules in or out a reversable cause of several major S/S. I suppose you could look for the fifty thousand needle sticks in the pts fingertips, but that's not always gonna be there if they stick somewhere else and it doesn't tell you how high or how low. Diabetes is more common in this region than in most other parts of the country. The glucometer has helped me here almost as much as any other tool I've got.

The accepted practice we have just been taught is to do one round of CPR even after converting to a perfusing rhythm. Logic is that the heart is hypoxic and is not circulating blood as it should during the first couple of minutes after conversion. The last round of CPR is an assist to the hypoxic heart until it can recover enough to do the job on its own. Although if the patient were trying to sit up and talk to me, I would probably stop.