akflightmedic

The time has come, and admittedly it has been with extreme mixed emotions, confusion, and moments of "lost identity".As of 12/31/2022, for the first time since 1993, I no longer hold an active EMS License. It's over. I opted to not renew my licenses. I knew this day would come; however, I always expected it to be on my terms. In December of 2019, I suffered a catastrophic work-related injury. I tore my right biceps tendon, and I have not been the same since.I was lifting an obese, right BKA being discharged from hospital. This was not even a scene call!! I had just dropped off a patient and was assisting the small town ER with a discharge, "please help get this woman into her car". She was very non-cooperative, there were other ongoing things at same time, end result ultimately was she flopped against me during a lift, and my right arm went instantly flaccid then began excruciating pain. I have had surgical consults, I have done PT, I have reached maximum point of healing, and I was not cleared to do what I have done my entire adult life. I continued to complete CEUs, refusing to accept what was. It took me many, many months of reflection to finally just accept it, and let it go. Thankfully, I have my RN to fall back on, with other side ventures, however the one thing I have identified with the most, the one thing I have done my entire adult life, the one thing that has taken me to places I never could have imagined, has now been snatched from me.30 years of EMS.I no longer can say "I'm just a Medic". I have been avoiding this site intentionally for quite a while, for so many reasons. This site is and always will be very special to me. The many years I spent as a contributor, it helped me grow, change, and become a better person and a better provider. Over the years, I have made so many friends via this site. I literally have met dozens of its members all across the US and some of them abroad. Due to my years of traveling, this was easy to accomplish, and it was an absolutely amazing experience. I think, unless something has changed, that I also hosted the one and only EMT City Annual Meetup. LOL@ Annual. This site has allowed me to forge so many friendships, both virtual and in person. Several of you became co-workers, some of you became employees when I started my business, some of you are just genuine friends, and of course one in particular person was very special to me. She was kind, intelligent, funny, and just an all-around amazing human being whom I think of often. Though many of these relationships have come and gone, there are several which I believe will simply be lifelong. This site has been amazing in the sense that I have been allowed to be part of so many people pursuing their advancement in EMS, careers outside EMS, love, marriage, kids, illness, and yes, death. It always seems "too soon", when some of our members, my friends, die. However, this and all I mentioned are part of life. Being a Paramedic led me to this site, and this site led me to so many amazing adventures and relationships. So yes, I do become a bit over emotional when I visit this site, when I see old names, when I reminisce while reading old posts. This site has been significant to my life, mostly because I have had so many relationships expand beyond the keyboard. I am unsure where my journeys will take me next, unsure if I want to even visit EMS sites (just an emotional process, especially this one), however I do hope to continue visiting here and contributing more. We shall see what comes. I will try to not sound like the old fart sitting on the porch, telling the kids to get off my lawn, while simultaneously telling everyone how it used to be and how "back in my day..."

Peek a Boo...I lurk here and there.

Ahhhh, as a businessman/entrepreneur, I always find it fascinating when people are 30 steps ahead of step 1. Your business is pre-destined for failure currently. A basic business plan would have included the need for a MD, how much to pay one and where to find one. The fact you have none of this, come online asking where to find one, indicates while your spirit may be true, your plan is not. Advice--Go back to the drawing board. Start all over and do the BP proper, from the beginning and quite seriously unless you have a financier, independent wealth or several top dollar contracts signed (pre-start-up? which is weird)....you are going to bankrupt in 6-12 months and that is me being very generous with time. You are going to need at least 500K of free flowing capital to scrape by...this is AFTER all your other expenses, start up costs, etc.

I am alive. Have traveled to the Four Corners of the Globe and back...have done a million things most only dream about (nightmares included). Got lost in it all, had some setbacks, challenges, lawsuits, PTSD, mid-life crisis, therapy, revaluation of all things important and redesigning my life going forward. I REALLY need to get busy writing my book....would make a great screen play as well, has everything a good action/drama needs and then some. Bought a part time home in a very rural area, still flip flop between FL and my new home. Took a per diem job where nobody knows me just so I can be "on the ambo" again. Started two new companies and doing government work. Talked with Dust's mom recently via FB...was purging some old picture folders and I ran across a bunch from the FIRST and ONLY EMT City Meet Up in Orlando...she had never seen them so I shared with her. Blog time? Hey everyone...

Hello to all EMT City folks---past, present and future. Some of you know me on a very personal level, some just know of me and some could care less...that is life. Regardless, now that I have awarded this year's CAP Lab Scholarship in honor of Rob Davis, my next step is to say good bye to all those I have come to know, love, and respect here on EMT City. Yes, it is true, AK is retiring. Writing this open letter has been a very difficult and emotional process. I have been with The City since 2004 and participated in many adventures because of it...good times, bad times, you name it I have been a part of it. Countless poser bustings, challenging debates, informative sessions...those have been fun and educational. As for relationships, I have made life long friends, I have had short time friends, I have had friends die, get married, get divorced, make babies...suffered through their problems right beside them, because that is what friends do. I have met some of the most inspirational people who receive all my respect in the world, there have been such amazing discussions offline....all of it has been amazing. There has been a very special person in my life because of this site, one who will never be forgotten, and this person knows who they are. As I reflected on the years with The City, I realized how much like a family this is and I see how retirement is a process, very much like a relationship ending. I will miss everyone of course and there are those of you out there who know how to find me. If I have enjoyed it so much...why am I leaving? This is a fair question and I will explain...being an integral part of The City has become an obligation. In my personal life, I have had many changes to include starting a new business. The business takes all my time and focus; this will not change anytime soon. I feel like a relic around here as none of my information or experience is relevant or valid. I feel like the old man on the front porch longing for the old days. I suspect part of the problem as well is the repetitive/cyclic nature of postings. Not that there is anything wrong with them, I just personally no longer have the energy or desire to assist and inform as much as I used to. I am no longer a willing participant. Please do not misunderstand any of the above as bashing or negative. It is all personal changes within my life that has brought this forward. You, if you care, deserve an honest explanation. I wish all of you the best and I know the "New Guard" will deliver to all the neophytes coming up through the ranks. The transition has been in effect for quite some time and is fun to watch...baby medics I mentored through school are now medics with years of experience and wisdom and are passing it on. It is an amazing process to watch. Take care, stay safe and keep pushing for higher standards of education within our EMS system! (I will be checking in for a couple more weeks only because of I have some active threads that I wish to close out, but yes this is a final act). Thank you everyone!

Hello--I wish to announce the WINNERS of this year's scholarship. I received several excellent entries but due to the success of the CAP Lab, I am only able to send TWO individuals. I did attempt to send 4 but that plan did not succeed. Regardless.... Kate and Anthony were the winners. They both have received FREE airfare to Ohio, FREE hotel rooms and FREE admission to the CAP Lab. Congratulations you two and thank you for participating.

You ask the wrong question....I could care less where she got the beads....my question is HOW she got the beads? With a follow up question/statement of "Prove it".

Not a problem. There are tons of women there and it is not an issue. And if it were, I would state so...

I am pretty sure there is a scholarship which negates any financial concerns unless you are simply unable to get away from work for 2 days,

Paramedics Needed **The contract is NOT awarded. This ad is for CV collection to be submitted with the proposal. TMH Medical is now in the process of submitting a proposal for the staffing of ambulances in the Afghanistan region within military bases. Part of our submission process requires us to send qualified applicant's CVs with our response to the RFP. The contract is to be awarded no later than mid December 2012 with the early start up team mobilizing in January and all assets on ground by March 2013. I need 12 Paramedics, 1 Chief and 1 Asst. Chief. EMTs will be considered as there is an option to do Medic/Basic staffing. This is unarmed position. This is for base wide EMS response only. The position will involve a mentoring/training element of Afghan Nationals as part of the Afghan First program. If you are interested, please send CVs to james@tmhdopa.com for consideration. I assure you I will not share your submissions with anyone, your information will not be distributed. I will reach out and notify those who are on the short list in the event TMH wins the contract. I will also post updates here in this thread as things progress. Should TMH not be awarded this contract, I will destroy/delete your info unless advised to keep it for future opportunities as I do have those arise on occasion in the other facilities.

Giving this thread a bump....deadline is fast approaching. 42,000+ views little to no response.

Absolutely never would I dress up while on duty, especially Halloween night. Personally I think it is a bad corporate policy to allow it.

Yes i Have been offered and have taken both food and drink. No issue with it. I have even sat and ate a sandwich with a diabetic patient we had just administered D50 to--I wanted to make sure she ate, I made her th sandwich, she insisted I have one too...so we did.

Every contract has an "Out Clause" regardless of duration agreed. I did not say ONE EMT could wreck it, I outlined ways an employee could negatively impact a service while trying to positively influence another just by being a good person with no evil intention. Pay attention...the evil doer "outlier" is exactly that...a rare statistic. I would almost prefer having the ONE evil doer within my company (as they are rare to start with) than having 100 conscientious employees working for my competitor--because ultimately they will improve that service through ideals and innovations just by bei g themselves. I would want that exclusively for my company, not the competitor.

As a business owner, I employ non competes as well...no you are not dealing with nuclear secrets but each employee has value and intimate knowledge of how "the inside" works. If you are a good employee, which most are...you will try to improve whatever service you are working for. You may see how I conduct business regarding scheduling, inventory, whatever...something totally benign to you the non vested individual. To me, the owner concerned with profit, those tid bits of knowledge are valuable. I could have an employee improve my processes and help me with cost savings all by sharing knowledge from another employer which they thought was inconsequential. If I am competing with someone, I do not want them to have any advantage...period. Contracts...sure my competitor may know who I service contractually, but they may not know HOW. Again, a loyal employee may inadvertently reveal sensitive information which could cost me a lot. Or take it to the extreme, a disgruntled employee may try to obtain info on how the contracts work and share that info to harm me. There is a lot of value in knowing when a contract expires, satisfaction of client with said contract, payment terms, fees, etc...there is so much that you are completely oblivious to because business is not your business...being an EMS provider is your business. I could go on and on about so many small details but I think you get the gist. So yes, they should not work for a competitor if they have indeed signed a non compete and yes it is absolutely fair and justified.