akflightmedic

Yeh, me thinks not....especially since we haven't recommended or tested people on paddles in quite a long time. Come on now, what was the real reason..

I hope you did well and wish you all the best, but if we step up and cover you this time, who is going to cover you on all your future ALS calls? Seriously, I hope you know this stuff and don't need us to remind you through group think.

Most of been a bad model year, as I recall a few of those doing that very thing. Maybe they do not do manufacturer recalls in Afg?

Volunteer or paid? Regardless, policies such as this should already be defined, however the former typically does not. If it is a paid department, is it union or non union? Is it fire based or EMS only? All of these factors do make a difference in the level of response to your question as I have seen people lose jobs while others were merely demoted in rank and to positions that did not require driving. Also, mandatory probation (same as new hires) was started all over again for which during that time you could be terminated for any reason. Personally, I feel they should be dismissed from the job. Yes, mistakes happen, people's lives suck, blah blah blah, however they have proven they are reckless in their own PERSONAL life decisions, there is no way they would convince me that a patient's care is different or their decision making abilities are different, especially if it concerned me in some fashion. I simply could not trust them ever in a leadership or decision making capacity. No, I am not all high and mighty, I have driven drunk before. It was very stupid and I knew it was stupid when I decided to do it. However, I chose at that moment to accept the repercussions if any should occur. Luckily, none did and I swore never to do it again. It has been many, many years since then and I have yet to do it again. There are ALWAYS alternatives to driving drunk...they may not be most easy, most fun, or cheap, but there are ALWAYS alternatives. A job is a small price to pay when you consider alternative scenarios to the end of the night other than the fact that you got caught.

Weight is important and should be evaluated and considered when hiring individuals. I do not have much to add after some of the more well thought out posts describing why weight should be monitored and how it should be monitored were written; they are spot on. I have been denied employment due to my weight because I am a large guy. There are certain flight programs where I exceed the minimum standard set for flight ready weight. Should I be exempted because I am a decent flight medic? No, I accept the terms they lay out and I either meet them or forget about that position. I am not entitled to that job simply because I want it. One of my previous employers in Florida had a decent program. Three times a year, they offered the physical screening which new hires performed. If you attended two out of three of these screenings, you got a paid day off. It was a nice incentive for you to participate and monitor your own progress or decline and allowed you to be more proactive in your physical health.

I am in the market for a used ambulance. It needs to be 4wd and fully functional, SAFE and roadworthy. The air conditioning MUST work in addition to the heater. It has to be able to carry 2 stretcher patients, so no van units please. If your department, squad, service, whatever has a unit they are interested in selling, please PM me with details and we will go from there. AK...

Sorry that excuse does not work. If it is part of your physical assessment, do you mean to tell me you will NOT pass it on? If a patient with chest pain says he was hit by a bat by his wife, would you not pass it on? Is that not relevant to the nature of the injury? The answer is yes you would pass it on because it is extremely pertinent information; however by passing it on, you are also possibly incriminating the spouse with domestic violence whether that is your intent or not. You would not neglect this little nuigget of information. The same holds true with the rape victim. If she tells you she was raped, it will go in your report and the recieving physician will be notified. To do anything less is sloppy and negligent on your part as a medical professional.

Ok, so if not a legal obligation to report, what about a moral or ethical one? Follow me here: How would you know they were raped unless the patient told you? Now that the patient has told you, are you not obligated to write it in your report? If not, then you are ok with falsifying reports? Would you not mention it to the doctor who takes over care? I mean it is an assessment finding, so wouldn't you relay what you had been told? It is extremely pertinent to the patient's proper care and treatment, no?

Wow, you are the last person I would expect to hear this from. Is there not a law that obligates you to report this regardless of the patient's desires? I mean after all, they could be experiencing some serious inner issues and may not know what is best for them at this time. Their psyche could be severely traumatized at that moment and you are going to aid them in keeping silent? Just curious... Seems to me that line of thinking could cause a lot of gray areas down the road.

Here are some pics from early January...it is only 750K base model!!! http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Akfl...PDRIVING026.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Akfl...PDRIVING029.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Akfl...PDRIVING034.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Akfl...PDRIVING005.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Akfl...PDRIVING006.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Akfl...PDRIVING013.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Akfl...PDRIVING003.jpg

Hey, I wasn't the one who mentioned OPSEC.... Anywho, some schools require your CPR (BLS) card prior to entry, others may provide it as part of the class. Either way, it should be fairly easy for you to do the class where you are currently and have it in hand. If there is anything else I can assist with, feel free to hit my inbox and we can exchange emails there. AK....

Good on ya for already having a degree. My advice is to stay away from any school that ends with Institute. As you search more, you will see a few others that also end in Institute. Seminole CC and Valencia both have decent programs. I highly recommend you continue looking in the CC direction. I live in Orlando myself but I do have a question for you. Is this where you plan on living and working? There are several nearby counties which have community colleges with great medic and fire programs. I went to Brevard Community College for my fire training. Seminole CC also has a decent Fire program as well. At least you realize you will need fire and medic to get a decent job so you are one step ahead in the Florida game. Stay away from the medic mills. You will need nothing else to get a job from the list you created. The ancillary courses (ALS, BLS, etc) should be included in your programs at the colleges. FF I and II, EMT B and eventually Medic will get you hired.

Interesting thoughts when some say "you spread your legs now deal with it" mentality. My mother and father married at age 16 and had three kids whom they raised to adulthood and sent us on our way. My father retired at age 39 from the military. He and mom started their new life, just them, nothing but easy jobs and retirement in their future. Dad had a vas in his late 30s as well. At age 42, mom who is not healthy (severe asthma and allergies, bone issues, knee issues) became pregnant. Dad's vas had somehow spontaneously healed itself (some could argue it was never done properly intitially) but the fact remains he now has little swimmers going downstream again. Here is a lifelong couple, finished with raising their kids, starting another life together, not in the best of health and now they are faced with having a child. Will it affect her health for the worse? Will the child be disabled and totally change their retirement plans? Will they ever have time for just themselves before they die? Will they need to return full time to the workforce in order to support another child? There were a lot of tough questions I assume, as it was never really discussed with us kids and I don't think it should have been either. It was not our decision. They made their decision and I agree with it. I will say this, to try and paint the picture with such broad strokes is wrong, as there will always be scenarios/situations one has not even conceived, nor could they ever consider unless they themselves were in that situation.

First of all, you statement of "in the US vehicles pull left" is not accurate. For example, in Florida, the law is that a vehicle must pull to the shoulder, preferably the right but the left is ok as well. The premise is just allow the car to get out of the way without causing any more undue panic and creating another crash. As for the "never pass on the right", I do agree this is a dangerous move and must be taken with extreme caution, but there are times you WILL pass on the right and it is fine. For example, I have approached an intersection before where all traffic was stopped. There was a concrete barrier dividing the oncoming lanes from ours. Every lane was full with stopped traffic, no where for them to go, however the turn lane was empty. As I said this is a very carefully executed maneuver as should every pass attempt be. There is no need to wail your sirens, as you should not be going balls to the wall anyways. You simply get in the turn lane and approach the intersection slowly. Once assured no one is pulling over on top of you, you then utilize your sirens to make your turn or proceed through the intersection. If anyone does pull over on you while in the turn lane, it should be no big deal to start with because your speed should be minimal, and the crash can be avoided. Second, again in Florida, I have driven up the right hand side of the Turnpike and I-95 many many times. Either the median on the left was too soft to drive in or it was inaccessible because when you get on the road you are already at the far right side and traffic is at a standstill. It is pointless to fight your way to the left when cars have no where to go and it is idiotic to split the traffic when it is already at a standstill which frequently occurs with these high speed crashes on the interstate or turnpike. I will say one "NEVER". Never drive/pass on the right at high speeds because you are unable to see and appreciate/anticipate the other driver's moves and react in time, plus if you are blasting up the side of a highway on the far right (breakdown lane), you may encounter a vehicle that is parked. If the move is carried out with extreme caution and is necessary, you are welcome to ride in my truck anytime, no penalty I promise.

Whose???!!! It is important that I know right away so that I may confirm/agree with your assessment and offer any further advice.

Yes that was mentioned in my first post.

It makes no difference. My FL Fire I and II was 450 clock hours at the community college. The program takes 6 months part time which was 3-4 nights a week from 6-10pm and EVERY Saturday from 8-5. We also threw in a Sunday several weekends as well. The Full time fire program is 3 months long, schedule is Mon-Fri 8-5, sometimes extending until 6pm. Both programs are run boot camp style which is the norm for any fire school in Florida. Before moving to FL, I had attended the SC Fire Academy. When I applied for reciprocity in FL, they sent me the checkoff sheet and I did not have enough training hours to attempt to request a challnege to the state practical. I was short in every section by many hours, so my only option was to redo the academy. If you are able to produce documentation reflecting you have met or exceeded the minimum hours required in every catergory, they will then allow you to challenege the state exam for certification. Here is the kicker. Typically if you are not fresh out of school, or have not been trained the FL way, you will fail the exam. There are minor details that will fail you regardless of how long you have been a FF, you just will not be able to hit every single little check in the bok when doing your practical without getting some heavy input/training from an instructor. This is why most people do one of two things. They either go redo the academy right off the bat or they fail the reciprocity exam (waste a LOT of time and $$) and then redo the academy.

To be honest: 1. If you obtain you FF I and II OUTSIDE the state of Florida, most likely you will have to redo the academy when you arrive as it is very difficult and rare to get reciprocity for fire through the state. The reason is FL requires more hours than most fire programs instruct, therefore you will not meet their minimum requirements. 2. Yes most of the state is fire/ems with fire constantly trying to take over the few places remaining which are sole EMS. There are only a couple EMS systems which are not private that are able to hold their own. So, if you move to Lee County or Lake-Sumter County, then you are in luck. If you live in any county central or south Florida, you will need fire for about 99% of the jobs, otherwise have fun doing dialysis runs. So if fire is not for you, and you do not wish to go to those few counties in central or south Florida which do not require fire, then you may need to do some reconsidering or serious thinking. Otherwise, the pay is not that great. Unfortunately one of the benefits to fire/ems is they are able to effectively lobby for decent pay and benes on your behalf usually.

Orange County in Florida and the City of Orlando have had similar agreements with Rural Metro. For years, despite them having ALS tx capability, they called in RM to do the transport. I think it was last year the the City of Orlando finally ended the agreement and now RM only does a part of Orange County in areas weak of coverage. Having your own ALS tx capability made it easy to do several things: 1. To keep the "real" medics (firefighters) free of BLS or "BS" calls and not tie up the unit, cause typically hospital hand off can be several hours long during peak season. 2. It allows graduates of medic mills to be able to complete their ride time with no issue since there are some counties that refuse ride time if you are coming from a particular school. 3. It also gave them the ability to have in house medic programs..see #2.

Little Johnny ran into the kitchen where his mother was cooking, with his index finger extended and covered in gray goo and said to her..." MOMMY,MOMMY, I found the baby's soft spot!!!

Does this mean the patient can not refuse your "DEMAND"?

Any particular city, state or country in mind? We have one coming up in 2 weeks here (Kandahar, Afghanistan).

I will meet you in Lauderdale if your travels are within 3-16 and 4-17.

Some serious thought there. You are reminding me of a few past members who had such deep input on everything as well.

No worries, she just started recently, less than a year ago so of course she is "still" excited.