nypamedic43

Congrats Ruff!!

I am so envious of you, not only because you can go but because you have a support system that allows you to go. My hubby drives truck and I just cant up and go because I have noone to take care of Jayse if I do. But if that changes I will definitely look into remote medicine. Send lots of pics back

Well, it would explain why the similar posts so close together. Like we didnt have enough trolls around.

Interesting. Jayse has been going to the dentist and not having any type of medications during the visit. He sits there like a big boy, gets his teeth cleaned, has flouride treatments and has even had his adult molars sealed. We are being referred to an orthodontist because he has an anterior cross bite. Ouch on my pocketbook!!! As for hyperbaric o2 therapy, it's worth a shot. I mean it isn't going to hurt Dylan and may actually help him. I haven't heard of the treatment until now but will do some reading and compile some more thoughts for you. When are you going to Mongolia? And I so envy the freedom to travel and do remote medicine that you are doing. But it just isn't a possibility for me at this point in time. I'll let you know more of my thoughts after I do some reading and I will most certainly give jayse kisses for you. Hugs to Dylan and Babs

So, I've been doing some reading on the class action lawsuit thats being advertised on the TV. I can only speak from my own experience here, but I didnt take anti-depressants while pregnant for my son and he is, as some of you know, Autistic. Any thoughts as to the credibility of the study? http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/2011/07/antidepressents-and-autism http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/04/antidepressant.pregnancy.autism.risk/index.html

Ooooohh a come to Jesus talk...my fave. Have had to begin a couple of those myself.

I've become addicted to the Planters Nut-trition heart healthy mix. It has peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts and pistachios in in and uses sea salt. No cholesterol or trans-fat but 65 mg of sodium which is 3% of the daily value. If I dont have those at home, I'll get some unsalted sunflower seeds at the local convenience store and I always carry a bottle of water with me and refill it as needed from the water coolers in station.

Do you mean x-ray technician or cancer treatment radiation? Just clarifying is all

It does for me too Dwayne. Life is too short to live with regret and missed opportunity.

I guess I would be terminated immediately then. I would absolutely refuse to transport this patient, on a mattress, on the floor with no safety equipment. The risks FAR outweigh the benefits. If I get fired for putting the patient's and my safety first, then so be it. And just because this has been done before doesnt make it right....it only makes you very very lucky that nothing bad has happened and to be honest, you are tempting fate if it continues. How does be sued help anyone? Because you know that if something bad happens, the patients family will be over the lawsuit like white on rice. Can you afford to be charged? lose your cert? your job? go to jail? lose everything you own? I think not. Medicaid only pays $126 for a non emergent transport plus mileage. Is it really worth it considering what you would lose in the event of an accident? Not to me it isnt. And if I was the medic that you wanted to take this transport hatelilpeepees...you would have been told, in no uncertain terms, what you could do with your job, especially if you, in your management position, had told me, take it or be fired.

I'm new but I figured I'll get right down to some of the questions I have. I'm active duty Navy right now but I should be back to civilian life by May and possibly looking at a future in EMS. That's where you all come in. I got some questions about the job, the schooling and stuff so I was hoping you could help me out. Here we go lets see if I can remember them all. 1). Is there a major difference between going and getting training at a community college vs. hospital? I know a lot of hospitals offer EMS training but so do some community colleges (they offer degrees too). I was thinking when it came to looking for a job it might look better to get training from a hospital but I'm not really sure. The issue I have with that is I don't think my GI Bill will pay for hospital training. I'd have to look that up though. Most hospitals dont actually do the training themselves. Most of the time, here in NY anyway, they will sponser a class so that the students can do clinical time there. You will be much better off going to the college where you will get core knowledge, such as A&P and terminology. 2). The college I am looking into says it's about 3 semesters worth of school before I can apply for the medic core program. The medic program is another year long. So I guess I would be looking at around 2-3 years of schooling to become a medic. That sounds about right? EMT basic classes vary in time frames. Some take 3 or 4 months, a couple nights a week. EMT basic is only 120 hours to complete. Depending on where you will be going to take the paramedic program, it can take 10 to 18 months. Here, where I am, they have streamlined the 18 months program into 10 months. The paramedic program is 500+ hours of didactic (classroom) and then several hundred more clinical hours. 3). Some people told me before you can become a paramedic you have to do a certain amount of "911 calls" as an EMT. Is that covered in the training/schooling or do you have to go out and find an EMT job? I ask because I'm being told EMT jobs are tough to find these days. So some clarification on that would be nice. The more experience that you have as a basic, the easier it will be to use that "real life" experience to draw from while in medic school. There is a huge controversy about new basics going directily into medic school. It really depends on you and how quickly you getcomfortable you get with sick patients. EMT's are, unfortunately a dime a dozen, and getting a job is very difficult to do if you have no experience in the field. Doing some volly time might help with that. 4). Do you guys enjoy your profession? I've been narrowing down my options for years and I finally have it down to xray technican and medic. I'm leaning towards medic because I think it's a much more rewarding field and I like working outdoors. I've always wanted to be a first responder (at first a police officer now medic). To have a job where I help people on daily basis sounds awesome. I know I would enjoy that. I absolutely LOVE my job. My favorite calls, and I dont wish bad on people, are unresponsive diabetics. I can see that what I do makes a difference, right now. Other calls, like stroke and MI, I have to get updates from ED staff. 5). I know every company is different but in general what is the EMS community's opinion on tattoos? Obviously, if they are concealable (chest, shoulders, back, etc) it's no big deal but what about visible tattoos (on the calf, lower arms)? For the answer to this question, you wil have to get the policy of the company you are applying too. There is no steadfast answer. 6). What is the job outlook like for medics? Is it tough to find jobs out there? All I hear is about how the medical field is expanding and there are jobs everywhere but that just seems hard to believe. I know it's a recession and even though it should be I bet EMS isn't exactly recession-proof. Are any of you having a hard time finding work or know of people trying to find a job? There is a HUGE need for paramedics now. Services all over the US are increasing thier cert levels to meet the demand and falling short. The company I work for is basic heavy, meaning the ratio of basics to medics is about 2 to 1. As for being recession proff...there will always be sick and stupid people. It's job security. That's really all I can think of at the moment. It wasn't quite a million but it should keep you guys busy. Thanks in advance for your help. I'm looking forward to hearing some responses. And by the way I'm going to be living/working in Minnesota (twin cities area) and I'm nearly 22 years old. If that helps at all. Thanks.

Welcome to the City

Injuring the patient is a very real possibility in this situation. Not only from the stretcher mounts but what if the rig was in an accident? THe patient has no seatbelts to keep them from rolling around and landing on you. The liability is huge for that kind of scenario. Granted that is a worst case scenario but, still, it could happen. We have an ambulance equipped with bariatric equipment, but even that has its limitations. Who's bright idea was it to try to transport a very large patient, in an ambulance, on a mattress on the floor, with no safety equipment? Thats just crazy and its time, that maybe, management needs to stop thinking about the almighty dollar and think about the possible ramifications of thier actions. I dont think you did anything wrong. Bravo for thinking of the patient and not the owners pocketbook

Thank you so much for sharing this squint!! Please keep us posted... I'll take time off work to come and have a couple beers....

We put a towel over the pillow, so we can cover the patients head on rainy or snowy days. I also keep an extra towel on the bench for the ocassional blood letting ceremony lol

We carry 4 extra bath blankets and 2 extra heavy blankets plus what's on the stretcher. Patients don't share any linens.

I have to say this before my head explodes. Doogs how dare you demean someone else's coping mechanism and feelings without knowing who ANY of us are??? Really???!! 4 posts on this forum and you dare to attack a member who knew Dust personally?! Spewing BS about negative religious views?? I think you better step back and step off. And AK...you are absolutely right! Dust is still stirring the pot..how freaking awesome is that!

I change the sheets, every patient, every time. You just don't ever know what they may have lurking in their nether regions. In NY, we have to carry 3 sealed sheets, 3 sealed pillowcases and 3 sealed towels. We then stock that cabinet with extra sheets, bath blankets and towels. We also have to have a sealed state bag that contains, towels, sheets, blankets, pillows ( we put inflatable ones in it for the sake of room), plus surgical masks, bandages etc etc etc. So if we ever get inspected while on a call, and they ask to see such and such...we pull out that bag and say here ya go. NY also requires a set of mast pants. We are also licensed in PA, so we have yet another sealed bag for that and one specifically for peds patients. NYS also requires that we use shoulder straps along with the stretcher straps. So the patient looks like they are ready to do a road race lol! I don't like using them because of cross contamination but I use them and take a couple airx75 wipes and wipe them down every time. There's too much methyl ethyl bad stuff out there that can infect others through cross contamination to not wipe everything down. Better safe than sorry

*giggle* too funny! Thank you

Welcome to the City Wes! There are lots of opinionated people here lol! So you should feel right at home I look forward to getting to know you as well

I too, have found this to be extremely difficult to deal with. I truly think that we all feeling like we just ran into a brick wall. 2 days ago, I signed into this forum, wondering what threads I hadnt read and if Dust had replied to any of them yet. I really looked forward to reading his replies to scenarios and questions because he was such an advocate for the betterement of EMS...and of ourselves. And before I could even sign in....theres this banner at the top announcing that he had passed away. My initial reaction was WTF!!!!! no way!!...my heart started pounding and I started to hyperventilate and the tears started to roll. The initial reaction has calmed but the tears havent stopped and my heart is still heavy. There was a bunch of us in the chatroom last night and it was awesome!!! It seemed like old times with a bunch of us older members chatting and joking around....and remembering Dusty. Now you KNOW that he is sitting up there laughing at us all...thinking to himself "They need to get over this and move on. Havent I taught them ANYTHING???!! and I cant even kick thier asses for it!!!" The truth of the matter is, its hard to let go of it, the shock and the hurt. His legacy will live on in all of us though. As long as we continue to help EMS get to where it should be and help each other along the way. And most importantly, to pass on our knowledge to the new people coming up through the ranks, and help them be the best EMS providers that they can be. All we need to do is walk through the doors he opened for us.....

I just signed in to see this awful news. I am devastated. Dust was one of the first people to welcome me to this forum. His nickname for me was Nymphet in the chat room. It was his encouragement to further educate ourselves that helped me to decide to become a medic and I will miss him terribly. Rest in Peace my friend.

Welcome to the City Cheryl...from south central NY

Dwayne you never fail to make me giggle.

hmmm no takers??