JPINFV

What exactly would you do if they didn't go to that ER and either decided to go to a different one, or go home?

Meh, I didn't think that my post was that over the top, but I'll try a different approach. What exactly is the difference between a FF1 and a FF2 anyways?

Because that -never- happens in the public sector?

Well, I do have a BS in BS.

You know, this could all be solved by having a physician do triage.

Lucky enough? I hate to be a prick, but the company has zero choice in the matter. If I don't think that my crew or my equipment can handle a patient, then that patient doesn't get transported until either enough crew members or the proper equipment for a transport. That does mean that I had one patient which took 4 crews to transport which we almost refused because the patient was at the weight limit for our equipment (below it, but barely. If the hospital gave us a weight above our equipment's rated capacity, I would have refused transport). It didn't help that one crew member was 120 pounds soaking weight and the other had a non-work related shoulder injury. Yes, it took a while before we could assemble the full complement of people (it didn't help that the thrid crew [three were initially dispatched anyways] took their sweet time getting there), but that's why it's called a non-emergent transport. As far as equipment, I was never missing anything that I needed, but there was things that would have been nice to have just in case.

NiBP uses presets, so if it doesn't have a gap between ending the fill stage and starting to let air out, then it will go to the higher preset. For blood pressures, generally I'll go up to 100, take a quick listen (gets the steth in the right position and most patients will have beats at 100 mmHg), then go up to 130-140 and start going for a measurement.

A $100k awning would serve the same purpose as a $20 pair of shoes. Why should the play ground contractor bear the brunt of the cost of bad parenting (improperly clothed kid, not checking playground temperatures, etc)?

One thing that Massachusetts is currently doing is a huge public education campaign for strokes called "Act FAST" (FAST=face, arms, speech, time [call fast]) using the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale. http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2terminal...mp;csid=Eeohhs2

Well, that's because I wasn't replying to you but giving a document to Wendy.

During my required ride along (singular) we were assigned a semi-random 911 crew. The coordinator at the ambulance company did try to get people into the busier stations, but if the station was out when we arrived then we were just out of luck. We were required to do an eight hour ride along and eight hours of ER observation. There was no minimum patient contacts or skill demonstration during the ride along.

IAFC saying, "Paramedics don't need all that them there kollege edumacation thing." http://www.iafc.org/associations/4685/file...ments070731.pdf

To be honest, I don't know the number of people who take and pass a 120 hour course. What I do know, thought, is that the NHTSA minimum length is 110 hours (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/ems/pub/emtbnsc.pdf page 5). To be honest, it takes a lot more than 10-20 hours to make a difference anyways. 10 hours in only 2-3 more days of training (assuming that class runs, on average, 4-5 hours).

Ahh, Southern California. Probably the only place where the non-emergent EMTs handle more real emergencies than the 911 EMTs.

So I was on the subway going to 'work' this morning when I came across this article about a boy who died in Boston a few days ago when his ventilator's backup power supply failed during a power outage. So, a few questions for the people in the know. 1. What sort of training should we expect of the immediate family? BVM? Suctioning? etc. 2. What sort of backup equipment do they normally have? Sure the vent should have a working back up power supply, but what about back up monitoring equipment? Is there a way to automatically call for help if something happens or fails if the patient is home alone (say, an alarm isn't canceled in x amount of time)?

I've hit 2 girls and a cup. (hit it with a baseball bat)

^ Err, isn't being both an equal opportunity employment and affirmative action employment a contradiction?

I got off light with a warning. Technically I should have been drug tested and suspended, but they seriously needed the people anyways. If the light broke (thank God it didn't), I was offering to pay for it.

I can honestly say that I've never hit a sign. On the other hand, when I first started driving I turned a mod a little too hard in the bay and ended up high siding the unit when the right flood light wedged against a pole. >.< Luckily only a little cosmetic damage to the unit (which was old anyways and replaced soon after). Yea, there was some ribbing over it. It didn't help that during the weaving part (10 cones in a line and weave around them going forward and repeat going backwards) of the EVO day a few months later I nailed a cone going forward. Apparently I'm a safe driver as long as the unit is in reverse (no other accidents or incidents to speak of).

^ Ok, then if they're going to constantly use the slur, then they need to expect other people to use the slur as well. I grew up hearing the word "polak" from my dad (I'm 1/4 Polish from his side with a Polish last name). Technically, he's bad for using it and I'm supposed to be offended by this racial slur (ok, being a European Mutt, I'm supposed to be 1/4 offended). Honestly, I couldn't care less. So, either they need to simply not care if someone using the N word (or something that sounds similar, i.e. niggardly), or they need to stop using it all together.

Pro Wikipedia tip (from the person who rewrote the EMT article), don't cite it. Everything in the US section should be sourced, thus you should source the primary document (NHTSA National Standard Curriculum). There should even be a link down at the bottom of the reference section on that page.

Just to be clearm the "just clip on the pulse ox" came into the thread as an example of the stupidity of the "Well, the skill is so easy it's just..." mentality.

The point is that if you do a search on any web forum, including this one, you will find plenty of posts that basically say, "ZOMG, pulse ox is so easy, it's just a finger clip." It's essentially the same argument being put forth here. If a non-medically licensed person can do it to themselves, why can't we do it to other people?. The difference, though, is that a person with an abnormal pulse will change treatments, even for basics. If I've got a patient with no medical history, generally normal on exam, but with an irregular pulse rate, I'm going to seriously consider calling for a paramedic. Similarly, if I'm running a nursing home call for a confirmed electrolyte imbalance, or a patient with renal problems, a non-normal pulse rate (either not irregular, or not one consistent with the patient's medical history without lab values) will get a paramedic response and/or rapid transport. An altered patient should be transported immediately regardless of what a glucometer says. If the person can eat, sure give them some oral glucose, but the value really changes very little.

I agree. I think the post could have been a lot clearer if quotation marks were used.

I believe he meant that the people who put on the "joke" should attempt to explain that they were just joking when the first employee gets attacked over their little "joke"