JPINFV

[spoil:00c4754d20]Faces of Meth website?[/spoil:00c4754d20]

I read it as a vagal maneuver as well.

Depends on the state. [hr:90b874620e] No, it's two separate issues. Super delegates do not choose a president, they choose a presidential candidate. The founding fathers were pretty much set against political parties as well. Unfortunately with most state governments failing at understanding proportions, most states select their electoral college electors using a winner take all system from the state election. Since there is no prize for second or third place in most states, the election will always move towards a 2 candidate/party system.

Pick up and read House of God. A bunch of the "Laws of the House of God" have made their way into EMS, and while tongue in cheek for the most part, are actually good advice [e.g. "The patient is the one with the disease."]. It's about medical residency circa 1974, but I think a lot of the themes ("relationship on rocks" [RoR]) can apply to any program that is rigorous relative to the participant's ability/commitment at the time of the undertaking.

Hey Dust, quick question. You want to know about potential employees plans to continue their education, but you do not want that education to include medical or nursing school. Are not good medical directors an integral part of any EMS system? Wouldn't a taste of true EMS also be a good introduction prior to medical school?

Snitches get stitches?

I'll bite for ASA since it's kinda of hard to think of the first time though. ASA stands for acetylsalicylic acid. With that bit of information, the rest shouldn't be hard to find.

Well, the thread is less than a day old...

Closest thing I could find was amendment 14.. To be able to use that as justification, though, you would also have to prove that disease status is a protected class AND that gainful employment in a field of a citizens choice is a right. Some diseases might be protected (AIDS?), but the vast majority are not. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that people get to go into the field that they want to. I think you're confusing the issue. The issue is not whether people with infectious diseases are treated by EMS. The issue is if people with infectious diseases can be EMS providers. These are two separate issues completely.

That's a completely different situation, though. I don't think anyone here is saying to sit around and wait 15 minutes for paramedics if you're 10 minutes away from the hospital. Heaven knows that I've transported my fair share of patients without paramedics because the hospital was closer. There are good medics and bad medics in every system, just as there are good basics and bad basics. Just because there are bad ones doesn't mean that all are bad.

Well, after all anyone with opposable thumbs can push epi. [/sarcasm].

What sort of problems are you having? Are you freezing up, but just still know what to ask? Do you just start thinking about 13987 things when you arrive on scene and can't concentrate? Does your mind just go blank? Also, how many more ride-alongs do you have (both required and can get if different numbers)? Have you done your ER time yet, if available?

A couple of quick and hard lessons. 1. There is no such thing as ALS or BLS in medicine outside of EMS. It's simply called patient care. There aren't ALS doctors and BLS doctors. The emergency room isn't going to wait to see if oxygen stabilizes a patients condition if it's obvious that the patient needs to be intubated. 2. Ad hominem attacks are looked down upon. The only people who resort to them are people who are grasping for straws. It's better to not post at all then to post a personal attack. 3. The person you are attacking is a well respected member of the forum with numerous years of experience in several different care settings. Unfortunately you are not David of Biblical fame. 4. There is no 4. 5. A witty saying proves nothing (BLS before ALS, ALS=Always losing seconds, etc). 6. A cab driver can get 90% of patients to the hospital just as easy as any EMS provider. EMS is about patient care AND transportation, not just transportation. 7. Basic before Paramedic has been debunked. Simply put, if that system was so great then how come nursing and medical schools haven't adopted it? 8. EMS does not save cardiac arrests. EMS prevents people from going into cardiac arrest. Simply put, paramedics have much more tools and assessment options over basics to obtain that goal.

Transcare is really just an unfortunate name for an ambulance company.

First off, thank you for making post number 4. Far too many people make 3 posts, check out the chat room, and leave never to be seen again. So, sorry for my earlier post. I think the problem that you have is that you take any criticism personally. People, especially here, tend to criticize the EMT-B level because we feel that it doesn't require enough training and education ["how" and "why" are two separate things]. That is a critique of the level itself, not a critique of individual providers. The same charge has be levied again EMT-Paramedic programs as well, so the criticism isn't just against EMT-Basics. As far as you being a good provider in discussions like this is irrelevant. It doesn't matter how good you are if your treatment options are limited by a lack of education in the level. This is especially true because protocols and procedures are set for the lowest common denominator, not the top level provider. The hard truth, though, is that if a patient does need cardiac medication, then any EMT-Basic provider is inadequate. An unfortunate side effect, though, of limited education is that most EMT-Basics simply are not required to know enough to determine which calls need paramedics and which don't. Hence why all patients should have a paramedic.

I'll formulate a response when his post count reaches 4.

I remember that answer from Mr. Wizard growing up. [spoil:f5c4c105be]it prevents the cover from falling through. [/spoil:f5c4c105be]

You're right that moving into management isn't a panacea. At the same time, being in management gives you more legitimacy to advocate for change than being an entry level worker. Be that change lobbying internally to either officially [written policy], or unofficially [simply pass over applicants] to change hiring requirements. If you are involved with instruction, then there is nothing stopping you from requiring more from your students than the minimum. Similarly, if you market and advertise your product (students) properly, those higher requirements might mean your students stand a better chance at being hired (employers know what they're going to get before hand). Similarly, if you are involved with the training/QI department, then you have some control over how your employees are trained and treating. At the very least you have more legitimacy via your position over the other employers. Change won't happen overnight, nor will it happen quickly. Change won't happen as long as everyone sits on their hands waiting for someone else to act though. As far as the paper determining if you are a professional or not. True, it does not decide that, but it, or the lack there of, might decide where your career ladder ends. *NOTE: The term "you" is generally meant as a generic "you."

Not to pick only on you, because I've heard that said before (particularly about 4 year EMS degrees), but so what if it is? How can we expect to change the system or complain about pay if we shy away from the very positions (admin and management) that have the power to change the system and pay more?

Well, it doesn't have to be something heroic. Above and beyond the call of duty could be showing up to fill a sudden gap in a schedule or holding over to cover a gap (by staying late, I don't mean for like a call. I would mean something like staying on for 6 hours and then showing up the next days shift on time). Heck, last summer one of the backboards from the waterpark I worked at ended up half way across the county (kid had an open fracture and ended up being transfered to the local ped hospital. The kid ended up being transported on the back board for positional/pain reasons [not c-spine precaution], but they never told us. I ended up coming across it one day while working on the ambulance, and ended up taking the backboard home. It cost the ambulance company and me nothing (ok, less than a dollar because I took some time to wipe it down) since I was already there and I ended up bringing it to the park on my next shift. Heroic? Not really. Above the call of duty and helpful? Sure.

Just wondering, but you know that MRL was bought out by Welch Alynn and that WA still sells Portable Intensive Care (PIC) monitor? My old company still uses MRL monitors for CCT calls actually and it seems that the carrying case for the monitor (pouchs for the cables on the sides plus first round drugs on top) is rather functionable.

1. Source [including section/sub section] for it being a person's "right" to seek what ever career they choose. 2. Source for having a contagious disease be a protected class [similar to age, sex, color, creed]. 3. The problem I have with people infected with an airborn/contact/droplet contagious (really, I don't care if someone has a pinworm infection. Oral-fecal route shouldn't be a problem if the provider is practicing decent hygiene. Scabies on the other hand) diseases is that they are exposing their patients to the disease. I think there can be an argument for excluding immunocompromised people from patient care because they are more at risk of contracting a disease and not showing signs/symptoms of a disease [example: PPD tests might not be accurate in immunocompromised patients because they simply aren't able to react to the protein], but that should be on a person by person decision.

Damn, it's hard to tell which is better, OC or LA. On one hand most of the base contacts I've seen have ended with "Err, good... call us back if you need anything." (i.e. not getting orders that IV/O2 is good enough for the patient), on the other hand LA has a larger procedure list (OC medics can do needle crics).

Narf.

ack, sorry...