JPINFV

It could be the non-transport paramedic silliness that you get with a lot of EMS based fire suppression services (police are the paramedics but don't actually run ambulances. The contracted ambulance service, on the other hand, only employ basics).

I'd rather have dirt amoebas than the water amoebas. (There's a reason why I ask about hot springs in the scenarios).

Wait, are you talking about the EMT page (more of a general EMS personal page) or the EMT Basic page that someone threw together?

Is that the "20% of the patient need a paramedic and 80% just need a taxi ride" cliché?

I'd tap that till the marshmallow came out.

Sure. I see nothing wrong with Basic doing more, so be it that the educational requirements are greatly enhanced to go along with the greater responsibility. Education ≠ training though.

Speaking of people who can't communicate well... As to your accusation that all EMS personnel mistreat the mentally ill, it is simply not true. That said, with tens of thousands of EMS personnel in the United States alone, there are bound to be a few bad apples, especially with how low the entry bar has been set.

Huh? There are companies out there in health care trying to make a profit? Say it ain't so! /sarcasm. To be honest, I got more of the fire department saying "We want to control everything, except the patients that don't interest us or things involving maintaining ambulances" than a private ambulance company trying to cut costs to the bare minimum. The choice between single role medics and fire medics isn't even up to the ambulance company to begin with. After all, they are paying the fire department to use the fire department's employees (the paramedic) as well as paying rent on the fire station to house their ambulance and their employee under the contract. It's not exactly like the ambulance company is fleecing the city under that contract.

Cliff notes: 6 ambulances, 2 ALS, 4 BLS. Units are dedicated to 911 work only. Ambulance company takes care of and gets to keep all patient billing. Fire department maintains scene/patient control at all times. BLS ambulances=2 EMT-Bs supplied by the ambulance company stationed where ever the company wants to station them at. The fun starts with the ALS units. Company supplies an EMT-B to drive the unit [*]Fire department supplies either a civilian EMT-P or a fire fighter EMT-P [*]Regardless of utilization, the ambulance company will reimburse the fire department for $84k/yr per civilian medic and $94k/yr per fire medic used. This includes pay, overtime, and benifits. [*]Ambulance company will pay the fire department $400/month for room and board at the fire station for the ambulance and the EMT-B (I'd hate to be the EMT-. Personally, I don't see why any fire department that wants to run EMS doesn't take it all the way. If you want to supply the medics, then supply your own damn transportation too. If they can find a company that is willing to take that contract, then so be it. It's a "free" market anyways.

There ya go, Richard. http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/compl...27194386250.jpg

Some people, right or wrong, feel that the best way for someone to represent them is to share a common religion/race/gender. Hence why people of a certain religion/race/gender generally tend to get that vote. It's kinda of like the entire "it's mildly embarrassing if a candidate doesn't win their home state" thing. To be fair, Clinton's "experience" isn't all it's cracked up to be. She wasn't president, Bill was. It's like saying I've got 18 years of experience in aerospace because my dad is an aerospace engineer. Furthermore, there will not be a woman president this election cycle. Clinton has been polling constantly in the 50% range of people who would not ever consider voting for her. Considering that McCain is fairly left compared to his party means that she will lose in a general election. So would Kerry, and most of just about anyone who has gone on that show. Let's face it, when the Democrats had a chance in 2004, they decided to nominate someone less charismatic and dumber (lower GPA even) than Bush Jr. The democrats have no one to thank but themselves for losing that election. Well, to be fair, most of those chritisisms should be leveled against congress, but there's a reason that the only thing polling worst than Bush IS congress. Some of those laws aren't even constitutional at the federal level anyways (the gun law one at least. Separation of powers between state and federal levels).

Google: Citation maker

Well, there has been studies that have shown Wiki to be on par with paper encyclopedias. Of course people don't cite encyclopedias either when presenting papers. That's what primary sources are for.

It's not that hard. Click the edit button and it opens up a text box like editing a post on here. The only real difficulties I've run into was with references (specifically the template for web page citations), but that's also something that other people can fix if need be. Also reading the raw text (think of the difference between reading a post on here with formatting changes like color or size changes in it's formatted and unformatted stage) can be a little tough since the references can get long in terms of size. I also had a bunch of repeat references (NHTSA curriculum) until I figured out how to use the same reference multiple times.

So, in my ever expanding attempts to perfect procrastination, I started doing some editing on Wikipedia, especially the EMS entries. Lets just say that a lot of the entries are lacking in both substance, style, and verifiability. So, I'm wondering (besides at least one person that I know has edited pages on it), is anyone else actively editing Wikipedia? Does anyone want to help clean up some of the EMS entries? It would especially be nice to spread out some of the sources since I find myself referencing Orange County and New York (helpful with their 121240 levels of EMT) for a lot of examples. As well, getting some Canadian entries (e.g. on the EMT page since that seems to be a general "EMS provider" page) for completeness (I've already gotten someone to rewrite the UK section).

As strange as it might sound, one of the few changes at my old company that I fully endorsed and enjoyed was when they added a narrative continuation sheet. I don't think that there was a single emergency call that I didn't end up having to use it, even if it was for a line or two. I tend to write a lot.

It would probably be best to check with your state EMS office. Some areas specify what areas need to be on a PCR and they will probably be able to give you examples of what works for your area.

Interesting. My family's old PMD went into a service similar to this where they only took on so many patients and made house calls. Let's just say that it cost a little more than $250 a year and they didn't accept medicare.

Maybe it's because I'm not a medic, but to me I see that the primary objective in most cases for a lock or a line is to administer medications. If both achieve that goal, and there is no need to run fluids, how would it be neglecting the patient to choose a lock due to easier management?

I forgot, I do have a sticker on my car. It's a small blue one on the windshield that says "Out of state student." Beats having to register my car in MA and go through a stupid inspection process.

Well, to be honest, is there really that much that a CPR trained driver has to offer over a second EMT-B? It's funny because when I worked at a water park, all of the life guards were first aid/CPR/AED certified and trained in oxygen administration. Is there very much more other than that that a Basic can do, but not talk other people through [e.g. log rolling onto a back board]? I'll admit that I never had to work a code there, but I imagine that it wouldn't be too hard to get someone who knew how to do compressions while waiting for EMS based fire suppression to arrive.

It depends on the qualification. Something along the lines of EMS cert level and academic degrees (AS, BS, MS, PhD, DO, MD, RRT, etc) is one thing. I think that this is especially true for the people on this site who aren't advanced providers (e.g. paramedics, physician, respiratory therapist), but I'll admit that I'm a bit biased in terms of this. When people get to posting things like ACLS, BCLS, PALS (so called merit badge courses) it's something completely different. A certain well known osteopath has actually written an article on this a number of years ago with a Blazing Saddles reference.

Link 2 Life would be a perfect example of a program offering an accelerated (and over priced) EMT-B course. http://www.link2life.org/pricing.asp#EMTon...SSESFOR19992000

No. The lights and sirens are a demand under the penalty of law for the right of way, but not a guarantee. Lets stop blowing smoke here. Yes, as has been pointed out also, having the legal right to demand the right of way doesn't absolve the emergency vehicle operator of either due regard or the laws of physics.

I'm sure that the fire department will use random drug tests as a negotiation pawn just like Boston is currently doing. You know, that tongue-in-cheek idea about using SSM for fire departments might be a good idea since it's harder to hide the drugs when you're in a vehicle all day with 2-3 other people.