JPINFV

Nope, not treason. Stupid, immoral, and probably very illegal, but not treason.

Well, I know that my EMT class was nothing like I thought it would be. It was way to superficial and a large portion of my classmates left a lot to be desired.

^ My company required bed pans and urinals on the units. The bed pans went in the same category as the traction splint on things never used, but I have had a patient use a urinal a few times.

Wow, I guess that there's even things that a CNA can do that a basic can't [or won't]. That said, if you're in a van you probably won't have enough room to change a diaper anyways.

c: CDemtcityBLScareWhatWouldYouDoInThisSituationAsAEMT-B post

Barring other factors that should be spelled out well in advance [ex family members requesting that you withhold/withdraw resuscitation, DNR bracelet, durable power of attorney: health care present, etc], you have implied consent to treat. Depending on the type of DNR present, you might very well be able to do somethings and not others [i had a patient who was quite acutely sick once whose DNR stated yes to epi, yes to dopamine, no to everything else. My partner and I called medics and the medics respected the patients wish not to be intubated. The physician at the hospital respected the same wish when we arrived].

Woa, wait, what? How did I end up in that post?

I hope I read this wrong, but are you saying that you wouldn't treat a patient that don't have a valid DNR? What about if you work in a system, as outlined above, that don't require a DNR form if certain procedures were followed?

I've got electronic assess to the journal, but the latest they have online is the July 2007 issue. That said, there was an interesting article in the July issue about using motorcycles for EMS first response [average response was in the 4 minute range in the study. Authors suggested that it would be useful for calls that are either too ambiguous for EMD triage or truly life threatening].

This is exactly the reason why when I was working as an undergrad I refused to work before school. I had no problem taking up the back half of a 12 hour shift AFTER class, but I would never work the morning before class. This solves the "What do you do if you get a call 5 minutes before you're off and you're supposed to be somewhere [at an exam is a popular example] right after work" interview question.

Well, some replies from people (this board maybe?) have been published. http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...2a-4c77c857f59b http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...15-a8ff200db44b http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/feat...13-757dcfc6f5b2 http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...71-f9e7a208ad7b

"I just recently came across the letter from Darren Thompson of Edmonton that was published on September 6. In the letter, he praised fire fighters to coming to the aid of a stabbing victim while paramedics staged waiting for law enforcement to arrive. In response, I offer but a single sentence. Dead medics don't save lives. "

I just wanted to quote this because now I know I'm not the only one that reads that site.

I wonder if she has some sort of genetic disorder because either she's a sick puppy or she has a psych disorder and really bad doctors.

http://www.ochealthinfo.com/docs/medical/e...mp;P/330.51.pdf The fact is DNR validity and orders is going to be different from place to place. A perfect example would be asking who can request a DNR order. In Orange County, CA, for example, any immediate family member [parents, siblings, adult children, spouse or domestic partner] can request that EMS personal withhold or withdrawl resuscitation. [Part V, section E, subsection 3 of the above link] The issue gets even muddier when you have patients that have partial DNRs. The ultimate question is, though, are you willing to respect your patient's wishes or are you going to simply pass the buck?

^ I was updating it when you posted.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=33....p;z=10&om=1 There's about 25 miles between Avalon [the main city] and the main land. The island itself has 2 cities, Avalon and Two Harbors, a small airport, and also several camps and research stations including 2 boy scout camps, a girl scout camp and the Catalina Island Marine Institute [CIMI] which has a program for middle school students from the main land at it. The island itself is serviced by numerous ferry lines that take about 3 hours to get there, as well as helicopter charter agencies. In a pinch, emergency supplies can be shuttled to the island with the assistance of the navy's hover crafts out of Pendleton, as was seen last year when a brush fire almost swept through Avalon.

Leather wrist restraints with nylon leg restraints was what my company carried. The reality is, though [since it wasn't included], you better have a darn good reason to restrain. If you aren't transporting under implied consent [be it a psych, medical, or trauma condition, or be it a prisoner], then you probably don't have the legal ability to restrain them.

http://www.medicalert.org/Main/AdvanceDirectives.aspx Might I suggest this product/service?

The sad part is that there is no emergency department on the island, only a clinic staffed by a primary care physician [family practice per LA County's website]. Any thing critical must be air lifted to the mainland so the paramedics can have a rather extended time with the patient if need be. This isn't your "15 minute deliver to the ER or it's free" style of urban EMS. If I remember an earlier news story, interpreting 12 leads would fall into that category too. After all, didn't a fire department official officially state that they had too many medics to train them all?

Nope, there is no method in Orange County, CA to obtain online medical control at the BLS level. The reality, though, is that 99.99% of the patients can either be handled via acceptable protocols/SOP [note: That requires that the basics actually READ them instead of relying on a friend of a friend of an instructor's word for it], or the call requires ALS [which is easily available by transport to the 17 or so hospitals with emergency services or by requesting a paramedic response via the 911 system]. The drugs available at the BLS level is limited to oxygen. Thus, the treatment options are very limited, ALS is never far away, and the only other problem is generally when the basics are either too dumb or arrogant to do the right thing [you'd be surprised at how many basics have said that they would refuse to follow the DNR guidelines because of legal concerns]. Of course, this is really only a concern on interfacility calls since all 911 calls have an ALS response. You might argue that this is exactly the reason why basics should have online medical control, but I think it's pretty obvious that the county doesn't care since paramedics are limited to the fire departments anyways.

/me smirks and shakes his head.

Mind rephrasing that in a way that would get a passing score in first grade? I believe that you are saying that "I believe that all of us needs to do our best in all situations to save life and limb at any cost." So, ignoring your lack of any ability to form a coherent sentence [ya know, those pesky things like sentence construction, subject-pronoun agreement, punctuation, etc], lets look at your statement in terms of this thread. Unfortunately, your statement is so wishy washy that it is near impossible to discuss. What exactly does "do their best" mean? Does that mean that people should start infringing on specialized fields for no simple reason besides 'just in case?' Should we start training psychiatrists to perform cardiac surgery 'just in case?' Should we be training people in other fields even if it starts to interfere with their primary job function? Sure, it might suck standing around because you can't do anything, but unless you have the training, education, and supplies to do something like extrication, then you ARE doing your best by not making the situation worse. "save life and limb at any cost." Nope, sorry, I have to disagree with this one too. I will not put myself at undue risk to save a life. My job is NOT to run into situations that are dangerous unless it is medical in nature. A fire, regardless of who may be trapped inside, is not a medical situation. Contagious disease, on the other hand is. Even when it is medical in nature, my presence will not be had until appropriate safety measures have been taken to minimize the risk that I have to take. No one needs another causality.

^ Ahh, ok. I got what you're saying now.

There are two things with AEDs in Orange County. First, as Dust said, it isn't required by county EMS [EMS in California is divided into counties. Each county has 1 set of protocols for every service]. Second, in order to have AEDs on the ambulance units, the company has to be a "certified AED provider," thus providing an incentive to not have AEDs at the companies that provider only interfacility transport.