JPINFV

Ah, Mexican EMS. I did a report on Mexican and US EMS for a Poli Sci class during my last quarter of undergrad. Problems with Mexican EMS: No one number like 911 in many places. Lack of Emergency Physicians for oversight and system development [first EM residence started in 1986] Lack of standardized EMS training [anywhere from 600 hours down to nothing] Not considered a priority by the Mexican government. Below was one of my main sources for the Mexican side of the paper.

Does it even matter? I was under the impression that if you're running code and get stuck at an intersection like that then the proper action is to shut everything down rather than force cars into an intersection. The 30 seconds you aren't going to save isn't worth the chance of causing an accident at the intersection. Also jumping a median isn't an option with a patient in back.

T1 is basically what you're using if you're on a network directly connected to the internet. University networks are a good example. In reality, cable v DSL is going to depend on where you're at. One type of connection is dependent on how many people are sharing that line (i.e. you plus neighbors, not your home network) [i want to say that this is cable], while the other is dependent on how far you are from the company's local hub [i want to say DSL for this one].

I'm just trying to figure out what O Chem has to do with anatomy or physiology in a sense of being useful to prehospital providers, unlike say, researchers.

^ Just a few quick things. First, it's a tad unfair to compare prereqs. I had to take the 2 course freshman bio series (DNA to Organisms and Organisms to Ecosystems), as well as genetics, biochemistry (which required either enrollment or completion of the second quarter of OChem], and molecular biology prior to being able to enroll in anatomy and/or physiology [they were two separate courses at my undergraduate, both a quarter long]. Granted, I think a lot of that had to do with anatomy and physiology being considered upper division coursework more than anything else. Second, exactly how much OChem was needed to really understand the material in your class? It was never even remotely needed for mine.

^ Sorry if it was unclear, but I was talking about the RN that taught the course, not the student.

Ah, yes, A and P from the same person who doesn't understand why the semi-fowler position tends to negate any chance of a positive reaction from shock position. When engaged in this conversation with her and mentioning things like "Starlings effect" and "preload" evoked the response that said science was above the EMT-Basic level. The refresher course with her was like 24 hours of detention spread out over 4 weekends.

Was your instructor for that class the female RN who is the "program director?" If so, it honestly doesn't surprise me because she was an idiot when I took the refresher there.

It doesn't say anything about privacy or health care, yet the "power of the purse" [maybe arguably interstate commerce, but that would be a stretch (see United States v Lopez, 1995 for an example of Congress taking interstate commerce too far)] is essentially the same way HIPAA is constitutional.

I wasn't trying to imply that hospital uniform color codes would be understood by the public, just that's where the the specific color green came from. You are correct that, unfortunately, EMS is synonymous with the fire service. Unfortunately the only way separate them in the publics mind is to brand EMS as it's own service. While the medical supplies and the ambulance tend to give it away in the moment, is it something that will stick in people's mind AFTER the call?

Black boots, black dickies pants/EMS pants/ETC, green polo shirt. For what ever reason, I've always associated green with medical [ok, the college volunteer group at the hospital wore green polo shirts and the hospital's color code for scrubs had green reserved for physicians (gray/maroon was for CNAs and blue was for RNs)]. It gets us away from the paramilitary look of the dark colored uniforms that police and fire uses. It also gives EMS it's own color [PR anyone?] since red is already associated with the fire department and blue is associated with the police department.

^ It was also "used" (rather incorrectly) in Ocean's 11 where the machine was called a "pinch." JPINFV's fun fact of the day: The scene where the pinch was stolen was filmed at his undergrad university.

^ It still needs to be done no matter how uncomfortable it is, and it can be a great way to become comfortable with the human body.

It's called a silent prayer. That said, no one ever said that EMS providers were consistently the sharpest crayon in the box, and if a provider's prayer is any more than 5 seconds with their head bowed and eyes shut, they aren't that sharp. Dust, quick question. Are you referring to God as "She" due to personal belief, rejection of tradition, or Dogma?

It's from the last few seasons of Stargate: SG1.

I've never had the "sue ready" patient while working on the ambulance, but I've had a few come into first aid at my waterpark job. Of course these patients are easy to deal with in this setting because I can punt their complaining to the supervisor incharge of the park, we almost NEVER hand out any sort of report with the parks name to ANYONE, and even that has to be cleared by at least the park's assistant general manager [if EMS wants a copy when transporting one of our guests then we have a seperate form that we can quickly fill out that lacks indentifying marks], and finally, the report is normally not finished until the guest leaves first aid [we don't require a signature]. As far as on the ambualnce, the signature spot for the patient is on the front of the run sheet and the HIPAA notice is on the back.

1. Welcome to the city. 2. The enter key is not the enemy.

IFT= Interfacility Transfer

^ From the inside, I agree that IFT isn't really a part of EMS. That said, there are two major reasons that I see IFT companies as a part of EMS. 1. Private emergency calls/direct admits: There are plenty of BLS transports from nursing homes and assisted living facilities where the patient needs to be at an ER for care or needs to go to the hospital for a procedure (direct admit patients). Without an alternative to the 911 system, these patients would BE 911 calls due to a simple lack of options. 2. Hospital discharges/hospital to hospital transfers/CCT calls: One of the problems with ER backlogs isn't space in the ER, but space on the floors to get the patient OUT of the ER. Every discharge and hospital to hospital transfer means that one more patient can be moved out of the ER which means that one more bed is open in the ER which means that 911 units are waiting LESS for a bed.

We just call everything a freeway out here on the west coast. Just some of the idiosyncrasies on the west coast that I need to get rid of, like calling freeways by their number (i.e. Interstate 5 is simply known as "the 5") and giving distance in time ("How far is it from here?" "About 5 minutes").

I remember this a lot when I was attending (my company doesn't have enough drivers to go dual drivers on most units). Just because the speed limit is 40 MPH in a section doesn't mean you HAVE to reach it. I think that alone, especially with short distances between intersections, is one of the biggest causes of a rough ride.

Everyone's affected by this. Hello higher costs everyplace that employs minimum wage workers! I highly doubt that my company would increase wages to counteract this since we start off at 10/hr for 12 hour shifts with time and a half after 8 hours and double time after 12.

^ Since you just mentioned the absolute BEST hamburger join ever, where in California do you work? [99% of In-N-Out locations are in California because the ingredients are shipped fresh daily from their processing plant. Another aside is that In-N-Out is supposed to be near the top of the fast food pay scale anyways]

To the best of my knowledge, our units don't have governors (RPM or speed). I've seen people get units up to the 90 MPH range (honestly, that's the speed of traffic in the fast lane and car pool lanes at time), and I've had a unit going 65 floored up a decent sloop on a freeway [or what ever you East coasters call a limited access highway]. That said, if you're setting those things off while driving l/s you're either going to fast or it's too sensitive. Based on the comments, I'm betting on the first.