mobey

Sorry to interrupt...But I would like to learn something positive here. Rinse thier mouths ..Really? Why? I have never heard of that before. (And I do administer my Nitro SUBlingual, I think that was in the first week of PCP school hehe)

Are you union? Perhaps it is against a breech in one of the sections.

As I have been working towards out transformation, I have had many individual staff members come to my house to voice thier concerns. One fairly meek yet excellent EMT finally asked, "But aren't they going to take away all the good calls?". When you look at the list of excuses in the original post, i wonder how many of those are made up to mask the question in bold.

Of course everyone realizes how the threads on this forum almost always end. Some newbie will jump in saying something stupid about basics doing an advanced treatment or how they should be able to expand their monkey skill set, because it doesn't look that hard. Then an experienced member will jump down their throat, 5 people will back him/her up, the newbie will leave the site, admin locks it, and round and round we go. So I would like to see a series of well thought out posts from both EMT's and Paramedics. I am in a service where the general consensus is "A good EMT is as good as any Paramedic". Believe me i deal with it everyday, and I can tell you it comes down to the fact that these people have no idea what a paramedic is. Perhaps if I could get some well thought out opinions/facts from some experienced members here, I could help them understand why we need to go ALS, and some basics here could learn a thing or two as well. Perhaps if we don't direct these posts at eachother, and just post generally, this will not turn into a mud slinging contest. The point of this thread is to have a link to some quality posts, where we can direct newbies when they put their foot in their mouth, instead of derailing and locking every freaking quality thread that hits this forum. So as an EMT trying to change an EMT system to a Paramedic service here is the excuses i have hit from the other EMT's. (No knee jerk reactions please) Paramedics "waste" too much time on scene. Paramedics all think there god and treat EMT's like $hit. We don't do enough cardiac arrests to warrant a Paramedic. 2 good EMT's are as good/better than 1 Paramedic. Paramedics waste valuable time starting I.V's on traumas when they should be transporting. Paramedics lose their BLS skills and we(EMT"s) end up picking up the slack. *Now remember these are people who for the most part have never worked in an ALS system, please take the time to intelligently educate us on the subject*

In actuallity these people are in thier positions due to the "good ol' boy" system. Not because they are the best person for the job!! Which in turn means they have the backing of thier superiors because they coach thier kids in hockey, or they are a leader in thier church etc. etc. And that is what you call a Dead end job! But keep your head above water and your resume updated because not all places are like that.

Ask them for a situation where they had to "Think outside the box" If they can't answer it tell them to go work industrial.

If the pt. is stable I give a very brief patch: Coming in with 87 y/o female complaining of mild SOB. SPO2 96 RA, Skin pink warm dry, we have her on 3lt nasal cannula, she is normotensive we will be there in ***minutes. If they are unstable by my standards I will phone in and be a little more detailed with a little history and whatnot. I can also request this pt. go direct to the trauma room and they will have the Dr meet us in there.

That amazes me. I had to have A&P before PCP (EMT) school. :roll:

Have you started practicum yet?

I have met and worked with a few students from AHASTI, they seem very competent and confident. Just don't go to Flatline Responce, I have yet to run into a student that was prepared for ems after that crash course!

Just today I did a 45 min transfer of a patient for a CT quering reocurring subdural hematoma. I did vitals and physical before we left the hospital, got him settled and planted my butt in the airway seat and buckled up. About half way I moved back to the bench, reapeated vitals, did a quick neuro and headed back to the airway seat. The whole trip i could see my patient moving around. Not to mention i think I would notice if he lost all muscle tone and slumped over in the cot. So by the above posters standards I was acting as a poor attendant?

How are these people viewed by the rest of Calgary EMS? Are they below average people who coulden't cut it? Or just the opposite?

What is with my generation??? Read that post out loud to whoever is in the room with you and watch their reaction. I think you are trying to discuss rural EMS but I can not be sure. I am a rural EMS buff and would like to discuss whatever you are bringing to the table ... but please for the love of god, proofread your posts people.

I do not listen to people who tell me they can't afford a full paid service. My home town runs a full paid service with 2 units (only 1 paid full time, other is utilized if staff are around to run it), and they have ALS (unless he is on the first car) Anyway point is the company does 100 - 120 calls / year. That's right full time ALS supported by a mere 100 calls / year. If there is a will there is a way! EDIT to add this: I am about 95% sure on these numbers: Wages in said 100 call/year town: PCP (EMT) $19.70/hr $4.50 on call ACP (Paramedic) 26.19/hr $4.50 on call

Hmm ...fire him and revoke certs. Negligence? Abandonment? Something must fit. But I have to wonder if he was maybe kneeling in the "alley" at the front of the box. I think this may be more common than we care to think it is within transfer companies. My sister-in law was recently transfered between 2 hospitals for a C-Section, my brother said the medic sat in the airway seat, rotated to face the front and chatted up his partner for the majority of the 1.5hr transfer. He did however do a couple sets of vitals and ask about pain along the way. I am not going to say I have never slipped to the front of the alley for a sip of my coffee on a 6:00 am prescheduled transfer. But I am never away from my patients side for more than a minute or two. I believe this medic was a little too complacent and maybe even "burned out".

This is a plus for the King airway. There os a large opening into the esophagus for drainage and tubes. *As far as non-visualized airways are concerned*

Ahh I see. In that case it actually sounds like a great idea. Especially working as a cop.

Two very good statements this time!! Yes better educated basics is the way to go!! Get rid of EMT-I and extend the didactic portion of EMT-B by 4-500 hours. Then you will have highly educated EMT-B's who can perform some ALS procedures. But wait... as you said if you need advanced procedures, you need Paramedics, so let's scrap the "B" altogether and just have one cert, Paramedic. By george I think he is gettin it

Would it be better to get rid of EMT-B and go for all EMT-I and Paramedic? I know the best would be all Paramedics but since that is not happening.

Not to be harsh, but if that's what you want go do it. You have no reason to take MFR, EMT or Paramedic. EMS is striving to become a profession. Please do not enter it unless your going to be a professional health care worker, and dedicate yourself to advancing EMS in your area.

Ahh yes the two things I look for in a woman....A little black dress, and a lack of a gag reflex.

Ya that used to pi$$ me off when i was a gas jockey. I freeze my bollucks off pumping your gas in -37 C so you can keep warm inside the store and i get nothing but minimum wage. Then you head down for lunch burning the gas I pumped and tip your nice warm waitor? Oh well i have never been offered a tip. If i was i would tell them to send a thank you card to the office where the boss can see it, and i can ask where she keeps ALL of hers. Hehehe

Ya I think the original poster is confused about GCS scores. I rate his GCS as 14

WOW big question. It is osmosis. basically it is the movement of fluid from an area of lesser concentration to an area of greater concentration. Just imagine dropping a tablespoon of salt into a glass of water. Over time the salt becomes equally dispersed throughout the water (this is your hypertonic saline). Now drop a piece of fruit into that saltwater. The fruit is hypotonic (less salt), through osmosis the water leaves the fruit to get to the higher salt concentrated water. Now the solution becomes isotonic (or equal salt concentration throughout the water. Now apply that to the human body. Our tissue is filled with low sodium water. If we fill our vascular system with hypertonic saline (more salt), osmosis will draw the fluid from the tissues into the vascular system in an attempt to become isotonic. Confusing hey?

HAHAHA, Thanks for the invite. I would love to see a study on Paramedics vs EMT's. I mean a real scientific study to shut up all these old school wankers (that's right I said wankers), that say stupid $hit like "ALS wastes too much time on scene" and A good BLS crew can be just as effective or better than an ALS crew". I hear that crap way too often and it makes my BP skyrocket.