Timmy

In my service you gotta be zero. The volley FD is a different story… We had a callout to a grass n scrub threatening property. The poor people who decided to have a fire next to there house on Melbourne Cup day won’t do that again! :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

lol I’m both agreeing with bushy n OZ on this one… The medics in my town only attend on average 3 calls in a 24 hour period. My town is rural and you would get mighty bored staying at the station. The way they work is one medic takes home the Merc and the other takes the Ford Territory, they meet on scene. During the day they staff 2 Mercs with a 2nd car on call. If needed (at night) the on call medics can race to the station were there’s another vehicle.

It’s not so much that I care about them getting drunk but the fact that the people who I look up to and have taught me so much hide behind a bottle of spirits, it just seems so petty and weak! I shall quote some anonymous paramedics and health care professionals from another forum: “there are many of us that are functioning alchies..and its all good, I am actually currently drunkish, and quite happy about it...I love the boozeness, as it makes me go home and look at the man I love whilist sleeping in our bed and NOT want to hold a pillow over his head till he stops kicking” “Hey, I resent that statement. I'm a drunk, not an alcoholic. Alcoholics go to meetings.” Comments like this are being made to kids who aspire to be paramedics one day. I have also had comments like this directed at me in real life situations.

It has come to my attention that a LOT of EMS personal consume alcohol. Both from hearing this from people on this forum and whilst working with other members in EMS. I currently work with 3 alcoholics, they after a hard day make an effort to go to the pub and get smashed then the next day non stop whine about their hang over… And think that if other members don’t wana come have a drink with them then their seen as an outcast. Is it because people find it easier to deal with their problems by wasting them away down a bottle or having a drink will make you forget about that bad patient for the night…. I don’t know??? There’s a division up the road from mine who really only have younger members, they every Friday night without fail go clubbing. Even the nurses from some hospitals around here get together for that big night. Main reason I ask is; Whilst cruising the street at 2am one Friday night with some mates I was shocked to see our local medical contingent (nurses, medics, junior MDs, med students, nursing students, oncologist and even the friggen orderly) extremely inebriated out the front of one of our night clubs, most couldn’t walk. While I understand that letting lose once in a while can be extremely beneficial, to be doing this on a regular basics does concern me. I would like anyone to comment on this and maybe shed some light as to why I’m thinking this. Is this a normal practice in EMS? Do people on this site do they same?

I do have one of those ferno organge drug boxes, but dad uses it as his fishing tackle box :wink:

YAY!!!

Also my service is full of ego and powerhungryness. Instead of racing to help a patient it’s a race to the commander vest then a slow I’ve got attitude, look at my with my commander vest walk to not help the patient but to make them selves look like wankers. I’ve even had a guy rock up and say “it’s ok I’m here”

I dunno mate, I’ve meet some really highly paid professional paramedics who if their ego was any bigger they’d pop and their egoness would splatter every were. I do agree that volley services tend to have more ego but at the same time so do professional paid paramedics. Depending on how high the ego meter tips is to how I would react to the situation, most of the time I laugh in their face and tell them to get over them selves – they hate that!

These are the bags most Aussie EMS companys use: http://www.neann.com I have one of these bags: www.neann.com/Neann%20PRK.htm

I’ve don’t this a number of times. We generally rock up with the lights flashing then when they all run out to meet us we get them all dressed up in a high-vis ambulance vests, hard hats, a pair of purple or blue gloves they also get a badge that says ‘Junior Paramedic’ (they get to keep). Then they all climb aboard, in they back they can just play around with all the gear, rip the truck to peaces and we answer any random questions they might have. Then we go round into the cab, a few kids get to talk to the comms operator over the radio while the others play with the lights and horn and push buttons. Then we get them to sit down outside the truck and we get a couple of kids up on the stretcher to show them how it goes in and out n lowers, they get to suck up a glass or water with the suction, dip their hands into a big bowl of red paste that we made from flower and water and pretend they have bloody hands ect... When we leave they get a goodie bag with stickers, balloons, poster, magnet, pens, ruler, lolly pops, pen torch, keyring and a volunteer with us brochure lol…

Well if this is the case bushy, if I was to work an arrest in amongst 100,000 people what’s to say the machine feels it unsafe to shock because of the amount of 'activity' around the patient but I felt it was safe to shock because I had a crowd control set up? Would my patient die as a result of mechanical error? Yes I like to feel in control in situations like this, after all were only dealing with peoples lives ay??

They have fully automatic ones?? Maybe they’d be good for people who need to have a defib at there house; its quiet and in a controlled atmosphere. I could only imagine what would happen if a kid arrested at my school! You’d have at least 600 kids rushing over all wanting to get in amongst the action, pushing/shoving and without being in control of the shock it would pose a massive risk of personal injury and hens being unsafe to shock. I don’t have any experience in fully automatic defibs nor have I heard of a fully automatic one until now… I think an SAED would be a much better option.

Glucose is glucose… Doesn’t matter in what form it comes, as long as you’re getting it into them. Normally I can get adults to take the tube but I find that giving kids a hand full of Jelly Beans works more in their favour. We use the tablets for the football players to give them energy.

LMAO!!! What a TOSSER!!! *Throws him a packet of Mylanta then walks off!*

hehehe that reminds me of a town not far from here... :roll: Although they only have 500 people...

Well you'll be glad to know I make my bed... :wink: Clearly I lied... But! I'm awesome at hospital tucks! I did 2 weeks of full on making beds when I was on clinical placement but yet can't be bothered making my own... I have also written 2 similar letters but on different topics... One to my boss and one to my folks... Don't get on my bad side

Well I did Math for a semester but failed it so I transferred into a Math that concentrated more on ‘life skills’. But this year I’m not doing any… I hate school with a passion! It’s not that I’m not bright or anything it’s more the whole if I’m not interested don’t waste your time and maybe some attention span problems. I’m even crap in biology apart from A&P were I got the best mark in the class and I’m sort of the teacher in health lol. Reason I ask is quiet stupid really. I worked at an event were my troop was called to a trauma patient medical related. We transported to the field/event/onsite hospital. I got to stand in the corner watching all the professors doen there stuff. They all know I’m the cadet, wana be IC paramedic so they rub it in as much as they can lol. This dude turns round and goes “Timmy I wanted you to tell me how much fluid this gentleman needs based on his weight” then I had to work out how much of this drug he needed (I forget the name) based on how much fluid was going in. I stood there with my jaw on the floor, my mind blank and I gave him the weirdest look. He laughed then the nurse showed me how to work it out but I still wouldn’t have any idea… It kinda makes you feel bad when you’re put in a situation like that… I shall brush up on my basic algebra skills!

Algebra :shock: :shock: :shock:

Stupid question but how big of a part does Math play in EMS? Like if someone wasn’t at all academic at Math should they consider a career as a paramedic?

YES! I have been assaulted by KTM Man at MX, a drunken dude in a gummy bear outfit at rodeo and a kid in a cow suit at a local agricultural show! They all thought I was funny to run up and hug the kid in the ambulance uniform! Then we have the serious assaults. Mum and I attended a teenage boy who had been involved in an assault; we were called to him by his friends. Upon arrival everyone seemed nice enough just concerned about there friend who was pretty beat up, then out steps this larger chap who tells us to go away (slightly more irate) he then pushes mum over, takes a swing at me and got one of his mates right in the mouth. Anyway it turned into an all in brawl, luckily mum and I were able to get away and hide behind the ice cream van with the security lady lol… This individual is now in jouvy! Another time was at a concert, I was standing at the edge of the mosh pit. This gang of homosexual Italians (no offense to anyone) come over and said they wanted to wear my ambulance vest, one guy grabbed my in an extremely inappropriate manner, I backed off and bumped into another guy who started pulling at the vest. If it wasn’t for the security guy things could have turned out a lot worse! Oh and I’ve been punched in the stomach by an 11 year old, but that doesn’t count lol

Happy Birthday!

Were having a lot of trouble here with the 02 up at the bushfires. The temp is often about 45 Degrees (113 F) were up in the mountains so the heat from the fire + temperature + being up so high which altered air pressure doesn’t make having 02 very safe, which is kinda a bummer considering you have a firey go down with SOB or sever Resp distress and you’ve gotta drive about 15 mins from the fire front back to the staging area just to put them on 02. I think they’ve had a few cylinders go off so far and one went straight throw the roof of the truck… Also the instant ice packs and Ventolin explode.

Well before we fly off the handle here, I shall elaborate on what I meant by recognition. Number one it’s true that you don’t get a certificate but also you don’t have any practical exposure and I find it better if you’ve got someone like a teacher to fall back on with a bit of face to face interaction with the people who know best, not just a computer screen. I did an online/correspondence course to get my Diploma of Psychology and also a Diploma of sports nutrition, which I’ve been chipping away at over the past few school holidays. I found even though I now have Certificates for it, I still wouldn’t have a clue… If you get stuck there’s no one there to help you apart from a book,the net and unfortunately mum couldn't help me out with anticathexis or homeodynamic principles... And I know this is going to sound really arrogant, but for someone like me who wants to get into uni and isn’t really that good academically wise I’m going to need all the recognition and certificates I can earn! Although you can’t beat good old practical exposure!

I agree! The little takers love being all bandaged up and stretcher round, as long as they can have a ride in the ambulance after.

Hey I’m also a MX EMT… As far as concussions goes I wouldn’t imagine there’d be a lot of assessments (at a basic level) apart from doing a GCS, Neuro Obs and asking a few questions, generally the ‘I don’t know were I am’ part gives it away. If my rider has LOC their collared and boarded. Any rider that displays sings of concussion is transported to the nearest hospital by ambulance for a 2 hour observation. I tend not to asses what level of concussion they have, they’ve either got concussion or they haven’t. At MX I’ll do a basic assessment then if it’s needed or I’m not sure I’ll call for a paramedic transport. I’m not a massive fan of online courses mostly because in Australia there’s no point in doing one because there not recognized.