ericenglund

I'm no pansie, but I'd bet my odds are better trying to get the hell out as fast I can, rather than stay in a house and have a gun battle.

I consider 99% of the people I know faaar too ignorant to "grade" a hospital. Myself included. Throw in the bias nonsense like someone mentioned earlier ("My peas were soggy and they didnt tell me what was wrong with my toenail"), and you have a mess. It'd be like me grading an essay..written in german(I don't speak german.)

Ok. When I am on the Engine I am the only firefighter/paramedic on that engine. The rest is firefighter/ (virginia) Emt-Enhanced. When I am on medic, i am the only paramedic. my partner is an emt-enhanced and i do 100% of the ALS transports, obviously. My department has maybe 400-500 members and maybe 80 of which hold an EMT-I or EMT-P Cert. What about my skill competency(since I can only speak for myself, unlike some people here) Thanks!

and then you called me ignorant? You're ridiculous. You do know there are fire departments out there that staff ambulances as well -- great many of them. At least half of my time is spent on what I consider a busy medic (~3000 911 calls per year, so don't count your dialysis transports). The other half is spent as the ALS provider on a busy Engine doing what we all know 75%(generous number, probably more) of the job is. I like to think I have the required intelligence to do both aspects of my job beyond proficiently, sorry you can't even understand that concept. Ignorance is bliss.

I was referring to sending the engine with the medic. Obviously you need an ambulance at an EMS call. I'm saying an Engine, especially, with EMS trained personell would be a waste sitting a block away from a medical call when the medic is possibly responding from farther away. You never know how many hands you need. I don't know about you but I only have two.

Most fire department missions are something along the lines of life/property conservation. The call volume may have gone full circle(more fire, less EMS to more EMS, more fire), but the mission is the same. I agree a smaller vehicle would be probably more logical. However, that would require buying/maintaining the vehicle and staffing it with a provider 24/7. Where as the Engine(or ladder, whatever) has obviously already been purchased and staffed. EMS is not staffed to be able to provide the same response time as fire because I'm assuming Boston ambulances(along with the rest of the nation's) are held up at the hospital waiting for a bed for their stubbed toe patient or other nonsense BLS cab-ride to the patients PCP(The ER MD). I can see the argument for police trained as EMS providers, but I don't ever see that happening except for a few very small exceptions. Dual response needs to be monitored by either dispatch trained accordingly, or the pieces themselves. I know when I'm doing my shift on the ambulance and the engine is dispatched with me and I don't see it neccessary, I'll cancel them before either of us go en route.

and if you read the article, it says they made it to the scene(ahead of the ambulance, by the way) and as they were leaving the scene, the brakes failed. I'd be willing to bet the fact that this was an EMS call vs. a Fire call had nothing to do with the brake failure. At least it wasn't on the way to the grocery store. Say the difficulty breathing is 400lbs on the 2nd(or 3rd) floor. Or he's in cardiac arrest by the time you get there. Extra hands are nice. should you tie up an addictional ambulance thats probably even farther away than the first one, or send the fire engine from down the street?

Perhaps it's your grandfather having the CHF exaccerbation, or whatever breathing problem we're referring to. The ambulance has a 12-15 minute response time, and the fire piece(engine, ladder, whatever) has a 2-3 minute response time. Sounds good. Now lets say the Engine has a firefighter/paramedic in the jump seat, and a monitor/drug box/cpap/ all that nice ALS stuff on board. Sound like a bad idea sending the fire engine to the EMS call?

Ignorant

28 years old 10/10 abdominal pain that comes and goes(can anyone say contractions) Urge to urinate G5P5 "I can't be pregnant, I had one less than a year ago." (a little ignorance?) This should have been pretty obvious, letting her sit on the toilet may not have been the wisest of things. At least we played catch and saved face.

Any time I come into contact with a renal patient, I ask when they last went to dialysis. I've had a call very similar to this, 50something female at home, couldn't get out of bed due to weakness. Asked about hx. she stated renal failure and that she had missed her last 3 dialysis visits due to the busy holiday season. :shock: Horrible looking ECG, gargantuan T waves. Did you see peaked T waves on the 3 lead?

Hypoglycemia secondary to sepsis from drinking the water in Mexico? Aggressive airway management, dextrose, fluids, 02, IV, monitor, turn over to ED RN. My .02.

He's faking it. D10, why not. See what that does for his LOC. We should also be worrying about the 200+ heart rate.

And did the parents notice any seizure activity at all?

Glucometry, anyone? Easy rule out, as stated above. Follow ACLS/PALS "Seek expert consultation." I'd be on the radio with a doc.