Richard B the EMT

Lets leave the girls/men thing be. I still cry sometimes, when I think about specific items from 2 of the 4 plane crashes I've responded to (Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, 1975 with 113 souls killed, and American Airlines Flight 587, 2001, with 260 souls aboard, and an additional 5 of my neighbors on the ground killed). (587, had it crashed a half mile further west, might have landed on top of MY house, FYI.)

Just mentioning this person as a sloppy EMT. Delayed on scene (live patients, here), we're supposed to take another set of vitals every set number of minutes. As senior tech (unofficial title, just I'd already been an EMT longer than he's been breathing) on my ambulance, requested, then ordered him to run and document a new set, and he outright refused me. Another time, outside an ER, caught him deliberately trying to harass an EDP patient (no NYPD with the crew) into swinging on him. I ran and got hospital security to step in. Still have no idea how he made Fire Fighter. MUST have been legacy of being in a department family, Least he won't be handling patients.

Mike, that was a lot of information at one shot. Just take your time reading it again. Sherry, perhaps next time in smaller bites, more paragraphs? Just saying...

Same words, different meanings. You say "Mobile Emergency Response Unit", and I thought "Major Incident Response Vehicle", MIRV for short, of which the FDNY EMS Command has one for each of the five counties comprising New York City. They're kind of Emergency Rooms on wheels, able to take active care of up to 6 patients at a time, with no discrimination between responders and civilians for that care. On reading further, I then determined you're director of what I know as a "Third Alarm Response" unit, doing true scene rehabilitation of and for responders. We just have coffee, tea and lemonade from the Red Cross or Salvation Army vans, or FDNY "RAC" units (I don't know what the initials stand for). One of these days, FDNY will, hopefully, activate a field rehab unit, operating much as you've described. A final thought: WELCOME to the City!

My information may be outdated by over 30 years, but I had been advised while NREMT was offered in New York State, NYS DoH didn't accept NREMT from outside NYS.

I don't know who wrote this, as I've heard it from many sources claiming authorship, but remaining unemotional, at least in front of the patient and/or family, is one test of "Professionalism on the job". I want to tell you lies... I want to tell that little boy his Mom will be just fine I want to tell that dad we got his daughter out in time I want to tell that wife her husband will be home tonight I do not want to tell it like it is, I want to tell them lies You did not put their seat belts on, you feel you killed your kids I want to say you did not ... but in a way, you did You pound your fists into my chest, you are hurting so inside I want to say you will be OK, I want to tell you lies You left chemicals within his reach and now it's in his eyes I want to say your son will see, not tell you he'll be blind You ask me if he will be OK, with pleading in your eyes I want to say that yes he will, I want to tell you lies I can see you are crying as your life goes up in smoke If you would maintained that smoke alarm, your children may have woke Do not grab my arm and ask me if your family is alive Do not make me tell you they are all dead, I want to tell you lies I want to say she will be OK, you didn't take her life I hear you say you love her and you'd never hurt your wife You thought you did not drink too much, you thought that you could drive I do not want to say how wrong you were, I want to tell you lies You only left her for a moment, it happens all the time How could she have fell from there? You thought she could not climb I want to say her necks not broke, that she will be just fine I do not want to say she is paralyzed, I want to tell you lies I want to tell this teen his buddies did not die in vain Because he thought that it'd be cool to try to beat that train I do not want to tell him this will haunt him all his life I want to say that he'll forget, I want to tell him lies You left the cabinet open and your daughter found the gun Now you want me to undo the damage thats been done You tell me she is your only child, you say she is only five I do not want to say she wont see six, I want to tell you lies He fell into the pool when you just went to grab the phone It was only for a second that you left him there alone If you let the damn phone ring perhaps your boy would be alive But I do not want to tell you that, I want to tell you lies The fact that you were speeding caused that car to overturn And we could not get them out of there before the whole thing burned Did they suffer? Yes, they suffered, as they slowly burned alive But I don't want to say those words, I want to tell you lies But I have to tell it like it is, until my shift is through And then the real lies begin, when I come home to you, You ask me how my day was, and I say it was just fine I hope you understand, sometimes, I have to tell you lies

Policy used to be a dead person was transported if in public view, not transported if in, say, a private residence outside of any public view. I am uncertain if the policy remains as such. Remember one "transport" going directly to the Queens County, NYC NY, morgue. Deceased female allegedly asked someone in walkup apartment building stairwell to lower the volume on the boom box, the denial of request being a fatal GSW. Another crew "pronounced", and went available status, When the CSIs released the scene, my unit was assigned. My partner and I used the "Scoop" to get her off the stairs, and onto the stretcher, which had a body bag pre-positioned by us on it. Policy had it so, transport of a DOA was the only call where the tech riding "shotgun" didn't have to ride in the back with the "patient", but my partner on that call, a strange person who openly stated he was using FDNY EMS as a stepping stone to being a fire fighter (also claimed to be a Fire Chief's son), decided to ride in the back. While he was within his rights to do so, everyone at my station used it as yet another reason to dislike the guy.

Just one long timers opinion, but I felt stressed more with the IFT (Inter Facility Transfer) services, as due to many patients behavior, usually nasty, secondary to their illnesses and/or injuries, and that they were, due to necessity of treatment, automatic Frequent Flyers. In 9-1-1 mode, it seems the frequent flyers get kind of chummy with you. I've seen pictures of some of their grandkids!

On Wednesday, we had the wheelchair ramp finally installed, nice aluminum one. Friday, Mom was taken in her chair to the lawn by the home care aides, where she spent about an hour. They told me she enjoyed it immensely. She has not been outside from when she came home March 11. Now, we can access the ambulette services without bumping up or down the front steps. Also, I have to attempt to set up the Pagoda tent. I think I damaged it when taking it down after the block party. Oh, well, it was only $30.00 at Waldbaums. Hope all are in good health. Richard B, the EMT

As we've noted so many times, I'm in NYC, and have NYPD usually close by to secure a weapon. I could only suggest putting a holstered weapon into the locking compartment, and await the LEOs at hospital to secure the weapon for the patient, although I admit that might not be practical, either.

How did we get from an injury that has potential to end a career, or just drag on until returning to work, and a concept expressed to the POTUS that resulted in the "Manhattan Project", which itself resulted in 2 suddenly missing Japanese cities? Wow. We are all over the map.

Mark Twain. Ever notice that the published survey always sees things in favor of whoever paid for the survey? Just sayin'.

Baby steps first, the marathon a bit later.

Bin Ladin was on the cover of one of the national magazines. The theory as to why, was either dartboard or urinal "targets". My opinion? Publish the story, but not give the front page picture treatment. This is after recently being at a short seminar on how, in some societies within the mideast, family and friends throw celebratory parties to honor suicide bombers, complete to babies and toddlers being dressed in simulated IED bomb vests.

Nassau or Suffolk? Which town? Welcome aboard, from Belle Harbor, Rockaway Peninsula, Queens County, NYC NY. By the way, that welcome is to all who are new here. I'm not new here, I'm no lurker, but choosy as to what postings I either respond to or initiate. While I am not a monitor, I suggest to all to keep it friendly. If you disagree with a posting, state why, not using phrasing like "you're wrong because you're a dummy", but with specific reasoning as to why you feel the other poster is incorrect. Remember that what may be second nature for you as an abbreviation may not make sense to someone from a different jurisdiction. Spell it out, then use the abbreviation. We in the city come from all over the US, Canada, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. Policies and protocols will differ, even with the simple crossing of a county line. A-EMTs in Nassau County can start IVs, but if they cross the line into Queens, another county in New York State, A-EMT is nonexistent, and they revert to being EMT-Bs, who by NY State DoH (Department of Health) rules and regulations, cannot even transport patients on IVs (yeah, to quote Dickens' Mister Macawber, "The Law Is a ASS!). This is an extreme, as there's one Volunteer Fire and Ambulance about 200 yards from that border. (Notice I follow my own suggestions, translating "DoH" as I did.)

Must be my system, refuses to play it.

I thought time zones were hourly divides, One and a half hours? off by 30 minutes? Sounds a bit strange to me, but then, the state of Arizona doesn't do "Daylight Savings Time".

I'm determined, he's stubborn. I shed tears of joy, she's emotional. I have game plans, he's bossy. All in perspective, right, folks?

Sounds a bit like Denzel Washington in "Philadelphia" : "Please explain that to me as if I were a 5 year old child?"

Just a mention, even before the analgesics and blood thinners, I bruised easily.

...and so what I didn't want to happen, has started.

Now youze guyz are scaring ME! 1997, I had a torn meniscus, reduced LAZER Arthroscopic surgery, and re-injured 2 more times, no surgery. 2009, I threw my back out (again), and ended up working in the department's Bureau of Health Services. While there, the pain in both knees started. So did my using a cane to get around (distance or unknown or uneven terrain), and taking one Aleve tab a day. On days when I knew I'd be exerting the knees, 2 tabs (label says no more than 3 in a 24 hour period). I'm keeping track of bloody or tar-like stools. Ain't had any...so far. Keeping tight with my PCMD

CheekyEMT, I hope you feel better and recover sooner instead of later. I'm medically retired from the Fire Department of New York (City) Emergency Medical Service Command for almost 3 years now, and continue missing seeing the world through the big picture window with the steering wheel in front of it. Look at it this way: You're now in a Broadway show, or at least your leg is in a cast. (We know you're out there, we can hear ya breathing, LOL) Please update me. What is/are "PWB" and a "CAM walker"?

After 9-11, there was a rally at Madison Square Garden, where an FDNY Fire Fighter said, during a live broadcast of the event, that Osama BenLadin could kiss his ass (cleaned up for my posting here). The FF was a Rockaway resident, possibly from Belle Harbor. The conspiracy theorists say that the crash was staged to hit where the FF lived. Law enforcement says that eyewitness reports are notorious for inaccuracies. Due to how the plane fell out of the sky, some of the eyewitnesses say the plane appeared to back up in midair, to fall on Beach 131st Street and Newport Avenue. My theory? I have vague memories of reports of Airbus 300 series planes having control issues, where even the slightest movement of controls in the cockpit resulted in the control surfaces moving to the maximum of it's movement. Therefore, when Captain Mullins attempted to get out of the turbulence from the JAL 747 ahead of it, it resulted in the over-steering, the Captain's reaction to the over-steering being another over-steering in the other direction, which stressed the tail fin to the point of snapping off. I believe the composite material of the tail fin should have been designed to take the stresses, and the over-controlling issues addressed while the plane was still in the prototype stage. By the way, a few months after the Flight 800 crash, an Egypt Air plane captain reported someone had fired some kind of a surface to air missile at him moments after takeoff from JFK, stating the missile's propellant was showing as a blue flame. I think I saw the flame from miles off, while driving with my girlfriend on a back road inside the Fort Tilden section of Gateway National Recreation Area. I also accept the offered explanation of the "flame" being a meteorite burning up on atmospheric entry.

The usual ones. Dog walkers, joggers, folks driving, all stopping to look at an aircraft in apparent distress, then in definite distress.