Richard B the EMT

Must be the same crowd that tells any and all to take an enema, and pray, to cure all, that always give nonrequested "advice" to my girlfriend.

Some swear by hypnosis. I only mention it, I have not gone for my own assorted aches and pains.

Has the one I PMed you about been reset?

I dislike being befuddled, so help me out, here. What, or where, is NEPA, that you are from there? Anyway, welcome to the madness!

Not to mention I accidently gave someone a demerit on that, as I had no idea what it was.

The "Gulf Flu", if I recall correctly? Or similar name?

OK, I have not yet had my regular flu shot, but how can being dead make your immune system stronger? Oh, yeah, you cannot get "dead-er".

Probably. Especially when others try to correct the messes he is going to create, like the already displayed walk away from the guy given the unneeded Versed shot.

Oh, and another thing... Kevinbutnotbacon accuses me, after being notified of the assignment, delayed responding to set up taping a TV show, which he berates me for doing? I just found a posting on another string where he states that EMS in the UK ENCOURAGES the use of drugs by on duty personnel! At least we now know he is a complete fool, on both sides of the Atlantic ocean, as he now attacks his UK brethren, making them out to be "druggies". As he has, as of this posting, only 12 posts, perhaps they (UK members of EMT City) already gave him the beating he has been asking for, and gave it to him in extremis! (We can only hope). That, or his own drug habit(s) is causing his delusions of EMS superiority? Hopefully, at this time, we can resume the discussion this string was originally about, with my apologies to the OP for hijacking it, as it has been?

Contact the Red Cross, or American Heart Association, and ask them where they get theirs.

Just throwing into the mix, that I live just outside the Riis Park/Fort Tilden section of the Gateway National Recreational Area, which is a part of the National Parks actually within the confines (mostly) of the City of New York. Due to scheduling problems, I'll have to wait until they rebroadcast it sometimes in the future.

I just did a mental review, and have come to the conclusion that there is NO motor vehicle that doesn't have some kind of "Blind Spot" directly in front of it. The hood and front bumper will always obscure it, to some degree.

1) When I got paged out during that finale episode of M*A*S*H, and in the re-telecast several months later I had NO thought of delaying my departure to handle the call, I just grabbed my coat, and headed out the door. I do admit, as many have done in similar situations, and will do in the future under similar circumstance, I did curse out the "EMS Gods"! (Side note here: That was an inter facility transfer service I then was then working for.) 2) Don't start that "Colonial" male bovine excrement with us! While we might have been late to the party, YOUR military needed our help in both World Wars. I'll let Dust Devil whip your sorry butt on that, as I consider him our military expert. 3) I refer to Lone Star's reference that 4) I also have been vocal, on the string concerning the UK Paramedic that, in order to get off work on time, drove back to his base/station/garage (one of them, anyway) WITH A CRITICAL PATIENT ON BOARD, instead of transporting to an appropriate Emergency Room. Precision, indeed!

Sorry, criminality is not humerous! I have always maintained that a "Joke" is not funny when someone is either hurt physically, emotionally, or fiancially. This person should be tried as some kind of urban terrorist, as he caused terror of the store's employees, as well as the distruction of property.

Herbie1 don't know me wewwy well, do he? I specialize in jokes that are groaners, or so old, the first person hearing them fell off his triceratops laughing.

1) NYPD Aviation sometimes does Medivac flights. They have no on board medical personnel, so they would "borrow" an EMT or Paramedic from a ground EMS crew to fly with their patient. 2) As I forget his on line name here at EMT City, I reprint an article here, quoting our own Devin Kerins: Truth's a casualty on NBC's 'Trauma,' say emergency medical professionals By Richard Huff DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR Wednesday, September 30th 2009, 4:00 AM Anastasia Griffith plays a knockout of a paramedic, but NBC's 'Trauma' flatlines with the facts. NBC's new drama "Trauma" launched Monday, and for a select audience - real emergency medical services professionals - the show was a comedy. Unintentionally. It was so bad that anyone with the most basic EMS training would hope none of these characters ever has to save a real life. "I have never gone from 0 to 60 with hatred so fast in my life," wrote Devin Kerins, a paramedic and the author of "EMS: The Job of Your Life," on his Facebook page. He wasn't alone. "Trauma" follows a team of San Francisco paramedics. The show started with two of them having sex in an ambulance, and then the episode rushed into a multi-vehicle crash on a highway, complete with heroics and explosions. "If you're gonna have sex in the ambulance, would you do it in the middle of a major street in broad daylight?" Kerins asked. He's got a point. And that was just one of the sillier aspects that took place in the first episode. Full disclosure: I am an emergency medical technician and the chief of an award-winning New Jersey first aid squad. And before the naysayers say hey, it's just TV - stop. They're right, it is entertainment, not a documentary. But wouldn't it be just as easy to get the facts right as wrong? Characters on "Trauma" repeatedly did dumb stuff. CPR was performed poorly, and one character, unbelievably, stuck around the hospital to find the name of a John Doe who died at the scene. Wouldn't the morgue have been a better place? At one point, a medic hit on a pretty blond victim with her arm in a sling. "That hurts. That means it's broken," he said in a groan-inducing moment. "You've just become a priority." He got her onto a helicopter - a vehicle used to transport only the most serious victims - prompting one of the pilots to say, "I never knew I was flying for Booty Call Airways." People who work in any profession often find flaws in TV characters, but this one was bad. It was like having newspaper reporters on TV write stories with crayons. "I think they forget," FDNY paramedic Yahki Langford said Tuesday, "especially with the first episode, there will be a lot of EMS people critiquing their every move." No doubt some were. Whether they come back next week is another question. Asked Kerins, "Is it physically possible for a TV series to 'jump the shark' before the first commercial break?" rhuff@nydailynews.com

One time, I ran over myself. I was carrying some envelopes to mail, and asked my partner of he'd run across the street to drop them into the Postal Box on the corner. He declined. So, I ran over, myself. Gotcha!

With all the interrupted and missed meals we have on the ambulances? Your decision, friend.

After explaining any and all possible bad outcomes for refusing immobilization, and having this bolstered by your On Line Medical Control Doctor speaking to them, a field supervisor doing likewise, and hopefully with further backing by a LEO supervisor, if the patient still refuses immobilization, GET A SIGNATURE ON THE CALL REPORT FROM THE PATIENT that they accept whatever the explained risks of not being immobilized. Then, as many have said on this site before, and will say again in the future, "document, Document, DOCUMENT" everything you can of the patient's condition, the explanations of bad outcome, and their responses to the explanations. Even having done all this, there is always the possibility the patient, or the patient's family, suing your service, and you. The documentation from your call report, should this come to pass, will be your best friend in your defense.

Someone mentioned having sex in the hose bed of an engine company? The only time I recall that type of depiction was in "Backdraft". With apologies to EMT City's Mr Spock, James Kirk had the Vulcan, Spock, and Doctor McCoy, to counter his "Cowboy" attitude on Star Trek. Unless they have someone do that for Rabbit, the character is going to end up in the biggest court case this side of OJ Simpson. Rabbit is the craziest nut case off meds character since H M "Howling Mad" Murdock on "The 'A' Team", who, if you recall, was also a helicopter pilot. On real life versus "Reel" life, aside from the worst depiction, already mentioned, of the performance of CPR, before the helo crash, they hyperventilated the patient. The current protocols, at least here in New York State, say never to hyperventilate, but the depiction was supposed to have been a year ago, before the new American Heart Association's protocol was activated. Perhaps we DO have the biggest error of a depiction of EMS since "Rescue 77", from where comes the aforementioned Defib while doing a handstand on the paddles in a water filled tunnel, or "Hatter" driving the "Sidewalk Shuffle" while Lou Ferrigno acted as a human Hurst Jaws of Life, in the late 1980s or early 1990s show, "Trauma Center".

Lone Star, thank you for coming to my defense. kevbutnobacon, I ran the calls. No time to set up the VCR, no TiVO available, I was needed, and I responded. Never accuse me, or anyone, of shirking their duty, unless you have documentation proving otherwise. Also, make sure you never do it on the EMT City. I may have only met one other member of the City in person (and he was assigned my partner for a while at FDNY EMS Station 47), but through my words, I have a bunch of friends here, and I am their friend too. The only time I hang my head in shame, is when I get judged by those who don't have a clue as to what I do, who judge me for the actions of someone who DID screw the pup in mine or another's department, or by association of that EMT patch I wear on my uniform's right shoulder. I won't state I never made a mistake. I have, and been reprimanded, or retrained as was needed, for the transgression, over the years from when I started in any EMS capacity in 1973, at age 19. kevbutnobacon, how many years have you been in the EMS system? There are maybe 20 people in EMT City with as many years service as I do, and I don't think any of us 20 have completely clear records, but we admitted our mistakes, took our lumps, and moved on.

As witness by the opening credits of the old "Hill Street Blues" show, this potentially could happen to the LEOs also. For those not old enough, the opening is a garage door flying open, and the Radio Motor Patrol car (Cruiser, in other locales) blasts out of the garage under full lights and siren.

Thanks, Lone Star.

Joseph, where in the article, which I have now reread a few times, does it say the person in the private car involved in this mess was responding to anything? What I saw written here was a totally private car almost hit by either a fire apparatus and/or an ambulance, and was a civilian who, through no fault of their own, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter which way the investigation goes, the chiefs of both departments should call a joint meeting of all members of both agencies, moderated by the vehicle safety officers from both agencies, and the local LEOs, too. Get everyone on the same page regarding the safety of all on the roads. This is yet another time I refer to New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law #1104, which probably has equivelant laws in EVERYBODY'S jurisdictions, to drive with due regard to any and all other traffic on the road.

The crashed "copter", per the news line, was the same type "copter", not the same actual aircraft. I extend my own condolences to the deceased personnel's families, and the extended family of the agency members.