Richard B the EMT

I have 3 suggestions. One, check with the infection control officer, team, or committee at your local hospital, two, try your state's Workman's Compensation Board, or three, work the phone book for Workman's Compensation lawyers or agents. Someone is going to be able to help.

Congressman "Bluto" Blutarsky made it.

AMI brought on by Novocaine injection? (Sticking to my guns!)

You can't, which was why the old NYC EMD had the call takers always call the caller "Caller".

My mother is one of many who exhibits an elevated HR and BP when given a Novocaine shot. Perhaps this might be a contributing factor in that death?

Allegedly, Rodney Dangerfield said

I will have to get back to you on that one, but I think the NYS DoH Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (BEMS) will review, on a case by case, any applicants with a felony conviction. Personal opinion is, "No" for new applicants, and "review" for refresher, but I'll advise what Ed Wronsky (Head of BEMS) writes back.

OUCH! I shoulda seen that one coming a mile off! Art Carney as Ed Norton

Sounds like a nice idea for crews working night time assignments in the streets (as opposed to inside or on sidewalks) where the vehicle traffic is not closed off, for whatever reason.

My way is, if the patient seems to be one who is no longer a minor, they are "Sir" or "Miss". On judgement calls, that becomes "Missus". then I ask how they would like to be addressed, and use that form of address.

I mentioned the pilot has final decision as to fly, dependant on known obstructions, weather, and other stuff that I, as a non-pilot, am unaware of. I am aware of one call, within my jurisdiction, and with paramedics who are now my supervisors (as lieutenants), where flying a smoke inhalation patient to a recompression chamber, the weather deteriorated so much, and so quickly, the pilot landed the helo, the Paramedic accompanying the patient put in a request for his partner to respond to the LZ (which the partner did, unsurprisingly very quickly), and the rest of the transfer was done on the ground. The time, flying, would have been perhaps 10 minutes, but by the ground ambulance was only 45 or 50 minutes, and the patient had a non deficit full recovery.

For whatever it may be worth, I have had letters published in both Ann Landers and Dear Abbey. Also, JEMS, Popular Science, Long Island Newsday, Popular Communications, and won a captioning the cartoon contest, in, of all places, the NAEMT Newsletter.

Please God, I’m only 17 The day I died was an ordinary school day. How I wish I had taken the bus! But I was too cool for the bus. I remembered how I wheedled the car out of Mom. “Special favor,” I pleaded, “all the kids drive.” When the 2:50 bell rang, I threw all my books in the locker. I was free until 8:40 tomorrow morning! I ran to the parking lot, excited at the thought of driving a car and being my own boss. FREE! It doesn’t matter how the accident happened. I was goofing off -- going too fast. Taking crazy chances. But I was enjoying my freedom and having fun. The last thing I remember was passing an old lady who seemed to be going awfully slow. I heard the deafening crash and felt a terrific jolt. Glass and steel flew everywhere. My whole body seemed to be turning inside out. I heard myself scream. Suddenly, I awakened; it was very quiet. A police officer was standing over me. Then I saw a doctor. My body was mangled; I was saturated with blood. Pieces of jagged glass were sticking out all over. Strange that I couldn’t feel anything. Hey, don’t pull that sheet over my head. I can’t be dead. I’m only 17; I’ve got a date tonight. I am supposed to grow up and have a wonderful life. I haven’t lived yet. I can’t be dead. Later I was placed in a drawer. My parents had to identify me. Why did they have to see me like this? Why did I have to look at Mom’s face when she faced the most terrible ordeal of her life? Dad suddenly looked like an old man. He told the man in charge, "Yes, he is my son." The funeral was a weird experience. I saw all my relatives and friends walk toward the casket. They passed by, one by one, and looked at me with the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen. Some of my buddies were crying. A few of the girls touched my hand and sobbed as they walked away. Please...somebody...wake me up! Get me out of here. I can’t bear to see my Mom and Dad so broken up. My grandparents are so racked with grief they can barely walk. My brother and sisters are like zombies. They move like robots. In a daze, everybody! No one can believe this. I can’t believe it either. Please don’t bury me! I’m not dead! I have a lot of living to do! I want to laugh and run again; I want too sing and dance. Please don’t put me in the ground. I promise if you give me just one more chance, God, I’ll be the most careful driver in the whole world. All I want is one more chance. Please God, I’m only seventeen. This letter originally appeared in a column by Ann Landers

Semantics: My system would have entered the call into the system as either a "STAB" or either an "INJ" (Injury) or a "INJMAJ" (Injury Major) calltype. I saw no mention of guesswork on how much blood was openly lost, and if I didn't see someone mention a lung sound assessment, I apologize. If there's obvious heavy blood loss, or the lungs sound "wet", or if the patient appears to be in extremis, it's an ALS call. Any way you slice it (pun unintended), it is a call going to the Trauma Center

That is why we learned the KEDs and IDEAs (Kendricks Extrication Device and Iron Duck Extrication Appliance), it was with padding at the groin on both sexes.

Don't pull a David Blaine, you had better be there for the entire time allotment.

So ask them to do the "V" cut, I'm sure they'll comply. But... Aren't we hijacking the thread...AGAIN? (I'm guilty of that...AGAIN)

As for the Subway Sandwich Shops, I prefer them over Quizzno's! Good luck in your EMS endeavors.

The viewpoint of the FDNY is to get someone there to start some kind of help for the patient. As for our "3 tier" system, the EMTs and Paramedics are usually from the FDNY, even if we are not cross-trained fire fighters. The situation from my EMS station is, my 4 BLS, and 2 ALS units, are from the same "House", as is one of the 6 CFR-D Engine companies that might be assigned to a call within the response district.

Someone beat me in with the cardiac dysrhythmia due to the blow to the chest. I know the pre-cardial thump, but don't want to hijack the string with what I have as it's history.

*********Correction************* I just was told by a Helicopter "Rotor-Head" the helicopters are not 244s, they are 412s. My Rotor-Head is going to some helicopter buff show in PA in a few weekends.

Here, I know I am repeating myself from other strings in the past. When a Medivac flight is requested in New York City, first, remember that ground ambulances have the luxury of being usually no more than 15 minutes from the nearest ER. With only one exception that I know about, Medivac flights almost never take place from the scene of the incident to the ER. When the request is made, from the FDNY EMS side, it has to be from an ER that's crew feels the patient needs some specialty they cannot do, and usually have contacted the hospital that does do the spoecailty. Next, the request needs to be approved by the FDNY EMS EMD "tour commander" after approval by OLMC that the patient can and would benefit by going by air. Next, it has to be approved by the on duty commanding officer of NYPD Aviation's command. Final approval is the NYPD Helo pilot. If he feels, due to weather (or other contributing factors I don't know about as I am not a pilot), that he's endangering himself, the aircraft, and his observer/partner, it ain't gonna happen. If the above conditions are met, an FDNY EMS ambulance, or one under it's control via the 9-1-1 system, will bring the patient to meet the helo at the nearest helipad, and have another one on the receiving end for transport to the hospital receiving the patient. NYPD, however, has no control over other Medivac providers flying into New York City airspace. When contacted by the out of towners they're inbound, all we provide is ground transportation from one of the commercial helipads to the predetermined ER. I had to explain all that to the Chief of Operations of my own VAC, when he tried to tell me tales of grandeur, of ordering up a landing of a helo on top of apartment buildings for an emergency patient evacuation of a patient from those buildings. He's a Chief, hence, he could do it, dispite my telling him it was a "No Can Do" Situation, and as someone then working in the EMD who knows the rules. Is there a level of "ParaGod" for EMTs who are also suffering from Munchausen's Syndrome while in a Chief's capacity? This is also NOT taking into account if the building's roof could hold the weight of a Textron-Bell 244 Jet Long-Ranger landing on it.

Actually, and regrettably, don't discount the possibility. In my service district, the gang-bangers seem to miss their targets, and hit an innocent person down the street, or across the park, more times than not.

One time, I took a test, and someone used a mirror to copy off of me. He got everything backwards. I scored a 94, he got a 49. LOL

The "speed sequences" of the Airwolf flying were actually a 2 foot long remote control model of a Textron-Bell 222 Jet Helicopter, the same basic airframe used for the cinematic Airwolf. I apologize for taking this so far off the original subject.