Richard B the EMT

Denise, crying is not a sign of weakness. I used to have a partner, one of the meanest acting MoFos going, one of those guys nothing seemed to phase. However, due to something in his personal background, which I didn't find out until over a year after he upped and quit, I didn't realize, at first, every time we had a possibly abused child as a patient, he wasn't at work the next tour. He was at the FDNY EMS' EAP (Emergency Assistance Program), getting council at his own request. Turned out HE was an abused child, and he had trouble dealing civilly with the alleged perpetrators of such actions on others. OK, perhaps that was apples and oranges. The world knows how badly shook up everyone here in NYC was following the September 11th Attack, and then, 2 months later, we had the American Airlines Flight 587 crash in my neighborhood. I needed to talk to someone, and the department helped me get it. Also, if they had been unable to provide it, I have a rider on my medical insurance policy that would cover it, even if it had not been due to the attack or the plane crash. Please. Seek help. If you don't "click" with the therapist, go to a different one. Don't feel that this is make you a lesser person. Anyone who implies otherwise is a fool, and should be ignored. This is your mental health we are talking about, so take care of yourself, for yourself.

From general reading, and there is big time room for error here on my part, if someone doesn't take their meds for a condition, like bipolar, it could be the meds, good as they might be for treating the condition, cause other things observed by the patient, that the patient doesn't like. For an example, a female feels that taking certain meds make her look bloated, even if they don't. Another possibility is, a person who is musically creative when off the meds, but the meds block that creativity when properly taken. Meds can be adjusted, or changed. Meds cannot help if they are not taken. FDNY offers an Emergency Assistance Program (EAP) which the type has been mentioned in this string. While it is probably a good idea to pre screen potential employees, if the condition starts after employment, I would hope that the involved department would place the employee on some kind of medical leave, either time chargeable or non time chargeable, until the patient can be either analyzed or medicated back to functional normalcy. If that means the patient might fly a desk for a while, so be it, as long as they understand it is supposed to be temporary, until they are better. No time limit, as there is no "cookie cutter" formula to work here. While I understand the principals of PTSD and CISD a bit, and know some here disagree with their effectiveness, it should be offered, if available, to the patient. Now, I'll play "Devil's Advocate," and mention that someone might feel like filing a lawsuit against the employer for the firing under these circumstances, using the "Americans with Disabilities" act.

Only witnessed it one time, a minor head injury to a 5 year old male. Kept repeating the same line of questions to his mother, and only faltered one time, said, "I mean..." and resumed the repetitive questioning of his mother.

Perhaps I have not been paying attention. SSM? Wazzat?

After being reminded of portions of the American Airlines Flight #587, November 12, 2001, crash in my neighborhood, by another EMT who worked the call with me, I feel obligated to mention a point of consideration: When the decision to transport the body bags of the 260 bodies (and parts) from the jet, and the 5 from the ground, to the temporary morgue at the NYPD Aviation hangar, the other EMT had a fight with the FDNY EMS Chief of Department. The Chief wanted to use the services of several Volunteer Ambulance Services that had self dispatched to the call, and my friend, who has USAF Disaster Management training, advised to only use the VAS units that had a Type One there. The Chief wanted to use all of the ambulances. My friend's figuring was, and after the fact I concur, the massive amount of "Gross Contamination" from the blood that was seeping through the body bags would be contained by the basic body design of the Type Ones, but would allow for the "Gross Contamination" in the Type Two and Three ambulances to extend to the Driver's compartments, via the "Walk Through" doorways. Figure this factor: Type Ones are easier to floor clean after the call is over.

firedoc5, was that when your twin brother forgot your birthday? lol

Responding a bit to Mateo_1387's posting, I mention the FDNY EMS uses a Computer Assisted Dispatch system. If a team has a "late call" that takes them past "quitting time," when they signal that they are completed on the call, the CAD logs them off. If a team is late with the vehicle when the next tour's team is supposed to get that vehicle, they (the next tour) are supposed to go into service with a spare vehicle at the station. There are supposed to be additional vehicles, all checked out and ready to go after specific spare equipment is placed on board. This applies to both BLS and ALS units. A quickie mention that sometimes the spare vehicle, usually an older vehicle, can sometimes be the assigned vehicle replaced by the newer one that is still with the late crew, as I used to be in vehicle #055, and now would be in 225. I'm late with the vehicle, so the next tour goes into service in #055.

I worked in several private ambulance services, none of which were a part of a 9-1-1 system. Early on in my employment in the last one, prior to going municipal EMS, we worked both ambulances and ambulettes (wheelchair coaches). "Night call", we'd either take home an ambulance, or an ambulette, and a pager. If it was an ambulette call, do the call, if an ambulance call, contact the person with the ambulance as to where to meet up, park and lock the ambulette, and the ambulette person becomes the ambulance operator for the call. One time, I had the ambulance, and got a call. The ambulette person had me meet up in a location in East Rockaway, where I had never been to prior, then had me follow him into the community of Oceanside, both in Nassau County. He took over the wheel, and then proceeded to put his foot through the radiator (read "he activated the afterburner", he went to a high speed mode), and lit up the emergency lights and siren. He also removed the radio microphone from the dashboard clip, and placed it in his lap. He frightened me with the way he drove, but I couldn't notify the dispatcher, he had the mic in his lap. I took my eyes off the road from the passenger side only for a moment, and looked at the speedometer. The speed clock said we were somewhere north of 85 MPH, in a 30 MPH zone! Either in Woodmere or Lawrence/Cedahurst, we suddenly heard another siren: a 4th precinct Nassau County Police Department cruiser, which followed us to our call at a nursing home in the Far Rockaway, Queens County, area of New York City. On arrival, he started arguing with the NCPD cop, and I got what we needed out of the back of the ambulance. We proceeded into the facility, got our patient, and returned to the ambulance. The County cop was nowhere to be seen. The call didn't even require the lights, let alone the L&S. We transported the call to the local hospital, cleared ourselves with dispatch, and my partner then drove, at posted speeds, back to the ambulette. On the way, my partner said he wanted to handle the Far Rockaway call quickly, so he could handle several ambulette calls he knew were pending in a hospital in Oceanside. I had almost gotten home, when the pager went off. I responded to it on the company radio, and heard the Assistant General Manager telling me to meet him at the NCPD 4th Precinct house. After getting instructions on how to get there, I went there, to find my partner and his ambulette already there, as well as the company car the AGM had been assigned for the evening. It turned out the cop was a long time friend of the AGM, possibly had gone to school with him. The AGM and the cop took turns reaming both my partner and me new orifices in our derrieres. It seemed my partner had almost run the officer off the road! He commented that even for an "Officer Needs Assistance" call, he wasn't allowed to go as fast as he had to go, catching up with us, and the only reason we were not already under arrest was his friendship with the AGM, whom he had called at home. The AGM told us he should have fired us on the spot, had us hand over the keys, and, even though the Nassau County Bus services had already shut down for the night, and that it was almost midnight, let us find our own ways back to our respective homes. Instead, he ordered me to take my vehicle home, advised me I was off service, and to report to the office at 7 AM the next day. My partner didn't report to work, but the ambulette was already at our office. The AGM had fired the guy, and I was on restriction for almost a month, only allowed the ambulette, and no time on the ambulance. It really didn't work. Too many other personnel somehow didn't respond to their pagers, and I still got calls. By the way, this was not an organized thing, as 2 other personnel were found to be drunk by the GENERAL Manager, when he went looking for the personnel who were not responding to their pagers, and fired THEM! I was told that the only reason I wasn't fired, was the erstwhile partner told management he had moved the mic so I couldn't advise the office what had happened. I had planned to call from my house when I got back from the crazy call, but as I had already mentioned, got paged out before I got there. PS, the company management contacted the NYS DoH, and had them lift my partner's EMT certification, so, if he worked anywhere after that, it wasn't on an ambulance.

OK, I went back and looked, then bold faced the print. It was included. I do, however, agree that anything abbreviated should have the initial abbreviation immediately after the "spelled out in full" version.

Injuries, if any, to you and the rest of your crew on this one were...?

Boston, huh? Did Charlie ever get off of that train?

We have a telephone number to call, to let them know we are leaving the house to go to a medical or physical therapy appointment, an appointment with the compensation rep or lawyer, or handling child care issues (like taking junior to or returning him from school), or going to the pharmacy for the meds needed for your care for the LODI. Then, when you return, you have to call again, to let them know you're "back in personal quarters" (my phrase, not an official one). In addition to losing the LODI "bennies" as mentioned before, you can be brought up on departmental charges, starting with "theft of time from the department". Don't laugh, an academy classmate and 2 former instructors of mine have this as a full time "gig", and that's just the ones I know about.

A friend of mine is going through a nasty divorce. I relate one sign of how nasty. 4 years ago, he gave her a cemetery plot for Christmas. 3 years ago, he didn't give her anything. she asked why. He said

Where's the sign saying

I mention in passing that the fare for one ride on a bus or subway, including one free transfer between either one bus line to another, a bus line to a subway train line, or a subway train line to a bus (if done within 2 hours of "entering the system") is only $2.00. I am told there are transit systems that charge $3.00 and up for going one way, without transfers. Therefore, I maintain that $2.00 ain't too bad.

Just on a mention, if the injury is considered a Line Of Duty Injury (LODI), in the FDNY EMS, it is no vacation. We're under "House Arrest", as we are being paid to be at our "place of recovery" from 8 AM to 4 PM, monday through friday. They do both visits and phone calls to verify that you are there during those hours and days. If you miss the phone call, say, you were in the shower, you have a problem, as did one friend of mine. She had to fight to get her benefits back, and get back on LODI (non-chargeable time), as they (the so-called "LODI Police") had put her on Medical Sick Leave (chargeable time) for "not being home when she was supposed to have been there." It took her months to do so, but she fought back, and got her sick leave time reinstated, and got, retroactively, her "bennies" (benefits) time and reimbursement for medical expenditures.

Commentary on "Candle In The Wind" by Sir Elton John: He did two versions, the original about Norma Jean Baker, better known as Marilyn Monroe, and the version you mentioned, about Princess Diana, after her death.

4 months without buying gas? Either you have incredible mileage, or good inexpensive public transportation, or total lack of parking from where you work.

Lay Down (Candles in the Rain), performed by Melanie Safka

Are you talking unleaded gasoline, diesel, "nitro", biofuel, compressed natural gas, or some other exotic fuel? I spent $3.30 (United States Dollars) per gallon regular unleaded gasoline the last time I refueled my Chevy Venture minivan. Is fuel still so inexpensive where you are geographically located?

Dust, do we actually HAVE an approved list of abbreviations, or do you feel that our posters should have the whatever spelled out first, then abbreviated? I have posited that we should not use abbreviations here (without "translation"), as something person "A" uses every day might have a different meaning for person "B", and have no meaning at all for person "C".

With all that information on Spock, Scaramedic, while I may be a Geek, and proudly so, YOU apparently qualify for UBERGEEK!

That crashed ambulance, by the door patch, looks like a hospital based ambulance, not an FDNY EMS unit, but under their EMD control. I was in a nasty ambulance crash back February of 1977. Coming down the hill from the Grand Central Parkway on 188 Street, and attempting to cross the Hillside Avenue intersection, we were T-Boned on the driver's side, just behind the driver's door, at about 10 PM, on a dry street. We were in response mode, L&S, reported cardiac patient. We had stopped for the light, which was Red, siren on the "Yelp" setting, believed ourselves to be safe to cross going south, when our Holmes Ambulance Service 1977 Chevrolet/Yankee Coach "Patriot 63", a type 2, got blasted by a Cadillac Sedan de Ville going west at high speed. My partner was unconscious for at least 5 minutes. I was thrown into the inner hood, called the "doghouse" for some reason, with enough impact to break off the siren box from the plastic of the doghouse. I realized we'd been in a crash, so I followed the wire to the siren, shut it down, reached up to the dashboard and turned off the emergency lights, switched off the engine, and then switched off the vehicle's batteries. I then braced myself, and hauled myself up so I could see out the front window. The ambulance had been spun a bit over 180 degrees, and was pointed at a FUNERAL PARLOR! ( I vaguely recall saying something to the effect of, "Not yet, youse guys!") I got out, painfully, as I had bashed my leg good knocking the siren off the wall, and did a walk-around to see what damages had happened, when I heard the ambulance engine start! My partner had regained consciousness, and was attempting to continue the call! I actually had to go to the driver's side, and physically pull the keys out of the ignition. An ambulance from Jamaica Hospital (not an NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation Ambulance, but under the control of the NYC 9-1-1 system via the NYC HHC EMS), eventually responded, and transported me, my partner, and the driver of the other vehicle to Jamaica Hospital. I was out of work for 2 weeks, due to my injuries. My partner was fired. The dispatcher who had assigned us the vehicle was also fired, as that particular ambulance was "property" of the shop steward, and was not supposed to even be out on the streets after the "Day" tour ended. I do not recall what injuries the other driver received, or how badly damaged was his Caddy. Damage to the ambulance (#54) was, the drivers side wall was pushed in so far, had we been with a patient aboard, I would have had traumatic amputation of both legs, as the streacher, which was still attached to the locking hardware, had been pushed under the "crew bench" where I would have been sitting. Oh, the keys I had pulled out of the ignition? They are, even today, still amongst the missing. The worst part of the deal? The answering service we used as "night dispatcher" thought our 2-way radio was not working, so they didn't call us to tell us the call had been canceled! While it took 4 months, the Mid Town Collision Tow Service (which like Holmes Ambulance service, are not around under the same names anymore) somehow rebuilt the truck, which was placed back into service. The company kept me off that ambulance, although they sometimes would assign me that vehicle's twin (ambulance #55). The company also stiffed the tow company for the costs of the tow and the repair. They assigned the shop steward to the next new ambulance that got delivered to them (which I never saw the inside of, for some reason, LOL).

Hey, AnthonyM83: Can you clarify something? You mentioned Spock. Which one, Commander Spock from the planet Vulcan, of the starship Enterprise, later an ambassador trying to "normalize" relations with the Romulan Empire, or Doctor Benjamin Spock, the one who first wrote books on care for babies, then campaigned against the Vietnam War in an attempt to continue saving these babies who were now draft age soldiers?

My girlfriend and I bought a sweatshirt for a local politician, that read "I'm talking, and I CAN'T SHUT UP!" He still has it, but has never worn it.