Richard B the EMT

I met, and started dating a colleague from my VAC at the end of 1988. We're still together, but not married. Please don't start with the comments about us getting married, thank you very much, we both get THAT in the extreme from our colleagues, me in FDNY EMS, her in NYC Department of Education!

Perhaps we should forget using a motor speedway/racetrack as an example, as some folks, sick as it may sound, don't go to witness excellent high speed driving performed in powerful machines, or watching the pit crews complete a 4 wheel tire change and refueling in 15 seconds (could my gas and service station take a lesson from the pit crew guys). Instead, these people come hoping to see a spectacular crash, and unfortunately, they do, too often.

I refuse to answer these questions, pursuant to the Fifth Amendment, that those answers might incriminate me!

Please consider the EMD protocols, working with the agency Medical Director's directives. That assigns priority to call-types, and the priority determines the need for L&S on the way to the call scene. Obviously, an "Arrest" is going to be a Pri One, not so obviously (per the protocols I'm working under), an EDP is a Pri Seven, which requires we respond like we were in a private car, without L&S. FDNY EMS' protocols require L&S for all Pri One through Pri Six call-types, no L&S for Pri Seven and Eight. An FDNY EMS ambulance placed out of service for not responding to the radio is on a Pri Eight Call, per the paperwork, with the same Pri level for being out of service with a flat tire (surprise, that gets a response "job" number, too). As an afterthought, I also mention if the caller tells the call taker the patient's age is over 65, or 5 and under, if the normal call-type's priority is 5 or greater, the call taker must change the priority in the Computer Assisted Dispatch system to at least a 4. As the ambulances and crews can be called off of a lower priority call for a higher one, this lessens the chance of that happening, benefiting both the young and the elderly.

Has anybody noticed I quote from JEMS and EMS a lot?

There's a phrase computer programmers use: GIGO. From what I'm told, it means "Garbage In, Garbage Out." What you put in, is what you get back out. The call-takers and dispatchers can only work with what they are given by the caller to the 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point. If a caller reports a call as an injury, they'll dispatch the call as an injury, and when the crew arrives to find out it's a CPR run, well, SURPRISE! We've established that some callers lie to the call-takers, reporting a CPR call, when, in fact, it is a minor injury. They will "explain" it by saying "I wanted to get the ambulance here quicker", or in the mistaken belief that, "If the patient is brought in by ambulance, they're gonna be seen sooner, after all, an ambulance transport signifies an emergency!" These folks never had Triage explained to them. For any "civilians" reading this, Triage is a French word that means "To Sort Out". We'll determine who, due to the seriousness of the patient's illness or injury, will be transported or seen first, and it ain't dependent on how long you've been waiting!

Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that in a large city, more people seem to move out of the way of an ambulance when the vehicle is not on a call, and they take turns blocking when we go L&S?

...and a Partridge in a Pear Tree!

...and a Partridge in a Pear Tree!

10-Q, ERDoc.

Per local protocol changes, MAST have been removed from FDNY EMS ambulances, both BLS and ALS, for several years now. Can someone advise if the NYS DoH protocols FOR NEW YORK STATE allow or require MAST?

As my dad was a diabetic, that explains a lot.

I've been told that the contents of a standard size can of shaving cream will fill the passenger area of a sedan...but I speak as "vic" not "perp" with that, plus it was a friend's car who was supposed to give me a ride somewhere.

Would this be a reference to a so-called "Silent Heart Attack," where the patient has an MI, but does not experience any pain or discomfort while having it? My dad had one, found out about when the Cardiologist doing an annual routine EKG asked him, "Mr. B, when did you have the heart attack?" and my dad responded, "What heart attack?"

My brother is researching per my request on your behalf, but it seems you have some information already. Grand Forks and Fargo are 70 miles from each other, figure about an hour travel time between them.

NYPD, as stated, responds to ALL EDP calls. Usually, they also start out an Emergency Services Unit (combined SWAT/Rescue, they also go up into the rigging on a bridge for "Jumper-Up" suicides, and other specialized rescue work. Think Fire Rescue without hoses). It's always easier to cancel a unit on the way, than to start it out in the first place.

What a coincidence, as my brother lives and works in Grand Forks. I've hyperlinked this string to him, requesting a contact name, number, and/or address for EMS to send you. Hopefully, I'll post further information within 48 hours of this posting.

Nothing I can come up with, that won't land you in the "Gray-Bar" hotel...

M47? What is? Yes, I worked Communications bureau 1985 to 1996. Do we know each other personally, ECC? Send me an E-mail, don't forget to put EMT City in the subject line, so I'll know it's not a Spam!

I would think it has a lot to do with local protocols and common practices, however, you should have the LEOs doing the "toss" either automatically, or on an EMS crew's request. If it isn't common practice in your area, talk to the legislators to create laws that make it so. The LEOs are, at least in my area, better trained in handling those searches than us in EMS, and usually tell me, without prompting, that they've checked an EDP or ETOH abuser for drugs, sharp things, and weapons before I even get to a scene.

Going a little tangential, has anyone who is BLS been victim of "Paramedic Shove?" This happens when someone of higher medical training physically pushes the lower level medically trained persons on the scene prior to their arrival out of the way, doesn't listen to a presentation by the lower level trained crew, and in a couple of cases I have been a part of, threw out the lower level trained crew's paperwork (NYS DoH law mandates that a call report be generated by the CFRs, the BLS, and the ALS for any patient contacts, even when all 3 reports are on the same patient). This is not restricted to practitioners of ALS, as I've had partners at BLS level push First Responders, and First Responders push First Aiders.

BJ is retired, living in southern NJ somewhere. Bad news, however: he has diabetes and lost both legs below the knees.

You might have been in NYC EMS/FDNY EMS if you've been verbally reamed by Lt. B.J. Flanders.

As far as I know, unless the Paramedic is doing something blatantly and obviously incorrect and harmful to a patient, BLS cannot tell them what to do. With the exception of a BLS employed as a supervisor, I know of no state DoH allowing an EMT to "boss around" a Paramedic. Paramedics can, and do, make "recommendations" to BLS level-trained supervisors, but supervisors usually have the last word.

That goes for EMTs and First Responders, too, people (I love stating the obvious, don't I?.