Richard B the EMT

Considering Herbie's reaction to my commentary, perhaps the book, "In Search Of Ancient Astronauts". The author expounds on things like Ezekiel's "Wheel, way in the middle of the air", as being a UFO, and the description of the person from the craft as possibly carrying it's native "air" in the suit it's wearing, much like a "Diver Dan" "Hardhat" diver.

My worry would then be a "What If", especially if the patient who wants to drive themself to the ER is, in my estimation, possibly going to pass out while doing so. I have heard of that happening, but not on my watch!

I was LOL so hard, tears ran down my leg.

Herbie, most people don't associate the name of the Groom Dry Lake Airbase with the Extra Terrestrials, until and unless one says "Area 51" . IF off-worlders left a ship there, perhaps we should be worried of a future invasion, as the craft left to be "awakened", as depicted in the Tom Cruise rendition of "War Of The Worlds". By the way, on my last trip outside the US, to Cancun, Lady J and I went to Ichinicha (spelling?), to look at the pyramids. The tour guides indicate that the pyramids may have been some kind of "mooring masts" for spaceships, and also why they may have originally believed the Conquistadors to be Gods".

As to being treated by your colleagues, I've had some experience in that. Years ago, one of the VAC junior members mentioned that she'd like to have me as a boyfriend. As I had then just gotten involved with my Lady J, whom you've read of on others of my postings, or on the few times I've been in the chatroom, I pulled her aside, and advised her that she was making me uncomfortable with that statement. Besides, she was under legal age, and I didn't want to go that direction. I must mention that she was one of the few Juniors who we felt could be, under close supervision and scrutiny, allowed to "ride", but SHE didn't feel ready to do so, and declined. Jump forward a decade, plus. On the FDNY EMS unit, I threw my back out, again (!) on a bad lift, and went into probably an anxiety attack as well. Due to the "chest pains", they rolled a Medic unit, and she ended up being MY caretaker for the trip to the hospital. Side mention: she's divorced, but I suspect is in a new relationship. Good luck to her, as I see her when she's on duty at the coffee shop, and both Lady J and I say "Hi".

I don't even recall reading any posts that the OP has made, unless they are of a different identity than this one. As long as nobody says anything dumb, or hurtful, I can live and let live.

1978-1981, the NYPD was also using VW Rabbits as "Marked" cars, an experiment that really didn't go too far.

In a perfect world, our services as EMTs and Paramedics would not be required.

I didn't find out until recently, that in Korea, there were so many nation's armies fighting North Korean and Chinese Armies. Heck, "MASH" even had running fistfights between Greek and Cypriot soldiers in the recovery tent. As for Viet Nam, I had no idea anyone else but US troops were involved. But it was at the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, that the Armistace between German and Allied forces was signed, and the "War to End All Wars" ended, in 1918.

I had a simple line: "Now I know you wouldn't want me talking of YOUR business to strangers, so don't ask me to tell you of my patient's business." Most times it worked.

Some years ago, I had a call for a woman who had, as it turned out, been kidnapped, beaten, and had a scalp "Glove" injury, who was left in an open lot, near the Rockaway boardwalk. When I was describing the scene to the Trauma Center doctor, he seemed to fixate on the mention of the boardwalk, asking how high the boardwalk was, when the geographics were that the patient was dumped 45 feet FROM the boardwalk. As I couldn't get him to follow the mention of the "boards" as just reference to location, and not otherwise connected with the patient's condition ("NO, she didn't fall 10 feet from the boardwalk, she was 45 feet away from it") in that instance, perhaps a picture would have helped. On a mention, the cop who rode in with us used to be my overtime partner on the ambulance that I was assigned to, that night.

As already stated, it ain't your emergency. Different jurisdictions allow for legal actions being taken against the system abusers, others, even with systems with assorted types of calls and set priorities for those calls, will always send an ambulance (even if the crew doesn't take the patient, still have to check out the situation). FDNY EMS responds to all, but cannot charge system abusers.

Anyone recall the TV series, Starsky and Hutch? They used a souped up Tourino, and a vehicle that looked like a piece of junk, but both were equipped with "Kojack" dash beacons, and, of course, sirens. The "junker" was something of a decoy, because it didn't look as if it could pass someone's grandmother using a walker.

I just remembered a "small" detail. If I have a patient that is something of a "frequent flyer", or previously seen at the particular hospital, but was unable to get pertinant information for my call report, I have asked the ER registrars to give me that information, but beyond writing it on the call report, well, that is as far as it goes. I turn the call reports in to a locked box for the supervisor to review later on, with each of the 3 daily tours having their own boxes. I have heard of some EMTs and Paramedics making copies of call reports, but to the best of my knowledge, those who do keep those copies under lock and key for if or when they get called into court. The lawyers usually have full, unredacted copies of the call reports, anyway, before the Ambulance folks get called in. Personal note: I've been called in to court twice, one, to give verbal report of a shooting victim I handled, but the shot person withdrew her complaint against her husband the shooter prior to me arriving at the district attorney's office. Wasted trip, but I got paid overtime for making the trip, at least. The second time was to verify before which address a patient had fallen on ice, as the call came in as the corner. Never testified, as they settled out of court, but again, paid the 4 hours O/T for the trip.

Jessiemiller, while you're a day late for this party, everything you stated was, and is, correct. Overall, the system worked, more or less. Oregon was "less", per what was posted by others here. Welcome to the city, by the way. Noting your first posting as a member.

I only know what I have actually seen, and that was a supposedly street legal Mustang "dragster", siezed by the NYPD for some infraction, and repainted in NYPD colors, with lightbar added, presumably also a siren and the radios. This was sometime in the last 26 years, and the car was assigned to the NYPD Highway 2 Precinct.

With my VAC, I sometimes took a patient back to residence, if close by. FDNY EMS? No way, against regs.

Bullet, check back to posting #20 on this string, and item 4 therin.

Going back to my last posting, if a member of FDNY EMS goes home for family emergency, it gets taken from personal time, in house, referred to as "Annual Leave", measured in hourly units, with a standard work week being 37.5 hours, including meal breaks (yeah riiiight) totalling 40 hours. If one goes home sick, it comes out of "Sick Leave" time. Both are accrued against actual clock hours worked, but I forget the formula for how many work hours equal how many sick and annual leave hours "earned". If a member goes out, either on regular or O/T hours, as a "Workman's Comp" time, the member then has to go to the department's Bureau of Health Service the next day, between 0800 and 1300, to be either approved as a true Workmans Comp case, or sick leave. If sick leave, the doctor has to approve the member returning to work. If considered a "Comp" case, the member is officially off duty for minimally 14 business days, and under "House Arrest" between 0800 and 1600, as policy is, one is being paid to be at their place of convolescence (they WILL call on you, both on the phone, and personal visits, sometimes the same day to verify that). Then, during or on the conclusion of that time, the member has to return to the BHS to be reevaluated. When last I went out on an injury under Comp, and was out for a significant period, first off, I had somewhat regular appointments to keep at the BHS. Then, policy says that if the member leaves their place of convelescence, they have to call in with where they are going, and call in again when they return, and given a tracking number for both. They only allow for medical, grocery shopping, pharmacy, or child care as reasons for leaving the house. There are probably better ways to do this, but until they impliment them...

My phone number may be listed, but unless under court orders to do so, MY privacy is being violated if the agency releases it to anyone without my permission. I presume the same if someone copies the patient's phone number.

My observation, which was the same as mentioned on the 5 PM newscast on WCBS-HDTV2 NY, was, the sound was distorted (on WCBS-HDTV2) and almost nonexistant on WCBS 880 AM radio. Not mentioned was, while the NOAA US Weather Service radios had my reciever going crazy during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, they didn't broadcast on their frequencies, which surprised me immensely.

In all cases, it is NOT our emergency, but may be percieved by the caller as one. for example, I recall one idiot on CB Radio channel 9, the designated emergency channel on CB in the US, arguing with a frequency "monitor" that talking with another radio operator a thousand miles away, because they were that distant, constituted an emergency! * *FCC rules and regulations for CB actually forbid a communication over 500 miles, or even a message relay over that distance. (I'm in NYC, and have someone in LA. Riiiiiiiiiiight, I didn't realize it was 6,000 miles distant, not less than 500 miles)

Shortly after NYC EMS became a part of the FDNY, the department had several summer months (the "Summer Of The Mandate", 1997) where almost the entire EMS, or so it seemed, was being mandated for 6 hours, or full tour overtime, on all 3 tours, and they'd "hit" you for at least 4 of your 5 days on duty (normal schedule is an 8 hour day, 5 days on, 2 off, 5 on, 3 off). The union instruction was, work an hour, claim exhaustion, have the supervisor sign the unit off service, and go home. The department responded by insisting the member be seen at an Emergency room, where, due to the ERs usual backlog of non-emergent cases, you'd probably be getting seen after you'd be going off duty from the O/T anyway. Nowadays, due to negotiations, the union way is the official guideline Just mentioning this for a historical perspective.

I just reviewed my statements, and just realized, this is the Emergency Alert System. I presume that the Civil Defence Agencies that preceeded the EAS, known then as the Emergency Broadcasat System, may have done nationwide testing during the 1950s through the early 1970s, using the then State Of The Art technology available. I do recall, from 1959 through 1966, NYC Board Of Education protocols for Air Raid Drills, where we'd be moved from classrooms to the hallways, sitting backs to the walls in as many tight rows as possible,with our coats covering our heads, leaving open a lane down the middle of the corridor, on the sounding of the big siren on the school roof. I dare say that if the siren should sound today, the only action most of the population would take, would be to contact the LEOs to complain about the noise.

In a kind of defence of the mortuary personnel, I mention that the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is still going through body fragments, 10 years later, from the attack and collapse of the World Trade Center.