scubanurse

http://www.westword.com/2008-11-13/news/a-denver-health-paramedic-fakes-his-license-and-his-boss-looks-the-other-way/full/ http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13784904 I can't find an article or anything on the intubated situation...Wendy?

I don't know why I keep checking back! I basically asked a question and had my head bit off by their "regulars". I think I take the city for granted sometimes...we're so nice to (most) newbies.

AHGHGH I just have to vent... the &!#@*es on a wedding website I'm using are driving me bonkers! They're awful and worse than a group of high school girls. I bet most of them aren't even married or engaged and just like going on there to piss on everyone else's parades. I just want to scream!!

Welcome!

Ugh. Sounds like the hits just keep coming. Thinking of you Mari. Hang in there!

I can only see it g clockwise.. I'm watching the right foot...

Glad to hear he's doing ok. It's a scary situation for sure.

Clockwise?

He probably made the same mistake I did. I didn't think there were any ipad apps that would do your inventory control system for you.

Field may be more difficult than ER. I have severe joint problems that have resulted in bilateral shoulder fusions and have had to leave field world behind me. Don't rule out the fun you can have in the ER. Best of luck to you!

Having been raised Roman Catholic, attended catholic schools all my life and now attend a Jesuit University, I believe in both. I took a health care ethics class taught by a Jesuit Priest. Best class I have ever taken, hands down. In my opinion and in my personal belief system, God is what gives us the curiosity, the drive, and the desire to go discover and learn more. He created Man in the sense that he empowers us (me) to seek more out of this world. If he had given us all the answers what fun would that have been. If he didn't exist at all, what drive would there be to do good. I had a near-death experience in 2008 and was in the ICU. When I woke up, I asked my mom straight faced, why my grandfather had left. He had been dead for 3 years at that point. To this day, even though I have no memories of this or those 2 weeks, I know he was with me. God wasn't with me necessarily, by my grandfather was. He watched over me and made sure I wasn't alone, wherever I was. There are some doctors explanations out I got that because I was hypoxic my brain may have done "funny" things, but science can't explain this one and the plethora of other stories like it. There is some higher force out there if nothing else to give people hope and a purpose. These are just my Catholic hair brained opinions and of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

You either want to do it or not. Every post on here is about how badly you want this to happen... so sounds like someone is offering you a chance...why not ask him about it?

We have no clue about downtime and given that suctioning brought up some pill fragments...why not place the OG/NG tube? They'll do it in the ER anyways so why not start the suctioning now and best case, you prevent some of them from absorbing and reaching her system, worst case, you reduce the gastric contents.

You would be hauling your butt to rendezvous with ALS.

Would you even need to RSI her? I'd attempt it without RSI first probably.... she isn't controlling it so I don't know if there's a need to paralyze her. Two wide open LR/NS... what's her sugar?

That just made me slam my computer shut and walk aaway... I HATE BEES... I love sharks but hate bees they scare the $%!# out of me!

http://www.western-ortho.com/Our-Physicians/Our-Physician-Assistants.aspx 3/4 of the PA's on this website alone state a start in EMS...

Intubate to protect the airway. Let's get rolling to the ER also... probably some atropine and get some pacer pads/defib pads on (not to do anything yet) to get her heart going and incase she decides to arrest. Can you guys do NG tube suctioning? IF so, drop that after you get a tube.

Not sure what you're looking for exactly... I use epocrates daily in the hospital. You can load favorite drugs, I have ACLS protocols at quick reference, tons of different calculators to available. It's a free app also I think.

Purely anecdotal but every PA I know, around 20 or so nation wide, were at a minimum EMT-B first but the majority were practicing paramedics for years.

OK more specifics on protocol: No RSI, too short of transport times, but they are allowed to sedate after a successful intubation (oral or nasal). They do hypothermia protocols for ROSC, don't transport w/o ROSC. They are getting Ketamine for pain management soon also.

I agree with the situation you described. Sounds thorough with enough safe guards in place. I agree also it is a good move. I know there is a pilot program at a clinic just up the road from my house that utilizes paramedics as nurses essentially. They function in the same way, except they have the paramedic protocol so they can intubate and run codes independently since the clinic only has two doc and could easily get overwhelmed in an emergency. I was just curious about the other situation presented, but makes more sense now knowing they are from Australia.

Protocols are fairly progressive and trusting. It's very urban with plenty of air services available so the protocols fit accordingly to the environment and demands. I haven't heard much complaint about them from people. The atmosphere is one of the best in the areas. Compared to the big companies (AMR & Rural Metro) and they have a decent working relationship with Denver Fire. DFD does not have EMS trained personelle on all units and they do not generally allow them to practice as paramedics if they do have that certification so the fire department are strictly support on EMS calls. I would call their system moderate to progressive, I will ask a few of them tonight what their opinion is though. Pay will be around $19-23/hr depending on experience. Their benefits are very nice though. They run their own paramedic program and generally will hire out of that program, but they do take outsiders. DH as a whole likes to stay as a family though and will generally hire internal applicants over external, as with most places throughout EMS/healthcare.

I don't want to discourage you and I realize my post may have come across that way. I just know a lot of people who have applied and have not been hired. My other half works at Denver Health and used to work at Pridemark before they were bought out by Rural Metro a few years ago. I know they only have one position open right now. If Denver is somewhere you really want to work, I suggest coming out for a visit, set up a ride along at a few of the different services and go from there. Treat the ride-along as a job interview. Another service in CO that is really fun to work for is Thompson Valley EMS. They have a really nice system set up up there and it isn't as competitive as DH. The big problem you will face in CO is that there is very little demand for Paramedics and EMT's. We are saturated with them because of the number of Paramedic programs out here. It's full of outdoorsy people who also tend to lean towards EMS for some reason. It's not an easy market out there for Paramedics and especially EMT's. Let me know if you want some more info, or would like some help setting up a ride-along.

Yup.... I know lots of Denver Paramedics. Very difficult to get on there if you're not from their system. They work 10's. Very nice system to work for. - It's technically the Paramedic Division of Denver Health - It's a urban system with a lot of trauma calls - They pay the best for the area - Again, good luck getting hired there, they like their own medics that they trained and unless you have a lot of education under your belt it will be a challenge PM me if you want more or need specifics