scubanurse

I have. I learned not to get myself to emotionally involved though. Visiting is one thing, I'm not sure I could do what you did ny... I've seen too many relatives die to do it willingly, but major kudos to you for being there when they had no family to be there for them... I'm sure somewhere down the road, major good juju is heading you way

I've known a few QA/QI folks like this... I ignore them and tell them that it's their job just like it's my job to write the reports....

HAHAHA Thank you

Thank you for making a quiet night in the ER more enjoyable for us... as far as the scenario goes... I'm with everyone else except IHLPP... (very appropriate name btw for a "manager" with 22 years of "experience")... In my opinion, and having been in all sorts of situations... the OP did absolutely the right thing. No question. ---- As far as the comment about restraints... we just had a JCAHO inspection...restrained a patient, who was combative and threatening the safety of all in the ER, in front of them and they applauded our compassion and concern for their safety and the safety of the staff. The amount of experience on this board is amazing. I personally have experience with morbidly obese patients, as we have a special floor for them in the hospital. Recently, one passed away (), and the funeral home had to remove the body. We do this in a very respectful manner, after visiting hours if possible, clear hallways and have a special exit. Now here's the glitch... patient weighed 600+lbs. The ramp we normally use in this situation has a steep grade upwards. We were not going to risk our safety to move the patient out of the hospital per normal protocol. We improvised and brought them out the loading dock.... Not ideal, but it was the safest solution for all involved. We very well could have followed POLICY and used up excessive amounts of resources, risk the backs and safety of all involved, risked the deceased on the gurney falling and disrespecting the body in that manner. We changed policy to fit the situation. No one had an issue with this. I really have no idea what your true position is, nor do I give a rats ass... Your behaviour from your screen name to your comments paint a much better picture of who you are as a person than a title ever will. Also, please refrain from insulting the intelligence on this board. It does nothing to improve our outlook on your membership.

Depends on your state and local laws... some include Fire/EMS as civil servants and protect them as they do LEO, but others do not.

Well I would hope it would be one or the other...but you never know ... Congrats!

Hang tight everyone... I had the lucky opportunity to talk with Dusty on numerous occasions about music, texas, living with a debilitating disease that you know will only get worse, and just life and living it with as much positivity and happiness. I think Dust would want us all to hang tight together, weather this storm like we have every other, and continue to educate those who are in this field. Push those around us to pursue more knowledge and experience, and have fun with EMS. Love what you do and why you do it. We often spoke after my decision to leave EMS due to health reasons, and his constant push to keep my mind focused on what I wanted to do with my experience and knowledge is why I am where I am today. Let's not have drama, let's not have conflict, let's just all support each other. Anyone who knew either personally or internet Dust is suffering right now at the loss of a great life, we can do something positive out of this though.

I'm gunna miss ya Rob... Now I won't be able to listen to Austin music or drive through Ft. Worth with out my mind going straight to you... Often thought of you anyways doing that drive from Wichita Falls to Austin and listening to our mutual music friend Danny Schmidt, or any of the others. I will never forget our late night music talks, or our bashing of certain parts of Texas. Forever and Always Dusty...

While I have never been over there, and have only heard from my close friends experiences, I have a respect for all people. We have domestic terrorists here in the US but somehow people don't run around afraid of their white neighbors. The color, tone, or religion someone is does not represent who they are. It's their character and the things we can't see on the outside that matter. To those who judge people based on their skin color, wake up it's 2011 not 1960. And after 9/11/01 my mom made a comment that it felt like she was back in small town TX where people were afraid of black citizens, only now they were afraid of anyone from the middle east. I have struggled in my own way on how to approach tomorrow. I see people changing their facebook pictures, status changes, tributes. I don't know how else to signify tomorrows anniversary other than live my day like a few select people of a different ethnicity "took" our sense of security. Enjoy my freedoms, call those I love and tell them I love them. And now with a suspected threat in NYC and DC, I do have fear for my family in DC. I have my only sibling who works in the building directly next to the White House... will I let that scare me? Does it scare him? Probably a little....but going on and living our lives is more important to me than living a life of fear.

With my recently passed grandmother who was in hospice, when she stopped eating and became comatose, they asked if we wished for her to be brought to the hospital. We instead chose palliative care in her nursing home room. I don't understand why the facility's hospice nurses couldn't have given a laxative PR or an enema to relieve their pain. My grandma had a similar issue but didn't seem to be in any discomfort abdominally from it and was receiving PO MS anyways. I doubt you compromised any part of their hospice program with Medicare....

I have chronic pain and pretty bad some days... something that has worked for me is Tramadol and Diclofenac. They are non-narcotic and have helped me on a lot of occasions. Narcs are not something to mess with, they make you constipated, itchy, and have some other depressive affects.

So sorry Ruff... my thoughts and prayers go out to you and their families.

lol as long as they don't take my Cherokee Nation membership cards away from me I enjoy participating in that part of my heritage every year and visiting my family who are still closely tied to the Cherokee culture.

Hang in there... I've heard total hips aren't too bad and you gain a lot from them... I am recovering from a surgery to hopefully put off the total hip for a few more years. Glucosamine seems to really help me with the connective tissue/cartilage pain I have from my EDS.... Best of luck to you and PM if you wanna chat.

That sounds awesome... what a cost-effective way to manage blood loss... I hope it catches on and research continues into it's long-term affects.

Glad you're following through!!!! Must have been scary, but I'm glad you're doing better and I hope it doesn't happen too often!!!

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/770764-treatment http://www.breef.org/Portals/0/COB-MESI%20-%20FIRSTAID%20RESPONSE%20TO%20LIONFISH%20ENVENOMATION.pdf http://www.alertdiver.com/?articleNo=491 Also note that DAN (Divers Alert Network) is a valuable resource in the event you come across this type of injury in the field. If you provide EMS care in an area where lion fish are bountiful, I strongly urge you to contact them. They have specialized doctors who can assist you in any dive related injury including the stonefish/lion fish envenomation. Their contact number is: +1-919-684-9111 and website: http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/emergencies.asp Most you can do is get them to advanced medical care ASAP... curious where are you that you have encountered this??? Having been a diver in some pretty remote areas of the world, I have only encountered a small handful of envenomations like this, the most recent being in Taha'a with a stone fish when a tourist stepped on one.