scubanurse

Maybe I did misunderstand, but regardless this is a good discussion to have. Kaisu...I very rarely bring chat discussion into the forums and do my best to stay out of drama, but I felt that this was a good topic to discuss, so I brought it over here. It just surprised me when I came into the chat room and read that this person used a Mac 4 for every intubation. Questioned further I became concerned that a Mac 4 was being used on an infant. If I did not get the entire story, I apologize but the situation because heated rather quickly and I decided to step out to not cause drama. Regardless, I think this is a pretty good discussion of how to adapt when equipment fails. So we all agree, that a Mac 4 should only be used in a last ditch effort to intubate. Personally, I would probably attempt digital intubation or use a small OPA to lift the jaw than use a large blade. I don't have one here in my hands, but from memory the Mac 4 has a pretty wide blade to support the size of an adult tongue and jaw, most newborns mouths are not very big, I would have a hard time visualizing the cords. But that's just me. As far as equipment failure, the only time I have seen a laryngoscope blade break was someone dropped it, or stepped on it. Those things are pretty tough in my experience. Checking your equipment before each shift should include checking the bulbs of every blade and making sure you have at least one of each size blade, if not more. I understand things can malfunction at anytime but we can minimize this by maintaining our equipment with regular maintenance and various other steps. Again sorry to have people all in an uproar at me, not my intention with this post.

yeah... but stupid aside... what kind of damage could be done to a newborn if intubated with a mac 4?

So an interesting "debate" popped up in chat. Someone stated that they use a Mac 4 for every patient including a newborn. I have a hard time believing that this is a safe practice, they argued otherwise. What are y'alls thoughts on the use of a Mac 4 for the ETT intubation of a newborn?

LMAO! That is awesome! Thank you for posting that!

I'm pretty sure at all of the stations I have been to back home, none of them had sensors on them. They were all pretty loud and had a red flashing light go off when it was closing but that was it. My parents house garage though has the sensors. I agree, sounds like a darwin award winner!

I am not in EMS anymore but I attended the county fire rescue training academy for EMT-B, and Washington Hospital Center's EMT-IP program for EMT-I. I am currently in a 4-year nursing program and plan to get my masters and become a neonatal nurse practitioner.

Every October around this time, my parents house got infested with them in MD... we were told that we lived along their flight path south ( dunno if that's just BS or what) but we stopped using that fake spider web stuff for Halloween because the lady bugs would get stuck in them and it upset my mom to see them die lol

I'll have to think on that as I sit in my chem lecture in a few minutes and get back to you

a mole is a unit of measurement in chemistry...basically one mole is equal to the atomic mass of a molecule So Oxygen has an atomic mass of 15.9999g so one mol of oxygen would be 15.9999g Also seen as Avagado's Number 6.02 x 10^23 I think that's right?

I'm with the previous posters. I understand metabolism issues, it is something I have struggled with my entire life, but at some point you must draw the line. In the world of EMS, we are expected to be fit and able to do our jobs. I know my county would pull you from the field in a heart beat before making accommodations for you such as modifying vehicles and equipment. If you are considered morbidly obese... can you walk up a flight of stairs with a 200+ patient in a stair chair?? Maybe the "pen pushers" have a point. If your weight is compromising the safety of the patient and crew then you really have no business working in the field. I know of a few people I used to work with who gained a lot of weight over the years and became obese, they were pulled by the medical team from the field and given desk jobs. That was after several attempts to help them loose weight. There are ways to amp up your metabolism, and as itk posted, sometimes more drastic measures should be taken such as gastric bypass or even the lap band system. These days, there are plenty of options available to you to help you loose weight. If you're comfortable with your self image...that's great, but that doesn't mean you should stay that way and be complacent with your health. I really hope you take your weight seriously and understand that your ability to do the job is in fact compromised if you can not lean over a patient to do CPR adequately.

Happy Birthday Ben!!!!!!!

wow that's kinda freaky... water on fire??

Shoot me a PM and I can help you where I can. Been to a few of them over the years.

What is a squirt??

I don't think anyone suggested that if you have a job quit it and do this. There are plenty of qualified unemployed people that I know of who would love this opportunity since they were either just laid off from their jobs or are just starting out in the job market.

46--you nailed it. A lot of DC is actually really nice with some great amazing people there. Yes there are parts of the city I would not hang out in, but having grown up less than 5 minutes from NW and did my intermediate training at Washington Hospital Center/MedSTAR, I really grew to love the city and its people. Most citizens are working class individuals who have worked for the city or in the city their entire lives. DC is not a cesspool by any means. I have a really good friend who used to work for the Park Police, but he was stationed in CA. Just because it is Park Police does not mean you will be in DC your entire career. The aviation division had some pretty great publicity last winter when the 8" Water Main broke on River Road in Potomac, MD and they assisted in the swift water rescue of several trapped motorists. The rescue took place on a narrow stretch in Potomac with a high tree line and took some major skills to do what they did. Park Police do not just work in DC, they work into Maryland and VA frequently on some of the park roads such as the GW Parkway in VA, and Canal Road/Clara Barton Pkwy/Cabin John Pkwy in DC/MD. I worked with them on car accidents and various river calls that I used to respond to and are all really upstanding officers. 46 was right also about the pay. $46k in the academy and up to $50k starting out...hell I would jump on that right now if I were not in school. That is a starting salary and in this economy if you do not have a job, $46k looks mighty good right now I bet.

I like this idea as well! It would encourage people to stop and stick around on scene rather than just call as they drive by what they assume to be an emergency. I know most places already have a 911 tax on cell phones so the idea is feasible...

A job is a job in this economy...if you had no job right now and weren't making ANY money right now then I bet that 46-50k would sound really nice... Why are people so judgemental?!?

WTH is a semester hour? Every college I know of in the US uses semester credits... so a typical class is 3 credits meaning you meet for 3 hours a week... But I agree with Dusty... hours don't mean jack shyt if the instruction is piss poor. I know some colleges who I wouldn't trust the quality of their degrees at all but they're still universities and colleges.

Well I am sorry that you do not agree with my opinion and feel that I am not educated on the standards in EMS. But the original poster asked for our honest opinions and I gave mine, again, sorry you don't agree with me but you don't have to and that is what is lovely about an open debate forum.

I disagree. My EMT-I course equated to over 1000 hours in both the classroom and clinical experience. In Maryland, I's only have to consult for at most 3 drugs that P's don't, and they only have one or two skills that they need to consult for or can not do. So that was a pretty big generalization you made there. My EMT-B was 240 hours versus the 1000+ hours of EMT-I, so personally I would really rather the EMT-I on scene than the EMT-B.

I disagree. EMT-I's in some states, such as Maryland, have just about the same protocol as an EMT-P. I understand the I-85 protocol is vastly different than the I-99 but to say that the EMT-I level is essentially a "filler" is somewhat of an insult. While I agree that EMT-I may be considered a stop-gap and that ALS should be a 2-year degree, it isn't fair to just say they are a filler and a way to bill for monitoring a lock. EMT-I/99's in most places can do a hellova lot more than monitor a lock. I think EMT-I/85 should be removed, and I/99 be the new basic level and the scope of practice to include IV's, 3-lead ECG, advanced airway, and code drugs (plus a few more but that's more to debate). EMT-B should be done with, they are valuable members so don't get me on "bashing basics", but they should be I/99's. EMT-P scope should remain the same but be required to be a 2 year or 4 year degree and have the ability to do more diagnosing in the field... Just my $0.02 worth...

Have you ever lived in or near DC????