Thanks Fire! For Screwing us over... yet agian.

[mrmeaner]

Public Service Announcement to Everyone Except Dwayne:

When you're playing pool, watch out for the guy who wanders in pretending he doesn't know which end of the stick is which. Thank you very much.

It's interesting that you bring up a comparison to a pool shark. I used to play pool when I was younger. A lot. I lived accross the street from a bar/grill/convenience store (yeah, rural Wisconsin) which was about as busy as and Amish Radio Shack. The owners would let a couple of us play pool there on a regular basis as long as it wasn't too busy and we were decent about it. A lot of the old timers would give us pointers once in a while, but mostly they just let us play or let us watch them play.

One thing I learned is that the players that won the most games were the ones who played within their means. No trick shots unless it was for fun or there was no option. There were guys who would take bank shots when they didn't need too, would try masse instead of playing defense, and would take other shots that were beyond their skill. They focused on the shot and lost sight of the game.

Of course, there were the guys who would wander in every so often, pull off the trick shots on a regular basis and not have to pay for a game after that. Jerks.

[unknown]

It's interesting that you bring up a comparison to a pool shark. I used to play pool when I was younger. A lot. I lived accross the street from a bar/grill/convenience store (yeah, rural Wisconsin) which was about as busy as and Amish Radio Shack. The owners would let a couple of us play pool there on a regular basis as long as it wasn't too busy and we were decent about it. A lot of the old timers would give us pointers once in a while, but mostly they just let us play or let us watch them play.

One thing I learned is that the players that won the most games were the ones who played within their means. No trick shots unless it was for fun or there was no option. There were guys who would take bank shots when they didn't need too, would try masse instead of playing defense, and would take other shots that were beyond their skill. They focused on the shot and lost sight of the game.

Of course, there were the guys who would wander in every so often, pull off the trick shots on a regular basis and not have to pay for a game after that. Jerks.

HHMMM I think I lost the meaning in the translation, the point here was? I mean in reference to the OP.......did we get a little off track? :-s :scratch:

[JakeEMTP]

I'm going to have to order the DVD just so I can find understand your references. BTW, was the nurse hot?

Oh yea!

[Richard B the EMT]

1) That did seem a bit off track.

2) Julie London, who played Dixie McCall, to me, was hot, but remember that I was just 18 or 19 when first I saw her. She had, until then, been better known as a "torch song" singer, was divorced from Jack Webb, who owned the "Emergency!", "Adam 12", and "Dragnet" shows. She was married at that time to, I think, Robert Early, who portrayed another one of the doctors at the "Ramparts Hospital" OLMC.

3) I don't know who I may be plagiarizing half the time, when I quote stuff here.

4) My mention of problems is broadly mentioned as organizationally, not so much individually, although organizations are large groups of individuals.

5) Interpret my mention of problems as either the individual or group wanting to include EMS in services to be rendered, or having it forced down their throats, as EMS was done to the FDNY by then Mayor Rudy Giuliani (prior to becoming "America's Mayor" and becoming a Republican candidate for POTUS).

6) Under my current schedule, I work 0730 to 1530 (Eastern Time, US), Sunday through Thursday, allow myself computer on-line time from roughly 1730 to 1900, watch a tape-delay of a soap opera (The Young and the Restless, CBS TV), then whatever of my fave shows that evening (CSI, CSI Miami, All of the L&O shows, ER, Las Vegas, Heroes, and Medium. ER is taped for viewing Friday morning). EXCEPT Thursday, when I am usually taking in "dinnerandamovie" with Johanna M, my Lady (or am I her Man? Or both? Hmm?) Friday and Saturday daylight is usually tasks and errands, but evenings are, again, with Johanna. Saturday night is an early end, as I drive to work on Sundays, and leave the house at 0530, so I can find a parking spot (parking is always in short supply, and I don't trust the NYC MTA on sundays). After work on Sundays, I watch a tape-delay of Stargate SG1, and Stargate Atlantis from Saturday afternoon. So, although not much, I DO get out a bit

7) I have veered off topic too much with this posting, so back to the subject at hand...

[DwayneEMTP]

I'm going to have to order the DVD just so I can find understand your references. BTW, was the nurse hot?

If you mean Dixie...? She was the basis of boyhood fantasies for an entire generation! :oops:

Looking up her picture on the net won't do her justice though...She was an obsession that grew on you... :wink:

Dwayne

[unknown]

LMAO @ you Richard! LOL I was just picking at ya you didn't have to go and justify all that but hey-- that's pretty cool you laid it all out for us!!

[akroeze]

Bracket gave On-Line Medical Control over the radio to Johnny and Roy, even though the law didn't yet allow it. On the basis that they did OK with the On-line Medical Control, the state legislation voted OLMC in as a legal thing, as opposed to direct on-scene control.

Everything is correct except this part. He explicitly FORBID them from initiating treatment but they did it anyway and he was pissed off about it until he cam to realize that by doing that the in fact saved a life which swayed his opinion about the paramedic program. Initially he had been against the idea.

[NREMT-Basic]

It is not the literal delicacy that Michael refers to but rather the mental challenges associated with both fields. The firefighting field takes a strong personal resolve, persistance through physical challenge, and some sense of fulfillment in challenging personal danger. That's what I believe, and what I think Michael was trying to illustrate.

The medical profession takes subtlety of thought, the ability to be empathetic while still protecting yourself to some degree from your patients' suffering, and a yen to challenge the unseen enemy (metabolic breakdown, pathogens, failing heart tissue) with persistence.

EMS combines some elements of the two, but at heart remains more oriented towards the medical aspects and the strengths requisite therein. Yes, we face physical challenges, personal danger, and must react quickly, as many firefighters do. The challenges we face are inherently different, with different risks associated with failure.

There will *always* be individuals who fall into both categories. People who thrive on danger and enjoy the mental challenges associated with medicine. People who are empathetic, but find joy in fighting a larger visible "enemy" as well.

This is not to say that all people involved in either field have that yen, or that melding of personality traits. There are those who will thrive on working in both environments, because they happen to have the right combination, and there are those who will fail and combust from the inside as they try to fit into a world they don't belong in.

In my personal experience, I have met many more firefighters who wanted ONLY to fight fire than I have firefighters who wanted to be medical practitioners. That's me. You might know several who are great medical practitioners... but the system itself is not ideal, because it eliminates several candidates who would be excellent at one profession or the other. And with the shortage of good medical care that seems to be endemic in many places, limiting your medical providers to those who are also good firefighters is counter-intuitive.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

Wendy-

Your points are well taken as are those of the others who look at firefighters as eternal adrenaline junkies...you know the type that would like to sky dive while eating blowfish sushi. I don't fall into this category and never have. I cant say that getting in an ambulance and hearing the sirens kick up on a priority call doesnt get my heart going in an exciting way, as I think it does for most of us.

For me, while I am not training as a firefighter to face my own personal demons, I will certainly be doing that. I hate being hot more than watered gin and earaches put together and fear being burned more than anything else I can think of. The thought of becoming a crispy critter and living scares the be-jeezus out of me. The reason for me going through firefighter training at the regional (as opposed to local) level is about furthering my training in emergency services and management. As I started my training in emergency management, I realized how many of its procedures and policies are based on fire service guidelines and so I felt that it behooved me to train in this area and gain experience in it. I have a great passion for medical/technical rescue and as soon as I am eligible for it (ie have finished FF2 training) I will start that training. Im also not a training junkie I just feel that moving into ES requires as much experience as varied a spectrum of emergency responses and services as I can.

I will honestly say that I started in EMS intending to be a career medic and have developed more of an interest in emergency and disaster management. I agree that not all FFs are good EMS providers and vice versa. I also dont agree that it should be a requirement that all firefighters become EMTs or paramedics. I dont know when the two became inextricably linked but it has happened and will probably continue for the forseeable future as a more "all-hazards" approach to emergency response becomes the norm. My personal goal is through education and experience to become the best I can be in terms of emergency management and services. If nothing else, I live smack dab on top of the New Madrid fault and want to be ready for what geologists say is coming our way in 5-7 years.

I face a strange experience with the fire department I am training with in that I am an EMT in a sea of MFRs with an in-house private EMS agency that we respond with to medical calls. This is one reason that I am working in the best way I know how for the standardization of EMS responder levels, education and training on a national level.

I hope any of this makes sense. I havent had my nap or my geritol today so who knows. Again, thanks for your considered response and thought provoking comments.

Finally, if anyone can figure a way to download the youtube video that started this thread and send it to me, I would be grateful. For reasons I wont go into, I am currently using a dial up connection which makes viewing such videos virtually impossible. Id like to put in on my flash drive and run it on the computer at the fire station. If you're able to do this, please PM me for an email address.

Graci!

[mrmeaner]

HHMMM I think I lost the meaning in the translation, the point here was? I mean in reference to the OP.......did we get a little off track? :-s :scratch:

Yeah, it was an Evil Knievil length leap in logic and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to explain it well enough.

Looking up her picture on the net won't do her justice though...She was an obsession that grew on you...

Yeah, hard to compete with the other girl of EMS: Juggs. I don't mean to offend, but I watched the title sequence on YouTube. Hilarious. The way TV has changed (I was going to say progressed, but thought the better of it) it looks like a spoof by comparison to new shows. I think I'm going to order the first season anyway.

Back to the original topic, I hope the video was seen as propaganda by the intended viewers and treated as such.

[brentoli]

Go up to any firemedic...

Ask them to tell you their most exciting story from the job.

Will it be about the atypical MI they picked up on and offered the correct treatment to saving a life that another medic might have missed? Or will it be about that "totally awesome worker" a couple of years ago.