For $500, what a 19 y/o, an ambulance, and an iPod causes.

[JPINFV]

celticcare, are you in Iowa by any chance?

[celticcare]

And you consider this a good thing? The public need to be understand that they are getting screwed by the politicians that hide the truth of how poorly staffed the ambulances really are by calling everyone "paramedic".

I am seriously considering leaving this profession that I love because instead of improving it is going further down hill. And sadly most in it seem to happy to help it continue to spiral downward.

The reason that the change in title came across is because people expected to see someone with paramedic and were actually refusing care and treatment or tying up our ALS ambulances because they wanted "paramedic" would you rather we left them to die or just change a name and get on with the job. And not all of us are happy to see it go down hill, but then again, ya have to just look at some of the people on this site and realise that EMS is going downhill rapidly every day.

JP nope am in little ol New Zealand.

[JPINFV]

JP nope am in little ol New Zealand.

Cool. I wasn't sure if the flag was due to location or ethnic origin (I've seen some posters use it for the second reason). At least New Zealanders seem to know the difference between a paramedic and another level of provider.

[spenac]

The reason that the change in title came across is because people expected to see someone with paramedic and were actually refusing care and treatment or tying up our ALS ambulances because they wanted "paramedic" would you rather we left them to die or just change a name and get on with the job. And not all of us are happy to see it go down hill, but then again, ya have to just look at some of the people on this site and realise that EMS is going downhill rapidly every day.

JP nope am in little ol New Zealand.

But isn't that lying, deceitful. It would be like me going to see a Doctor. A nurse comes in and says I'm Dr X. I was just lied to. I paid for a doctor visit and should have seen a doctor. If you send an EMT instead of a Paramedic and the patient refuses care, thats their choice. Do not be deceitful. Do not put an unearned title on a person just to fool the public. Don't you think the public will soon catch on and request an intensive Care paramedic? What then all will become intensive Care paramedics? Just my opinion. No offense meant to you. I just disagree with whoever made that decision.

[Chief1C]

[JPINFV]

Well, JEMS posted a picture of the accident from a different view. Looks like the driver is gonna have some splain'ing to do after all.

[spenac]

UMMMM Don't see anything that could be to blame except driver error. Perhaps he was to young. Perhaps he was distracted ( DWD ). It really appears there was no excuse.

[praying4bonnie&scottl]

ok first of all i would like to express my concern for that fact that no one knows what happened inside that ambulance to make the accident happen so do not sit here and make assumptions. In time the truth will be told and i'm sure that alot of people will be saying sorry for posting the comments. second is that only half of what is being posted is true the family is not releasing all the information because as much as they would like to keep everyone informed they do not want rumors started when they do not have an actual diagnosis as to the extent of Bonnie and Scotts injuries or recovery time. All of you that sit in these forums and bash the emt's involved remember this one day both Bonnie, Scott and their families and friends will be reading these and would you like for them to read how ignorant people can be instead of just thankin god they are both alive you would rather bash them and their profession seeing all these posting only makes the family and friends more stressed. secondly if you were to get sick or injured the first people you would call would be the ems profession. so people PLEASE lets keep our focus on what is important and that is the recovery of Bonnie and Scott. please keep the families in ur prayers.

[spenac]

First welcome to the city.

As to this wreck we all hope both a complete recovery as possible.

Have we jumped ahead yes but as one that has I will if proven wrong with my opinion will apologize. Based on the info out there, discussion is warranted. Perhaps some of the "speculation" will make some of those that have developed bad driving habits to make changes so they are not part of such a tragic event. Will I continue to discuss this and other wrecks and events prior to the official reports which never seem to show up come out? Yes I will. Why? As above perhaps something said even if proven wrong in that case will help another tragedy from occurring.

[Scaramedic]

First off please use paragraphs and proper grammar. Failure to do so makes your opinion very hard to read and many of your points will be lost in translation. Also capitalize the first words in each sentence and 'ur' is not a word.

Now onto the points you covered. Every Paramedic on this site does accident reconstruction in some form or another. This is how we convey to the Doctors what happened on scene.

In the photo above I see a truck parked on the side of the road. The vehicle is parked off the road, to the right of the white line by at least two feet. The only way the accident could have happened is the driver of the unit crossed the white line and struck a parked vehicle. Now whether or not this is because he was distracted or not does not matter. It is the drivers fault this MVC happened.

The injuries the driver sustained do not absolve him of his role in the accident. It does not matter he was driving an ambulance either. I cut no slack for EMS personnel involved in MVC's. In fact I expect a higher level of diligence from an EMS driver. EMS personnel are trained to drive vehicles and are responsible not only for their partners safety but the safety of the patients they transport.

I will not hold my opinions based on personal feelings or pressure from a vocal minority because those involved are part of the same business I am in. The driver screwed up, it is his to live with this failure and the permanent injury of his partner.