Vollie Non Emerg Ambos Vs Paid State Staff

[BushyFromOz]

I hate to tell you buddy, but AREMT means obolutely nothing, its a registry that regulates itself and is not tied in with any real tertiaery education at all. What makes it successful is that RTO's sell these advanced diplomas, cert 4's etc to mining companies and they dont know any better, so an AREMT registry is grouse in their opinion..... just remember, the guys who set up AREMT also sell the training and in services that allow you to be registered.... bit of a conflict of interest yeah?

I have not mentioned the fact that I am currently studying the Bachelor of Health Sciences Paramedic at Flinders Uni and wouldnt you know I recieved RPL.

For being an RN or the diploma? Hell, you dont need a diploma to get credits, even a CERT4 in basic emergency care gets you something.

I'm sorry to say, the only real value i see in your post is that youve wrote up as bitching session about paid v's volunteer, and i think weve had enough of this shit around here, but if you really want some feedback, what state was this event in, and what were the clinical level of these whackers who took pt care over.

I am not here to have an argument with you Kiwimedic as I am assuming you work for St John Ambulance? Just the pinnicle of how an ambulance service is run.

Whos making assumptions now? Yeah, kiwi might work for St Johns, but its not the only place, or country he has wrked.... I'd say his experience with pre-hospital care and EMS management is infinitely better than yours. I also see your in adelaide... it might not say st johns anymore, but a lot of the attitudes that drive it still st jack's thorugh and through... in fact, you may have had this argument with a couple of volunteers!

P.S. Raise th head end of the stretcher first?? whats the problem? unless your living out on the nullabore they are gonna drive up and down hills anyway, talk about splitting hairs.

Edited May 19, 2011 by BushyFromOz

[Dustdevil]

P.S. Raise th head end of the stretcher first?? whats the problem? unless your living out on the nullabore they are gonna drive up and down hills anyway, talk about splitting hairs.

I believe he was referring to actually articulating the head section of an adjustable stretcher into a semi-sitting position, not tilting the entire stretcher. If so, he is absolutely right. If not, then I would have to agree that it is minutiae.

[BushyFromOz]

Good thought Dust, i hadn't considered that, but i thought im sure the OP the pt was on a scoop??

And another thing... whats wrong with pat sliding a patient on a spine board or scoop stretcher? its one less lift you have to do, and should not only be used more but highly encouraged!

Edited May 19, 2011 by BushyFromOz

[mobey]

... whats wrong with pat sliding a patient on a spine board or scoop stretcher?

Who is pat?

[BushyFromOz]

Who is pat?

Little irish guy, hell of a drinker, bastard introduced me to the evil that is guinness!

[Dustdevil]

Good thought Dust, i hadn't considered that, but i thought im sure the OP the pt was on a scoop??

And another thing... whats wrong with pat sliding a patient on a spine board or scoop stretcher? its one less lift you have to do, and should not only be used more but highly encouraged!

Ah, okay. I understood him to say the staties slid the patient off of the vollies scoop, onto their stretcher, Again, major no-no.

But I too do not understand the "pat" thing.

[BushyFromOz]

That was my intial take, but i cant see anything that says he was "unpackaged", though penthrox specifically states that the cannula etc was removed.

PATSLIDE (patient slide), usually we just call em "Pat"

Its just a big plastic slippery board that you slide patients from one bed to another while they are supine, means you dont have to lift anything. WHen it was introduced into hospitals, there was a dramatic reduction in neck and back injuries

Edited May 19, 2011 by BushyFromOz

[Dustdevil]

PATSLIDE (patient slide), usually we just call em "Pat"

Ah, okay! I thought we were talking about a technique, not a device. Never heard it called that before, although they are in use here. They don't see much use outside of the general med/surg or long term care settings.

[NYCEMS9115]

Hi,

I am a volunteer Paramedic here in Australia and volunteer for a group here. My paramedic level is recognised by AREMT and is an Advanced Diploma, the state run ambulance service which responds to 000 (aussie equiv to 911) run Ambulance Officers (equiv to EMT - all the way upto Extended Care Paramedics. I was working a motocross on the weekend where a rider came off his bike at 70mph subsequently fracturing his wrist in the process. I was not first crew to him, the first crew consisted of an EMT - B and an EMT - I. The patient's helmet was cracked in several places, on lookers state he was 'asleep and awake' during the time it took for response to him. The patient did complain of loss of feeling in the lower limbs and pins and needles also. Naturally the crew assumed it was spinal and stabilsed the head and neck with a c collar. The patient was haemodynamically stable at the time of primary, for pain the patient was given methoxyflurane (self administered analgesic) which had minimal effect. We do not carry any other medications for pain relief. We called the state ambulance service for transport and a higher level of pain relief. All this was relayed to the comms room of the state ambulance service and they dispatched a crew. During the time it took for them to arrive he because shocky, flucuating bp and nauseous. I made the call to cannulate the patient and administer fluids and an antiemetic medication. To administer the antiemetic medication I need permission from the state run ambulance service according to our drug protocols, so I contacted the clinician of the state service and was given permission.

I administered the medication and started fluids, he once again stabilised although his pain was still a 10/10. The state service arrived and insider were to ambulance officers (emt - who could not administer opiate medications. I also had the patient cannulated and they are not allowed to transport cannulated patients. After explaining to the crew what was wrong with the patient I was talked down to by one of them and he made the statement 'what would you know you are just a wannabe' to which I replied 'I am actually a paramedic and a anaesthetic nursing specialist mate so alot more than you!' which didnt go down all that well. The first thing the state crew did was pat slide the patient to their strectcher although he was on scoop stretcher. They insisted on sliding him across, so we let them. The kicker is the very next thing the ambulance officer does is RAISE THE HEAD END OF THE STRETCHER after he has been told of suspected cervicle injuries. Immediately I lowered it and phoned the clinician at their comms centre. During the time I was on the phone the ambulance officer had stopped the IV which is not qualified to do and removed the cannula, loaded the patient into their ambulance and drove off code 1 (lights and sirens). Gobsmacked I lodged and official complaint and that is the last I have heard.

It just goes to show although there are private cowboys out there, there are also state run cowboys who think they know it all. I felt so bad for the patient and I hope he is ok.

My rant for the day.

Thanks for reading.

Such a complex service...

[Kiwiology]

This bloke is a dreamer wannabee .... like Bushman said, the AREMT means jack shit and these womble dickheads run around pretending to be something they are not.

It's not the first time I have run into them elsewhere.

Basically this bloke got his feelings hurt because the real ambos called him a dreamer

Tough luck, the truth hurts

Oh, I have some knowledge of the SAAS and at least St John here requires better qualifications than them.