I'm Back

[snoopy911]

I have not been to this site in months. Since I am no longer working in EMS, I felt that I had less to contribute, and frankly for a long time, it made me bitter. I feel like I needed to explain my hiatus, vent, maybe even gain some advice.

Let me start at the beginning. March of 2010 I got a new job that I thought was going to be great. So I thought. I got hired by a private ambulance company that had several locations in different states, to be part of their critical care transport team at the local children's hospital. Good pay, Benefits, close to my house, I was very excited. There was a lot of hoops I had to jump through to start working there. Since the hospital is very close to 4 states, they require EMT-B certifications in PA, MD, DE and NJ. Pennsylvania is my home state, and NJ is a no brainer because NJ gives automatic reciprocity to PA licenses. For MD, I had to go take a refresher course, given at the company's headquarters in Maryland. I had to pay for the course, 200$, which should have been my first clue about the company. The refresher course allowed me to apply to get my National Registry exam, that is required for DE certification.

Then I went through a one day orientation, for which I did not get paid.

Since I had never driven before, and the hospital requires it, I did a 30 minute video driving course, then they threw me behind the wheel on the road. I drove for about 10-15 minutes, and the instructor signed off on the driver's training papers, certifying that I had taken the course and driven for at least an hour, which I hadn't. I did not take EVOC. I was suposed to do some shifts at the corporate headquarters, to get used to driving. (Corporate was about an hour and 15 minutes from my house, on a good day.) I was picking up as many open shifts as I could, and when I asked about when I was going to be sent to the hospital, I was given a line about oh they weren't going to send me there yet and if I wanted a job, I could work at corporate. So i continued on, with several other incidents that I won't go into for sake of length. My partner and I arrived to take a patient to dialysis. The patient seemed much larger then the page had stated, 285. Anything over 300 is a bariatric patient and gets manpower and the bariatric truck. The staff said to us, are you sure you 2 ladies can get him? He weighs like 350!(He is also a quadrapilegic). I asked for manpower, and was denied, the dispatched said he was evaluated recently and is not over 300, and that I better take him. With help of the staff, we transferred him and transported to dialysis. When we weighed him, he was indeed around 350 lbs. When we got back my partner wrote up an incident report. 2 weeks later, I got a call for this patient again. Since I had so much trouble before, I notified dispatch that I wasn't sure I could lift this patient, as he was 350 lbs. They told me that wasn't true, and that since I had a different partner today, I needed to take the patient or no longer have a job, in less words. So I figured i needed to suck it up, and I would be fine. Boy was I wrong.

I never would have thought that one call could change my life forever. We managed to get the patient transferred onto the stretcher, even though the bed was malfunctioning and we could not get the bed up at the proper height. I was already stretching to try to bring him over while leaning over. Then came time to get the stretcher up. On the count of 3, I lifted, and her end of the stretcher didn't go. She couldn't lift it. My mid back was already burning, but i knew we had to get the stretcher up. She apologized and said that she would be able to lift it this time. Second time was much much worse. I lifted and when her end didn't move, she let the stretcher drop down all the way to the floor. I felt a pop in my muscles and I almost burst out in tears. with the help of a nurse, we got the stretcher up partially, but not all the way. At that point the patient was freaking out at us, I did not think i had much left, so i figured we could just get the stretcher in the way it was. We lifted it up and got it in. Got to dialysis, got help to transfer the patient and I alerted my supervisor that I was hurt. I was in tears most of the way back to the office. I had to get someone to take me to Occupational health. It was all downhill from there. I have 2 herniated discs, severe muscle and nerve damage in my thoracic and lumbar regions, and down my right leg. I have almost constant muscle spasms, and nerve pain in my leg. The incident was August 17th, 2010. The company kept going back and forth whether I could do light duty or not, and from August to December I was not offered light duty or being paid for lost time, although I was being seen by their workers comp doctor. I contacted a lawyer and that day, my workers comp case was closed. I could not find out why, or what, but it was denied. 16 months later, I am unable to work or do any job due to the back injuries and my inability to sit for more then a few minutes without pain. I have been unable to reopen my claim, and have not received a cent. The lawyer told me that the company knew how to play the system, and there wasn't much he could do. I received a letter in the mail informing me that I no longer had a EMS certification in Maryland, due to no affiliation with a company. The reason was given as termination from the company. I had no idea. I have no clue where to go from here... I have had numerous medical treatments, injections, 4 sets of physical therapy, I see a chiropractor, nothing helps. I have no idea what my recourse is from here. Does anybody have any ideas on my situation. Sorry for the long, drawn out post, I needed to vent!!!

[Richard B the EMT]

Start with your personal MD, if not authorized for Workers Comp, he or she can refer you. If you were still employed, I'd say get a Workmans Compensation Representative, but seeing you seem to have gotten the dirty end of the short stick, seek out the services of a Workers Compensation ATTORNEY. Either would get their fees from the local Comp board.

I believe your employer screwed you royally. In the FDNY EMS Command, dealing with a LODI (Line Of Duty Injury), a supervisor assists you in filling out all associated paperwork, which also goes into the member's files at both the station level, headquarters, and the department medical office. Did any supervisor at the former employ even offer assistance in what in New York State is a required filing of the LODI?

To all: Report any and all injuries, needle sticks, or contagion exposures, no matter how minor they may seem at the time, so there's a paper trail that they happened, even if nothing comes of it. If something does come of it, you're protected by the record of the previous incident. I think all states in the US have this covered under mandatory "Right To Know" laws associated with EMS training.

[snoopy911]

Richard, I was working with their worker's comp representative for several months. I was checking in with her after each doctors appointment etc. She was the one that was in touch with the worker's comp insurance company. I wrote an incident report initially and kept in touch every time they sent me to the doctors. Like I said, i had a worker's comp claim up until December 2010 when everything hit the fan so to speak. There was never a reason given that I was denied comp. It was there in the beginning and they never denied that I got hurt on the job, they knew exactly how and why I got hurt. There was some discrepancy over whether i was to get light duty or not, and they went back and forth and no one would give me a straight answer. They kept saying they had to speak to the insurance company before they could authorize me for workers comp. The day that they told me I could go on light duty, was the day after the worker's comp doctor cleared me to go back to work , stupidly. That was the part I forgot to add. I will still having a lot of pain even though they told me I could go back, I knew I wasn't ready. They made me go do a left test, which was 300lbs not including the stretcher, and as soon as i tried to lift i felt pain. And of course the person they had me lift with was the 65 year old guy who works on the truck with the electric stretcher and said he hadn't lifted a regular stretcher in 10 years. He dropped the stretcher all the way down, and then they asked me to pick it all the way. After trying and trying, I got it part way up, I felt more of a tear in my back, and was holding back my tears. I said I couldn't do it, they said okay, go home they would call me. The next time I called, they wouldn't take my calls. That was when I hired the Lawyer. and then they wouldn't talk to me at all. They kept saying they weren't allowed to speak with me regarding light duty or any other matter, and that I should refer to my lawyer. My lawyer asked me to call and ask when I could start light duty. I called and they said they couldn't speak with me, i should ask my lawyer. And my lawyer told me to ask them. This went around and around in circles, till I got the notice of my cert in Maryland no longer being active.

The attorney that I was working with was a worker's comp attorney. He was the one who told me he couldn't do anything. I believe that since there wasn't a big settlement in it for him, so he didn't really want to bother. The problem being that the incident did not happen in the same state that I live in, and the laws are vastly different. It would not have been this way if this had happened in PA.

As far as doctors, I have seen several. I have pretty much exhausted all my options besides surgery, and I haven't found a doctor that will perform it on me as of yet.

Please excuse any grammatical errors, as I am on pain medicine tonight and I can't think that clearly.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Your employer is and always will be a PIECE OF SHIT

Get a different attorney, file a lawsuit and go after their asses. If you can get a group of past employee's together think maybe about making it a class action lawsuit.

I'll bet I know what bottom feeding company you worked for but I won't say because if they are reading this they could construe it to be slander or libel.

[paramedicmike]

I think I know who you were working for, too.

That really sucks and I'm sorry to hear of your injury. I suggest finding another lawyer. There's potential with your case and I'm surprised your previous lawyer gave up so easily.

Without offering any criticism of Snoopy, I think there are some valuable lessons to be learned here:

1) Know your employers policies,

2) If you know you're right by the books, don't back down,

3) Stand your ground,

4) Ask for help from anyone you think can give it to you,

5) Listen to your body. If it hurts to do it then stop doing it.

6) No job is worth what Snoopy went through. If your gut is showing you red flags listen to it.

Good luck, Snoopy. Keep us posted.

[snoopy911]

Thank you captain and Mike for your kind words. Definitely agree with your POS comment lol. I was very bitter at first, still sometimes have the urge to slash some tires when I see their wheelchair vans dropping off students at my school. But I've been a good girl! Trying to take the lessons I have learned and move on. I just want to get my back to the point where I am able to work ANY job, even if I have to be chained to a desk for the rest of my life. Right now i have a hard time even attending school, but I am determined to not let my injury stop me from going back and finishing my education, now that I have had the opportunity to go back. Mike I have found a lawyer that I am interested in contacting, Just waiting until the holidays are over so I can get the ball rolling. Had a hard time finding a lawyer since I am in PA and it happened in MD. Believe it or not I could not find a single lawyer that had certifications in both states. I am not giving up though. This company and injury has stolen a year and a half of my life and I will get what I deserve!

[Just Plain Ruff]

I think I know who you were working for, too.

That really sucks and I'm sorry to hear of your injury. I suggest finding another lawyer. There's potential with your case and I'm surprised your previous lawyer gave up so easily.

2) 5) Listen to your body. If it hurts to do it then stop doing it.

6) No job is worth what Snoopy went through. If your gut is showing you red flags listen to it.

.

Mike the above two points are key here.

If you back says stop then STOP. If your gut tells you stop then stop. NO JOB is worth a permanent injury.

If your body is saying STOP then by all means stop. If you can't get help from your dispatchers to get more help then call 911 and ask for fire assistance if possible.

I had a call where we went in to a hospital ICU and were going to pick up a patient on a baloon pump. The transfer was a 20 minute drive to the heart center. The original hospital did these invasive procedures and then relied on EMS to transport the ones that didn't fit their criteria for keeping.

I asked who was going with me and everyone there said "No-one" I said then I'm not transporting. They demanded I take this patient with a balloon pump that I had no idea how to work and say a hail mary. I called dispatch who told me to transport.

I said NO I wasn't. I then talked to the supervisor who told me to transport. I refused. Finally I got a nurse to go with me reluctantly. On putting the patient in the ambulance the connector of the pump bent and we lost the balloon pump. A replacement was found and we transported. No other issues occurred but the nurse saved the day and the patient by agreeing to go with us to troubleshoot any problems.

I got a yelling by the supervisor and I told him that I wasnt' jeopardizing my license to transport someone I knew that I might not be able to fix if the device failed. 2 weeks later the sending hospital provided us an inservice on the balloon pumps due to nurses throwing a fit everytime I got called over to transport the patient. They found it was cheaper to provide us training than to send a nurse along.

The hospital now does open hearts and transplants so it's a non-issue anymore but It's all about my licensure. No license NO job NO supporting the family.

[snoopy911]

I definitely would have done things differently if I had to go back and change it. I was so scared to lose my job or get in trouble, but I would much rather have lost my job and had the ability to go and get a new one instead of the predicament I am in now. Trying to keep a positive attitude throughout all this though, sometimes it is difficult though!

[Just Plain Ruff]

Keep trying to find that attorney. Have him press to get your bills paid and get you back on the healing path.

keep records of all your phone conversations with the shitbags and keep your medical bills from all doctors and other places. If you have to purchase ibuprofen for the back pain, keep the receipt. If you need to purchase bengay rub - keep the receipt (no comments here guys)

If you have to see a shrink - keep the receipts

If you aren't able to have sex due to the injury then claim loss of companionship.

the job did this to you, the job should pay for the injury and subsequent treatments.

Keep looking for the right attorney, I'm sure you will eventually find one.

These companies need to realize that even though the medic mills are pumping out medics left and right and they consider their employee's to be expendable, they can't work that way or someone's going to come in and take them to the cleaners and send them a clear message that they cannot treat their workers as chattel.

If it is the company I work for I'll even join your class action as I was injured by their careless attention to their employees.

Good luck, you deserve your injury to be paid for like anyone elses should be. Their refusal to talk to you proves that they know that they are wrong but they are stalling you until the clock winds down and you are not able to file a claim. I am not sure but that might be 2 or 3 years in some states. Get the lawyer sooner than later.

[WestSideBorderPatrol]

I'm pretty sure I know what company you worked for, and I work for them too. I'm sorry that you've been through all of this. Unfortunately these injuries occur monthly at this company, and you're not the first one who has gotten thrown under the bus. Get yourself a new lawyer who will put this company in their place, and hopefully make it a better place for anyone else who ends up working for them!