Back in the day...

[RuralKSEMS]

You're welcome. I'd also recommend Trauma: Life in the ER as well as Paramedics, both of which were pre-HIPAA TLC shows.

Loved both of those shows! Was sad to see them go!

[ERDoc]

The hospital I did my training at was approached to be on Trauma but they declined. They did have a case that made in onto Rescue 911.

[mikeymedic1984]

Back in the 80s:

Two man stretcher, you had to lift from ground.

Lifepak 1, weighed about as much as a console TV, no 12 lead, CAP, BP, or end tital

No Pulse Ox

No Glucometer

No spider straps or headblocks, made from rolled towels

No cell phone, pagers came later

Backboards were made of wood, we made them ourselves

If you had "911", AA medics, or females, you were in the big city

All codes started with 2 amps of Bicarb and Epi

Main O2 tanks were M cylinders and were stored under the squad bench (lift that)

In the yellow pages, you were the bomb if your ad said "Radio dispatched, Oxygen Equipped"

PS: Roy and Gage were GOD

[YoungEMT95]

Emergency! Best show ever!

[Kaisu]

Great stories about the bad old days. A lot of those things are still current in some parts of this country. I know because I ran in one. I was completely shell shocked to run in a rig with no 12 lead capability, no CPAP, no RSI protocols, a cascade O2 system, bite sticks and MAST trousers on board, no cell phones, fill 'em up with fluid in trauma, etc. etc. I ran with colleagues that are still being taught to administer lidocaine for PVCs.

It made for some interesting soul searching and a big lesson in picking battles..

[Bernhard]

Most impressive thing for our young ones: we had no roll-in stretchers, really had to lift and carry them. When the new EMS chief ~1990 introduced the Ferno roll-in system here, the colleagues were totally against it. Even the union collected reasons for not using the roll-in stretcher. Some years later the left-over old ambulance with no roll-in-stretcher didn't collect kilometers because noone of the career EMTs wanted to use it - the volunteers were more or less pressed to get it on the street until it was sold.

Only one ambulance had an ECG, a really heavy thing, totally water proof but you could use it even to stand on.

We washed E.T. tubes, naso/pharyngeal tubes in water after using. A little later we at least gave them to sterilization in the nearby hospital.

Resuscitaion was a totally uncoordinated event, everyone sticked some tool into something and gave medications of all kinds (yes, I know the Alupent approach) occasionally interrupted by defibrillations (if available, not all units were equipped) and high-dose suprarenine or low-dose suprarenine, depending on actual medic involved. No wonder I had only two or three long-term saves the first 15 years of my EMS life.

We often transported two lying patients per ambulance (they were equipped for that), no need to call assistance.

Every station had it's own phone number, however they were dial-throughs to a central dispatch. The time we dispatched ourselves ceased just before I started in the service. So, I had to watch the phone line only two or three times when the dial-through was broken. The introduction of a unique phone number for EMS was around mid 1990ies ("19222"), only since a few years the european standard emergency number "112" is active here for EMS.

Lousy white trousers and scrubs were standard "protective equipment" on the street. Red jackets without reflective stripes just resembled the old white leather (!) jackets. Labels on the backside ("EMS") were not velcroe'd but fixed with four strings and a knot. I think I even was the first one here to use safety shoes, just after I stepped into an oil track with my brand new sneakers. The usage of gloves was a new thing when I started. A lot of the old folks didn't need them - until HIV was in the media.

We used to have humidifiers for our oxygene supplies. The fixed ones got a water change every week or so (or not). Then we changed to one way humidifiers, only that they were used as the old fixed ones - and changed every other week (or not). I don't want to imagine the bacteria collection inside them...

Desinfection was a rare event and done by only one medic who had the equipment/training.

I remember a lot of self-built and improvised tools, every ambulance was a special one, often "improved" by every shift. Next hardware store was a major supplier for "emergency equipment". Imagine toilet paper rolls as supply holders for tape.

Every thing was drilled into the ambulance body. There were a lot of boxes and holders of any size (originally used for screws and such, see "hardware store" above). You had all in reach, but it was a horror to clean, and therefore rarely done.

Infusion warmer was a standard electric blanket, just in one of the drawers.

Hard case emergency kits, where "hard" was discussable. I broke more than one of them plastic kits until we got aluminium cases, heavy and uncomfortable to carry. Some still use those over here (especially older units mainly for disaster response), but our service switched to backpacks some years ago.

One case for each topic: "Circulation emergency box", "Airway emergency box" plus seperate "Intubation kit", "Children emergency box", "Birth emergency box", "Drug box", "Trauma kit", "Tox box", "Burn kit", ...At least, in those days we had civil servicers (who circumvent mandatory military service in social work) to carry all that stuff.

...and so on...I'm feeling old now, thank you very much.

[Kiwiology]

We had to go through 2 separate radios to get to medical control, now it's a simple phone call away.

*puts up hand, excuse me sir, what is this medical control you speak of?

[ems94]

Oh young padawan, you have much to watch to learn the ways of the medical jedi. You should begin your training soon and not stop until you have completed all 3 series (you don't need to complete ER, as long as you make it to the episode with Doug Ross in the helicopter, after that it's pretty much no better than Grey).

that's a lot of money for all 3 series lol