Should deaf people be allowed to be EMT'S or Medics

[FireResq617]

Verbal communication is an essiential function of the job requirments...plain and simple.

[emt3225]

"they don't belong in this profession" "they don't belong on the bus". I FIND THAT VERY DISRESPECTFUL

Can they work on the ambulance? No, I don't believe these individuals should be able to for the same reasons that have already been listed BUT saying that "they don't belong in this profession" "they don't belong on the ambulance" is very rude.

Yes I am on the road to becoming deaf myself which is why I'm responding to this post. My months (hope years) are numbered and the day that I realized I can no longer provide a 100% accurate reading I will pull myself off the units but it doesn't mean I DON'T BELONG IN THE PROFESSION. :evil:

We dont mean to be disrespectful to anyone that is deaf or hoh but we are just expressing how we feel about this issue... :roll: I guess because i had to work with someone who was deaf and screwed up on almost every call, i cant help but to feel this way.

[FishHawk]

Give me a break! Asking a blanket question like that. Tell me exactly what you mean. Being deaf means so many things. i may be deaf to high tones but not low. I may be deaf but with the aid of electronics aids be able to hear. if I can't hear well enough to discern breath sounds its ok for me to work as a medic but how will i do my job.

quit being a fool ask a well defined question. until you do you poll has no merit

[mysticlakecasinoemt]

I'll jump out and speak for those in between. I am one. I wear bilateral hearing aides and use a stethoscope that augments everything by 56 times normal. It even distinguishes breath from cardiac sounds. In a pinch, my coworkers tap me on the shoulder to get my attention if in a noisy environment. And we normal palpate BP's in cramped quarters until I get my steth out. It hasn't been a problem. In fact, my lip reading's a bonus. I catch things they don't if I can see someone's face. Proved useful when someone said scene not safe fifty feet away on the lips of a cop while pulling up one day. Needless to say, we did a U-ee and waited it out. I tested EMT-B fine. Guess I'm not "deaf" by definition but I understand some hurdles. We have three deaf EMT-Ps in Minnesota working without restrictions. They are welcomed with open arms. Safety is an issue but can be worked around with a close crew and tight partnership with all communication methods worked out in advance. No different than someone wearing glasses having to deal with a fire helmet shield. *shrug* I'm saying this topic should be judged in a case by case basis. Take it with a grain of salt. I am seeing a lot of black or white responses in this forum. Stay gold. Patti

[Dustdevil]

I have always wondered about the amplified stethoscopes. Yeah, they're great for lung sounds and heart sounds. But what about blood pressures? Unlike heart and lung sounds, BP is a quantitative measurement, not a qualitative measurement. With the use of an amplifier, how do we quantify your reading? Are you getting the same number that a normally hearing person with a normal acoustic stethoscope would get? Seems to me -- although I could be wrong -- that this could result in erroneous readings.

Anybody ever tested this out? Ever test the same patient simultaneously with both an acoustic and electronic stethoscope and noted any differences? If not, I'd sure like to see it done.

[Guest]

I guess I will have to change my mind on allowing deaf people....obviously after reading some of the post, it has convinced me we already allow anacephalics...

Be safe,

R/R 911

I just don't know what to THINK of this post!! Should I CRY?

Verbal communication is an essiential function of the job requirments...plain and simple.

=D> =D>

[emt3225]

Give me a break! Asking a blanket question like that. Tell me exactly what you mean. Being deaf means so many things. i may be deaf to high tones but not low. I may be deaf but with the aid of electronics aids be able to hear. if I can't hear well enough to discern breath sounds its ok for me to work as a medic but how will i do my job.

quit being a fool ask a well defined question. until you do you poll has no merit

....

A fool i'm not my dear...I'm sorry if you are one of those people that can't hear but still insist on being in this profession...I had to deal with other emt's that couldnt hear a word i was saying and almost put a patients life at risk..People that can't hear shouldnt be doing this job..period...If you can hear by using a better scope and not totally deaf then i dont have a problem with you riding in the back of a ambulance..If i was blind should i be driving a taxi for a living? I dont think soo...

[mysticlakecasinoemt]

That's the first thing our program director checked out with me and the headphones gear.

My ampy scope works + or - five points mmHg. Only a problem when determining when or when not to give Nitro. Amplified stethoscopes aren't a problem, or they wouldn't be so popular among doctors and others using them in the industry. Don't knock it until you've tried it. I have

PM's borrow mine all the time since they can hear over jaws, K-12s and hose washing. If you bump it half down again, you can hear peristalsis sounds, without being over the abdomen which is usually covered in mast trousers, straps, splints, etc.

The advantages are more than what you fear as a potential mechanical inaccuracy.

I counter with, well then, how can you trust the automated BP cuff? If it's too tight, you get

too high, or too loose, you get an off reading. Same concerns, different machine. Right? Patti

I have always wondered about the amplified stethoscopes. Yeah, they're great for lung sounds and heart sounds. But what about blood pressures? Unlike heart and lung sounds, BP is a quantitative measurement, not a qualitative measurement. With the use of an amplifier, how do we quantify your reading? Are you getting the same number that a normally hearing person with a normal acoustic stethoscope would get? Seems to me -- although I could be wrong -- that this could result in erroneous readings.

Anybody ever tested this out? Ever test the same patient simultaneously with both an acoustic and electronic stethoscope and noted any differences? If not, I'd sure like to see it done.

[Asysin2leads]

I think with an amplified stethoscope it wouldn't matter with a blood pressure reading. Remember, the sound we hear for the systolic reading is the sound when there is just enough pressure to squeeze past the pressure of the cuff, and the absence of sound is when there is no longer enough pressure to produce Kortikoff's noise.

So, even with an amplified stethoscope, you're not going to hear what's not there, i.e. when the pressure of systole overcomes the pressure of the cuff, it's going to produce a noise, and when it hasn't, it won't. You may be able to hear the noise EARLIER with an amplified stethoscope, but really, that's just a more ACCURATE reading, because you're hearing a closer approximation of the pressure when it overcomes the cuff.

Did I lose everyon there?

Also remember, every vital sign must be taken in context. Nothing physiologically different happens when you give nitro to someone who is 106/82 and someone who is 98/78. Now if they had an absent radial pulse, now we're talking problems. Don't sweat the numbers, look at the patient.

[medic429]

Are the 21% who said "yes" serious, or are they just being PC? THINK about it......

I'll throw in my .02.....assuming someone is deaf - cannot hear - , not HOH .....

there are entirely TOO many things to worry about (for lack of a better word) on a scene to have to also worry about trying to get my partners attention by having to tap them or wonder if they can feel vibrations or something. seriously...can you picture it? Think about the times when you have a multi car MVC or something and people are scattered everywhere, asking questions, stating complaints, etc-patients, FD,PD etc. HOW is a deaf person going to handle a situation like that?? Or a medical call even....think about how much communication you have with your partner, family, patient...I cannot even imagine it. I try to picture a deaf crew member, and I can't get past what I'd do when the tones went off-go find partner, tap on shoulder--then what??

People who cannot or no longer do the job, need to bow out.....and those are the ones I respect. I do not believe the sense on entitlement some people feel....

My daughter has 20/200 vision, a fighter pilot she will never be. Should she expect to be let in to the service and fly planes because she wants to, because she loves it, because she wants to serve her country?? - absolutley not!

and that is meant with no disrespect at all.

I think asys said it best in his previous post.