Dustdevil Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 LMAO!! That's funny right there, I don't care who you are! I wish I could see the video! Did they actually leave the patient in there the whole time??
mediccjh Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 Learn proper use of the apostrophe. PARAMEDICS should be pluralized, not apostrophed. Apostrophes show possession.
WelshMedic Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 Don't get on the freeway and drive 15 miles and then suddenly realise that you shouldn't be on the freeway at all. Sad, but it actually happened. Sufficed to say that the person in question no longer works for us AND we have just installed SATNAV. WM.
Dustdevil Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 Along those same lines, and perhaps I am just getting old (and tired of being in ambulance wrecks), but DON'T expect to even get behind the wheel at all. I'll do all the driving. You concentrate on learning to be a good EMT, not an ambulance driver.
becksdad Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 Dustdevil wrote: concentrate on being a good EMT, not an ambulance driver. Thats a good post right there! I don't care who you are!
hammerpcp Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 Learn to drive right and not the way they do it on turd watch, Rescue 911, and slaved IF YOU COME TO WORK IMPAIRED IN ANY WAY YOU WILL NOT WORK WITH ME THAT DAY. If you come up on a green light make sure you are ready to stop if it turns yellow. DO NOT in the middle of the night assume there are no other drivers on the road. There are and they will hit you. If you get in a wreck in the ambulance with me in it and it is your fault, I'm gonna be PISSED especially if I have to take a drug test because the company says I have to. Do not second guess me unless you are absolutely sure that you are right. DO NOT second guess me in front of the patient EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can make a informed suggestion but I am the one who signs the paperwork as attendant. Buy me a soda every once in a while, I will reciprocate twenty fold. If I say move fast I mean it - there is something I've seen or heard or know that you don't. If you say move fast I'll assume you know the same as above. Know your district, study your maps, study the protocols, study the ambulance study the studier. The more you know the more likely I'm going to trust your suggestions. NO CUSSING in front of me or the patient. I'll do the same for you. If you steal from a patient do not pass go, I will report you and you will be fired. I will also report you for stealing to the police. If you are on medication that may or may not hinder your performance as an emt DO NOT come to work. If you do come to work you need to tell me what meds you are taking. If those medications may in any way affect your work then stay home. :shock: The fact that you even have to say most of these things astounds me. I am also very worried about the state of EMS where ever you are from.
Ridryder 911 Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 Very good posts so far. Wow, after all these years and things never really change. Okay, things not to do ..... Be over competent that you know everything ..... remember you just finished a nighttime class. Be under competent... yes, you are allowed to do vitals, place oxygen etc.. there are things you were taught .. as many described perform at your level. I agree with Dust.. no tobacco use, and no cellphones ... especially when driving. Don't chit chat with the Police, Fire.. etc.. when we have a patient to take care of..yes, tell then thanks or hi.. then do your job. Don't live like a Pig at the base... clean up after yourself and have good hygiene... Keep some personal things to yourself.. I really don't care to hear about your sex life, or hear you fighting with you mate.. Don't ASSume anything... you know the old saying. and many other things as was described in earlier posts.. Want to do is as important.... Be friendly to me .. learn to joke, carry on true conversation with proper sentence structure would be nice.. Do your job.. be sure the truck is stocked and ready to go...it BOTH our problem if is not! Learn the area... yes, I will help navigate you.. but, at least know the area. The same if I am driving, learn how to read a map book. Yes, you will tech a lot of the B.S. calls... that is the way you get to learn on patients... Be professional in ER and in the public arena... sorry, this job was not made to be a "love connection" get your dates off duty. Know that you need to study.. and learn. R/r 911
MAGICFITZPATRICK Posted October 19, 2006 Author Posted October 19, 2006 Ah, the cellphone thing is a good one! :thumbright: Another excellent suggestion was don't hang out in the ER after dropping off the patient. Once he or she is off the cot, you need to be on your way out the door with the cot and all equipment. Even if the patient has a really awesome gunshot wound to the head. Even if they were doing something cool to the patient. Get out of there. Get out of the way and get us ready for the next run. The next move is to immediately move the ambulance to a different parking space if you are taking up one of the spaces nearest the ER entrance. Don't make somebody with a critical patient (or anybody else, for that matter) wheel their patient around you because you were too lazy to move your truck. In fact, unless you had a critical patient, you shouldn't have taken that parking spot in the first place. After the truck is moved, the cot needs to be cleaned, disinfected, the linen changed, the floor cleaned, the squad bench and all work surfaces cleaned, all supplies replaced in the jump bags, and the trash emptied. Only then should you return to the ER. And if you found any patient belongings or EKG strips while cleaning the truck, take them back in with you. Here's a few more: Don't strap a pillow down on my cot. Don't EVER leave my ambulance unlocked. Never. Nowhere. Not even if we are in it. Every door and compartment shall remain locked at all times. ESPECIALLY if we are in it. Don't put your feet on the dashboard. Or the cot. Or the squad bench. Or the couch. Or the table. Or the desk. Or the bed. Or anyplace else that was not specifically designed as a walking surface. Don't use tobacco products while on duty. None. Not in the parking lot. Not out back. Nowhere. Don't hang an IV bag on that hook right over the cot where the tubing bangs the patient in the face all the way to the hospital. Find another place for it. (I want to castrate the idiots who put those things there in the first place. WTF were they thinking? Obviously they have never been a patient on a cot.) Don't give me any $hit about wearing body armour. Don't do anything half-arse. There are darn few things that we do that we are in such a huge hurry for that we cannot take our time and do it correctly and completely. My sister was a trauma nurse in the 80's Rochester NY can someone say CRACK WARS! She told me to do one thing!!!!STAY OUT OF THE WAY!!!!Dump the patient and go.
Jon_E Posted October 19, 2006 Posted October 19, 2006 Fitz, Welcome to hell. . .just kidding. Well I just read all four pages of "suggestions". . .some interesting info there. Just be professional, in your appearance and interactions with patients and co-workers. The patients arent going to remember you for your practical skills, i.e. how you can palpate a BP, or stabilize a fracture textbook style. They WILL remember how you interacted with them, how the ambulance went airborne @ one point during transport, and your appearance. BEWARE of Paragod syndrome. . .this incurable illness afflicts many in our profession. . .just read 75% of the above comments. The symptoms of this disease are arrogance, intolerance, and forgetfullness. We All started @ the basic level. Some of us may now think we are gods, but we're not. We seem to have forgotten that , yes, we too were once the FNG. (Phucking New Guy). Anyway, some of the medics you will work with will be really laid back, helpful, and all around nice people. Others will just be dics. Remember that you are part of a team, and although the paramedic may be in charge, he/she does need your help. It may be "my" ambulance, "my" scene, "my" cot, "my" everything to quote a fellow medic, but its also "his" power trip, "his" arrogance, and "his" obsessive compulsive disorder or whatever. Oh yeah, dont spend all your waking moments on the internet posting 128,000 of your opinions for others to read so you can feel important. And last but not least, wait until you are sure you actually like EMS before getting ambulance tattoos all over your body. . . .Later.
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