This was on our county forum......

[VillageEMT]

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.

Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC), The Bacchae, circa 407 B.C.

Nothing EVER changes.

[BushyFromOz]

i have mental images of some obese, single and intoxicated male who hasn't washed for 10 days wringing in his own sweat and penning responses on a forum for a county he was a fomer volunteer EMT, reclassified a whacker and left out in the cold one night after trying to tube an unresponsive pt with a teaspoon and length of garden hose while doing bi-lateral cpr on two cardaic arrest victims

If that above line is not proof i need more sleep i dont know what is

This guy is a bloody tosser

[becksdad]

Bushy - that is a pretty darn funny mental image right there! It ranks right up there with Asysin2leads classic whacker essay. Maybe you guys could collaborate and write an episode of "Saturday Night EMS Live!".

[Dustdevil]

Bushy is, as usual, on to something here. Sort of.

If this guy's letter is not the tongue-in-cheek joke it appears to be, then I think there is an extremely good chance that the guy simply had a horrible experience with EMS that led him to his conclusions. Think about it. With the predominantly large percentage of stupid, undereducated, and incompetent medics out there, we know from reading this forum how often medics provide "care" that is so horrible that the public is easily led to believe that we are worthless.

Intentional or not, the writer makes a very good point. Several, actually. It is true that there is a terribly disproportionate emphasis on technology spending in EMS while educational investment is minimalised. And it is true that, in the majority of the cases in which we are summoned, neither the technology nor the education are ultimately useful to the patient. Unfortunately, his correct points lead him to an incorrect solution.

[BushyFromOz]

it amazes me that at 3.50 am, you managed to arouse whats left of my seemingly cold and coagulated cranial porridge

Good work Dust!

[hfdff422]

Ok- He did one whiz-bang job putting me on!

"Has anyone seen the independant film (Hell's Highway:The True Story of Highway Safety Films.)?

It is a documentary of the creation of those gory instructional highway safety films we all saw during high school drivers education in the 1950s-70s. The non-profit film agency that produced these was partially managed by, and in produced in cooperation with, the former Mansfield Ohio police chief and the Ohio State patrol. It goes into detail about how emergency services functioned back then.

For example: Former steps to respond to a traffic accident:

1) State police receives accident call from either a citizen or other police agency.

2) State police desk seargent calls the "on-duty" funeral home which is providing ambulance service for the night, and possibly the local fire department where the accident took place.

3) State police desk seargent dispatches a state trooper to the accident,calls the sheriff for mutual aid, if one of his guys were not available or notifies the municipal police if it is within town limits.

--Of course, this procedure varied from region to region, but this is how it was done around Mansfield, Ohio at this time.

After the policeman, ambulance, and possibly the fire department, arrived at the scene all they could do was cut the victims out with blow torches and gawk at them while they wrived in agony (calling out to God for mercy etc.) and/or watch you while you were dying until they could get around to rushing you to the hospital. The ambulance attendants were usually nothing more than mortuary employees little who knew little about medical procedures, and who, often, did not even have a high school level education. Of course, cars were also not as safe as they are now and seat belts were not used frequently so you saw a lot of people ejecected, crushed, impaled on various solid steal car parts etc.

Indirect quote from the former Chief of Police in Mansfield, Ohio: "If you were not injured in the wreck, you surely were when the ambulance came for you. Two mortuary attendants would grab you, one by the feet and another by the shoulders, and throw you on the stretcher to be placed in the ambulance and rushed to the hospital."

If anybody is truly interested in the history of emergency services, they should see this movie: "Hells Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films." Also, watch some of the origional drivers education "shock films" that are covered in this documentary and show actual footage of accident scenes and emergency response: Wheels of Tragedy, Mechanized Death, etc! This will really show you how far along emergency services have come. All of them were filmed in Ohio.

Of course, I do not really recommend going back to the old system! I was playing Devil's advocate, trying to illicit a response from the emergency response professionals on this forum so I could learn some more. It really paid off in spades! I have really learned quite a bit, supplementing my knowledge from the above-mentioned films, reading and viewing professional cars at shows etc.

I will say those who worked in the old system, regardless of their lack of training, had a heart of gold and did provide for their community at their own expense. Whenever you called for help the volunteers would come rushing from work in a moments notice, access the patient and rush you in the ole' station wagon ambulance to the hospital. This was done at a financial loss to the funeral homes and without financial compensation to the volunteers who would have their work days and personal lives interupted to help their fellow citizens in need. It was all about community.

However, fortunately, technology, time and the quality of the emergency response methods and systems technology have progressed. However, Hendricks County, and the entire Indianapolis area, still has a bit of a way to go before we have a first tier" system such as the one in Orlando Florida or Seattle, WA. Of course this lies at the management/system level, and is not indicative of the dedication and professionalism of the responders.

Thanks to all of you who responded to my thread! It was truly educational! Hopefully, I did not rankle your feathers too much by playng "Devil's advocate."

I

Have a great day!"

http://pub28.bravenet.com/forum/2345688392

[Dustdevil]

"Has anyone seen the independant film (Hell's Highway:The True Story of Highway Safety Films.)?"

Oooh! We'll have to include that on the schedule of the EMT City convention in 2007!

We'll sandwich it in between "Mother, Juggs & Speed" and the "EMERGENCY!" marathon.

[Malignant-Hyperthermia]

We'll sandwich it in between "Mother, Juggs & Speed" and the "EMERGENCY!" marathon. Very Happy

We could attend in costume and role play - someone can dress as Fishbine and yell at you while i go outside andl slash all your tires. Finding the right clothes could be problematic, but im sure we could call Dust "The best driver in the city'

Now, to find a Rachel Welsh look alike......

[Dustdevil]

Now, to find a Rachel Welsh look alike......

She's already a member here.

We just have to all chip in to pay her airfare from Israel.

[akflightmedic]

GRRRRR......

Back off......