100 percent O2 not best treatment anymore....

[katbemeEMT-B]

I still say it's a case by case situation and your assessment of the patient should give you the info needed to decide if a patient is in need of O2 or not. I believe I stated before, we do not give all patients O2.

[cotjockey]

Thus the problems of EMS. EMS is not considered a necessity rather a luxury. I know of many areas without EMS and then some only having a 1'st responder type system, but they will have LEO and F.D. again for safety and ISO ratings. Until we have an authoritative regulation requiring EMS and the components we will never progress, because there is no reason to do so. Without a regulatory watch dog such as JCAHO for hospitals, management will do what it can to get by and payers such as Medicare and Insurance Corporations will pay the nominal fee's understandably.

R/r 911

This is very true...I volunteer for a small, rural squad that is about 50% funded by tax $$$. Any time the city gets in a crunch, they take a little more away from us. We are forced to struggle to buy equipment, pay for most of our own training, and bust our tails having fundraisers. We're also expected to help the police with crowd control, SAR, etc. I know we do a lot of it to ourselves, but I wonder if the city council even realizes the contributions we make.

I work in a nursing home in a small town about 30 miles from where I live and I have been asked to leave work to respond with their volunteers...I about fell over the first time my supervisor came running up to me and told me she was taking over because EMS couldn't get an EMT, so I was going to respond to an MVA with their 80 year old driver.

For a lot of us out here in the middle of nowhere, its all about the love of the game...I don't disagree that it shouldn't be that way though!

[Dustdevil]

Welcome back, Cotjockey. Long time, no see.

I hate to hit you over the head with a nasty reality -- and no offence intended -- but you are your own worst enemy. Do you know why your community doesn't recognise your value? Because you have none. They get you for free. It's simple human nature; people don't appreciate that which they didn't have to earn or provide themselves. Why would they value anything which they have always gotten for free, and which there is always a line of people willing to do without pay?

I guarantee you that the moment they no longer had hobbyists signing up to play "the game" for free, they would recognise the value, and there would be professional EMS in place pretty quickly. Don't flatter yourself by thinking volunteers are irreplaceable and that professional EMS cannot be afforded. It's a crock. But, thanks to you and your friends, they have no reason to even see what EMS is all about, much less put a value on it.

For a lot of us out here in the middle of nowhere, its all about the love of the game...I don't disagree that it shouldn't be that way though!

There are a lot of people in this country who put their heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into making this a profession. I am really disappointed that you would not only call it a game, but treat it like one too. Someday, when people grow up and stop playing games with EMS, the profession can progress. Until then, people like you are the reason we continue to have no value.