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rescue25

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  1. Barely relevant, but... I recently saw a TV advertisement for a sleep clinic, wherein the spokesperson on screen in lab coat had the following title displayed at the bottom of the screen. "Jane Smith, EMT" I had to laugh - what in the world does an EMT certification have to do with working in a sleep clinic?
  2. I think it's perfectly normal to get a bit of an adrenaline rush - and to want to "help" people - particularly when you're relatively new. That said... I have, so far, never come upon an accident where I felt that stopping would be of any real value. If PD/EMS/FD isn't already on scene, I'll call it in. If they are, I can almost guarantee they don't need any help 9.9 times out of 10. Anyway, what am I going to do with the pair of gloves, pocket mask, and basic first aid kit in my trunk? Hold c-spine? No thanks. Unless someone is exsanguinating or in cardiac arrest, there isn't a whole lot I'm going to be able to offer. Not getting run over is also high on my list of priorities. I don't have whacker lights on my vehicle, so I don't even have a way to warn traffic - not that lights really help that much, anyway.
  3. I have to agree. Whenever I come up on an intersection with all lanes blocked, I shut down the siren and just hang back until the light turns green. If I'm running hot and a car pulls out into the intersection through a red light, and causes an accident, I'm automatically at fault by Virginia law. So I really don't want anyone poking through the intersection for me. If the Opticom would ever work properly, it should be turning the light for me shortly, anyway.
  4. Web developer/programmer. Looking fairly seriously at going back to school to become an RN.
  5. I've heard a rumor that the local major teaching hospital & university (our nearby level 1 trauma center) is going to offer a four year baccalaureate degree in paramedicine soon. I'm still trying to confirm this, because it would wonderful and something I'd like to pursue. Currently the best you can get around here is an AAS and that's for paramedic. Are you suggesting an associate's degree for the EMT-B curriculum? And do you know of other universities offering bachelor's degrees in pre-hospital medicine (one that would allow you to write the NREMT-P exam at the end of the program)?
  6. Well, we do have "adopt-a-road" litter pickup volunteers. (Edit: JonathanGennick beat me to it!)
  7. R1, I don't want to derail this thread any further and I certainly didn't mean my response to come off as picking on you, because it wasn't intended that way! I can't either. In fact, one of the reasons I'm doing EMS as a volunteer right now is because there aren't any career opportunities nearby where I wouldn't have to pretend to be a firefighter on the side. Richmond City is an exception, but I have no desire to burn out in a year and get paid sh!t for the pleasure. I can assure you I'd rather be making money doing EMS, but vollying is the only way to get solid experience without the hassles of Fire or the inner city. Henrico's call volume is pretty good. I can't find the fire department's call stats page off-hand, but my volunteer station alone ran just over 6,000 calls last year, and we only cover a small portion of the county as our first due area. That area is getting smaller all the time due to the increasing number of fire medics -- which, while that may not be great for our volunteer recruitment and retention, is certainly the prudent thing for the county to be doing in order to maintain an adequate system. Our situation is certainly different from a rural area where one (or a few) volunteer agencies are the only real game in town. I hope not, unless you enjoy syncopal episodes! :shock: Yeah, I love how Virginia phased out the Shock-Trauma and Cardiac Tech levels only to replace them with essentially the same thing: Enhanced and Intermediate. I won't pretend to understand the supposed advantages of having the Enhanced level, since I don't ride in a rural area. I've been told the value of an IV and a handful of drugs is beneficial in these areas (never mind the frighteningly lack of accompanying education/training), although I really think we need to shift our collective mindset toward making sure that "real" ALS providers are available, even in rural areas, instead of making up new "in-between" levels to accommodate volunteers who either don't have the time or willingness to go farther. Which, let's face it, is why they exist in the first place.
  8. Although the existence of volunteer agencies in nearby areas probably plays some role in this (fewer overall available jobs), I think you've probably overstated its impact. In Henrico, volunteer agencies exist, but are far outnumbered by career Fire Medics. There really is no lack of career opportunities in Henrico, but the caveat is you have to be a firefighter. Who wants to become a paramedic only to ride on the engine half the time? In my opinion, this probably has a greater effect than anything volunteers might contribute as it creates a big disincentive for many to seek employment as a medic in Henrico. The upshot is that you get paid a respectable salary with excellent benefits - a direct result of working for a well-funded municipal agency. If volunteers are truly "in the way," then why can Henrico County Fire Medics earn a decent salary even though the volunteer component in Henrico is stronger than that in the city? I would contend that RAA can get away with paying such low wages primarily because it offers two things that the surrounding counties cannot (or will not): 1. More experience: more trauma, more varied medical calls, (slightly) fewer nursing home runs, higher overall call volume 2. It's EMS - plain and simple: no firefighting requirement, just EMS. The impact of volunteers on wages is, I think, quite negligible in this particular instance simply because volunteers play an increasingly diminished role in the provision of EMS in this particular area. I do see your overall point, but feel it would probably be more applicable to more rural areas that are heavily or totally dependent on volunteers. I believe you would see a much greater equalization of pay if the surrounding counties were to move from fire-based EMS to a separate, municipal Emergency Medical Service. It would certainly level the playing field a bit with respect to #2. Elimination of volunteer agencies in these areas would increase the overall number of jobs available - particularly in areas that are still more rural and, thus, more dependent on the volunteer component - but would probably do little to change wages in the City of Richmond. Or even within career fire agencies in those counties (again, maybe some more than others). I fully agree with Rid, Dust, and others on here when they point out (rather emphatically) that a higher bar for education of pre-hospital medical providers is needed and will take care of weeding out many of today's volunteer agencies - especially those that are poor performers.
  9. These? I've got 'em too and couldn't be happier. I bought mine locally for ~$20 less than they are at Galls.
  10. Elderly female at a nursing home. Toned out as a cardiac arrest, but she was actually brady (~30 bpm) w/irregular shallow respirations. She ended up getting a tube and external pacing. I don't remember what the outcome was.
  11. Last night, while driving through a rather rural county that shall remain nameless, I witnessed a vehicle that can only be described as the ultimate whackermobile. Rusty old pickup truck with what appeared to be busted springs, a red "bubble" light on the roof with cigarette cord dangling into the cabin through the driver's side window, a "star of life" license plate jammed inside the windshield, at least 5 antennae on the roof (magnetic mount, too!), and papers all over the dashboard. YEAH...
  12. Hell, y'all, who needs sirens and lightbars? I just holler out the window 'n wave my penlight. But really... I have a Jetta turbo with some bandaids and Tylenol in the trunk, I think.
  13. My BLS protocol for non-traumatic chest pain includes 160-325 mg ASA PO if no sensitivity nor active GI bleed. Patient assessment has been the hardest thing for me to learn and get good at. Fortunately I've always been paired with good ALS providers to guide me and help me learn. Have you had any experience as a Basic or are you starting fresh as a paramedic? I'd be a deer in headlights too, if that's the case! Not a good feeling, for you or your patients. Be proactive in seeking out the help you need and hang in there!
  14. I've got a Littman II SE... was on sale when I got it for about $55. I like it quite a bit more than the cheap $10 stethoscope I had prior to that.
  15. What's the reasoning behind having police respond to (most) every call? Under ideal circumstances, an ALS transport unit would be all that's needed for the majority of calls, but of course geography and underfunded/poorly organized EMS systems mean that's not necessarily the reality in many areas. Engine + BLS transport + ALS chaser + PD seems excessive for ordinary medical calls, though. The city EMS system near me is entirely ALS and only sends BLS engines (simply due to proximity; although most of the time, the ambulance is less than 8 minutes - often 4 minutes - away from any given calls) to chest pain, diff. breathing, codes, and MVAs. There might be a few other instances, but those are the major ones.
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