pacman

Since he is a diabetic, what's his finger stick? Is this guy dying of thirst? Tried PE route - shot down Tried GI route - shot down Still can be NSTEMI. Perhaps hyperglycemic episode leading towards DKA with recurrent chest pain? Has NTG and O2 helped at all?? Probably give the ASA and the betablocker to cover bases as well. So, for the record, whats that finger stick?

Any abdominal pain and/or tenderness? I hate to simplify this, but maybe it a bad case of GERD. He might just needs a GI cocktail with some good old Pepcid, Donnatal, Maalox, Viscous Lidocaine......... that meal he was eating could have triggered it. Yeah, half the info I asked for before was already answered by you; I should pay more attention.

Truck driver makes me think that he has been sitting for a long time. Is he on anticoagulants? Is he compliant with his medication? Is the chest pain worse when he breaths? How are the lung sounds? Does he have leg pain? Hows that EKG looking....surely some signs of old infarcts from that MI, but anything active? What makes the pain worse? Movement, breathing, palpation, exertion? Is that pain sharp, constant, or dull? Where and how severe is the chest pain? Sorry for the random, unorganized questions, but I feel like I need to know so much more about this case.

I worked as an ER scribe for a few shifts at a hospital that UMDNJ BLS/ALS usually takes patients to and I have found their EMS crews to be top notch being very knowledgeable and professional. Its disheartening to find out that these 3 have ruined the reputation of such a fine group. EMS has no place for actions like these. Patient look towards EMS with trust that no police force can ever obtain. Now the EMS personnel in Newark will have to fear for their safety in an even more hostile environment. Keep safe out there guys.

I ride 4 straight 6 hour shifts ( 24 hours) with a new partner every shift. When I first get in, I check EVERYTHING!!! All bags, the boards, the collars, the dressings, tapes, portable/main suction, portable O2 tanks, main tank, all lights, air conditioning, siren, properly fitting extrication jackets w/ helmets, ect. That truck is MY office for the next 24 hours. I do it systematically though because I could be dispatched as soon as I start my checkoff. First with the important stuff: Oxygen, portable and main suction, BVM and other airway supplies, AED, BSI, stretcher and it's belts, fuel. Then I go and investigate everything in the trunk. The whole check, with the help of my partner, takes no more than an hour. Then we go eat. I accompany incoming partners to check the rig and almost dare them to find something missing or wrong, unless I already know something hasn't been replaced because I just got back from a call. Its a good way to keep me on my toes and for them to try to find something missing.

Seattle, Washington.....my mistake. Sorry.

Alright, I'll bite. If a patient is already in an ambulance, an ALS ambulance mind you, who already has a helicopter enroute, then what place does a Law Enforcement Officer have in determining a patient is not properly cared for? Its not a LEO's place to do any type of triage. You have to know your role. On top of all that, the officer clearly had a conflict of interest. She had two things she could have done: 1. Apologize to the original ambulance crew and let them be on their way, then tell her husband to grow up. 2. Call for another officer and/or supervisor to handle the situation. Of course, you risk looking like a fool to one of your colleagues for delaying patient care. I guess that promotion would have gone down the sink. If I were that patient, I would own that car the intruding medic was driving out of his house!

New Jersey is awesome! I'm kidding! Seriously, if you're on the West Coast, I hear many good things about EMS in Oregon, particularly in the Seattle area. Look into that if that interests you.

In one of the squads I ride for, the closest hospital is actually in the next state over, New York. We regularly transport patients there, especially since the hospital is a level II trauma center. However, we do opt to transport to the nearest NJ hospital for various reasons ( patient's request, patient is concerned about billing, patient's history, ect). However, we almost never get serious MVAs, since its a collegiate EMS. I would assume that if we did, we'd transport to the New York hospital because its a trauma center and its the nearest hospital. It seems to me that the police officer you dealt with was annoyed at the fact that he had to go through more paperwork because it was out of state. That, or he had to hassle more to get permission to interrogate the patients you transported. To my understanding, the only time a police officer can determine the patient's hospital destination is if the patient is under police custody. Even if the officer asked you to transport the patients to your in-state hospital beforehand, you still have to transport to where your patients want to go, within reason ( like distance ). Otherwise, you could be charged for kidnapping because you transported someone against their will.

You're dead on there Dust. There are a many scary ones here!

Geez, I guess I can't complain about stubbed toes and lacerated hands ( 5 hours in the past) anymore.

Alright I'll break the ice. Many EMS providers don't seem to properly secure their patients, and I learned the hard way. I once responded to a two patient MVC at a major highway in NJ. ( how more vague could I get?). Both patients were BLS only and were going to be transported to the same hospital, so we decided to have them both transported in the same ambulance. I cancelled the second oncoming unit. We backboarded both patients and put the less serious patient on the bench seat. The second patient, still bleeding from a facial laceration was secured on the cot. During transport, my partner took a turn too quickly, and I noticed that the backboarded patient on the bench was sliding off the bench!! :shock: I quickly dove over the patient on the cot and caught the second patient and backboard before she slid off the bench completely. I don't think I've ever reacted that fast! It turns out that I didn't secure the patient onto the bench with the seatbelts. We all got to the hospital safely, but couldn't get it off my mind how bad the call could have become if I didn't catch that patient in time. I'd be paying the legal fees till the day I die! The lesson learned from that was to always secure the patient before and immediately after you move them instead of having the whole " I'll get to that in a bit" mentality.

I'm there with ya! I think someone is just trying to mess with us.

I think I'm going to pull my hair out now..... :x

This is directly from my SOG, thankfully, I have yet to use them. Emergency Transmissions A. “Emergency, clear the air” will be transmitted to clear the channel for emergency radio traffic. B. “Urgent” will be transmitted when a situation becomes extremely dangerous to responders or civilians and the highest priority. C. “Mayday” will be transmitted when there is an immediate threat to the life or well being of an emergency responder. I wish I had a nice button that works!