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Speaking of wrong reasons for being in EMS....

I will start this by saying that I am full-time paramedic for a private ambulance service and I am also a full-time Firefighter/Paramedic for a union fire dept. In the vast majority of cities, townships and fire districts across Ohio it is almost impossible to get a full-time fire job without already being a Medic. If you are able to get job with out being a Paramedic you are required to become one with in 2 years. For the departments I belong to there is no animosity between fire and ems because we do both and it works great for us. I understand that it isn't this way for other parts of the country and it is unfortunate. Fire and EMS can work together flawlessly. And to those who are complaining about the fire department taking all the glory and credit from EMS you are doing the job for the WRONG REASONS!

Listened to that interview a while back. Good stuff. Surly shed a lot of light upon the CBT that many people were confused about.

Keep in mind that just because a hospital isn't a "trauma center," doesn't mean that they cannot handle the pt. You know your local resources better than I do obviously. If you have an EM residency trained physician at your local hospital they will be able to handle it just as well as the trauma center. True, the pt will probably end up being transferred because of unavailable resources. There is a difference in a fall from a standing height versus a fall from 4' up, especially with a pt of this age. I understand that you have to operate under your protocols but don't let them interfere with quality patient care and good judgement. Good judgement will come with more experience. If in doubt, contact the local hospital to see what they think. The rural hospital I work at does not have orthopedics on-call at times. Our providers will call to see if we are able to care for the pt before them come to us. In most cases we can take the pt. About the only pt we can't take at those times is pts with open fractures. We reduce most things in the ER and things that do need ortho but don't need to go to the OR right away can be admitted to the medicine guys who will consult ortho the next day. Long story short (too late) your local hospital may be able to do more than you think.