jsadin

Just saw this today! Been a little crazy getting the oldest off to college. Good luck to you Kaisu! Good for you for following your heart.

You ain't kidding. Had a medic once who didn't know what to call an ampule ("ya know, I used one of them little glass thingies.."). Another one recently called an orbital fracture and occipital fracture. Wrong side of the head dude.

Dust, come on back brother. I'll buy you your very own Kalashnikov to play with in TX.

Dust, that was beautiful. You do have a way with words...

Squirrel Songs http://www.illwillpress.com/SS6622.html

I love the 3ltrs by simple face mask! 2 by NC is more the norm around here. "Gee, we don't know why his SOB didn't improve...we've go the concentrator up as far as it will go!".

I've never found a gas container that doesn't let fumes escape. If you put a filled container in your vehicle, you will smell gas.

Ah, the fabulous sport of "drunk sitting". After a while, aspiration pneumonia doesn't seem so terrible....

I like the LED ones for the extended battery life. I can go almost a year without changing a battery.

There's a difference between educated and smart. I've seen some well educated folks that I wouldn't let walk my dog.

Firedoc is right on the money about no two tubes being alike. My first tube in the OR was cake...textbook presentation, slid right in, anesthesiologist was impressed, etc. The next one I looked like the monkey with the proverbial football. Remember the basics, remember your anatomy and don't be afraid to pull out the laryngoscope and oxygenate for a bit while you gather your shat together.

OMG Mike...I'm sitting here laughing so hard I'm crying at my computer. That was great!

Wish my basic class was like that. I think we spent one class on vital signs and that was taking them in a quiet classroom. We only saw one ambulance during our class and that was just the "ooooo....aaaaahhh" tour....no real learning expected. I think a year of ride time (whether 911 or transfer) helps to get the potential medic some entry level "patient care" experience so they can decide whether taking care of the sick/injured is something they really want to do. How much does it suck to put 1500hrs of your life into something only to discover it really isn't for you?

Tex, love the avatar.

It's been 13yrs so far for me in mostly rural EMS (with urban for about 3yrs). I do this part-time so burnout is less of an issue, but I did experience a year where I dreaded the tones and got pretty apathetic. Our town service was hurting for EMTs and I was on call almost every night plus working weekends for another service (in addition to my full time job). I remember getting really angry when the tones would go off, even if it were for something legit. I was always tired, always irritable. Once we got some more EMS folks employed I cut my runs WAY back and that helped a bunch. It's super easy to over-extend oneself in this field and you need to be careful. Another issue I've noticed is medics who feel "trapped" in EMS. I was speaking with a medic I've known for a while and he expressed displeasure with EMS as a career. When I suggested he move on to something else he said "are you going to give me money while I retrain? I'm not qualified for anything else". I can imagine there are others who feel like they've painted themselves into a corner career wise.

Nice to see you back among the troops Cheeky.

I agree w/Terri. He's decon'd as good as he's going to be. Push your drugs, secure that airway and haul ass. Anyone use the DUMBELLS acronym? Diarrhea, Urination, Miosis, Bradycardia, Bronchospasm & Bronchorrhea, Emesis, Lacrimation, Laxation and Salivation. I find SLUDGE easier to remember.

Zonk, luv the sig.

One of my former basic partners (now a medic, but brand new at the time) was asked quietly by me to call for an ALS intercept since the patient seemed to be "going south". Doesn't my partner grab his portable and loudly proclaim into the mic "27A to ...... fire, start ALS...patient is going south". The patient looks at me with wide eyes and says "I am???". I calmly said "Yes maam...south on 122A". My partner and I had a little talk later.

I've never used the bevel down technique, but I have heard of it. I generally go with a very loose tourniquet on older folks and that has helped immensely.

Was up chatting with dispatch and one of the dispatchers mentioned a caller (911) who wanted to have dispatch call his friend to pick him up two packs of cigarettes and some sprite. The caller explained that he couldn't afford to pay for service for his cell, so 911 was the only number he could dial.

For those who like the video in the original post, check this out: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...ideoID=16453611

Mrsbull, I just gotta give ya props on the avatar. It brings a smile to my face every time I see it..

I say we put a moderately large chunk of C4 in each ambulance wired to a remote detonator that only the state PD have access codes to. Once the ambulance goes missing, we announce over the ambulance frequency that the thieves have 10mins to deposit the ambulance at a pre-determined location or they will go boom. After 10mins, look for the mushroom cloud....