JimH

True, and especially true of places like Boeing. where if you are not there to do your job, there is always someone else. Low skill levels at places like Boeing make sure that employees are able to be easily replaced. I needed to make some sacrifices including working for a general aviation FBO for 2 years while doing security, and moving out of the LA area, but I always viewed it as a step toward a decient job, and not an end. It was a big step since I had only worked as an EMT, and at the time I decided to change, aerospace was in the tank. Sometimes you need to be willing to take an up or out attitude if your field does not give you what you need to have a good life. ________________________________________________________________________ Just like the airline industry! :oops: Brand new 20ish y/o pilots within minimal training seeking out the big shiny jet jobs for a minimal amount of money. Some even PAY for the opportunity to fly a turbine aircraft. It amazes me the low levels people will stoop to just to get what they want. Professional work ethic is a dying trait.................................

Although not EMS, my company has a different philosophy from any ambulance service I ever worked for, we start at $17 per hour, (which is a good starting wage) and during the employee's probationary period, and learning thier job,the employee should be starting to be worth it, after which there is an generous increase. We reciently had an employee fail to make his probation, through lack of aptitude and inattention to detail. Through experience, the company has learned that in our field, mechanics are not easy to find (competent ones), and it does what it can to retain them. The licence merely means that they have a theoretical knowledge, and are, in theory, trainable. It is the specialized skills and knowledge that they acquire that make them a valuable commodity to the company. EMTDON970 used his EMT as a way into a related field as a useful skill, but it is difficult to find that niche working as an EMT only and be rewarded for your time and work.

The advisory circulars are good info- especially the part dealing with the minimum equipment list and being a no-go item. Each aircraft type has a minimum equipment list which is divided into chapters system by system. It is approved by the FAA. What it tells the crew is what they can fly with if it is inoperative, and for how long. It has maintenance and operational items to perform such as placarding something inoperative, or pulling a circuit breaker. In our MEL's, depending on what the item is, and the conditions, an item can be MEL'd for 5 days, 10 days or not at all. (For instance, prop deice can be MEL'd for 10 days, so long as the aircraft is not flown in icing conditions. It must be placarded inop, and the circuit breaker pulled and maintenance notified) In the case of the medical kit, and medical oxygen, if I interpret it correctly, these items cannot be MEL'd, and the aircraft cannot be operated in passenger service without having them aboard in servicable condition.

Correction- There are some gasseous systems, but most I have dealt with are chemical- Here is a link to an item on on-board oxygen systems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_oxygen_system A portable botle would probably be your best option

You beat me to it with your link, Dust- in addition, here are the sections of the FARs (now called CFRs) covering oxygen, and emergency training and duties of aircrew. FARS make for extremely boring reading I don't know how I managed 20 weeks of them!- I am glad I spend most of my time with Part 43 and 65. Relevent sections are CFR 121.574, 121.801, 121.805 and 121.803. They leave a lot to the airline which would most likely cover handling of medical emergencies in the company operations specification which must be in compliance with the CFRs. http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-....24&idno=14 Medical oxygen in a commercial aircraft is stored in bottles, but the emergency oxygen for the drop down masks is supplied by oxygen candles which burn, giving off oxygen- it supplies the whole system, all masks and is only able to supply oxygen long enough to decend to a survivable altitude- a matter of minutes only.

>>you can do a lot more with an airframe and power plant license than you can with a paramedic cert. << Not when I started, the aerospace companies were laying off constantly, and every arguement for staying in the medical/EMS field had to do with job security. The short answer for why they pay so low is because they can- as long as they can get people to take it at those payscales and work the long hours, it won't change- inspite of raising professionalism, and educational standards (when EMT replaced First Aid certificates, bring in AED etc.) the standard of pay really has not changed very much since I started, but all the complaints remain. >>if we have a bad day people die<< Ditto for my job, two years ago, about two hours after completing an inspection on a plane, and returning it to service, it went down, killing the pilot- it was ruled %100 pilot error (improper proceedure, bad weather), but I still remember him, and the feeling I had and am thankful that I had no concerns about the safety of anything on the plane when it was returned to service. Many jobs can have very bad outcomes if not done properly-

>>Don't expect sympathy from EMT companies in Los Angeles for the cost of living. Gerber pays $8.25 an hour, McCormick a little more.<< My first Ambulance job was 1977, and paid $2.65 Hr. I got to $3.17 in 6 months. Minimum wage was something like $2.50 Hr. It amazes me, in 1990, I worked for a service in LA/Orange County for $8.75 Hr. The pay was higher than most then but reading this, it has not improved at all. I finally had enough left EMS, and worked a security job to get through school. After I got over going to work, and knowing I would be going home in 8, not 10 or 12 hours, I was in heaven working a 40 hour week and not being dead when I got off work. The hourly pay was even higher and I found I enjoyed it more. I only regret not leaving sooner-

Why Parents Get Gray Hair A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see the bed nicely made up and everything neat and tidy. Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed, "Dad" With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands: Dear Dad, It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with you and Mom. I've been finding real passion with Joan and she is so nice. I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercing, tattoos, her tight motorcycle clothes and because she is so much older than I am but it's not only the passion, Dad, she's pregnant. Joan says that we are going to be very happy! She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood, enough for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Joan has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it and trading it with the other people in the commune for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Joan can get better; she sure deserves it! Don't worry Dad, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Someday, I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren. Your son, Chad P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that's in my desk drawer. I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home.

Only the fact that this person lived disqualifies him from a Darwin Award- Let's wish him success in future attempts! :wink: http://www.glumbert.com/media/badrobber

Mine was more of a fitting commentary at the end of a day from hell- We were in the unit on the way back to the station well after the end of the shift, sitting in traffic, waiting for the light. Ahead of us was a station wagon and in the rear facing seat was a boy about 5-6 years old, who had his finger in his nose up to the second knuckle. He seemed to be concentrating very hard, but as he came out of his trance, he saw the ambulance behind him and the two of us in hysterics laughing our butts off. He then, keeping his finger up his nose, reached down on the floor,and pulled a blanket over his head, and under the blanket, you could see he still had his finger jammed up his nose- It is something I will always remember whenever I come to the end of a crappy day- I hope the little guy got what he was after.

When I first got into the field, I thought of med school, and later nursing, and went into a nursing program. I got my prerequesites, and was in a program and found I did not want to do it for my career. At the time, I was beginning to get burned out of the field, and in general dealing with people. When I left the field completely, I felt thankful that I did not have more invested- some people are right for it, some are'nt. Medicine can be a great career if it is what you are passionate about doing, but I would not be able to work at it if my only reason was a paycheck or worse yet, to pay off my student loans.

" My understanding (which might very well be wrong) is that the reason why podiatrists, dentists, and oral surgeons don't require MD/DO supervision is because, as a general rule, the MD/DO's don't want to do it in the first place. " By rights, that would mean proctologists would not be under medical supervision either :wink:

I don't know if it has changed, but about 10 years ago, when I was in the field, LA City FD had civilian Paramedics

A friend once said "A clean and uncluttered work area is a sure sign of a sick mind"- I have only my own experience to fall back on.

and all along I thought it was the cheating, lying, dishes in the sink or socks on the floor....

"Just because its concerns sexual matters you all make jokes about it. " I'm sorry, that was bad of me, but whenever I see a study like this, I think, "My God, whatever did the human race do before these people arrived?" I think reproductivly, it has been quite sucessful thus far, fortunatly or unfortunatly depending on one's viewpoint. :wink:

"In both cases, frequent sexual contact is needed after the treatment" I suppose it's just one of the sacrifices we are called upon to make for the good of the relationship. :wink:

I don't know about any of you, but if I used my position to solicit sex fromsomeone, I could depend upon my company to give me a suspension with pay- sounds like a government run operation :wink:

A woman buys a parrot, and before taking him home, the clerk confides that he was previously owned by a madam in a house of prostitution. On getting him home, the lady takes the wrapping paper off the cage, and the parrot looks around the room, and says "New House"- A few seconds later, the lady's daughter comes into the room, the parrot sees her and says "New House, New Girls"- Just then the lady's husband walks into the room, and the parrot says, "Oh, hi Keith!"

Two legged or four legged animals? :wink: I did once witness my dog perform the hindlick manouver-

I think the main reason I recall the first one was that it was a pediatric full arrest. A 2 year old had fallen into the family swimming pool and was found some time later. The father was a physician and started CPR immediatly, PMs were on scene quickly, but there was nothing anyone could do at that stage. There are patients you can do something for, and those you can't.

After 15 yars at a variety of companies, I finally burned out completely. The last company I worked for was so badly mismanaged that it became extinct a short time after I left. About the same time, I had a family member at home with a long term health problem which lasted about 2 years and required constant care. I decided I needed to either move up or out of the medical field, and chose out. Nursing was'nt what I wanted to do, and when you are feeling burned out, the answer is not to do more of it by going to Paramedic school. Aviation was my first love, so I decided to pursue it. I dedicated two years to study and got my A&P license. I still have some interest in the EMS field, but I doubt I will ever get my EMT license again, or do anything medically related. I have no regrets, and enjoy what I do now greatly- there is always a challenge. I had worked in EMS for all of my working life, so doing something else was a real eye opener- finding out there is life outside of EMS- :wink:

Here are some maintenance squawks taken from aircraft records, with the mechanic's remedial action (some I have used myself :wink: ) Pilot entry: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. Mechanic entry: Almost replaced left inside main tire. Pilot entry: Test flight OK, except autoload very rough. Mechanic entry: Autoland not installed on this aircraft. Pilot: No. 2 propeller seeping prop fluid. Mechanic: No. 2 propeller seepage normal. Nos. 1, 3 & 4 propellers lack normal seepage. Pilot: Something loose in cockpit. Mechanic: Something tightened in cockpit. Pilot: Dead bugs on windshield. Mechanic: Live bugs on backorder. Pilot: Autopilot in altitude hold mode produces a 200-fpm descent. Mechanic: Cannot reproduce problem on ground. Pilot: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. Mechanic: Evidence removed. Pilot: DME volume unbelievably loud. Mechanic: DME volume set to more believable level. Pilot: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. Mechanic: That's what it's there for! Pilot: IFF inoperative. Mechanic: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode. Pilot: Suspected crack in windscreen. Mechanic: Suspect you're right. Pilot: Number 3 engine missing. Mechanic: Engine found on right wing after brief search. [The pilot meant engine 'misfiring'.] Pilot: Aircrafts handles funny. Mechanic: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious. Pilot: Radar hums. Mechanic: Reprogrammed radar with words. Pilot: Mouse in cockpit. Mechanic: Cat installed. Hope everyone has a good weekend-

"From the novel .....'House of God"......opening page ......."Life is like a penis when it's soft it's easy when it's hard you get screwed"...." Ah, The Fat Man- My Hero and role model! (Actually his "Great American Medical Invention" could make a ton of money! :wink:

One unit I worked in was a Pontiac low top, and looked strangely like a hearse- One day, filling the tank, I flaked some paint off the inside of the hood, and under the red paint was black. I have always wondered where that one came from. :shock: