Chief1C

I often compare hospitals with pharmacies. I do third party EMS billing. Ever go into a large chain pharmacy, and notice they sell first aid supplies in individual amounts, like $1.50 for ONE 4x4.. and similar. That way, when someone on Medicare or etc, buys it insurance pay, they get 1/3 or such back and still make money. I say that often hospitals go out of their way to make a buck, when its not necessary. I have a lot of elderly, low income folks that refuse ALS b/c they don't want the bill. Typically, the local ALS has the most outrageous bills I've ever seen, often several hundred to a thousand more than some of the urban services. I took a patient in, diabetic/fall victim was the dispatch, fell *against a chair, to the carpeted floor. Had a skin tear, that was the only complaint, wanted to be checked out. Didn't want a paramedic, didn't want a board, didn't want anymore than a friendly ride. Conscious, alert, oriented, not confused. Great, lets go, nice ride in the country. Get to the ER, give my report to the nurse, we're standing there waiting for the insurance sheet.. and the bells go off, Trauma Alert, ETA Now. Here comes our patient, they were all ranting, fall victim on blood thinners. Like.. I literally just answered your questions. Does the patient take blood thinners? Patient takes one 81mg baby aspirin every Tuesday morning (why Tuesday?), other than that, No prescribed blood thinners, only history is diabetes controlled with (stated meds). ER Doc gets in my face and says - This patient needs the trauma service, all fall victims on blood thinners need to be screened for head bleeds. I said But the patient doesn't take any blood thinners, and didn't hit anywhere remotely near the head. Patient against a chair and bumped the leg. There are no blood thinners on the meds list, they gave us a bag of meds, none in there, patient denied taking any, patients spouse stated the patient didn't take any. I always ask that if the call is for a fall victim, no matter the age. He said that patient takes Aspirin. Yeah, once a week. I took four for a headache this morning, maybe I should be trauma alerted by (pointing at a hott resident) that one? Aside from that, the patient had no symptoms/signs of a head injury, bleed, cva, et al. I seriously almost slapped the doc. He either needed a vacation, or a piece of @$$. Way too uptight.

I've been sleeping like 12-14hrs a day for the past two weeks. I wake up, get right back in bed and sleep another 8hrs. Always tired, and if I don't go back to bed, I have a headache all day. Thought I had the flu, but it never surfaced, unless this is the flu.

It's a satchel, not a purse.

I'm into vitamins and supplements these days. I tried these Melatonin capsules for sleep. Holy hell. Made me literally feel like I was hanging upside down, and spinning one way, then the other. It was like a carnival ride, in the comfort of my bed. The only issue with this sort of natural shit is they don't list side effects. Otherwise, I'd have been inclined to not try it. Zzzquil FTW

I'd push the blame more toward the guys with the power tools.

Just have your supplier send along the large, bar coded expiration stickers that usually come in a box of supplies. I use them on bottles of stuff, or bag packages. (on the ambo). I don't carry anything liquid personally, it would freeze. And there is nothing worse than having all yer shit ruined by a ruptured bottle of NaCl..which will in fact freeze. You wouldn't think salt water would, but...

I started at 16, and a decade and a half later, I turned out okay.

When House first came out, I hated it, too many "fake" comments while watching it. Then, in the end, I loved it.. Hated NCIS too, "that's not real, anyone that was so informal wouldn't work for the government".. Now? I love it. Rescue Me. Hated it. Own every DVD. Emergency. Still hate it, but I own every DVD, and I have an autographed script from my fav. episode...AND... I own something that was used in the Pilot! ER... Every DVD. Third Watch.. Almost every DVD, but I never watched it on TV. So, a couple weeks ago, I was laying in bed sweating out a fever from a month-long flu episode (and I had fricken flu and pneumonia vaccs). Nothing on TV, open the onDemand menu, free on demand, TV... CBS.. Chicago Fire. Watched six episodes. I kinda like it. I don't watch it when its on schedule, but I make a point to watch it from the demand menu.

I think I need a Valium after reading that. I could certainly use some mommafudgin' Advil.

Wow... It's like a twin version of Rob... or that kid from Canada. Vital Signs Absent,

I need some fricken Beano

It's 13F, all its doing is making black ice.

I prefer Dunkin Donuts, screw the bakery, gimme some peanut butter iced and filled DD's. No seriously... Gimme some. Now.

I have these things that strap over them and have six spikes. But that would ruin my hardwood floors.

Bean Soup

Someone probably does. They confuse 9-1-1 with the number for cab companies all the time.

In 2013, it is not okay to wear a fanny pack. In 1993 it was pushing it.

Warming trend, supposed to be in the 50's all week. Goodbye fricken snow. Not soon enough either, I'm pretty sure I broke my tailbone off on my sidewalk. Gutters clogged with ice, dripped down, make the slate walkway into a smooth slide. And I proved that my boots do NAWT "Grip All". I wonder if I can get my money back?

Unless they have attempted suicide, unsuccessfully, and require immediate care that cannot be stabilized in the ambulance, thus requiring the services of the nearest hospital... We take them to a facility that can treat their mental health crisis. Gotta go to an ER before they can go to like a long term place, or a rehab facility.. and we don't do inter-facilities. So, we take them to the nearest hospital, with an attached psych unit. And they are few, and far between. But there are many circumstances that make it kinda vital that they get to where they need to be. If I turfed them off to the nearest ER, they'd get put in a lock down room, they could deny the threats, etc.. get sent home.. hurt us for taking them, hurt loved ones for calling, or be successful. Either way, a system only works if a person WANTS help, if someone is going to harm themselves, after the 72 or 96 hour hold, they can easily lie their way out and start all over again. Now it must be hard to get the folks that are just plain legally fricken insane into a "state hospital" type deal, b/c we continually see them back on the streets. I don't even know where the closest place that handles that type of case would be located, short of a prison with a psych ward. adding more.. I'm familiar with the system, not on an individual level, but family. Some folks just can't be saved from their own hand. Had a patient a number of years ago, started on a weekend, suicide attempt, three days later, released and a second attempt with in a few hours.. five days later, another attempt.. five days later, a near successful attempt. That one involved severeing the femoral artery, and stating they would kill anyone that came in. So we had to wait for the scene to be cleared, and by then the patient had nearly bled to death. Couple weeks later, released, OD'd, called 9-1-1 probably quite some time afterward, as far as I can figure. Ended up being successful. Why? No idea. Always called for [the persons self], shortly after the attempt. Granted it was summer, so eventually, someone would have noticed.

I dunno.. I wouldn't consider myself a "compliant" diabetic. I don't take my meds, b/c they make me feel tired.. but I manage it pretty well with just a diet. On occasion I feel low, but how I treat it is directly dependent on a trustworthy bgl reading. I use a tiny monitor, takes a tiny drop, and really to get that tiny drop, the needle in the lancet is so small it doesn't hurt. Granted, I only test it if I have the Wizzy's. Wizzy. Weak/Dizzy. Write that down. Usually comes on suddenly, never gets above 90ish, but I don't get the Wizzy's until I'm in the low 30 range. 99.9% of the time, a couple glucose tablets, or a "glucoshot" drink cures it. But if the reading on the glucometer is wrong, say it reads higher, I may not treat it..and then the .1% falls in and folks can't decide if I'm low or drunk. Happens.

Define small.

Plectron? People still use those?

Not any more, thank gawd.. got mine back from the shop. I had a bitch of a time getting out of my driveway for a call this morning. Had to kitty litter it.

10-4 Potassium. (because just sayin' K is getting old) In all seriousness, though, lets say you want to buy your own kit. And this is going to be the topic of a PO request I make for buying a new bag for the ambo.. These things, all of them almost anyway, are made of Cordura. It's very rugged, ages well, etc.. But you can't get shit off of it. It grabs a stain, and it keeps it, unless you wear your fingers to the bone scrubbing it off...and then? It fades there. Plastic is the way to go, but you don't have much space on the trays, they're either too small to be practical or too big to organize. What ya need to do is: 1: Go to a craft store, A.C. Moore, Michaels, Joann Fabrics, et al; get some patch glue. 2: Go to a sporting goods store, Gander Mountain, Cabellas, Bass Pro, et al; get a soft-sided Flambeau tackle bag, with the plastic boxes. Buy this stuff. Take it home. Remove the plastic boxes. Throw them away (or use them to organize stuff in ur workshop). Glue a state patch over the flambeau logo, put a heavy book on it to hold it in place. Wait 12 hours. BAM! Trauma bag for $25. That way, when it gets stained with oil, blood, etc... you don't have to spend $100+ (with S&H) to replace it. unexcusable word usage error edit

Cold? You're in Texas.. It's 3F here. THREE. with icy lake effect snow.. and I have a rental sport wagon, that doesn't have 4WD. WHO THE F**K MAKES A "SPORT" VEHICLE WITHOUT FOUR WHEEL DRIVE (Ford obviously) BUT WTF IS SPORT ABOUT A 2WD VEHICLE? Maybe inner-city, so-cal, or so-flo sports... Jesus @#$!ing Cripes!