NickD

Firemen should bring a sack baloney sandwich to work like I do . . .

Here in Los Angels, California there's the same problem manifested in a different way. The fire department, for a long time, has had EMS locked up as their bailiwick. Yes, we have a few privates with "fire contracts" that do fire's transporting both BLS and ALS. (The latter with a fire medic aboard.) But Los Angeles, like the rest of California, is in such deep financial trouble I see an opportunity. For instance, the headline in today's Los Angeles Times reads, "Council Orders Drastic Cuts – Firefighters, Police not Exempt from Call to Slash 3,000 more City Jobs." And this isn't the first round. Fire is already cutting back by having fire medics cover larger areas and also offering early retirement to high ranking high paid fire officials. So myself and several other private EMTs I've recruited have embarked on a letter writing campaign that endeavors to persuade city officials that private EMS can take over some, if not all, the duties of Fire EMS at less cost to the city. I briefly talked with the heads of two private EMS companies, and while they said great we're onboard with it, they refused to get actively or publicly involved out of fear of fire retribution and the possibility of putting their existing contracts in jeopardy. Sadly, I was impressed with neither of them. Which brings up the point of who is it that speaks for us? We certainly have plenty of bosses. There's the County EMS agency, there's medical control, there's the NREMT, and even JEMS, always telling us what we should be doing. But who speaks for us? Nobody that's who. So I'm convinced we have to do it ourselves. I hear you, it'll never work. But it could work. Sure, we have a few flakes in our private company. But for everyone of them there are ten, bright, ambitious, and motivated young EMTs. And I watch as the get crushed down a little more each day until they're gone. Lost to another job or profession with a future. But the flakes, and the already retired like me, seem to stay. I mentioned above how private EMS in Los Angeles County works but the worst part isn't apparent on the face of it. Private EMTs are fire medic slaves. We are the candy stripper to their doctor, the Alfred to their Batman, and if you like Pawn Stars, the Chumley to their Old Man. It can be very demeaning being it's all stick and no carrot so the best of us bug out. But you guys know all that. We hear privates are a dead end, and a third agency is the way to go. And I agree with that, except it isn't going to happen anytime soon (at least here in LA) because there's absolutely no money available to implement it. So turning to privates might, all of a sudden and right now, look viable to certain city officials. Except to the fire department, of course. And fighting the big red machine is the toughest battle of all. If we do get some city officials on board there will be a public perception battle to win. As it is right now if a fireman rescues a cat in a tree their PIO cranks up and sends press releases out to every newspaper within 200 miles. And we don't have anything to compete with that. But there's a crack in the facade. And I'll be damned if I'm not going to stick a crowbar into that crack and hold it open. Sure, we've mounted nothing more than a small grass roots effort, a drop in the bucket, but who knows? It may just plant the seed in one city official's mind and get something started. Maybe it'll mean when I finish paramedic school I won't have to leave my home, my friends, and my life to seek employment elsewhere. Maybe it'll mean "private" doesn't have to mean "dead end" in LA. And maybe it'll make fiscal sense for the state I love. If any of you want to help and send a letter, I won't tell you what to say as I know you already know. Just don't begin, "Hey Asshole!" or use the phrase, "Fire Monkey!" LOL . . . Please pick any of the below Los Angeles City Council member and lick a stamp, and thanks! I wrote to everyone of them this week trying to say the same thing in a different way and I'm bushed . . . Ed Reyes 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 410 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Paul Krekorian 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 425 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dennis P. Zine 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 450 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Tom LaBonge 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 480 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Paul Koretz 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 440 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Tony Cardenas 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 455 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Richard Alarcon 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 470 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Bernard Parks 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 460 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Jan Perry 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 420 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Herb J. Wesson, Jr. 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 430 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Bill Rosendahl 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 415 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Greig Smith 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 405 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Eric Garcetti 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 475 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Jose Huizar 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 465 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Janice Hahn 200 N. Spring Street, Rm 435 Los Angeles, CA 90012

>>We took out NR test on Monday and were blown away by the way the test is worded.<< Many say that, and you're right. You can know your EMT course material inside out and backwards and still fail the CBT. And that's because rather then how you sat tests in high school/college the CBT is based on critical thinking which is taking sterile facts, figures, and procedures and applying them to messy time limited pressure added situations. And all EMT instructors should educate their students to that fact so they too aren't blown away come test day. The only way the NREMT could make the CBT better would be make you take it on the shoulder of a freeway with traffic whizzing by and three or four patient relatives screaming in your ear . . . Congratulations on passing!

I have a small tattoo on my R posterior midclavicular scapular (did I get that right? LOL) I did it in the early 1970s, before tats were cool, and I never see or think about it unless some woman mentions it. And now that I'm getting older that's too infrequent. If I had a second chance I'd pass on it. What I'd really like to see go by the wayside is the thug look. That flat slightly upturned wide brimmed cap looked good on James Cagney in those 1930 prison movies but on you? Not so much. But tough is in again I suppose. Although it's punk tough - not John Wayne tough. In any case this thread (folks calling it a "string" are trying too hard to rebel) wouldn't be complete without a mention of this fellow, Marcel Melanson. He's a deputy chief (battalion chief?) with Compton fire here in So Cal. And if I had visible tats I'd carry pictures of him into every interview. If you have them, own them. In the same vein if I was in the human resources department (when did we stop calling it Personnel) I'd figure anyone hiding their tats is also hiding other things. So actually I think agencies with no tat polices are behind where society is. Granny sees full sleeves in the supermarket almost every day so she isn't going to freak when you bare her chest to lay on the 12 leads. Besides (not a values comparison) I never thought I'd see felonious gangbangers being allowed to enlist in the modern military, but that ship sailed too . . .

Hi Mario, I'm not bagging on you, but I must say looking at the assignment sheet you posted that this: >>EMT Basic program (Extra Credit . . . . . 8 Points Total (Towards your final exam grade)<< IS A GIFT !!! At my course we had to get at least 80% on all the quizzes, and then an 80% on the final exam and then, and only then, could we add any extra credit assignments we may have done in order to raise our final grade. In other words we couldn't use extra credit to pass the course.

I'll stick my neck out . . . I think the point being offered you is no matter the type of shock when a patient is in "compensating" shock the vitals, especially BP will be normal for them. It isn't until the point of "decompensating" shock that you'll see vitals trending downward, sometimes in one big hurry, and by that time you and your patient are deep in the weeds. That's why we focus so much on shock prevention. In any case a one shot look at someone's vitals will tell you very little, it's all about how they are trending, so that's why your assignment sounds odd. Unless, you or I aren't understanding what's being asked for . . .

>>Baylor College of Medicine doctors used cadavers to confirm that so-called cervical collars can be counterproductive<< A couple of observations from my very limited experience: - All I've ever seen doctors do with cervical collars is remove them. - A properly sized collar shouldn't stretch the neck at all. - Despite the one case they cited where's beef? How many people not already neurologically compromised became so after the application of a collar? - Did these doctors take into account the situations we find our patients in? Let's see what happens if we drop the use of collars and start extricating patients from wrecks, moving them from floors to gurneys, going up and down stairs, and transporting them in ambulances with suspensions that belong in the scrap heap over roads built a hundred years ago. - Some doctors, especially the ones entrenched in academia, follow the theory of publish or perish in terms of career advancement. And EMS is easy prey for them because the street cred of medics can't push back against a group of doctors with a bunch of letters after their names. - Another counter study will appear soon (funded by an association representing the manufacturers of c-collars) with hired guns to refute the whole notion of the first study.

>>So I passed my test. Exam was still bs. Hardly touched on the knowledge I have in the subject.<< Rather than calling it BS, the question you might ask yourself is, would it have been possible to pass the CBT without the training and education you received? Yes, the test is mostly scenario based, and yes, sometimes the stated scenario has little to do with the actual question or more than one answer seems correct. This is meant to hook the unprepared who gulp the question down sans the best tool you can leave EMT training with - critical thinking. It seems you're saying the CBT didn't mimic the questions and answers you studied for the test, but I'm sure I don't have to say, neither does life in the back of a rig. Congratulations on passing your CBT - now get that first job and prepare to get humbled . . .

>>BTW, did you start medic school yet?<< No, not yet. Right after I finished the prep course my Dad unexpectedly passed away. So I had to go back east for awhile and take care of things and it put a real dent in the tuition money I had saved up. Looks like another few months of pushing gurneys and eating Top Ramen noddles for me, LOL . . .

"Somebody's gotta tell her she just lost her husband." They seriously need better writers. "Ya just did, Probie!" Should've been the next line. It's a good thing I'm not on the set. I'd be yelling, Cut! Cut! Cut" Until they fired me. Like when Rabbit put the pen in his mouth in the ED. Pens are the most radio-germo things we carry around. Never mind putting one in your mouth. "I saw some of you guys laying him on the black tarp." We can all see the "fail" in that setup. Wasn't triage a bit too close to the still burning airplane? The boys at Alameda Field are crying the blues now like us, because yes, they have real foam and stuff. The writers blew another comeback line . . . "I'm Gay." He says to his partner's family. Next line should've been, "Pass the carrots." A couple of scenes rang true. The elderly lady from the plane crash. Comforting her in the back of the rig, listening to her go on about her family, we do a lot of that. I guess everyday is thanksgiving where I work. Blondie listening to doctor dad and brother talk about an ACL operation like it's a golf shot rang true. She's disgusted by them both as she sees the dirty side. "So what are you?" "I'm . . . not going." The writers missed taking a chance here too. Rabbit is a Māori from New Zealand and they could have gotten a whole thing out of that. I am impressed they set the clock correctly on the monitor. It read 1527, and their shift ended at 1500, which is just when the plane crashed. Go Rabbit! Looks like VT to me too . . .

I'm done with Para Prep and now taking some ALS stuff before Paramedic School but I'm squeezing in some time to work on "Nina" the motorcycle I've been building for a year or so, and now that Trauma's been canceled I can concentrate a bit more . . . I needed to change out the tranny belt pulley that came with the transmission I bought as rear drive belts are for fags but getting the main nut off requires a special tool. (And why does this all sound so sexual?) Julia's been back home in PA for two weeks as her Mom is ill, so that must be it . . . So I looked online and found a Sears that had a 1 and 7/8s socket in stock. It was in Glendale so I fired up the GPS and drove down there. Man, it's getting late early now, it's only 5:15 but pitch dark. This is one of those older stand alone Sears stores so I find a place to park on a side street and walk around the corner. And right into a pretty good looking hooker. "Looking for a woman?" she asked sweetly. "No, I'm looking for a socket, but thanks anyway." "That's cool, but my name's Missy, and I'm always around." The damn socket thing cost me 26 dollars, and while offering up my credit card I couldn't help thinking Missy would have been cheaper and a lot more fun. Back home I cut the socket in half with my chop saw because the transmission shaft it too long for it to fit any conventional tool. Then I added a piece of steel pipe and welded it all back together. And that went alright. The main tranny nut is a left hand thread so it's backwards and comes off clockwise, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't budge it. I made a block so the pulley wouldn't move when I was pounding on it. And I've got a good impact wrench but a wimpy air compressor so that didn't work. I then tried beating it off with a hammer and a hand impact but that didn't work either. I then cut up a piece of steel pipe for a long breaker bar but still that didn't work. So I gave up for tonight and instead had a few beers. And just so the night isn't a total loss I'm gonna head back down to Glendale and see if I can find Missy . . .

Here's my, so far, favorite comment from Amee's blog . . . "I was just wondering. Do you actually get to learn to fly the copter and fly it during episodes, or is it computerized?" johncarterER93

Drum Roll Please xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx NBC cancels 'Trauma' Next Stop? Ash Heap of History Sorry, just saw Dust beat me to the news by three minutes . . . Like we where on death watch or something.

Before the start of my EMT-B course I had to get the following: - DTap - Hepatitis B - MMR - Varicella - TB Test

It's 397 pounds . . . What's scaring me is the idea that being overweight is their fault. No one can argue with obesity the rest of us bear the burden with our backs (as providers) and our wallets (as tax payers), but overall it sounds too Orwellian to single them out. I'd rather live in a society that tolerates the out there among us. Without the foolish we'd live in a very bland place. So I don't mind some of my tax money going towards the medical expenses of the next Evel Knievel, the next Houdini, or the next Wright Brothers. A guy who eats too much pizza isn't exactly the same thing but it's a short slippery slope from one to the other. I'm old enough to remember when overweight people were the exception not the rule. But now when the police are told, "It was the fat kid," it's a description that leaves them scratching their heads. But how much is really the fault of the obese? A lot of it starts when they are children. Has fast food run amok have something to do with it, or the fact you can't buy anything in the supermarket that isn't way over processed? How many of you work with overweight partners? How many of them are on their way to the bariatric ward? Why, when I whip out my little sack lunch consisting of a tuna fish (light on the mayo) sandwich and an apple, my partner while he's swallowing a Big Mac in three bites always has to say, "Oh cute, your Mom made you lunch again." I certainly don't mind a heavy partner as it's more leverage when sheeting the whales, but to call out the morbidly obese in country full of the obese just seems wrong. We need to fix the underlying problem. If ambulance providers want to make extra money there's a simpler way than us carrying scales around. Just implement a triple surcharge on B.S. calls. And maybe a side benefit would be insurance companies beginning to counsel their clients on abusing the 911 system.

This was in So Cal, but I went to a local neighborhood clinic and they charged me $100. However, they'd never heard of a DL 51, and weren't familiar with the forms. But after I sat and waited a couple of hours the doctor found time to look over the forms and decided, if I passed, she'd have no problem signing them off. I then went to the DMV and took the ambulance driver written and got that certificate. (You need the DL 51 and a Live Scan background check before the DMV will issue you a driver cert.) The funny part is the ambulance company I went to work for a week or so later mandated a pre-employment physical and drug test so they sent me to their doctor who gave me the exact same physical again (same paper work and all).

>> Why waste time judging the slip ups in a work of fiction and getting all worked up about something that has no effect on you at all<< Being a Paraprep student, it does effect me a bit in an educational sense and isn't a total waste of my time. It's a good thing when I can even spot a goof, and another good thing when I can think through what they should be doing. I'm building a Harley in my garage and I do the same thing when watching American Chopper! I've also done some behind the camera stuff in parachuting. And when I say you can't do something as it doesn't work that way I hear, "No worries, this is Hollywood, we can make it work how ever we want." So I understand that part, as I'd imagine most people do.

Great vid, he's very talented . . . I thought this thread was going to be about things not to say on scene so rather than waste a story here goes. This is one of those rock and a hard place positions we sometimes find ourselves in. We were staged out when we heard fire being called out along with another ambulance from our company. But fire happened to roll by our position and the engineer motioned for us to follow him. Of course we knew there was another ambulance already responding but fire never seems to pay much attention to our unit numbers. For instance when they call us about something en route, it's never by unit number, it always "Unit responding with truck 21 . . ." And there was a dust up over this kind of thing some months earlier so thinking better safe than sorry we fired up and followed. The incident that happened earlier drove home the point to me that to our company nothing is more paramount than their contract with fire. And the company will, and has, thrown EMTs overboard in order to placate fire no matter if it's a legitimate gripe or not. Hence the rock and a hard place for us. When we arrived on scene the other ambulance was already there and our guys were inside with the fire paramedics that arrived before the engine. We then got a radio call from fire that we were canceled, but policy is not to take radio cancellations on scene. We have to physically go inside and confirm it. It's like in the movie Failsafe. After a certain point you can't use the radio to recall your bombers. So my partner and I go inside the residence and find it's a code. I'm standing in the hallway with a very distraught daughter while my partner goes into the room where the fire medics are working on the pt. And instead of just standing there I was calming the daughter down (she was big girl and and already hyperventilating), "Try not to worry," I offer, "Mom's getting the best care possible." Just then my partner pokes his head out the door. Fire has confirmed we weren't needed. Now my partner is a great guy, he's a caring, quiet, and modest fellow. And he's all of nineteen years old. And once in a while he does or says something without thinking it through. So instead of pulling me aside he shoots me the universal sign for canceled. The cut-throat signal. Of course the daughter thinks it means Mom is gone and her already weak knees buckle and she goes down like an old Vegas casino. I tried to catch her but she bangs her head on the corner of a doorway. It gave her a good lac and yes we transported her for stitches. The end result (Mom pulled through) is we were commended for doing what we should have done policy wise, and of course we didn't offer up we were a casual factor in the whole second event. That same partner did something similar a month or so later. We'd had a hard time convincing an elderly Pt to go to the hospital as she was suffering with Roach Motel Syndrome. "If I go into the hospital," she said, "I'm sure I'll never come out again!" And enroute she kept repeating, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna be dead, I'm gonna die in the hospital," over and over again. We had just come from the same ED an hour or so earlier and it had been very busy. So we fully expected to hold up the wall for awhile. But when we came through the doors it was very quiet and there was no line-up at all. I was on the foot end of the gurney when my partner said, "Man, it's dead in here." And I lost it. You know how you get deep into a busy 12-hour shift and you get the giggles? I wanted badly to turn and give him the look but I just couldn't. When I finally composed myself and managed to look back our patient's mouth and eyes were big as saucers. And my young partner's face was the same. He knew, albeit too late, he'd again said or done totally the wrong thing.

But who benefits from charging more? Will the obese Pt get better service and will it make it easier for us to provide for the obese? Or will it be more billable items for the ambu company and insurance firms? Maybe it depends more on where you are located. If a service in a rural area or small town has to call in off duty people to come help is that a valid point of consideration? I guess the larger question is shouldn't a service be able to handle the expected? And can you really say nowadays obese people are out of the ordinary. Calling for manpower never happens where I am as there's always a half dozen fire guys standing around outside. In fact it's about the only time rolling fire on every call seems to pay off. On the other hand having more than one bariatric gurney, or bariatric rig, is good as even in a city like Los Angeles we sometimes have to wait in line for them. I'll leave it this way. I think it's only fair to charge more when someone gets more. I don't think it's fair to charge more for the same level of service everyone else gets. I once broke my leg and flew home from New Zealand in a hip to toe cast. The airline made me purchase an extra seat as I couldn't sit normally. But I got more for my money. When the FA came around for our dinner orders I told her, "I'll have the chicken, my leg will have the steak."

If for some reason I don't measure up to paramedic school, and even though I liked being an EMT, there's no way I could go back to being one. At the very least I'd feel like I was walking around with "failure" stamped on my forehead - even if nobody knew it. So it would be career deviation time for me. Maybe garbage collector or something like that . . .

I'm a private (I hate that title - can't I at least be a corporal or something) in a paramedic prep class with mostly young fire guys. During a break one fire guy offhandedly mentioned, "We make everybody walk to the gurney, or down the stairs, we don't carry anyone!" And all the other fire guys are nodding in agreement. These guys aren't stupid, and in some ways they are better educated than I am. But they exhibit a too cool to care attitude that is very striking. And I doubt this guy has been in the field long enough to develop that way of thinking on his own. It's being handed down to him by the more experienced fire medics he works around. But in a larger sense I see selective pride in them. They do take great pride in the fact they are firefighters, and maybe not so much in being medical providers. You see it on the very uniforms they wear. On their shirts and under their names it says Firefighter EMT, not EMT Firefighter. I'm one who'd like to see EMS out of fire's control, but I've also seen enough competent and caring fire medics to flatly condemn them all as a group. The overall problem with lack of pride in our, or any, profession is simply one of youth. And unless we took the drastic step of adding "age 30 or better" to the list of EMT requirements it's never going to change. I was chatting with a woman who does interviews for a local private ambulance company and she said the whole interview dynamic is now upside down. She said younger candidates are more concerned with what the company can do for them rather than the other way around. And she often feels like the one being interviewed. I laughed and said it's her own fault. If you look at her company website it, like most EMS websites, starts right off on the wrong foot. It states, "We work with you!" And, "Do you need a flexible schedule for school? No problem!" "Like lots of time off? No problem!" "Want to work and have a life too? No problem!" I told her until they change that and make it more the way the Marine Corps of years ago recruited her problems won't go away. In 1971 when I signed up for the Corps there was a small sign hanging on the recruiter's door knob that read, "If you're looking for something easy, keep walking."

I've always used writing as a way to collect my own thoughts so if I get into paramedic school, like I hope, you'll be in for a lot more of this - so, I apologize in advance. I have a cardiac exam first thing in the morning, but I feel my purkinje fibers short circuiting already so I'm taking a short break from the books. Just FYI so far I've had three exams, A&P, Pulmonology, and Neurology. Passing is 80% and so far I'm carrying a low 90s average. But I had a light bulb moment the other day. This will seem naive, maybe even ridiculous, to some of you old hands, but it's something I missed at first. It came about reading some of the paramedic blogs that are available. One in particular I enjoy is Street Watch, Notes of a Paramedic. Now before launching into this I need to say a few things. My time as an EMT has all been in Los Angeles County in California. The only paramedics I interact with are fire medics. We do have private medics working in LA County but they seem to be employed by private ambulance firms just so those firms can say they have a paramedic capability. The reality is they only seem to be trainers and/or supervisors while their medical skills rusts away to nothing. And you can't help but wonder why they would reside in a county where their tickets are basically meaningless. Or, why they didn't go fire in the first place. They'll mostly say, if asked, they didn't want to go fire for one reason or another, but then you can't help thinking they couldn't go fire for one reason or another. It's actually a sad situation to see them in. And so it goes without saying if deemed worthy of paramedic school and I work hard enough to be successful I'll be leaving LA County to find work. Another thing is new EMTs should always (or hopefully always) worry about inadvertently doing harm in a profession where doing none is the core idea. And in my first months as an EMT I was glad my limited protocols made that unlikely unless I really did something galactically stupid. But now that I'm learning more about being a paramedic I can see the overall responsibility and the possible mistakes are so much greater. But that's not the light bulb moment. When first exposed to something it's hard not to think what we see is the way it is. And like I mentioned I've only been exposed to fire medics. These medics ride as a pair in their ambulance, or pick-up type rescue vehicle, and there are usually several other medics, sometimes more, riding on the attending truck or engine. So it isn't too uncommon to have a half dozen paramedics on every scene. For the simpler ALS cases only one medic would jump into my ambulance with me or sometimes two would. When it was trauma related, or a very serious medical, I'd get two medics in the back with me, two more standing in the open fwd side door, and two more by the open back doors. And these guys all consulted and concurred with each other like a group of doctors making rounds. I didn't think anything about this being anything until I started reading the Paramedic blogs. And now here comes the light bulb moment. I realized while reading this one blog, about a private medic with an EMT driver in another part of the country, that he's on scene, in the back, and transporting, completely and utterly alone. That struck me like a shovel to the side of the head. Even on the simplest ALS cases, in LA County, the fire medic has me, or another EMT, in the back as an extra pair of hands. See, I told you it would sound silly to most of you. But this lone private medic is handling it all, doing it well, and doing it (outside of having comm with medical control) all by himself. It made me realize I was striving for the wrong thing. I don't want to be a gang assessment medic. I want to be that guy all by himself. Well, I better get back into the books. I've got an awful lot to learn . . .

I see what you're saying and I partially agree . . . That said, the biggest difference in the two shows I see is Johnny, Roy, and the rest of the gang seemed genuinely caring and always did the best they could. And they were no where near as angst ridden as the characters on Trauma. But some of that can be chalked up to changing times. Dixie's humongous pointy rack was there for a reason, but it still seemed in line with the morays of the day. And Blondie's behavior, in some circles, will also be acceptable, except it isn't to us. All the EMS woman posters, and many men too, are deriding the depiction of females on Trauma while no one at the time ever called Dixie slutty. On the subject of Chet. I actually found his character a distraction on Emergency. I felt like they were going for a cross between Lumpy and Eddie, from Leave it to Beaver, and they hit neither. The bottom line difference, and again only to us, is Emergency was a positive look at EMS (medical inaccuracies aside) while Trauma is a negative look at EMS and the medical inaccuracies just seem like a further slap in the face. And while Johnny and Roy weren't above a small giggle when they encountered something out of the ordinary (the poor schmuck trapped in his folding bed/couch comes to mind) in the serious extraordinary cases they' huddle up and calmly figure out what to do. In Trauma, and on scene, most of the characters seem to be in panic mode. I think the very first lesson I learned in the field, and just from watching other providers, is no matter the gravity of the situation just act like you've been there before. But the real truth of the difference between the shows is today Randolph Mantooth can sit behind a folding table at an EMS convention and be adored. If Wabbit tried the same thing, today or twenty years from today, I'd fear for his safety . . .

Nick-Pics . . . - I think I figured out why they wear the DCs. It's so they can run code 3 with the windows rolled down. (Hey, it just looks cooler.) - It appeared they put the amputation Pt. into the rig all by himself. Blondie could have been going for the fwd side door, but who would leave that kind of Pt. alone even for a few seconds? - Fire medics entering a freshly put down fire scene sans turnout gear? The fire medics I see wear turn out gear on nursing home SOB calls. - Hope the S.F. fire guys didn't mind being portrayed as the department that can't clear a building properly. I could understand missing one whore, but a dozen? - Impaled arterial bleed Pt. on a cannula? (Probably couldn't say his lines under a RB.) - A surgical retraction instrument in a medic bag? (I gotta make a Galls run and get me one of those!) - Blondie's new found chastity. She only came within 15 minutes of adding to her interdepartmental bang score. - Wabbit's pre-planned rehabilitation from bad boy status. It started with the kid hanging onto his leg in a previous episode. (Kids are good judges of character, right.) Now he pukes and has PTSD. Big lovable lug syndrome can't be far off . . .