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scratrat

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Everything posted by scratrat

  1. Horrible call. My first "real" call as a paramedic, was a burn victim times three. Two twin three year olds, and their grandmother. Grandmom lived for a few days but later died in the hospital. The kids never had a chance. And this was just days after Christmas. Thankfully, I didn't yet have children which I think helped me a lot. If that happened now, I'm sure it'd hit me a little harder. Anyway, it bothered me for a while but I eventually dealt with it on my own. I did have a burned kid when I was first an EMT. I was forced into going to a CISD. And not to discredit them, but all it was, was a group of people talking about how they felt and spilling their guts. I was 18 or so, and I wasn't overly torn up, I don't know why. But CISd was useless to me. No one there is licensed in psychology or psychiatrics. If you have trouble sleeping over this event, you need to speak with a LICENSED mental health provider, not CISD. Go talk to a mental health person before it's too late and you get burned out. Even if it's just a neutral party to talk to. Do yourself that favor.
  2. I've worked a service that NEVER did QA in my very short tenure there. For obvious reasons. This was the same service that allowed medics to RSI someone without ever speaking with a physician or having that chart QA'd. On the flip side, I've worked for systems that critic (?) every little thing you do and makes the medics afraid to make solid decisions. I like how this medical director has no faith whatsoever in his own system. I've never dealt with DCFD but I've seen some storied here and there. It's funny how he blatantly said people would fail and be demoted. It would have been nice to see him at least lie and say he has high hopes. Oh well.
  3. Does it matter? Do a pronouncement and leave.
  4. Are you serious? Think about that for a second while it permeates your brain. VOLUNTEER doctors or nurses? You must be kidding, right? I can see that happening. :roll:
  5. It's not illegal in NJ, however, it is illegal to leave your vehicle running unattended. If you leave your car running while going into WaWa (God, I miss that place ) to get your morning cup of coffee, they can fine you. No one does it though. They're, well, what's the word.....lazy??
  6. I never started an IV for my drunken escapades. I have, however, started my own IV when the stomach flu almost killed me. I swear it did! At least, that's how I felt anyway... I couldn't keep water down. 2 liters later I felt like a new man. Minus the recurrent vomiting...
  7. That's how I figured out that it was time to quit working there and move on.
  8. HAHAHA. I like it! That's a damn fine idea!!
  9. I'll tell you the best solution I've found : I moved to Florida.
  10. See, that's why I gave up the street full time. I make WAY much more money working at a prison. It's not the glory job, but hey, my pay about doubled. And i can't say I miss the medicaid "you owe me an ambulance ride" people, and the 3 am stuffy nose.
  11. It's about time. In NJ, we were allowed to have blue lights if we were volunteers. I admit I had one in the beginning. But I NEVER went through a red light, or expected people to pull over. If they did, great. If not, oh well. I have personally been involved in two accidents where the EMT driver was at fault. The first was my partner going lights and sirens with a back injury from an MVC. She went through a "green" light (I still say it was probably red) and clipped the front end of a car coming through the intersection. The other was a moron driver who wasn't familiar with where the hospital was. I lead him there in the medic truck (Explorer) and he rear ended me at probably 50 mph. That hurt....a lot. In NJ, most all ambulances respond to calls and return to the hospitals with L&S. When traffic was rediculously busy, we'd tell them to kill the lights if it wasn't emergent. They'd look at us like we lost our mind. It's like they didn't know how to drive without the woo woos on. Now in FL, we respond dependent on disptach protocols. It doesn't always work for the better, but it's a start. When someone calls c/o cold flu symptoms, we got without L&S. And we very rarely respond back to hospital with lights on unless it's emergent. I'm not saying this is perfect. There have been MANY times where we were disptached code 2 (no lights) and we get there, and here's the pt dead or near death. By all means, there are catches. But I think it's better than going everywhere with lights on.
  12. For a minute there I thought you said orifice.....not office. I did a double take.
  13. No, it wasn't just him. It was most of them. I think I've ran into 2 people that actually had a clue. The rest could care less about EMS so they suck at it. Like bringing the CHF'r out into the cold with no blanket and on a nasal when they're impending failure. Anyway, I didn't want to hijack the thread...... :oops:
  14. God I love your posts. That was just funny as hell.
  15. This was one of my reasons for being COMPLETELY against fire having anything to do with medical.. Car hits another car on a major highway. Car goes into a ditch striking a concrete drainage ditch head-on but also causing to car to rest on the lateral drivers side. (Sideways in the ditch basically.) It's a VERY expensive car and the first thing I notice is the gigantic diamond ring on the womens finger that would probably take my lifetime to pay for. So instantly I think "lawyer". She's gonna be suing someone. The firefighter "EMT" is holding c-spine inside of the car. The rear window was blown out which is how the driver crawled out. HIS idea to extricate the women? I kid you not, this was his reply to me. "I'll hold her head really tight. Then we'll just upright the car and take her out the door." I swear I'm not making this up. My only reply was "Are you f***ing stupid?" That's about the time that my partner had to take over for me....
  16. BS. When I was 12, I knew right from wrong. This kid will never be rehabilitated. He will continue to be a burden to society. Get rid of him now. I'm all for it.
  17. Try the scrote one. They've never heard that one here either. I had to tell them it referred to a bum. Here, an officer called one 'residentially challenged'. I liked that one.
  18. ARMC was 22 something an hour for per diem and a little less for full time. UMH was also a really good paycheck.
  19. No, they're not false, you just misunderstood. They are functioning as EMT's only but they are making the same as, if not more than, they would at the MICU. That's why they work OCFD full time and only per diem at the shore. They'd rather work at the FD and work OT there before picking shifts as a medic. The guys that have been there awhile made as much as I did working two medic jobs. And the only worked 1/2 the hours I did!
  20. No, they get paid EMT salary. And unless MICU is on scene, they are only EMT's and cannot function as a paramedic.
  21. Yeah, I finally got them to reset it since it never got mailed. It's kind of a funny thing with reciprocity. I guess since I was certified there for 5 years, they allow me to just resume it I guess. It said that I can't apply for reciprocity because I am "already approved for paramedic certification". Then it only asks for a project with whom I'd be working.. I wonder if I'd get my old cert number back?? It was so easy to remember. 2424. Anyway, I guess that means all I have to do is get a job, and I'd be recertified. On to you OC, MICU will pay you more than NWFD. And probably ACFD, to start. But I know the medics work OCFD full time and only PT at ARMC because they get paid better at OCFD. Your friend that got hired, where were they from? I didn't recognize the initials.
  22. OCFD and ACFD are probably going to be the best paid. And at least your EMT cert won't go bad if you in OCFD. They are hard to get hired onto though. ACFD is a little easier to get on to, although it's quite political. NWFD, you've got a snow balls chance in hell. They hire infrequently, and you usually have to work with them in some capacity before they'll hire you. At least, thats the way it used to be. You've got a better shot at the other two.
  23. Not wide enough. Plus, you need to look at V1 to determine if it is in fact a BBB. V1 isn't too bad, so it's probably normal variant. Although your V leads look like you're coming close to having LVH (left ventricular hypertrophy). Not there yet, but it looks like they are getting there.
  24. That web site isn't very helpful....I was already registered apparently but I can't get my password! Bastards! On to more pressing points.....what the hell would possess you to go back to that god forsaken land? You've got it made here. Not for the pay, but you'll never beat the retirement. And until NJ follows those recommendations and opens it up to municipalities and counties to operate ALS trucks, it will continue to suck. Yes, you can get paid double what you're making here if FLA, but unless you do a 401k you get nothing for retirement. And then you just hope the hospital doesn't pull a Kessler and file bankruptcy causing you to lose the retirement you paid for!
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