Laura Anne

.....when the MOTHER of the 5 month pregnant, 18yr old drunk, cigarette smoking ditzy female gets arrested (along with her ENTIRE family) for DC. In between all this lovely PD action, she attempts to attack your partner on the way to the ER. She needed to get checked out because the cops put the handcuffs on too tight when they restrained her uncooperative as* ((BS lawsuit)). Each PD cited her then let her go cause they didn't want to deal with her. *note to self: try not to brake so hard next time when she unrestrains herself in order to attempt plant her fist in my partners' face. OOPS :wink: GAME ON

I think the point ruff is trying to make is that STOCKING your truck from the ER is wrong. If you drop off a patient and RESTOCK what you used, then it's not stealing, it's replacing items. STOCKING should be completed prior to the rig hitting the street, which should be done at the station. That's how I interpeteted it.... 8)

I wear a badge at my full time job due to the fact it's part of the required uniform; if I don't have it on, I go home w/o pay, simple. :roll: Now if you want to buy one on your own, be my guest. If you think it'll bring you more recognition...sure it will. You'll have every kid coming up to you and asking if you're a police man. I know, it happens to me all friggin day long. :roll: :x Honestly, I'd rather see you spend their money on a good stethoscope or other useful piece of equipment that'll be of good use on the streets. Perhaps use your money for a more professional looking EMS attire? Buy a nice pair of boots/shoes, or maybe a T-shirt with EMS on it? Just some thoughts for you.... I personally don't think I'd ever purchase my own EMS badge.....it's kinda like those EMS providers that buy those obnoxious stickers and plaster every last inch of paint with them and every corner of each window of their car, blue lights for their dash, light bars on top of their cars, in their grills, and where ever else they can shove one on their car. Oh and lets not forget the personalized license plates, all shiny and new, kinda like the personal bunker gear they purchased on line for a deal that'll probably never get used in a real situation. I once knew of a WHACKER EXTRAORDINAIRE who had a suture kit on his wacker belt. Yes, that's right....a suture kit. Don't ask.

The lessons learned and what I have gained form my experiences are just these simple few.... 1. I have grown to be a stronger person, not just for myself, but for others. I used to be shy and naive. 2. EMS taught me that everyone's view of 'emergency' is different. 3. I have learned that there are far worse drivers out there than me! :shock: :wink: 4. I have become more wary and tend not to trust people so easily since I have been in this field. 5. EMS has taught me the most important lesson of all.....life truly is a precious gift. Take time to look around and smell the roses before it's too late. Just a simple few things.....

Dear vcfd35s, It is obvious you have seen the errors of your ways and how your previous actions dictate your future. I feel by paying the tickets and now having to go jump through hoops to get the points dropped is a lesson learned. By requesting to go to traffic school and have the points dropped tells me you now understand how foolish your past choices were. No one here should cast any stones at you considering 99% of us probably at one point in our teenage years learned a valuable lesson by breaking the law. Lord knows I have learned quite a few lessons from my past mistakes. It's what life is about. I am just glad you didn't hurt anyone in the process.......uhhhhhh, you DIDN'T hurt anyone, did you? :shock: Good luck with the end result and make the most of your current situation. I do truly like the idea of you going to college and obtaining more education. KUDOS to the ones who gave that advice..... 8)

Ditto. Restocking what you use is what I like to do, too. Also, the ER's tend to pull IV lines from EMS due many factors, one being the simple fact that it's not their own set-up. Another being that a study came out stating prehospital IV lines tend to have a higher infection at the site rate compared to those started in the hospitals. So at least if you can use the same set ups, then it makes everyones life a bit easier. Small things like alcohol preps and venaguards have no other personal use and therefore I will grab possibly a few extra if the truck is low. It's the small things that people tend NOT to replace that makes taking 4-5 instead of one at a time the reason. :wink:

....oh my! So, uhhhh, exactly how many times has been in 'contact' with a patient who had a priapism that lasted a few minutes? I think she may need to look over the mechanism(s) of A&P involved with priapism as well as touch up on her assessment skills....no pun intended. :shock: :wink:

I must say this is a personal pet peeve of mine. People who are taking supplies from hosptials to re-stock their trucks is fine. It's the overstockers that tick me off. If a proper rig check is completed and certain supplies are used, just replace them, don't take advantage of the EMS stock room because you can. For example, I work with a person who oozes pure laziness due to the mentality of 'hey, I like to use the 20g IV caths. Therefore, I will take all 10 that are in the EMS cabinet for my truck because I may use them today.' So now, I have 10 extra 20g IV caths shoved into the IV tray. Next to them are blankets, ALL THE BLANKETS from the EMS linen closet because it may get used tonight in case it gets cold. :roll: As far as for my personal use? Hmmmm, I think maybe towels for washing my car at the station. But then again, after I use them, they go back into the linen basket to be dropped off back at the hosptial. So I guess I don't really need to take anything....? :wink:

As always chbare, you did a wonderful job with the scenario!! Thank you for sharing this with us. And I am also sorry for being lazy and just posting the link instead of actually typing it out, but it's late.... nighty-night!

I understand the patient at a BSL of 27 may not be compliant, but I'd try to give oral glucose if the patient was conscious enough to hold his arm in the air and scream, "YYEEAAAAH" or "WEEEEE" or whatever it was. Eydawn, Although giving rectal glucose has been done in a more suitable setting (IE: hospital) the risks are way too high for necrosis and the rectal mucosa doesn't absorb glucose well if at all. Hope that answers it for you a bit. It's late and I cannot do the research now to answer your question completely. Sorry. :wink:

http://schoolasthmaallergy.com/html/medica...rt/30601027.HTM Cough suppressant that in oral consumption will cause the reactions in the pediactric patient. Is this what the med was, chabare?

At the ripe old age of 31, I have health issues, including a bad heart. Not only a bad diet can contribute to these deaths, but perhaps underlying ailments that they never had diagnosed? I guess I am a lucky one because I had my first real episode when I was 19yrs old. I have had undiagnosed problems which are just medical conditions I was born with but never knew I had. My diet is't always great, but I do try to take care of myself by eatting well and trying to work out. There are so many out of shape persons in this field that it makes me cringe when I see people complaining about how tired and out of breath they are. HELLO....take care of yourselves and stop putting blame on the stressors of the job! Put the burger down..... put out the cigarettes..... no more beer..... ok, well, maybe ONE beer..... :roll: How many of us have seen the firefighters lighting up a cigarette after exiting a house and taking their air packs off? Or how about that good ol' firehouse chili and other yummies? Get a group of aging men who sit around doing nothing who have to suddenly jump up and answer a 911 call? A bad diet, no exercise, obesity, and acute physical and mental stressors = heart attack.

I'd have to say my most memorable 'save'....actually my only one..... :roll: ......was approx a few months ago. 41yr old female with a bad family history but no history herself. Got called to her home where we found her sitting on a chair in the living room with a beer can next ot her. The look on her face and the statement, "I am going to die" made me move pretty damn fast! From dispatch to arrival at ER, the call took approx 11minutes. En route, I had to calm her down and told her to trust me. She asked me if she was going to die and I said, 'not on my truck'. Once at the ER, the patient went into V-fib after a few couplets. She was defibed 3 times before we got her back. NOW.....the odd thing was the ER MD was talking to her when she went into arrest. An RN and I started CPR and she was conscious and telling us to get off her cause we were hurting her when we pushed on her chest. Both the RN and I jumped back, thinking "OH MY GOD" a wire was loose and we did CPR on a woman who had a stable rhythm.... nope. Our CPR was keeping her blood circulating enough that she was talking to us. When we stopped, she'd start to go unconcscious again. WEIRDEST THING I EVER SAW. Has anyone else ever experienced this?? OK, back on track....she ended up getting stablized in the ER and went up to the cath lab where two stents were placed in her and she made a full recovery. This was I guess the closest thing to save I have had. :shock:

Wow, hmmmmm, anyone for a pair of flip-flops and Pj's? Professionalism here at it's finest I see. :roll: SO, if we're done name calling now, can we please get back on track? Obviously this article is bringing to light a touchy topic of obese patients becoming a trend as well as a hazard to all EMS providers. No one would expect a landscaper to haul 300+lbs w/o proper equipment/additional personnel to assist, so why expect EMS to not address the same problem?

Long shot, but perhaps the patient had a nevus that was never noticed prior to the medical event at hand?

You might be a red neck volley fire company if..... you all go sending the fast team in to rescue the sheep from the barn fire first before anything else. Hmmmm, wonder why the sheep all got lady names? Mullen?

Dear Ruff, I seem to have ruffled your feathers a bit. It's nothing personal. It's more or less a reply for all to read and not all points I made were directed towards you, but I can see where the word 'you' was interchangeably misinterpreted. Sorry about that, I used 'you' both towards you and as a collective group. Sometimes my comments were directed to get a repsonse for your comments, some were directed towards the group(you all). As far as the valid point, I was quoting you. You did say it was valid, hence "valid syndrome and illness." Yes, I agree the courts do use mental illness to get their clients off. The discrimination comment came from your comment on postpartum being crapola. It's discriminatory towards the type of illness she may have had. Why would one type of medical condition be considered crapola, and another not? That's where I coming from with that comment. The endangerment comment was in reference to people allowing emotions to overrun them on a call. You get a crew member that can't function like a medical care provider because they get all wrapped up into the emotional aspect of things, it can turn out dangerous. Again, the comment was meant for everyone, not just you. It was meant as a learning tool; to keep your cool and head screwed on straight on a call. Sorry if this was taken as directed completely at you, but I see where you're coming from. 'I'm sick and tired of giving excuses to every little syndrome out there' is where the statement of professionalism came from. I never said that the medical condition she may have been suffering from is an excuse or that it makes her actions ok. Regardless of your personal point of view towards the situation, you have to remain professional. I will apologize for this generalization because I do not know how you are on in front of patients, but I can only go by your words on these posts. I would hope one would not say this in front of the patient/ other providers. The bottom line being that she got jail time is something I also agreed with. I wanted a bit of a debate and it was taken to a personal level. Sorry you took it that way, but the comments were directed as 'you' to the group, not just you the individual. F.Y.I Nothing was ever stated about her ever giving any excuses or any medical condition. I was simply trying to point out to everyone that one must have all the facts before lynching her. No one here has all of them and probably never will. Just trying to get people to think outside the box. :roll: Dear JPINFV, I take it for granted that we have Pd on 99% of all calls here, therefore they'd be there and probably have her in custody already, or yes, I'd call for Pd to make the report. Like you said, child abuse cases all need to be reported regardless of nature of incident. 8)

Nope, I won't givce you a break. This is what debate is all about, seeing more than one view, whether right or wrong and discuss it. 8) So, now that I have you going, how can you be sure her intent was to actually grab the child and use it against the boyfriend? Mind you, you weren't there, nor was I , but the bruises to her face are a pretty good indicator that she was struck by something and/or someone. Perhaps she grabbed anything she could while the boyfriend was pummeling her face in and it was the child? I am just throwing ideas out there because again, none of us really will ever know the true story. Since when is a medical condition considered crapola? What else in your medical world do you consider not to be a true 'medical condition'? You even say it yourself that it's a "valid sydrome and illness". Peripartum psychosis is a level deeper than post partum and it DOES exist. So if you don't think so, but the world of medicine states it does. Again you state that you recognize it as a medical condition but you'll post that you'd turn your head to it because it's crapola. Interesting. You are letting your emotions dictate your care rendered to individuals? You feel you can discriminate due a persons medical history? Very interesting. Regardless of what kind of people you allow in your heart, if these types of people were your patients, you should treat them as your patients. It's up to the courts and to God to decide the fate of the mother. She's probably paying for her illegal actions in more ways than any that have been posted. Never once was it stated that murder or abuse in any fashion was OK, so let's keep to the facts. Sorry that this case happened, but bad cases happen all the time. Keeping your head screwed on straight and doing your job appropriately is what will keep not only you, but others safe from you. If you can't do this, you endanger everyone around you. Do what needs to be done afterwards to release any emotional battles you have, but on scene, do your job. Of course they know it is bad and that's why she any others who are sick go to jail. Once again, I am not using anything as an excuse, but rather a direction of opposition to proove the point that regardless of emotional ties you may have, or your personal point of view/bias towards the situation, you have to remain professional. Sooooo, because this person has a different type of disability, you're using it as a basis of comparision. I guess I'd say what I said above; the person who is the patient in my care would get my professional care, irregardless of disability. But, the case stated above doesn't indicate any place for EMS care, so other than the judicial systems' descision, it doesn't really show any relevance to the aforementioned points of EMS ALS intervention. By all means, rant and rave away. I am not trying to purposely upset you, but play the other side of the debate. That's all. 8)

I do not expect one to be a psychiatrist on the truck, but none the less, post partum depression/psychosis is a medical condition that may need intervention. You never transported a depressed patient before? And who ever said anything about having the same two patients in the same rig? That's just absolutely ridiculous. Perhaps where you are resources are limited, but here I'd triage out the scene, dispatch another rig for the patients, and begin care on the infant due to the severity of the injuries. Care of the child should be given over to the father. Munchausen by Proxy? Is that what you think she had? People with that disease do not cause harm in view of others. It's a condition in which they are seeking recognition for their childs unknown illness. They bask in the spot light of being a grieving parent(mostly the mom/women caregivers)...hence smothering them and poisoning them, not bashing their head in during a fight with another person. Post partum depression is more of a chemical imbalance of hormones post birth of the child. Immediately after the birth, the hormone levels drop dramatically, causing the possible emotional imbalance. It is very common in women to suffer this, and 1 out of every approx 1,000 will have suffered from peripartum psychosis, which is taking a pre-existing depressed person and having them go through labor and delivery. Others are just having stress or possibly another factor that increases the severity of their emotional problems. Bottom line: What she did is wrong and she will forever pay the consequences of her actions. Does it piss me off? Of course it does, but coming from the side of the professional medical provider on scene, each person needs to be treated. That's our job.

I'd treat the infant like any other patient...as a patient. I'd treat the boyfriend like any other patient...as a patient. I'd treat the mother like any other patient...AS A PATIENT. That's part of what makes us the professionals we are. You cannot let you're emotions rule your decisions on care. I am not saying be unemotional or not to show any empathy, but get the job you're called for done emergently and proficiently. Afterwards, handle your emotions in whatever way you have handled an emotionally traumatic patient before. Did anyone ever think the mother may have been suffering from a severe case of post partum depression? Is there any other cases of abuse towards her other children, or was this an isolated case? What was the fight about? Was it his child? How did she get the black eye? What's her previous past medical history? Perhaps someone else can provide more info or answers to these questions? What she did was wrong and it turns my stomach just as much as the other person(s), but try to look at it from every angle before passing judgement.

Thank you Spenac for your kind words. I have felt the loss of a loved one who died alone, in the dark, afraid, and in pain because of this tragic err in judgement and blatant abandonment. It's this mentality that makes me worry about the right to refuse people care transport. It's like a lot of good ideas that was taken advantage of by the incompetent ones who blunder this profession with their laziness. As far as the abuse in the terms of the illegals on the border, it's a horrible loop hole that happens all too often down on the border. I lived in Southern California and worked in a border town ER and on the ambulance. I saw this abuse every night I worked. Not only an abuse by the illegals, but also by the BPA who don't want the added paperwork of processing the aliens. When the rescue unit would go to a 911 call from BPA somewhere out on the border, they'd have someone C/O an injury/illness who, although persued, caught, and detained by them, would tell us the IA is not under arrest. We'd get them to the ER, check them out in the nice, clean, cool air conditioned ER, then they'd grab a bit to eat from the vending machines, watch them make a phone call or two on the phone, then walk out before discharge. We all eat the bill for this, too! I am not saying they're all bad, but many of them know the system all too well and abuse the HECK out of it.

Hmmm, well the common sense of the BLS volunteer crew in New Jersey that told my grandfather, "you're fine. You're just having an anxiety attack, so go to bed," and then recalled the medic unit coming in OBVIOUSLY LACKED COMMON SENSE. My grandfather was C/O abdominal pains and did suffer from anxiety, as well as an extensive cardiac history. They took it upon themselves to diagnose my grandfather and call off the ALS unit instead of letting them assess him. He's dead now. He died in his sleep that night. We got the call the next morning from another relative who found him on the ground next to the phone. She was there the night before when the ambulance arrived and she unfortunately took the crews word, just like my grandfather did. Hey....after all, we're the 'professional health care providers', right? Deny transport because of use of common sense? In this field?? With the type of EMS providers that are being produced??? NO thank you. You deny, you go to court for abandonment. PERIOD. Please don't take this irritation as being directed at you, Spenac. I just do not believe it's a safe practice, especially from personal view. Also, where do you work as a provider? Just curious. thank you...

It definately takes two to tango. I wasn't placing blame on the guys, sorry if thats what you thought. Lord knows there's women in this field who are worse than most men. Regardless of what career, like stated above by chbare, infidelity seems to be running rampant everywhere. We just have an environment where it's easier due to long hours and seclusion. Dust, did you ever think that maybe the 'hott chicks' were all just all pretending to be lesbians to avoid you? :wink: Dust quoted "I believe it is a very positive thing in EMS that enough hott chicks are actually joining the profession (using the term loosely) that we can finally begin to contemplate cheating without drastically lowering our standards! Back in my day, you'd rather gnaw your own arm off than wake up next to any EMS chicks you worked with. Not that any of them liked men to begin with."

Cheating is very alive and thriving in EMS. Take a group of people who 80% are male and stick a few females in there(mind you only a few cause there's some people I STILL can't figure out...you know...the shims on EMS??). Unfortunately, this field not only lacks some morals, but maturity as well.

YEP! Forewarning to all....this is also going on at a local squad in the county I work in. I must say, if I had lost a loved one on a tragic accident, or who called 911 for their 'emergency', and then found pictures of him displayed w/o consent for the mere amusement of others, I'd be quite frankly, pissed off!