DirtJerZ

I dont see this as a hate crime, although it very well could be. I see it a power starved cop trying to prove his authority not only to the medic, but to his wife who was watching. everyone has the cops side, His high priced union appointed lawyers definitely got his back

personally i like to beat the crap out of them since i have to go to the hospital anyway! jk obviously.

i am serious

The life of a paramedic can be very stressful at times and very satisfying at other times. The pay depends on what state your in, Unfortunately 99% of the job depends on what partner you get. It also depends greatly on your personality wether or not you should pursue a career in Paramedicine. Its a prerequisite that you have to be a little crazy.

I want to apologize to all the University employees i offended. I work at other projects with University paramedics and they are the most professional paramedics i have ever encountered. I never meant to offend or generalize, but this story sparked some anger in me and i wrote to hastily after watching the report. I have never applied to the U nor do i plan to, i already work in a busy urban project and have no desire to work another one.

This is why i have no desire to work at the U. I know lots of medics who got hired and walked out on day 1 of orientation. Maybe they felt this place was no good. You should here some of the stories i hear about the U, these guys are elitist's and believe they are above the law because they work for the state. Its a scary thing. I also here that if your new they will do some type of hazing too. No money in the world is worth the abuse these guys put there people through.

I dont think joint replacement is a good enough reason to not offer employment. As long as the person understands the job and his doctor clears him I don't see the problem. Thats could be a lawsuit under the American with Disabilities Act.

I agree that the person trying to help might be a "whacker" but may prove to be of assistance to you, but like stated earlier the patron trying to help may be drunk. Id be suspicious of the training of the person who might want to help on the sprained ankle, bloody nose calls. I wouldnt offer my help if security/police or fire is on scene and they dont ask. So i guess just use your best judgement.

I need some more information. What type of Business/venue do you work for? What State are you in? What type of calls do you get? Do you do patient care reports and RMA patients.

thats really interesting, in NJ we give 2-2.5 x dose down the tube to a max of 50 cc's we can give narcan, lidocaine, atropine and epi 1:1,000. I have never given lido or narcan down the tube but im sure we can use it.

Umm, really. Well i gave atropine and epi down the tube the other day. Might wanna check into that statement a little more.

There are so many different things you can write about. But dont forgot Johnny and Roy in there somewhere.

Thank you very much. Now i know exactly what i needed to know. The heliox article was the only link that worked. Thanks again for the info.

Fun.

I am a newer medic and have been working in a city for one year. On a few occasions i have seen a few medics give albuterol down the tube in cardiac arrest patients with history of asthma. Is this beneficial for the patient? Are there any adjuncts to use neb treatments through a BVM? Do you have to hear wheezes when you do this? Or, is this all just a waste of time?

First, sugar is a carbohydrate. I'm not sure what your first sentence means. Second, while thiamine is an essential vitamin, particularly for folks with impaired glucose metabolism, I have not heard of it preventing renal failure in someone who is acutely hypoglycemic. Thiamine has been given empirically before D50 administration to prevent Wernecke's encephalopathy, which has been seen in anecdotal reports after D50 administration. We have moved away from this practice, instead concentrating on administering the D50 as soon as possible. For chronic alcoholics, they'll get thiamine in the banana bag. Third, and what I think you're getting at, is the patient should be fed as soon as practical in order to get a load of complex carbohydrate to stabilize the blood sugar. D50 has about 100 calories in it, so not very much. It's enough to get them over the hump, but they'll need a larger load of simple and complex carbohydrates to maintain an appropriate glucose level. 'zilla

Just because you dont here about it doesnt mean it doesn't happen.

I would guess they would get paid what a street medic would get paid and with commensurate. In New Jersey you need 5 years street experience and some type of critical care course and a 1 week survival course. I think this is a good living but nothing you can get too wealthy doing.

Carbohydrates are essential for sugar to be metabolized correctly. I also give 100 mg thiamine before D50 administration because this has been proven to prevent kidney damage in diabetics. (I also hear it burns so give it before administration.) I can imagie someones sugar dropping rapidly after d50 administration, but have not seen it happen. If you give carbs you can avoid finding out.

I recently had a patient who was cool, pale, clammy, AMS, Hypotension with no radials or femorals, the patient was in sinus brady around 40 bpm so I immediately established an IV and gave 0.5mg atropine while my partner set up the pads, I got the fluid bolus going. We set up the pacer at a rate of 70 and got capture at 100 ma. The patient started waking up and in pain. I called the Med Control but we had already arrived at the ER(City EMS)at this point. We rushed the patient into the ER and we were ignored by the nurses, I actually said "We have a critical patient Here!" and the nurses all looked around and said "they're all critical patients!" Some nurse finally came over and we finally got a bed. they switched the machines over to theirs and checked the vitals, the patient had mass improvements so they took the pads off and the patient went unconscious and eventually coded and died. GO TEAM WOO!

a few things i learned is that most sex assault victims will usally not want to talk to the same gender responder as their attacker. Don't be afraid of the silence and report your suspicions to the ED.

I believe that we need better organization to let our opinions be heard in Trenton. Unions are failing because we have no professionalism. Very sad :/

Im a new jersey Paramedic, i work at 2 projects. The problem i see is the volunteer squads, Most are unprofessional and pick and chose calls. This puts a strain on the system because medics are stuck transporting patients or sitting on scene with patients who could have been triaged to BLS. This leaves the medics unable to respond where they are actually needed. Also the volunteers are keeping us on jobs, just to check out the patient. I say down with the first aid council, and make the BLS professional. They show up in my project wearing shorts, sandals, etc.. and a radio. They have no idea of the concept of going to the hospital. They sit and wait on scene for the medics, and usually its a release. Very sad system and we have the first aid council to thank.

Not to nitpick but the 0.04mg/kg for atropine was changed to 3mg with the new ACLS protocols.

yes according to ACLS protocols you can repeat atropine to a max of 3mg. they also state that if pacing is ineffective and the patient has poor perfusion you consider an epinephrine or dopamine infusion at 2-10 mcg/min. Atropine will most likely not work on a high degree block i.e 3rd degree or 2nd degree type II. Its more imperative that you get the pads on the patient.