MizRizQuick

I work for a private ambulance company and we have a tattle tale. We can only go 10 MPH over the posted speed limit on a regular run and in an emergency, we can go up to 73 mph. Anything over 73, the boss-man gets a buzz. To answer your question, safe driving should always be in the forefront of your mind when you sit in the drivers seat of any vehicle, let alone an ambulance which (A) You don't own and ( Is WAY bigger than what you normally drive. You wouldn't take the road at 100+ MPH with your kids in the back seat, unbuckled...would you? So don't take the chance with someone else's.

I feel your pain on that one!!! $$$$$ I've been a basic for 8 years and worked on the ambulance for one of those years. (The other 7 years were spent in the ER as a tech)...and just to throw my 2 cents in, not that it hasn't already been said, if I have a question about a treatment my partner bestows upon a patient, I don't hesitate to ask. I have a ton of respect for him as a Paramedic but at the same time, I realize he is human...and as such, he makes mistakes. I would NEVER point out his mistakes, but I would, and do, ask questions about treatments he renders and I haven't yet been throttled, or "chewed up and spit out" or gashed open with a prison shank as a result of my inquisitions. If after he explains the treatment to me, I still don't understand the reasoning behind it, we get into a discussion about it and more than likely, he was right-on and I just missed something, or it was something I was unfamiliar with. Someone earlier said we work as teams, as we do. Just as much as you think your Paramedic owes his life and limb to you for hanging his fluids and attaching electrodes for a 12-lead (I'm pretty sure he could do that by himself), you owe your respect to him for taking a step further and becoming a Paramedic.

Our supervisors cooked breakfast for us Monday and today...and tomorrow night, there's a fish fry at the station. Then breakfast again on Friday (that way everyone gets to eat from both shifts). Happy EMS week!