katbemeEMT-B

Try www.smartmedic.com. It's a site that offers quiz questions at three levels. I have found that when I answer a question incorrectly, I search to find out not only the correct answer, but also why my answer was wrong and why the correct answer was right. Some of the questions are similar to the registry from what I have been told. I haven't gotten that far, but I figure it's not to early to start practicing. And as Dust said, memorize the skill sheets and know your drugs.

To the OP, first off, you might benefit from a couple of english classes and learn how to spell. Please use the spellcheck button. It makes reading a post much easier when words are spelled correctly. Now that I have that off my chest...while it is impossible to achieve a 100% save rate in cardiac patients, isn't it feasible to continue CPR even if it's for a minute amount of people. How else is the medical research profession able to collect data and find ways to improve life saving procedures if we as "medical professionals" decide, "well, we don't like doing CPR as it doesn't have a high success rate"? If we were able to pick and choose who we do CPR on, how would we choose? Does the 80 year-old grandma get a no because she's a train wreck, while the 40 year-old mom down the street gets a yes because she's hot? Where would we draw the line? And if we discontinued CPR altogether, I would have had to say goodbye to a friend this summer. Guess what, she was my first save and suffered no deficits. And let's look at this from another angle...if CPR is useless, than should we also let the patient with multiple traumas and basically no chance to survive lay on the roadway and die or do we do everything within our powers to stabilize the patient and get him/her to a trauma center only to find out later that he/she died? It comes down to this, advancements in medicine have allowed people to live longer and we expect that ANY medical professional will do ALL that they can to keep us that way. If you as an individual chooses not to have extraordinary measures taken to keep you alive, that's your choice and you should ensure that you have the paperwork to voice that opinion. Until such the day that we actually become paraGods, it is not up to us as to who lives and who doesn't. We are there to provide a service, sometimes as fruitless as it may seem, but none-the-less, it's our job. I could go on and on, but I don't think it would make a difference. I do think that if you truly feel this way, you need to find a different profession for the benefit of any patients you encounter and for yourself. P.S. Found four spelling errors in my post with spellcheck.

Take it...the flu has been going around...a gently used paramedic book

We recently made the transition from the Zoll M series to the E series. They are definitely heavier and the cords are quite short for the add-ons. the other thing we have noticed is that when they are plugged in for charging, the batteries get extremely hot. We also utilize LifePak on some of the trucks. I guess I'm not really sure which I prefer. Kind of like what others have said, whatever they give me to use, I use.

The program that I am currently in requires a course on ambulance operations and an EMT-b internship. The difference is that you work mainly a 911 system to help hone those basic skills. These are just two of the required prerequisites. If you currently work on a service as a basic, you must have been the lead on a minimum of fifty calls to wave out of the internship. Personally, I think it's a great idea because there is very little if any patient contact during basic class.

OMG!! Frickin hilarious!! I had a hard time reading it out loud to my kids. I laughed so hard I almost pooed myself. Thanks for cheering me up. I needed a good laugh.

I'm so happy that you are home and doing better Cheeky and hopefully your son will join you soon. I will continue to pray for your family.

I can completely understand the frustration of dealing with "fakers". We actually deal with a male and female about every three days. One has pseudoseizures and the other suffers from breathing difficulty. As frustrating as it is, we respond and transport them. We write a detailed report and give the doc an even more detailed report. With our assistance, the female was admitted for 90 days to a psychiatric treatment center. When the male chooses not to cooperate, he is threatened with being deemed a vulnerable adult. He's been much better lately.

Please send Cheeky my get well wishes, and I will have you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. As has been mentioned, take care of yourself too.

I've never clipped a sign, but I did smuck a safety pole at the hospital when backing into the ambulance garage. The funny part of the story is we receive monies from the townships we provide service to. The patient in the back of the truck happened to be a township council member. He was giving me a hard time about not being able to back up. My partner told him I have backed into that garage at least a hundred times. She no sooner said that when we heard a boom...the truck met the pole. The gentleman laughed until it hurt. He did send me a letter apologizing. He felt he distracted me and that caused the bump. Oh well.

Well, it's official, as of August 25th I will be a medic student. It's going to be quite a ride going to school Mon - Wed and working Wed-Sun one week and Wed-Fri the next, plus clinicals. I probably won't post very often for the next nine months or so, but I will try. Be assured, when I have questions, I will depend upon my fellow EMSers to lend me a hand.

One of the gals that works on our service has the art of predicting calls. As she's leaving she'll announce what types of calls we will have and sure enough, that's what we get. Some of my co-workers have threatened to tape her mouth shut if she doesn't quit saying things. It's actually kind of funny. I don't really think it's superstitions, I think it's the way of the world.

Congrats on your first save. I also volunteer on a BLS service with the closest ALS intercept fifteen minutes by air. Ground ALS is more than thrity minutes. I definitely understand how sometimes as a BLS provider, one can feel helpless. Staying composed is a must. Pediatric calls especially scare the crap out of me, regardless of the seriousness of the call. It seems as though even what starts out as a minor situation, goes south in a hurry. I would say that any seizure, and especially a ped. seizure should always be considered serious and ALS. I can also understand your excitement on the save. I experienced my first official save two weeks ago. We were called out for difficulty breathing. When we pulled into the driveway, we were met by a teenager crying, "she's blue, she's blue". I assumed it was her sister but she quickly corrected me and told me it was her mom. I know the family well and my heart sank. Her mom is only 43. We got to the patient, turned her over and immediately started CPR. As soon as the Heart Start got to us, I placed the pads but no shock was advised. This really scared the hell out of me as she had no pulse or respirations. We did another round of CPR and this time we were able to shock her. There was still no pulse so we continued with CPR, loaded her up, and headed towards the hosptial. We had a local deputy drive and had him radio the hospital. About two mile out she was attempting to breathe, although I had inserted a combitube, she had a pulse, and even a decent pressure. It was short lived. We lost it all again five blocks from the hospital. What upset me was that the hospital didn't immediately call for a bird to meet us their. Next time I will have our dispatcher contact air care. One thing to keep in mind is that this is a small hospital with VERY limited capabilities. I was really concerned about her outcome, but I guess all that matters now is that she survived with zero deficits. I really wish we had ALS closer to us. I am trying to convince our director to sign a mutual aide agreement with the ALS service that I work for. We'll see how that goes.

We are required to wear ANSI class 3 vests on or near ANY roadway, whether federal, state, county, or city. I personally think it's a good idea as most of our MVCs are on either the interstate or narrow two lane road and usually in crappy weather.

Hey Baron von Dump...oooops...I mean trump, maybe you should step off your high horse long enough to get some fresh oxygen instead of the sh*t that your so full of. It was a funny joke that most women would enjoy...like myself. A wise old indian told me one time....He who must toot his own horn, has very little horn to toot. Would you like the pepper and tweezers? To the OP, great humor!!!!

The service that I work for is actually hospital owned. We are not based at the hospital, but we do spend time there. When we are in the ED, we help out where ever we can. We also train with the hospital staff and invite them into CE classes that are EMS specific, as they do the same. While there are always those that like to fuel the fire, we pretty much get along great and work as a whole to provide better patient care. They depend on EMS to provide them information from the scene that will benefit patient care and we depend on them to direct us as to what information we need to gather. Oh yeah, we also fill their big butt candy drawer. As far as other hospitals we transport to, we have a pretty good relationship with them also. I think it comes down to getting to know the staff and allowing them to get to know your service.

Early defibrillation results, hopefully, in restarting the electrical impulses of the heart, which in turn restarts the mechanical contracting of the heart. It is the contracting of the heart chambers which circulates the blood through the circulatory system. With each passing minute the heart is idle (not contracting) the higher the ischemia and dead heart tissue. This results in a heart that does not function as well and sometimes not at all.

Okay, so I have a couple of quick stories that aren't really stupid, but damn funny. My partner and I were sitting at the base when our other truck was called out for a 10-52 (accident with injuries). My partner put on her pouty lips and said, "dang, I want an accident. She no sooner said that when dispatch comes over the radio and says, "xxx, you can head to the scene for transport." My partner keys up the radio and says, "sweeeet, en-route". I just stood there along with two other co-workers staring at her. She looked at us and asked if she was keyed up when she said it. We started laughing and said yes. Dispatch comes over the radio, trying not to laugh and copied her with a, "sweeeet, copy". We laughed all the way to the scene. Another time, PD responded to a domestic. After clearing the scene, one of the officers radioed another squad and requested they go to a private channel. Well, unfortunately, it wasn't the private channel, but the county wide channel. The officer keys up his mike and says, "damn dude, did you see how big her tits were. I feared for my life when she came at us. I thought I just might get lost in them." A county officer keys up and informs him that he's on county wide. The officer was quiet the rest of the night.

As has already been said, you will find this same situation or a similar one many times when doing transfers. I have seen this coming from the clinic and the hospitals. I have also seen the other side of the picture. Just recently we were called for a transfer from the clinic for a "68 y/o/f, bring monitor and O2". When we got to the patient, she was sitting on the exam table talking eighty miles a minute smelling like she had just smoked a carton of cigarettes. The doc came in with her EKG which showed sinus arrythmia with multiple PVCs. She told us she had been having chest pain on and off for the last ten days but had been pain free that day. We loaded her and headed for the hospital. When we rolled into the ED, we were met by the level 1 team. They asked why we hadn't come in code 3. We told them the patient was stable with no pain. As we said that, we heard the bird landing. The ED nurse told us the clinic doc called it in as a level 1. The ED doc was not a happy camper. The patient wasn't level one and didn't have to be flown. The clinic doc didn't know the difference between a cardiac patient and a level 1 cardiac patient. My advice to you would be, take your experience, learn from it, and make yourself a better care provider from it.

We have utilized bystanders many times. It makes them feel like they are doing something to help the victim. More often than not it's something as simple as asking others what they saw and reporting back to us, finding something that may have fallen off the patient, or grab something from our truck. They don't seem to mind how little the task may be, as long as they can help. I have been on-scene when a medical professional showed up and demanded that I give him a patient report and he would let me know what I should do next. I immediately asked him if he is assuming responsibility for the patient, and if so, "please sign here"! He backed away pretty quick.

Hmmm...man stuck in port-a-potty...sounds like a call for fire. They are the experts in extrication, I only know how to put band-aids on. LOL!

I work for an ALS service, but I also "volunteer" with the BLS service where I live. Our BLS service responds mainly to the elderly. When we pull up to a house and enter, we really have no idea what we are there for because what they tell dispatch is usually not what is really wrong with them. I have learned this by furthering my education. We don't have the ability to do EKGs so getting a picture of heart activity is out of the question. I will tell you that my education has taught me to look at the patient, the complaint, and compare those to my impression of the patient. When I call the hospital to give my report, I include all those things noted above. This gives the doc a clear picture of what to expect. On the other hand, you have some of the volunteers who do nothing more than what the service requires of them for education (very little). The get the same patient with the same complaint and that's what they tell the doc. Next thing you know the ED staff is in frenzy because the patient they just got is having an MI and they had no advance warning. The EMT failed to portray a clear picture of the patient. EDUCATION IS EVERYTHING!!! If your Med. Dir. feels you need these advance skills, then you should push to become an ALS service. The volunteer service I work for is in the same position and my response was, "then make us an ALS service otherwise all those new toys are useless". I'm not giving up until it happens.

When we do our PCR we include time our dispatch received call, time unit was notified, and enroute. We don't include time caller actually made contact with a dispatcher because many of our calls come from a different dispatch center. Our dispatcher is from the metro, but we service a rural area about an hour south. When we get our monthly call stats, it usually will include the times noted above.

Yep, I was there tonight. All my true friends laughed right along with me. Can't make better memories than that.

I am currently attending a community college here in Minnesota in the AS Paramedic program. The average cost of tuition per credit is $135.00 per credit. I have received some financial aid but I have paid for most of it myself, five semesters worth. Oh well.