katbemeEMT-B

Okay, so wouldn't these wankers have a contract they have to honor? Maybe the city/county should file suit against them for failure to provide services outlined in their contract. What a bunch of piss-babies.

Hey, I done did that dance once. After I hit the floor I hugged the throne. NOT GOOD!

Awesome job JP. I can appreciate the time and effort you put into this. Thanks for your hard work. YOU ROCK!!! Kat

Acrynom for Thomas A Swift's Electric Rifle - science fiction teenage inventor and character Tom Swift used it TASER is the trademark name for it. It was invented by Jack Cover a NASA scientist who read the books as a child and recalled it when he developed the his first stun gun. He had it patented in 1974.

In February, there was a National Educational Standards conference here in Minnesota. Many of the big players visited the college I attend and sat in on our classes. As students and perspective paramedics, we had the opportunity to voice our opinions on the current EMS education and what we hope and want it to become, and what we thought of the proposed Education Standards. This is something we have been discussing as a group for several months in class and most are in agreement that a higher education at all levels is needed. I think a few of the visitors were taken aback by that. We also discussed the Agenda for the Future of EMS in detail and gave opinions on what we saw as positive and negative. As for the new education standards, well, it's a starting point. Now they need to go a few more steps and really think about what type of education pre-hospital providers at every level really need. As an example, how can an EMT-B honestly care for a patient and give a proper patient care report if he/she has no clue how the body works. Anatomy and Physiology would correct this problem. Wouldn't it make more sense to have classes such as Intro to EMS and Ambulance Operations as part of the basic curriculum instead of after the fact as a prereq. for paramedic. Anyway, that's just my thoughts on it.

I loved Curious George and Garfield. My favorite cartoon character now is Dust....oops...he's not a cartoon character. Just a character. J/K Sorry Dust. I had to say it.

If you are talking about banking hours to avoid overtime, then yes that is illegal. You also can not legally work under some one elses name. That is the only reason I can see that your boss would say it is illegal.

I guess if some one really wanted to carry a BVM they certainly could. I myself don't see the need as I would be concentrating on compressions anyway. I would rather have something compact that easy to store and takes little time to set up for use. A BVM is bigger and much more awkward. But, that's just my opinion.

Hey Upton, The best advice I can give you is that if you want to set up a bag to keep in your car, great idea, but 86 the oxygen. It's more trouble than it's worth. If a patient truly needs the extra oxygen, give them mouth to mask. I have a bag in my car with bandaging supplies, shears, ice and heat packs, gloves, sterile water, a couple of Sams Splints, BP cuff and stethoscope, face mask, motrin, benedryl, neosporin, bandaids, burn cream, a fake credit card (for stingers), anti-itch cream, a flash light, a cup, a lighter, and some hard candies, and of course, some chocolate. I have used many of the things in it but have never had a need for oxygen. Keep it simple and remember, if you are responding when not working, you are only a first responder. Hope this helps.

I just couldn't imagine what these two were thinking. I realize that some times the media can screw things up, but to screw up the entire story doesn't make sense. I have a feeling there are many truths here (or should I say lies). Whether the so called medic was in the patient compartment or not does not dissolve either one of them from the responsibility that they ultimately killed a patient due to negligence. Part of the basic's job is to (respectfully) let the medic know that this is not right and if the medic continues to disagree, involve medical control. I have seen co-workers fired for less than this.

Okay, a couple of quick replies to BVESBC and then I will get to the original post. As an educated EMS provider, you should be well aware of the proposed Agenda for The Future and the new National Education Standards which in no way dismiss the EMT-B. In these documents they are setting the education requirements and skills available for each level of care: EMR, EMT, AMT, and Paramedic. Along with these new requirements, those EMT-Bs with so many variances will no longer be able to perform the skills they currently do without further education to an advanced level. So guess what, there goes your theory that the EMT-B will be no longer. Now that's not to say most services won't require their providers to be educated at the advanced level, leaving a very minimal amount of basics out there. That wouldn't be such a bad thing. As for giving patients better care; well, I am a basic and I agree that the patient deserves the best care available to them. That means EDUCATED providers that have the knowledge to go along with the skills. How can ANYONE provide proper care to a patient if they have no clue the correlation between the anatomy of the body and the physiological processes involved. The more I work as a basic, the more I realize how incompetent I really am and how much my patients suffer because of that lack of education. I personally have decided to increase my knowledge and am currently attending an nationally accredited college and will have an associates degree in Emergency Health Services. My advice to you is ride with an ALS service some time and see exactly what medics can do for their patients and the knowledge that goes along with that ability to provide care. Now, on to the original post..... I would love to see some data on how care provided by ALS services compares to BLS services. Specifically, patient outcomes where an ALS provider can perform interventions BLS can not. I would also like to see a study done on the difference in ability to properly care for a patient at a basic level with 120 hours of education compared to that of a basic with a minimum of a year of school including: general biology, A&P, basic cardiology, ambulance operations, medical terminology, english, communications, psychology, and whatever else might be fitting. So, that's my two cents

Well, now I have seen it all. While attending an EMS Conference this weekend, one of the presenters shared this unbelievable video with us. The man in the video is a doctor. At least it gave us a good laugh. Enjoy! Hope this works

I am employed with a small hospital based service, but our station is about a mile away from the hospital. We are pretty much left to do what ever we want. It is very relaxed. With that being said, it has allowed us all to become very close. I can totally identify with the family thing. We work closely together and are always willing to help each other. We also spend time outside of work with each other. I think the fact that we are so close heightens our ability to know what our partner needs when we are on the job and caring for a patient. I can also say that all relationships remain platonic. The couple of people that stepped over that line no longer work for us.

Thanks to all for the help. I have some good information to start my research. -Kat-

Thanks Jake. I did check out the website. It has some great history.

I am looking for information on police officer paramedics who are first to respond to a medical/trauma call performing ALS interventions. They carry some ALS equipment and drugs with them. When the ambulance arrives for transport, they go with if BLS truck and stay of ALS truck. Specifically I am looking for why and how this type of service was initiated in the area, personnel and public response to it, exactly how the system operates, and benefits and downfalls. Thanks for the responses and help. -Kat-

Okay, I did a search and found some information, but unfortunately, not exactly what I was looking for so I apologize if this topic is repetitive. I am doing research for one of my classes on police based emergency medical services. My particular interest is in police departments that utilize their officers as first on-scene paramedics with ambulance assistance for transport. I know there are four cities in the state of Minnesota that offer these services. It would be great if some one familiar with those areas (Cottage Grove, Woodbury) could offer some information. I would also be interested in hearing from those in other areas of the country If anyone has any links to information I could use for my report, that would be wonderful. Thank you in advance for you input. Kat

A 12 lead? What were the results? Possible undiagnosed heart defect?

Is there a possibility he was exposed to, inhaled, or ingested a poison or drug? What does he remember immediately preceding his symptoms? Is he telling you the truth about everything? Double check BGL. Enlist ALS if available.

Hey Dust, Glad to see you're still smiling. You had me a little concerned when you said you were injured. Take care and heal quickly. Kat

Yep, we are required to leave a copy for the doc. We still utilize paper forms.

Wow, I feel special. When we bring in a patient to one of the three hospitals we transport to, they usually assign us a room when we call in our report. If not, as soon as we walk in the door, we get a room, transfer patient from cot to bed, assist nurse if need be, giving our report while doing all this. Then we are done except to fill out our run report. it takes longer to do to do our report then the actual transport and transfer of care.

I think it comes down to this: Combine the knowledge you gain from school (school smarts), with your street smarts (practicing the school smarts in the real world). Get yourself a well rounded education. If you're serious about EMS, keep going straight to paramedic, taking the two year degree option. Be sure you take english, communications, psychology, biology, anatomy & physiology, and a few other electives that will make you an educated paramedic. Since you will have your EMT-B certification, try to find a service where you can practice the skills (as few as they are) that you learned in class. If you can get on an ALS service, even better. Learn from your medic partners. Good luck in your future ventures.

Miserable Minnesota. About an hour south of Minneapolis.

Living in a rural area, we utilize air care often (ground ALS is thirty miles away from the hospital and farther from an scene we respond to). Sometimes air care doesn't receive the patient until the hospital and sometimes from the scene. Either way, once air care shows up, we give them our report, ask them if their is anything we can do to assist them, and off they go with the patient. The important thing to remember is that getting the patient to definitive care as quickly and safely as possible is the ultimate goal. We actually work well with the flight crews. If they show up on scene, we immediately give our report and ask them what they would like to take over patient care. To my surprise, on a few rare occasions, they have said, "Nope, you're doing just fine. We'll take over when you get him out." This happened to be on the scene of a MVC with a trapped patient and extrication wasn't completed. After rescue freed him, the flight medic asked me to get another set of vitals, we helped them load, and off they went. I look at it this way, flight crews, whether medics or medic/RNs, are taking over the care and responsibility of the patient. I am being relieved of my duties at that point. To sit and piss and moan over who should be in charge is pointless. If that patient crashes in the helo, it's not my ass on the line, it's the flight crew, so they should be considered primary caregiver even on scene. If it is a crew that respects the ground crew, they will listen to what you have to say and treat the patient with your perceptions and their own combined. If they chose not to listen to what you have to say, then it's on their shoulders. You've done everything you can and so should be documented. Anywho, just my thoughts, not necessarily the right answer, but still mine.