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The person below me hates cats, only because they were a mouse in a former life.

One of the nurses at a local hospital called one of the paramedics an ambulance driver and he promptly come back with referring her to a aide. :evil2:

Needless to say she never referred to any of the crews as an ambulance driver ever again. :laughing3:

Good heavens, how are you to learn anything if you do not do ride alongs or ER time? Anyone can read and do the book work. But taking care of the actual patient from the start of the call to the delivery to the ER, having a person's life in your hands is a whole other world, and something you cannot learn from a book or lecture.

Our courses here are built in with ride or clinical time that is mandatory and patient contact is mandatory. You have to have so many trauma contacts and so many medical contacts, or you cannot complete the course, take the practical or written test.

I have two days off a week. Normally one one of the days I pay bills, do laundry, clean and submit an Avon order or deliver it. Then its all play for me. My kind of play is a little different than others, I work on my family history, go cemetery hopping photographing tombstones, work on recording a cemetery before the stones are all unreadable. These cemeteries are more than 150 plus years old.

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EMT B

Out here in Iowa in our area, FD/Rescue help each other. Since manpower is limited in Volunteer Depts. we work together. Many of our Firefighters are trained First Responders, Emt B, Paramedics, makes for a happy family, and makes extrication of some nasty vehicle accidents a whole lot easier and quicker.

Shsssh don't even think those words. Our time is building here then all hell will break loose.

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I thought that there was one older than me, at least I hope so. I'm going back to saying I am 18 years old with 37 years experience, rather than saying my age is double nickles. :wink:

Your right in the fact that it really was not the thing to do, but at the time......

Hopefully that puts an end to it.

Our instructors informed all of us EMT B students the first night of class that we needed a stethoscope and bp cuff by the third class. From that class till the last class we would be doing hands on practicals. Our patients were all EMT I's or P's who used actual medical problems and traumas from actual calls.

Its true if the instructors are doing a good job, you will run thru scenarios and procedures in your sleep.

We had one EMT P who was known to be a bit of a prima donna, we got him in a KED and secured him to a backboard, we were to carry him to the gurney and put him in the back of the ambulance, he complained about everything we did, regardless if it was right or wrong :? , so we put the backboard across two metal folding chairs and left him there for about ten minutes, while we had a coffee break. He calmed down after that when the instructors released him.

My husband's family has been involved with the local Volunteer Fire Department since its inception. It was a given thing that when a Rescue Squad was added that members of this family would do that as well. Its all part of being an integral part of this small community.

Its about a lot of things, helping others, obviously its not the pay as we are all volunteers, but its giving to the community in a very different way which is hard to explain. We also have a need for EMS services since some sectors of our County has seen a explosion of businesses whose target is the semi trucks and other vehicles traveling on the interstate highway. We also have an aging population and their medical needs are increasing. Being a rural farming community, having a location along a major interstate and a whole lot of other factors, there is a definite need for people who go the distance and get educated in the field of EMS to take care of most of anything that is thrown at us.

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EMT B

Yes I would stay. Lights, sirens, pins and patches is not what I am there for.

I belong to a small Fire/Rescue Dept. We have no uniforms, pins or patches. We show up in our everyday dress, be it jeans, t shirt etc. We have an ambulance but the general public ignores the lights and sirens so we might as well not have them.

Yep I am not in it for the doo dads, nor the notoriety, but because I help my community in time of need.

When you have a fire call and everybody and their dog responds and no one stops to get the fire truck.

Your new brush truck came from the Government and its OD Green Camo color.

When one of the requirements to be on the Fire Department is what kind of combine do you own, ie. International, John Deer, Cat, etc. We have at least once a year a combine catch fire and it helps if you know how to disassemble it on scene to hopefully put the fire out, before it completely burns us. Usually they are history by the time the fire department gets there.

When you get a rescue squad call and they give the address, and someone calls back and asks who it is, and they give only the first name and you know exactly where to go.

Rats, not guilty. But all his defense had to do was create enough doubt and he would go free. They did just that and he walks.

I drive a 2003 Mercury Grand Marquee. Love it, it has all the bells and whistles. We also have a 1990 full size conversion van, that is our Grandma's and Grandpa's toy when we want to take off and go somewhere. That is just about never anymore. Hubby has a full size ford pickup for the farm.

I am new to EMT City, not new to the EMS system. I have been a First Responder, A, I and now certified as a B.

Our Rescue Squad and in all of the county in which we live is all volunteer, so are the Fire Departments.

Our unit is BLS, we frequently tier with an ALS unit. This mainly due to the composition of the area in which we live. Our very rural community has a aging population, plus the Interstate along with three truck stops, two motels and assorted fast food enterprises.

This morning was a perfect example of the dedication of our volunteers, five Emt. B's showed, then when ALS arrived we had paramedics, and intermediates, plus non certified personnal. All of us has a job to do and work well with each other, that is the key. No one is here for the glory.

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