WANTYNU

So here we are again, with the old question, why buy the cow when free milk is all around? A universal theme seems to be, get rid of the volunteers, a nice idea, but I’m sure you’d get more than a little protest. (Not only the volleys, but the towns being serviced by them). More than a few of us have heard the saying; a city is willing to pay more to remove their trash, than take your loved one to the hospital. It was an interesting earlier post saying that city’s essentially had better ALS care with less need for it then our rural counterparts, I tend to agree, I worry about my family in the “burbs” all the time because I know they are served (?) by an all volunteer group, so as far as response time, level, and experience it’s catch as catch can, not acceptable in my eyes. I recently had a discussion with a friend that lives in a very expensive and exclusive county, and they were surprised to learn that a homeless person on the street in my neck of the woods would receive better and faster care, after all, they pay a LOT of taxes… Again back to an earlier statement, to make changes will require educating the public, when folks find out what their tax dollars are actually buying, I think the problem will correct itself. The problem is Public announcements require money, and lots of it. So going back to my previous post, if an organization, whose sole purpose, or mission statement, was to run public information ads, and later on lobby local government, so the PUBLIC finally understands what they’re NOT paying for, and how much that non investment is ACTUALLY costing them was formed. What is that worth to you? How much would you be willing to give out of your hard earned paycheck to educate the public and raise the standards of your fellow EMS professionals? Folks, forgive me, we can talk all we like about changing the standards under which we work, but at its end this argument will all come down to money. IMHO As always, Be Safe, WANTYNU

An excellent reminder that how we act as individuals affects the reputation of us all, if we want to be treated and paid as professionals, we must act accordingly. I understand you were the “big fish in a small pond”, so your responsibilities while not being on the same scale as a large municipality, covered as broad a reach. Speaking to the media is never easy, large or small, as they are looking “for the scoop of the day” and will hang you on the inflection of a word much less the word itself. Keep in mind though, you are not the only one on this board that carried (or carries) the mantle of responsibility for others. This thread is intended to be a fun means of swapping stories and experiences with jobs that made the media. It covers all ground from well known jobs and misquotations, to just getting the whole story upside-down. As Always, Be Safe WANTYNU

I'm from NYC, the only folks that speak to the media are FD chiefs, regardless of the job. Besides, the point is not to hear from the folks talking about a job they were TOLD about... It is to hear from the people who ACTUALLY got their hands (o.k. gloves) dirty... -w

So folks, This is your opportunity to a little bragging, what we only keep it to the crew room? Lets go to the video clips (or news paper at least). Or if something missed the paper some inside info that they got wrong (we know that never happens, NOT). Sometimes we live, the stuff of TV stories, and the media still gets it wrong. Lets set the story right (within the law folks, if you're involved with an ongoing crime don't get yourself in trouble, this is a PUBLIC forum after all.) Hey, I had a job where a well known male hair dresser was shot and wrapped in a blanket (window left wide open with a fan going (a few winters ago), Press said he was mugged and stabbed...) These post are good, lets add a little juice. Be Safe, WANTYNU

I think I asked the wrong poll questions on this one. I was looking for opinions on folks work environment. Any suggestions on betters questions? -w

How much do believe, and what is the fight worth? I propose the establishment of a EMS governing body, with a volunteer board, and a paid staff. Its sole purpose is to create, lobby and enforce standards across the country. How much would you contribute? -w

Oh please tell me you're kidding... We are the only city in the country that turned down ICS/NIMS a well developed constantly refined 40 y/o system, for CIMS, specifically because Fire and PD can't work together... Hey were only the 3rd densest city in the world with a crumbling 100+ y/o infrastructure and we've only been a successful terror target 5 times, maybe they give up and go home, and everything else will hold together… We don’t need no stinking NIMS, we have our own ill-conceived, untried system… -w

What we have here is a failure to communicate… We should not be bashing similar or related professions, we are PRE-HOSPITAL CARE, comparing us to Doctors, Nurses or PA’s, is off point. The question was: What is wrong with EMS? IMHO WE HAVE AN IDENTITY CRISIS… Until we know who we are, we will never have a voice. Until we have voice, nothing will change. Be Safe WANTYNU

When I see posts like this, I have to stop and scratch my head and wonder about the state of EMS in this country, but then I see a key word and all is clear..... For your edification I was using IRONY, as in NOT BEING SERIOUS, as in humor, as I was gently attempting to let you know your questions had no bearing regarding the educational value of the story as it pertains to patient care. But in an attempt not to waste the moment, let me elucidate: Patient jammed under car into wheel well = Pin job with need for technical extraction…. Patient moves and is now free of wheel well, is no longer a pin job, therefore no longer needs technical rescue, patient needs long-board immobilization, O2, IV access with running fluids and transport to nearest trauma center. Patient received this care in under 8 minutes from the time we arrived on scene. If you think that’s substandard care, you are of course welcome to your opinion, regardless of how wrong it may be. -w

Or How about Mass STUPIDITY..... The kid on the long board was fine, she was immobilized because mom made a stink to sue the theater... Dozens Of Kids Hurt In Escalator Accident and can't leave out a MVA resulting from a police chase.... What was that about NYC speed limits? [/ram] -w

Thought this could be fun, ever have a job make the news or paper? I’ve had a couple, but it’s easy in a city with 5 news TV channels and a dozen papers dedicated to it. Here’s the link to one of mine: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2...in_brawl-1.html Be Safe, WANTYNU

NYC Busy, N'uff said! (enough posts with numbers so won't repeat) Worst night definitely the blackout, I stopped counting after the second MDT outage, but heard it was the mid 5000's. (Never knew a working elevator filled with piss would be something I would wish for…) Busiest regular night, this New Year's eve (I have enough seniority so I was off tour three) but hear the count went into the mid 4000's.... Either way, there is enough joy to spread around... Be Safe, WANTYNU

With all due respect Dust, I believe that is the point of this entire thread. The question is: what is the solution to obtaining advancement? And yes, I think we should have lights and sirens on emergency vehicles (even though they do give me a headache), I don’t wish to tread on the no bashing rule, but I don’t believe the comparison with air transport is a reasonable one. In a nut shell, this is pretty much the take I am suggesting. I’ve seen other posts that mention a “Paramedic Practitioner” who would have the ability to do the equivalent of an emergency house call, with the authority and education to make a diagnoses of “you-ain’t-that-sick-here’s-some cab-fair…” The danger with that of course, is our call volume might drop and we’d have to take on Fire suppression calls, or car stops, to boost our call volume. As always IMHO, Be Safe, WANTYNU

In NYS “professionals” (including massage therapists) are licensed through the Department of education, EMS are Certified through the Department of Health, it is my understanding that the DOH has been petitioned many times to turn the Cert into a license, but they refuse, this is why I state in my previous posts I believe it needs to be taken out of their hands. Why not? I heartily agree with everything said here, I have said the same many times. Further I believe we can do it, we just need to figure the “end run” that would get around the road blocks. This post is so completely “On The Money”, it needs to be published. As always IMHO Be Safe WANTYNU

So, in a small poll, 30% thinks nobody cares, this is a sad statement on how we perceive ourselves. As I promised I would post the number I got in a few days, so here it is (and probably the end of this thread…) As I have been told from a contact at EMS Magazine there are 900,000 CFR’s, EMT’s and Paramedic’s (i.e. MEDICAL first responders). 18,000 members on this site. My question then has to be, where is everybody else? Be Safe, WANTYNU

I meant to add this into the above post, it was late, I had just finished a double, please forgive me here: From a previous post, to clarify the above statement: PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE’RE AMBULANCE DRIVERS… How many people do you know that are firefighter / EMS and refer to themselves only as firefighters? That’s because the public UNDERSTANDS what a fire fighter is, EMT / Paramedic / EMT – CC / EMT – I / CFR it’s a moving target. Be Safe, WANTYNU

I guess thats better then a PARAglider... -w

There are a lot of great arguments here defining the separate problems within and surrounding EMS, not to be repetitive but the Hippocratic practice puts the “DOCTOR” at the top of the food chain, until that is dissolved, nothing in the hospital or prehospital setting will change. Several old jokes come to mind that exemplifies this point, Why don’t doctors worry? A: they can bury their mistakes (Ours are QC’d to death….) . What do you call someone who just graduated last in their class at medical school? A: Doctor… But back to the question that started this thread, what is wrong with EMS? WE ARE ALL VICTIMS OF IDENTITY THEFT, and don’t know who we are, there are Cop / EMS, Firefighter / EMS, Volunteer EMS, along with a host of striations within our own profession that we can’t even clearly define. WE ARE FRACTURED, we as a group, are not a group. I’ve said this before: “WE HAVE GOT TO STOP EATING OUR YOUNG” , the inrank fighting has got to stop. Until we can speak as ONE voice nationwide, will not be listened to, the standards from County to County much less from State to State are a joke. On a side, a few years ago, an EMT in NYC was arrested for carrying a shield into a federal courthouse (accused of impersonating a police officer), after many months of petitioning the state DOH (which clearly states not to use the state issued EMT certification card as ID, and TO USE a patch or SHIELD on a uniform as ID of function and rank), the STATE DOCTOR in charge refused to issue a letter that it was a State accepted practice to carry a shield (as many of us do), and in essence left this EMT to sway in the wind. Forget the state they don’t have your back. State control keeps us fractured. It was stated earlier that we must involve ourselves in the government process, not on a local level, but on a national level, lawmakers must be lobbied to change policy. Municipalities must PAY for our services, to steal a phrase “Why buy the cow, when you get the milk for free?” as long as there are those that will do this work for free, we will never be able to raise the standards under which we practice. There is no such thing as the professional amateur. The public needs to be educated that there is a difference. Here is a radical thought: everyone joins one organization, this organization BUYS the national registry (Hey everything’s for sale, and it is the budding universal standard), since this organization then speaks for all EMS nationwide, policy makers are lobbied and policy is changed making the national registry the standard across all states, now raise the bar, require a college degree to become a medic, require ALL EMS systems to have PAID PROFESSIONAL medics for their service. Govern the standards nationwide so the PUBLIC would be outraged if they found out they were getting less then this “STANDARD OF CARE”. Run ads educating the public as to just what emergency medicine is, and why prehospital care is the first and most important step in the medical chain that saves lives (Hey could we get a J&J commercial here?). Tell the Fire department to work on its own problems, (if fires are decreasing, retrain for something else but leave the medical calls to the professionals…) And last we need to be inclusive, not exclusive, if someone is not working to the “standard” train them, remediate them, if they can’t carry the load, they’ll quit on their own. But until we work as one, we will be picked off one by one and treated like dirt, and paid low wages forever. As always IMHO. Be Safe, WANTYNU PS: this might work in the big country, where the highways are wide, and traffic sparse, but in an urban environment, when the only viable treatment is an operating room, and the taxis stop in front of you to drop their fairs, and the oncoming lane is the only free drive, you’d be crazy not to have them… -w

Not sure how this part of the thread got started, but Para comes from the Greek/Latin prefix para- ("beside"), Medic : Doctor, so in the construction of the greek/ latin language ParaMedic loosely translates to “like a doctor”, or the hands of the doctor. -w

This is the thing nobody seems to get…. As long as we get insulted by each other, how can we EVER expect to get respect from Doctors, Nurses, or for that matter the public? WE’VE GOT TO STOP EATING OUR YOUNG! EMT, PARAMEDIC, EMT-I who cares, as long as we remain un-united, we will be ambulance drivers, or whatever term lowers your ego… If I do a transport with 5 drips, vent, and IABP, show the ICU nurses how to hook up the patient, as well as give a complete history, and the ICU Doc still will only talk to the nurse, as what does an ambulance driver know that could be of use to a cardiologist… PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE’RE AMBULANCE DRIVERS… How many people do you know that are firefighter / EMS and refer to themselves only as firefighters? That’s because the public UNDERSTANDS what a fire fighter is, EMT / Paramedic / EMT – CC / EMT – I / CFR it’s a moving target. In NYC you have the Finest (PD), the bravest (FD), the strongest (Sanitation), the Boldest (corrections), who is EMS… No one knows. Personally I think we should all drop this bickering and call ourselves Medics, educate the public that we are HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS and the rest will fall in line. As Always IMHO Be Safe, WANTYNU

You're lucky, an outstanding well balanced answer (thank you), what State do you work in and approximately how many people work at your company? -w

I always hear of folks complaining about where they work, it a pretty universal theme, but if you could pick anyplace in this country to work where would it be or and who would it be for. Be Safe WANTYNU

How fast can you pedal? w-

Remember you’re never alone with a schizophrenic. I'm still hoping someone will come up with a current source and number. I'll post the answer I was given in a few days. Be Safe, WANTYNU

I have to add a side note here, perhaps it should be a sperate thread, but when your patient had the ability to speak to you, (for whatever short time that may have been), what was the answer to "What were you thinking {or trying to do}", I seem to always get the answer: "I don't know".... Be safe WANTYNU