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MedicRN

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Posts posted by MedicRN

  1. I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions as to some non-EMS courses (english. or others..maybe) that would be good to take before I apply for my paramedic. I'm wanting to add courses to my resume because its pretty competitive out here trying to get into medic programs.

    While I try to get more experience I may as well take some courses.

    Thank you

    Jeep

    Take what you need to get your degree. Most 'P' programs these days are degreed (most states require it).

    That said.... Eng Comp I/II, Math (algbra or medical math), Psych, Speech, A&P I/II, Biology, Chemistry, phy. ed. etc. I think the more 'support' classes you can get out of the way, the better chance you will have in (and getting into) medic school. You will be able to devote most or all of your time to the medic program vs having to study for 3 or 4 difference classes at the same time.

  2. Let's see..... When I searched the correct spelling of my name, I came up immortal. But when I searched the common misspelling of my name (the way the rest of the world spells it :wink: ), I got that I was killed by

    1) a car in late October

    2) Hellgate in Ghost Rider # 50

    3) a drunk driver while heading to her place of work to see the new office after spending the day at Sacred Heart Hospital visiting her son because he had just had hip surgery just days earlier.

    hmmmmm

  3. With #1, I worked until the day I delivered (actually was at the hospital doing paramedic field internship and dragged up to OB by a classmate - delivered 6 hours later). Nothing wrong with her, 'cept for being a typical 12 year old!

    With #2, I again, I worked until the day I delivered (worked as a FT ER tech and PT medic and FT nursing student) - left work early to go to 'delivering' hospital - delivered 10 hours later.

    My first OB (whom I adore!!) made a wonderful statement - "Let's show this men that pregnancy isn't a disease!" He knew full well what I was doing and had absolutely no probems with it. In fact, he said something to the fact of "Go for it!!"

  4. What is your name? Roxan

    When is your birthday? 3/31/69

    Eye color? brown

    Hair color? brown

    What nationality(s) are you? Heinz 57

    Any piercings? ears

    Any tatoos? not for lack of want

    You have three wishes, what are they? what the winning numbers to the lotto? each time it hits 200+ million

    What sound can you not stand? fingernails on a chaulkboard

    Special talents? music

    What is the first thing you do when you wake up? turn over and go back to sleep.... aside from that, open my eyes

    What is the last song you sang? something in church

    Do you play any instruments? Flute, piano, clarinet, organ (anything with a keyboard except an accordian)

    Do you know any random facts? don't know

    BE HONEST- Do you listen to show tunes? not usually

    Do you want to go to college? which time?? Ft Hays State, Garden City Comm, Barton County Comm, Colby Comm, Butler Comm

    Whats the first thing you do when you get home from work? check email

    Is there anyone you are desperate to meet? no

    Do you dance around your house when nobodys home? no

    Favorite quote? "Without asking, you are already at no. What can asking hurt?"

    Main source of exercise? typing on a keyboard

    Yay or Nay

    Diet Pepsi? Yay

    Kids? Yay

    Bread? Yay

    Hair cuts? Yay

    Hiking? Nay

    Black and white photography? Nay

    Coffee? Yay

    What C.D.s are in your sterio right now? none.... no CD player

    Guilty pleasures? chocolate

    If you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? chocolate

    Speak other languages? medical-ese

    Favorite song (as of right now)? Mister Mom

    Favorite flower? Rose

    Contacts, glasses, or neither? neigher - LASIK

    Hometown? Colby

    Favorite Drink? Diet Pepsi

    Have you ever been in love? (depending on what your concept of love is) yes

    Have you ever been skinny dipping? no

    Assertive or passive? passive

    Sing in the shower? no

    Any regrets? not usually

    Do you swear? sometimes

    Do you have any pet peeves? yes

    Favourite Ice cream flavor? chocolate

    Member of the red light club? no

  5. Sorry.... here's the article

    Posted on Fri, Oct. 28, 2005

    Ambulance crews would have used artificial blood in Johnson County

    Role in research rejected

    By FINN BULLERS and ALAN BAVLEY

    The Kansas City Star

    A national study that could revolutionize the treatment of trauma victims will move forward.

    But without Johnson County.

    Annabeth Surbaugh, the county’s top elected official, cast a tying vote that barred the county’s Med-Act ambulance service from participating in an ongoing study conducted by University of Kansas Medical Center to test whether artificial blood used at the scenes of accidents could help save more lives.

    The County Commission’s support would have given emergency crews implied consent to treat trauma patients with artificial blood without their approval.

    Surbaugh said she came to Thursday’s meeting prepared to support the study but changed her mind when she learned the details of how it would be administered.

    “I didn’t know enough to vote yes, so I voted no,†Surbaugh said after the vote. “Perhaps this is because of my lack of medical understanding.â€

    The study — approved in Wyandotte, Douglas and Leavenworth counties — will continue despite the no vote in Johnson County.

    A commissioner who voted for inclusion in the study said the vote sent a troubling message as Kansas leaders bank on an emerging life sciences initiative to spark a new growth industry in the Sunflower State.

    Earlier this month, Surbaugh and her colleagues sang the praises of a new life sciences research park that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius envisioned at the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant near De Soto.

    “But it troubles me in looking ahead,†Commissioner Dolores Furtado said after the vote. “How can we celebrate the potential of a research park at Sunflower dedicated to bioresearch†while sending an anti-science message?

    “It has to have a detrimental impact on any bioresearch firm that may consider locating in Kansas,†said Furtado, professor emeritus of microbiology at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

    Also citing the county’s biotech future, Commissioner John Toplikar voted against the study. Participating would lead the county down the wrong road as a Kansas 10 “biotechnology corridor†begins to emerge between the Stowers Institute in Kansas City and the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Toplikar said.

    “If we approve this study, what study is next?†he asked.

    He said the study “takes away the basic human rights†of people by enrolling them in a study they can’t decline without wearing opt-out wristbands.

    The study is expected to begin on schedule in mid-November, even without Johnson County’s participation, KU Medical Center spokesman Dennis McCulloch said.

    “We’re disappointed, but the project will go on, and we’ll still be part of this national research,†McCulloch said.

    McCulloch said the medical center was surprised by the continuing doubts about the study raised by the County Commission.

    “We were kind of stunned by the questions,†he said. “We think we had answered their questions.â€

    Since early last year, an experimental blood substitute known as PolyHeme has been given to hundreds of U.S. trauma patients suffering life-threatening blood losses at accident scenes.

    PolyHeme has been tested extensively in hospital emergency rooms. More than 20 medical centers nationwide are participating in the ambulance study. But other hospitals have declined to participate.

    Researchers face sticky ethical questions on whether trauma patients unable to make informed decisions about their treatments should be transfused with PolyHeme without their consent. Under normal circumstances, that’s forbidden.

    But it does happen.

    “There are areas of research in which new medications do get used without traditional informed consent,†said Gary Pettett, a program associate of the Center for Practical Bioethics and director of the office of research integrity at Children’s Mercy Hospital.

    These situations include research involving young children where the approval of their parents is sought and emergency care where patients are incapacitated.

    “If we’re ever going to improve the kind of care available in emergency settings, we’re going to have to be able to study it like this,†Pettett said.

    Studies without informed consent can be ethically justified, he said, if an experimental treatment is likely to benefit patients and if its risks have been minimized.

    “It sounds to me the (PolyHeme) study has passed muster as far as it can in the emergency setting,†he said.

    “But you have to be willing to accept community assent as an ethical substitute for informed consent. If that is still an ethical dilemma for (the County Commission), I don’t think there’s any way around it for them. I think you have to honor that decision.â€

    T.J. Clark of Olathe told commissioners Thursday he did not want them to make medical choices for him.

    “This is an experiment,†said Clark, a local radio talk show host. “We need to scream it from the rooftop.â€

    The message to the public is that “your County Commission has decided you’re going to be a guinea pig,†he said.

    Furtado chalked up the vote to pre-election posturing.

    “Annabeth took me by surprise,†Furtado said. “I think it (her vote) is political. She is serving the conservative base — be it so they don’t mobilize a candidate to run against her or be it to win the race, I don’t know.â€

    Surbaugh, who has announced a bid for another four-year term as county chairwoman next fall, denied the allegation.

    “My decision was not a political decision,†she said.

    Had she been given more time to study the issue she said she may have drawn a different conclusion. The commission had already delayed its vote one week.

    Commissioner Dave Lindstrom also voted against participating in the study, saying he was concerned that participants would continue to receive PolyHeme even after real blood was available at the hospital.

    Commissioner Doug Wood abstained from voting, saying, “I do not want to substitute my judgment for those of my constituents.â€

    Commissioners Furtado, Ed Peterson and John Segale supported the study.

    The vote reflects the conservative/moderate split that surfaced during this year’s budget deliberations.

    Segale said Thursday’s debate got sidetracked by questions of morality and ethics.

    When emergency responders make life-or-death decisions to pump saline into trauma victims to stabilize blood pressure, they don’t ask for permission, he said. This study is to decide whether to take a calculated risk to save lives — and it is worth taking, Segale said.

    Ted McFarlane, director of the ambulance service, said a review of 75 Johnson County trauma cases transported to KU Medical Center in the last year showed no case that would have qualified for inclusion in the study.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    What is PolyHeme?

    ■ It is produced from human blood and retains blood’s ability to carry oxygen to body tissues. PolyHeme is more practical than blood for use on ambulances because it’s easier to store and has a longer shelf life than blood. And it can be given to people without matching blood types.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The study

    â– â– More than 400 patients have been enrolled in the ambulance study. KU Medical Center expects to contribute about 40 patients to the study. It will continue until 720 patients are enrolled.

    â–  Half of these trauma patients will receive PolyHeme, the rest conventional therapy with intravenous fluids.

    â–  Johnson County was expected to supply about four of those patients by ground transport and two to three times that number by air ambulance. Without Johnson County, it will take scientists longer to get their research numbers.

  6. Most Hip Fx's aren't severe and or with enough hemodynamic compromise to require their use. Even at your asserted "splinting pressures"..As a nurse you have to see hip Fx's ALOT in the ER, so you of all people should know better.

    Hemodynamic compromise is not the purpose behind their usage. The most comfortable hip fx patients I've seen have been the ones splinted with MAST (obviously, this has been many, many years ago). The pressure exerted is comparative of that of an air splint, compression stockings or sequential compressive devices, ie. not enough to effect blood pressures.

  7. Ummmm...that's not even an indication, why did you put the Mast on a Hip FX? What rationale did you use to explain it, and more importantly, what did your Med con.@ QA/QI say???

    out here,

    Ace844

    In several areas, MAST/PASG have been used (and some still use) to stabilize a hip fx. They are not pumped up to the requisite 'velco tearing and/or pop-off valves release,' but rather just enough to stabilize/splint the pelvis (for those of us who are old school, it was being suggested/taught while you were still in pre-school). Yes, there are other more up-to-date stabilization devices out there, but not all services may be that rich. It all depends on your area, service and protocols.

    Personally, on this scenerio, I would hold direct pressure to the effected vessel(s), titrate NS or LR to BP and apply large qualities of diesel or aviation fuel. Hemostats would only serve to damage the vessel making surgical repair difficult or maybe even impossible (read leg amputation).

  8. Yeah, to clarify -- and I think I speak for paramedicmike too -- I was referring only to criminal acts of assault and the misuse of various chemicals and medications. Those are not "pranks."

    Listing somebody's house? That's no prank either. That's hardcore revenge. But hey, I recognize that sometimes people deserve that kind of thing. But let's not call it a prank.

    Lighten up y'all! I'm guessing you are some of the dullest folks to work with (or just can't take a joke). I, personally, don't want to sit around repainting decals and stripes because of having washed the vehicles umteen times. I've been on both the giving AND receiving ends of jokes many, many times. It makes the days go faster and everyone has something to laugh about - even me! If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh about??

    --- Someone point in the right direction of their cars so I can let the air out of the tires :twisted:

  9. Boy, this is gonna make me look like some random guy trying to get stuff n pretending to be an EMT with this post and the other about car ID's. :shock:

    I'm currently working for a private company, which does not issue badges to their employee's. They require, or suggest, not sure, one of my partners just told me to get me one. I know some places (but not so close to home) I was wondering if anyone knew of any good online places. I'm lookin for the gold style, not the silver. :D

    If it is something they REQUIRE, they should be the ones paying for it. Why would you want a badge anyway? It makes you look too much like an LEO, which is often detrimental to the goals we want to achieve on-scene (it's bad enough being mistaken for a security guard). They are also like a big bulls-eye for anyone wanting to take pot-shots.

    Just my opinion......

  10. Was in EMS when DH and I started dating. He was in media (radio) and had his own wacky schedule (and we lived 8 hours apart - but that's an entirely different story). There has never been a problem about family time. My kids don't know what it's like for mom and dad to work a normal 9-5 schedule (but then, neither do we). DH was an EMT while we lived in MS. He enjoyed it but went back to his passion (media) when we moved back to KS. He helped me through EMT-P school and nursing school and has even tossed around the idea of going to P school or nursing school himself.

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