Paragod357

[/font:2564b17ed8] We can all see just how distraught James is over not having his favorite toy. He is running around in the background not even trying to get to the doll. Most kids would have been in the camera shot trying to climb in the mother's lap to get at it especially if they were keeping it away from him. Mom's Paxil-induced state of calmness is oh so plausible too. If that were my kid and it had just happened a couple hours before I would still be working my way through my first line curse words while lining up the shot to blast Elmo into the next county with a 12 gauge. How slow of a news day was it that they sent a camera crew to cover this? I am going to buy one of these just so I can program it to say "eat me" whenever management comes up with one of their special requests.

[/font:e659312f73] I have been in healthcare far too long. The one constant is that people will have differences of opinions, often based on interpreting what was said completely different from what someone else does. That being said, I have seen an ambulance get hit. I watched it rock nearly three feet in the air before it came slamming back down on it's wheels as it slid sideways. I have responded to the scene of two more ambulance involved accidents. I know of at least a dozen more. I have transported noninvolved minors from medical scenes simply because there was no one else around to take care of them, and by state law we can not abandon them. They were always secured in a car seat or a shoulder/lapbelt if appropriate. I have taped buckles closed if I thought the child was unable/unwilling to follow directions. There was one that I seriously wanted to wrap in 2" silk tape and shove in a side compartment, oh wait, that was a partner...nevermind. Common sense dictates that you do the BEST you can do with what you have in the situation. Not every scene has readily available solutions. The one factor we can change is how we respond to calls. Sometimes it works to have child care at the station waiting, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes having an "on call" child care provider works. Sometimes you just have to miss the call. The chief of one service I know of is very adamant that people use caution and common sense when they respond to the station. Another one believes in balls to the walls, get there at any cost. One has a 29 year record of no injuries responding to calls, the other has an EMT on permanent disability because he thought his blue light made him bulletproof. Both are towns of less than 1500 people, both have virtually identical response times. One pays a LOT more for insurance. Putting a child into that scenario is an unnecessary risk. Bringing your child to the scene in an ambulance makes absolutely no sense. The risk of them being injured is too high. The chance that they will see something disturbing is not worth it. I have calls that give me nightmares, I can't imagine the harm that they would do to a more fragile psyche. I have heard all the excuses and rationales as well as the "we can protect them from seeing, hearing, smelling anything bad like open wounds, charred bodies, naked people, and psych patients" plans. They are all a feeble attempt to make the parent feel better about doing something that is inherently stupid. If I mutual aid to your call and I see your kids on scene, I will point it out to the deputy or policeman on scene. Then I will have a talk with your chief. If you are the chief (it happened) I will talk to your trustees. I will also talk to your medical director. I dread ambulance involved calls and pray that I never find an innocent child of a crewmember dead or injured when they could have been somewhere safe and protected.

I have been a paramedic for 12 years and have been in a lot of elevators but have never noticed a star of life next to one. Maybe it is a local or regional thing.

I know people like this...sadly enough I work with them...lol.