Just Plain Ruff

I always tell em about the time I saw So and so naked, in a bathtub covered in roaches and beetles. They usually never ask again.

Chicken

Oh, this does not sound good for this agency.

Well Richard, have you been happy with your choice of who you voted for?

I don't think you have much choice other than to take it to those in higher authority than you. Let them make the decisions as to whether to require further action. If they choose to take further action or to sit on their hands is their decision. But you did say that there is a drug test later down the road right? Before clinicals? That's a good place for the test to be. As this is your friend the best you can do is to warn your friend that the tests are coming and that if he fails the test that he is going to be out. But then you have that note that he produced. I would definately do some vetting of that note. You have to know how crafty drug addicts can be and I'm not casting aspersions that your friend, but if he's/she's proactive enough to provide you with a note from a doctor then I'd be concerned. YOu need to contact the doctor in question and discuss the note and make sure that the doctor understands exactly what the student will be doing in clinicals. Plus, your school does owe its clinical sites a bit of extra dliigence (which I am sure and am positive you already know this) and if you send them a stoned student, they will more than likely drop your school like a hot potato especially if that student harms one of their patients in any way so there is that liability that you have to look at as well. Good luck, I do not wish to be in your shoes but this really needs to be in your administrations hands and not yours. It went out of your hands the minute the relationship was revealed that it was between you and your friend. That should have been "your" red flag that this should have been moved up to your Boss'es office. You are too close to the situation and the problem should be handled by someone other than you. Not saying you aren't doing a good job of it but your handling of it is clouded by your friendship and that's muddying the waters.

Once in your house, very very expensive to get rid of.

I like your last sentence. It would have been surprising had they not have found one. Anywho, I'll be interested to see how the judge rules.

Ok, this post is disturbing in one aspect. Your mentioning obsessing on finding out how he's doing. It's good that you care and maybe your use of obsessing was a little over the top. But if it wasn't then you need to step back and think. How far did you go to find out where he was and get to talk to his mother. What means did you go through to get to the point of talking to the family. I'm not normally the harsh one on these boards but obsessing (you mentioned it) can be a nasty trait. If you just called the nursing station and talked to the nurse and she put you on the phone with the mom then that is one thing but if you went any further than that and did anything to misrepresent yourself to the nurse or the family then there is a HUGE HUGE PROBLEM and you need to STOP RIGHT NOW chill out and back down. So that being said, what I think you may have meant is that you were really wanting to know how the young man was doing so you called the hospital, told them who you were and they connected you to the nurses station and the nurse connected you to the patients mom. And you had a good chat. That is how I hope it went. All is good in mudville. What you need to do now is, you now have a good grasp on how your patient is doing, you need to move on and continue working and taking care of the patients that will continue to come along. You also need to follow the stellar advice of your fellow EMT citizens and get the professional help because this call will never go away, it will fade off into the distance but only with help. You never forget the first call where a child is your first fatality. Trust me, I can see my first child fatality, I can also see my 2nd and third and 5th and 20th. I cannot give you the particulars but I can if I am given enough time to remember. But I've asked for professional help more than once, or twice. Since this is your first of this type of call, the professional help you get will help you set the stage for future incidents like this and can help you deal with them in a productive way instead of obsessing over things. my advice, get the help you need. Talk it out. It might just take a couple of sessions. It may take a more than a few. My first day as an emt on my own off of orientation started out with a pedi code(save), 2 transfers, a trauma code(shooting) and 4 other calls and then an adult code. I nearly quit. Our entire system that day was hammered. Did I say I nearly quit?

oh, didn't know that. well that puts a different spin on it. But it's still not supported by tax dollars. It's a private museum right? Maybe those who follow these things closer can give a different and more legal perspective. But I think that the grants are just for construction. It's after the fact that I think is what counts maybe. Since no taxes will support the museum after it opens then it's a moot point. honestly, this saddens me that they want to get rid of this cross that obviously means a lot to the rescuers and many other people. No one is forcing anyone to bow down to pray to the cross or to like you said Doc, to pray to what god that the cross represents. I don't think that the museum will require anyone when they get to the cross to say a prayer. All you need to do is walk on by. Are there other religions represented in this museum? Do we have other faiths that are being represented to any extent? I have not kept up on what this museum will be like and what it will house. I do plan on going to it some day when I am employed again. So I will just have to learn about what's in the museum from trusted online sources. BUT... if there are other religions that are represented in this museum and the atheists are suing to just get the cross out of the building then of course we know what the true agenda of these particular plaintiff's is.

To all, I find no religious symbolism in these two beams of metal at all. You all know my religious views but I have not felt that this cross is a religious item since it was shown way back when. Many religious people may find my thoughts wrong but I don't feel that it's a religious item at all. to me it's a symbol of the building of what can be left standing and what isn't left standing. If this piece of metal was shaped in the form of a menorah would the atheists be trying to keep it out of the museum? If it was in the shape of a star of david would they be doing the same? If it was in any shape other than the shape of a cross would we even be discussing this?? I hazard to think that we would not be. Feel free to disagree with me but I don't think that we would be discussing this if it was in any shape other than a cross. It's a private museum so like AK says, it's private so there is no case. Now if the government were supporting this with our tax dollars then we'd be discussing a different tangent. LIke AK, I'm done. Carry on with your day.

Yeah, I would do this, contact the state bureau of EMS in your state. They can give you the definitive answer I believe.

I had an amazing preceptor. I learned the most from this guy. What I learned from him was that what I did had consequences and to think through those consequences prior to doing what I was going to do. Forward thinking outside the box thinking made me a stronger medic. What this preceptor also did was during our down time we did nightly review of classwork that we were working on as well as various stuff that you normally would not learn about in class but you would see out in the field. Consider dystonic reaction. I learned about it one night and amazingly our next shift we had a full fledged dystonic reaction on a 24 year old male patient. Learning about this condition and my being able to ask for orders from the physician at the ER and turning the guy around really impressed the doc on duty and then having a clinical at that hospital with the same doctor really opened doors for me with that doctor. I got to be involved on a number of things that I would normally not have been able to be in on had I not have impressed him with the dystonic reaction patient from that one night. Do not put undue pressure on your student and by all means get to know that student and be able to read their triggers. Be able to see what their point of no return is. What I mean is you have to be able to guage and recognize with the student where you need to be able to jump in and take over the care of the patient. I trust that you can do that but you really need to cultivate that relationship with the student that you don't truly alienate them when you push them out the way because they are getting ready to intubate the esophagus or they are getting ready to do something really really stupid which of course you won't let them get that far. But you never know. Just remember back to where you were on your first couple of rides and help them understand that they are not the first ones to be nervous but if they are cocky and a know it all it is your job to let them know that you won't take that crap either. Their job is to listen to you, check the attitude at the door and come to work with the attitude that they want to learn every single shift and that they need to be prepared and ready to do just that. You need to set ground rules. You should probably call them and have them come in 30 minutes early so you can have a sit down and list your ground rules and expectations. My number one expectation is that they listen to me. I had a medic student wander off on a suicidal patient call and we had no idea where he went. WE didn't know where the patient was, so we were searching for the patient with Law enforcement and the student went off to the basement and found our patient and was all alone with the patient. The patient woke up and the fight was on. We heard screams and with the police and us we ran downstairs and separated the two, transported the patient, put the student in the front seat and had the instructor come get the student at the hospital. Needless to say the student never rode with our service again. He was given the ground rule to stay with me but he broke that rule. Plus if the student is HOT and female, well you know the professionalism stuff as well my friend.

ECamp91, don't trust Facebook or trust it just as far as you can throw wikipedia. Facebook is just like a rumor network and anything posted there can be construed as just that, rumor. Be careful what you take as truth. You don't believe everything you read on the internet do you? I would hope not so don't believe everything you read on Facebook. Just a word to the wise.

Like I said, this would probably only happen in Utopia. But maybe it will take someone suing this freak of nature. Who will he have behind him to cover his rear end. I mean no one will back him for helping out these poor people. One of these days his number will come up and that number will be a court ordered settlement that he won't be able to pay but unfortunately the Ems agencies that cover where he works will also be named and they will get screwed as well. I hope that their risk management people are teaching their providers what they need to do in documenting when they come on a scene with whicky whescue already there. The state needs to jump in and cut this guy off at the ankles and be done with it but I'll bet that they don't really have the cojones to do that because as you said "he's a guy volunteering out of the goodness of his heart". Somewhere we've heard this before haven't we? Just how did this get so bad in New Jersey??? NO NO NO DO NOT answer that question, it was rhetorical.

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Maybe this guy taking this to court will finally get the New Jersey powers that be to take a look at the way they do things and say wow we really are the laughing stock of the USA and we need to revamp things. I know I know pipe dream but hey in utopia which is "what New Jersey might one day be" it could happen. From small problems come big changes sometimes. You never know.

Do you have a job in portland lined up that isn't EMS related that will pay your bills or are you just moving there to see if you can get a job? What's your plan when you get there other than to look for a job? My advice is to find a local refresher course and take it there. You will get ZERO hands on experience in an online refresher course. ZERO. Online has it's place but if you have no hands on experience then a online course will add to your experience 100% of Zero. But there is hope for you grasshopper, contact one of the community colleges (I've done the footwork for you) http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EMSTraumaSystems/EMSTrainingCertification/Pages/school.aspx you can find the schools on this page by clicking one of the links here. ( I only do this because I'm bored and tired of studying my Project management stuff right now and need a break). But now that I re-read your most recent post I see you are already in a refresher course. so the above link might not be needed. Get with one of those schools, ask them about refreshers and get in a hands on class. You can then go to this page and contact the local EMS agencies and see if you can get a ride along but don't expect to be able to perform many skills because well, you will just be a rider and not a licensed Oregon provider so you won't get any help there. http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EMSTraumaSystems/AmbulanceServiceLicensing/Pages/amb_cnty.aspx And are you a Oregon provider? IF so you might be able to do skills but since you don't work for the agency you are doing the ride with they probably will be reluctant to let you do skills, I know I would be reluctant to allow someone I didn't know and that didn't work at my service who was doing ride alongs do any skills. But that's just me. That above link gives you all the EMS services or a breakdown of ambulance services county by county. Find the county you want and click on it and there's a list. You might get lucky and find a service that will let you do skills but don't get your hopes up. Good luck JBro. Hope this helps. Of course it will only help if you decide to use the info provided.

Bill I'm offended at what you said. I cannot believe that you would advocate that someone would not play call of duty for 96 hours. You my friend are a terrible person not letting their children do whatever the hell they want. I for one allow my child to go outside for hours on end to ride his bike, play kickball with his friends and occasionally and I mean occasionally he gets to play some video games but only when and if his room his clean. How dare you advocate that playing call of duty for 96 hours is ok. I better re-evaluate my parenting styles. (*** sarcasm) My son would never have gotten as far as 5 hours of a marathon session of call of duty let alone 12 hours. I actually have a box that turns the x-box and tv off after 4 hours so that is not a possibility anyway. Anyone who plays any game for more than 5 hours has a problem anyway if you ask me. Capn.

I kind of prefer a couple of oreos and some milk. Maybe some chips ahoy as well.

Thats the problem. All he has to do is level the accusation and a previously reputable non fraudulent provider may be ruined. Dont level accusations unless you have proof. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Sounds like it was a single tactical officer who ended it for the shooter but thats what I heard last night. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Thats it, you had to take ch away from his target practice. Now he has to start all over again. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Wow milk the medicaid. Those are pretty strong accusatory words. Got anything to back that up other than just your in hospital transport experience? Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

First question you should answer. Have you found an area that has a need for a new ems service or a need for a new service to take over an old one or do you just expect to just be able to start one whereever you want in Maine? Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Yep try explaining that to a potential employer. No matter how justified you were in suing, no employer is going to touch you with a ten foot iv needle ic they know you are currently suing another ambulance service even if its their most hated competetor. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Fair enough Dwayne. But I still think that prior to his returning to this thread he should seek advice of counsel and then and only then should he return if his attorney says to do so. Now if he isnt going to sue then he can do what he wants on this thread. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2