gymratt

Just wanted to say that in our EMS system we are not allowed to administer D50 and not transport. All administration of D50 must be done enroute to the hospital as our med control docs view this as treating a patient and releasing which we are not allowed to do when we apply meds to the treatment. As far as the actual question I feel it has been answered quite correctly in prior posts.

I have been doing this long enough that most of the protocols are etched into my brain however when the call comes in and while enroute if the nature is something that I think that I might be rusty on I will pick up the protocol book which we have in each unit and refresh my memory. I have had younger medics call me during a call they were on and ask quick questions as well. Spending time reading your protocols is never a bad thing and with repetition you will eventually know them like the back of your hand. Its not rocket science here as you have probably learned much harder things such as how to work a computer or post pictures on this forum or other everyday things. Perhaps you referred to the users manual for a new video camera but after several uses you no longer had to do so. Now with that said anytime there is a protocol change you should certainly refresh yourself on all protocols that have been altered.

Alright folks this is my first post and not exactly the type of post I had planned on for the first one on this forum however this topic caught my eye. To start with I have been a paramedic for almost 15 years now and have only worked for two private services during that time. Oh yes, I'm 39 years old,,, OK back to the question, What do I hate about my job? Well, I suppose that one could find lots of things about this business that we hate and narrowing it down to the main topics took a bit of thought. We have to remember that most people could find things they hate about their job whether inside EMS or outside which I think is important to remember. But I have still not answered the question so here goes. I agree with everything that the original poster stated and think that there was a bigger issue hit upon there. The lack of respect from the people in the hospital to the regular "Joe's" on the street are what I feel is part of the disparity in pay between paramedicine and other health related jobs. Many of the people I meet either think we make a lot more money than we truly do or they think we are nothing more than glorified taxis and deserve exactly what we get or less. A few weeks ago my partner and I had stopped in a little store to get a few items. My partner was at the cashier and purchased a can of Skoal. There was a well dressed, middle classed lady that one would assume was educated. She was in front of me and behind my partner. After my partner had asked the clerk for a can of wintergreen Skoal she said, "What if your patients don't like wintergreen?" My partner turned with a confused look on his face and answered, "Excuse me?" She then explained with a smug look on her face, "What if your doing mouth to mouth and your patient doesn't like wintergreen?" I couldn't believe it. My partner didn't know what to say and he is much more reserved than myself as I tend to often open my mouth when perhaps I should keep it shut but I like to speak my mind so I answered for him. "Ms. first off we don't do mouth to mouth as we have this little bag that attaches on one end to a oxygen tank while the other end attaches to a tube that we insert down your trachea just like they do when you are placed under anasteshia prior to surgery. Then we begin to do what is generally termed "bagging the patient" and for you that would mean breathing for you. At this point most patients couldn't give a dang what we have, have had or will have in our mouths as they are no longer alert and on the verge of death." A man behind me at this point began to laugh rather loudly and as I looked back over my shoulder there stood a man missing several teeth that looked as if he didn't finish 6th grade. He then chimed into the conversation, "Heck woman, I knew that. Don't you ever watch TV? They don't put their mouths on nobody. You must be crazy or something." Now apparently this would put a little more credibility about not judging a book by its cover. The woman at this point put down the items on the counter and quickly paid for them saying nothing more. As she left I was certain I could see a rather red tint on her face. All I can say is good guys 1 bad guys 0.