firedoc5

I agree with everything else you posted except this. Yes. One of us has to drive the ambulance. That's a given. But please consider the following:

What do you call the guy who drives the fire engine? Do you call him a fire engine driver?

What do you call the guy who drives the police car? Do you call him a police car driver?

No! You call him/her a firefighter or a police officer.

So why are we "ambulance drivers" and not EMTs or paramedics?

Just food for thought.

-be safe

I like that comparison. =D>

I'm sure some of you have came across this. When an EMT, who is NOT a paramedic, tells people they are, or were, a paramedic. Case in point, my brother-in-law would be talking with someone and said he had been a paramedic in IL. I'd correct him and say, "No, you were an EMT-I in IL." He then explained to me that it was easier and less confusing if he said paramedic because not everyone knew what an EMT-I is. That always burned my butt. But more and more I hear others say the same thing. A local "kid" who didn't know that I use to run on the local ambulance here, actually it's where I got my start, was telling me he was a paramedic here. I was like, "Wow, they use to only have EMT's here". Turns out, all they still have are EMT's. I think I made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Ever since my very first EMT class it has always been a pet peeve of mine, being called "ambulance drivers". We're not in the days of using a hearse one day for a funeral and the next day using as a way to get someone to the hospital with no treatment, drive and fly. We are trained professionals, whether Basic or Paramedics, whether volunteer or full-time paid.

I don't want to get started. So I'll stop for now.

Does anyone remember quite a while back when the idea of having an agency where service was for EMS, firefighting, and police? Personnel would rotate on a regular basis or would have them perform whatever duty was called for. I know the idea was kicked around for a while in Chicago, Dallas, and I think Orlando. I don't recall if any systems tried it or not, whether or not it was feasible. I know that there are services like NYPD having their Police/Rescue which responds to fires but really don't do the suppression.

At one time I thought that would be something interesting to do, but I reconsidered and thought that might be overwhelming.

Hi, My name is Friday. I work on Monday. Monday is my secretary.

One night Monday and I went to a party. I picked her up at her house. Almost dropped her and my right nut.

On the way to the party we got a flat tire. I pumped a little, she pumped a little, then we got out and fixed the tire.

When we got to the party we saw that everyone was jumping for joy. So Joy left. Then everyone was feeling gay. So Gay left also.

On the way home someone threw a brick through the car window. It hit Monday in the chest and broke three of my fingers.

Before she got out of the car I tried kissing her. She crossed her legs and broke my glasses.

Sorry, guess I'm kinda tired and punchy. :happy7:

To put it bluntly, we live in a society that people tend to use an ER as a free clinic. And I don't want to stereo-type any one group of people, but those on public aid tend to do just that. I can't understand a doc giving that kind of advice though. And he's probably one that might complain about all the non-emergency cases that seem to back things up even more.

This had been a topic in the past in my old dept. There should be some discretion while taking pictures. More so if those pictures are to be circulated or published. Also, was he posting the pics from a professional stand point, or for kicks & giggles or amusement?

Oh, by the way, to add to my previous post, probation for six months a bit extreme. Actually to even have it as an issue is a bit too much. Sounds like someone needs to lighten up.

I've done both. As I said earlier, there's pro's and con's to both. So it depends on what you are actually wanting in your career.

LAUDERHILL, Florida (AP) -- A 12-year-old boy beat a toddler to death with a baseball bat because she was crying while he was trying to watch TV, authorities said.

The boy, who was not identified, was arrested Saturday on first-degree murder charges, Lauderhill police spokesman Lt. Mike Cochran said.

He was arraigned in juvenile court Sunday and remained in custody, but it was not clear if he had an attorney or if anyone else would be charged in the girl's death.

Cochran said the boy confessed to authorities that he was home alone Friday baby-sitting a 10-year-old girl and the 17-month-old girl and became angry when the toddler began to cry. The relationship between the three was not clear.

At some point, an adult called 911. The girl, Shaloh Joseph, was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead of blunt force trauma to the head, Cochran said.

The Miami Herald identified the boy's mother as Guerla Joseph. A telephone listing for a Guerla Joseph in Fort Lauderdale had been disconnected.

The case is not the first in Florida where a boy so young has been charged in the death of a child. Lionel Tate was 12 when he beat and stomped to death a playmate half his age in Florida.

At the time, Tate was the youngest person in modern U.S. history to receive a life prison sentence. His attorneys initially said he accidentally killed 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick in 1999 while imitating pro wrestling moves.

Tate was convicted as an adult of first-degree murder, but the conviction was thrown out in 2004, and Tate pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

If ya gotta go, ya gotta go. Since it was in town, wasn't there a business or building somewhere to duck into?

On a few occasions coming back from interstate transfers I've had nurses that ducked in the back and used the urinal. Luckily they all disposed of it themselves.

I haven't written an article, but I have talked with a few civic organizations on just that subject. Let me know if you do need any help with it.

Babies having babies that is just so sad but seems to be the trend the youngest we have had is 12 yo. That was really sad

DCFS advised us of an 11yr. old that was pregnant saying that she was, of course, high risk. Just to let us know what to expect if called on her. I believe she lost the baby right at the beginning of the second trimester.

We got sent to a nursing home around Halloween for a diff breather. When we arrived a private (facilities contracted provider)ALS truck was on scene. When we got to the floor they had the patient on their stretcher sitting semi-fowlers and a non rebreather on her face. On the LP-12 it clearly showed asystole in 3 leads. Well they said they were all set, and we ran into them in the lobby on the way out and suggested they take to decedent back to her bed as she had a valid DNR. They opted to ignore our suggestion, loaded the patient, one medic got up front to drive, the other sat on the bench and proceeded to apply a bp cuff and began to take a bp....on a corpse. True story....and yes, they were an ALS crew.

Sort of sounds like a squad from a volunteer FD was doing. Had a guy sitting in his easy-chair evidently expire. He had to be down long enough to riggy up. They had this guy on the floor flat on his back, doing compressions, and his body was still positioned in the sitting position. His legs up and bent, and his arms in an L-shape. It was unbelievable. We told them they had to be good if they were going to get that one back.

We had one girl, 14, having her second child. Her mother just told us, "She sho likes them boys. I don't know what to do with her." I thought the ER doc was going to blow a gasket. I'm not positive, but I think DCFS did get involved.

When you do have down time, especially in the evenings, what games or other activities do you tend to do?

For us, a lot of card games: pinochle, canasta, poker, hearts, spades, you just about name it. When I was with a private ambulance we had a great place for ping-pong. And when we pulled our money together we had a pretty decent pool table. And let's not forget dominoes.

But we did have to stop playing poker for money. Even though we were playing penny-ante poker, one guy lost about $23 in cash, a TV, and a bottle of scotch. It was his own fault.

During a busy friday night our communications center used their transmission over ride signal to announce that the local trauma center was closed to all traffic except for trauma. His exact words were: "All units, University is closed to all but trauma. All units please confirm that this message was recieved".

All fifteen units on the street responded: " Unit 1, 2, 3 (whatever the unit number was) copies that University is closed to all "Butt Trauma". Every medic that responded by emphasizing the word butt was written up but it was worth it, truly worth it.

So, Ozz, were you written up along with them? :bootyshake:

There's been a few medics I've worked with that I would let them put a band-aid on my dog. But one in particular...where would I start? He defib'd a guy on the wrong side, tried to start an IV in the back of someone's hand (it was a tendon not a vein he was aiming at), just little things like that. He reminded you of Frank Burns on M*A*S*H*. No matter what it was about, he knew more about it than you did. Not only did I work with this guy, but I had to share an apartment with him above the ambulance building for about a year and a half. Either I was going to jump out the window or shove him out.

Have you ever worked with somebody that if it was you yelling for "First Aid" and they showed up you would want to start yelling "Second Aid, Second Aid"? :sad1: :dontknow:

Now y'all have done it. You've got me hungry and home sick for Louisiana. :confused3:

I did start when I was 17 and knew most people would be hesitant about someone being that young. But by the time I was 20 or so it got to where I'd almost take offense to it. Now, in my more advanced age and wisdom, I look back now and wonder how I would respond to someone that young now. :-k

One very young girl we had was the niece of one of our volunteer firemen. She had just went into labor, wasn't dialated, and her water hadn't broke. But she was shrieking at the top of her lungs. I told her that I knew it hurt but she didn't have to scream. Even her mother who was riding up front yelled back at her to quiet down. The girl looked at me and asked how would I know since I was a man. I just told her I've had kidney stones. Her mother laughed and agreed that I knew something about the pain.

Clearly, the lesson here is that new employees should never be placed with partners who are neither educated nor trained in the proper processes of leadership, training, and precepting. Otherwise, you get what we are discussing here, which is a bunch of idiots who think their patch qualifies them as a leader, making up shyte as they go, with no real sound theory of employee development guiding them.

Well put. :salute:

There is always going to be the allegedly true story of a woman who, after giving birth in the elevator on the way up to the delivery ward, was crying her eyes out, due to her embarrassment. The OB Nurse told her, "It's OK, it's not like that poor woman who gave birth a year ago in the hospital's front courtyard."

The woman started crying harder at hearing this. The OB Nurse asked, "Why, what is the matter?"

The woman answered, "That was me, too!"

I hadn't heard that one.

A local story here that I'm not sure about is a young girl was in the ER and was about to deliver. Evidently she, nor her family knew she was pregnant. She kept yelling to her father that she had never "done it". Even after she started crowning she kept insisting that she wasn't pregnant and that she had never had sex.

But they may send you in the wrong direction

had that happen to my station before it took her three shots before she got the right street address

Oh...surely not.