mperkel

Have you seen those automated public toilets that you have to pay to use. Once your done it sprays the whole bathroom to disinfect it. Something like that might be very useful.

Personally, I'm a White African/American!

My parents and grandparents were born and raised in South Africa.

My family immigrated to America, and now we are US Citizens here.

I believe it makes me African-American.

I can never put it in for demographics purposes because most forms say this:

African-American (Black)

I've worked in Orange County.

I've heard good things about Doctors, I was set up for an interview there, but declined. I got hired already.

All the companies will pay you minimum wage because they are 911 and people want to work it.

I worked for a large company called Pacific Ambulance (Bowers in L.A).

They start at $10, but do IFT and CCT. I enjoyed working there, just miss out of 911 experience. Better starting pay though. Depends on your experience though, if your a newbie, don't expect any job at a 911 company, they won't hire you or expect to wait a few months for their "training class". Its all supply and demand, lots of supply, especially in this economy, demand is very low.

Good luck.

Those that know me, know that I'm back in school to get relicensed. I'm having a bit of a 'problem' with some information presented in a test that is associated with the book we're using for the EMT-B portion of the course.

Currently, we're using Brady's "Emergency Care: 11th Edition"

Part of my course materials is a 'subscription' to an online service called "Course Compass". This is where the instructor is able to post study material, testing, etc. Recently, my instructor posted a 60 question test ( multiple answers).

One of the questions on the test dealt with directional terminology.

The book describes the body as being broken down into its simplest parts: the torso and the extremities.

It goes further to describe the torso as the thorax and abdomen. Further, it states that the terms 'proximal' and 'distal' are used to describe locations on the extremities.

Since the head is not included in the description of the torso, it's a logical conclusion that the head is considered an 'extremity' based on the above definition.

'Proximal' is defined as 'closer to the torso', and 'distal' is defined as 'further away from the torso'.

With all that being said and accepted by the books definitions, the following statement SHOULD be a valid statement:

The mouth is proximal to the nose.

Unfortunately, when I picked that statement to be 'true', the computer marked it as a wrong answer....

Is there something wrong with My logic, or is this an example of 'bad information'?

The computer was right, it is false.

The mouth is proximal to the nose, the nose is distal from the mouth.

In your statement, that the head is an extremity (even though it's not), this would still hold true. The head is attached by the next which is connected to the main body, it just seems wrong, because you're used to looking at things the other way (ie: hand is distal to elbow...)

In all correctness though, it is unfairly worded, it should be: The mouth is superior to the nose - false!

Looks like a very biased story to same-sex adoption.

I can tell there are many facts left out of this story.

To what extent are the grandparents health conditions?

The straight couple might not be the best choice for the children. Maybe the same-sex couple has a better standard of living, can provide more for the children, etc.

It seems the writer deliberately portrayed this story in order to bring up politics of same-sex adoption, not to report on the best situation for the children.

Obviously the natural relatives are best for the children, but if their are underlying reason not reported, we have to consider those before we make a harsh judgement. The orientation of the adoptive parents have no bearing here.

I've been set on being pre-med, but being an EMT hadn't really come up as a way to "pad my application" Now, looking on it, it should definitely help, but I ultimately became an EMT as a summer job, I was bored at working in a restaurant, and this was more in lines of what i wanted to do. I give my job as an EMT my best because hopefully my experience with patient care will in the future help me be a better doctor. My ultimate concern right now all though is getting through all my subjects and keeping my grades high. EMS is a part-time job for me to help pay for my entertainment and save up money. It's added benefit is experience in the medical field. I do think often time pre-meds are better EMTs, most of them are set on providing excellent patient care in order to further there own careers. I've met some EMTs who are just set on getting into fire, and using the EMT field to get there because it's required. For us pre-meds, it's not required, it's more like a paid internship. It'll definitely give us a little edge on those pure book-worms, but I resent anyone dissing pre-meds being EMTs.

Thank You!

Shoot I have to learn not to type so fast......compassion and RESPECT is what I meant...on a similar note I am currently working on a project for school on OEMS rules and regulations in the state of MA the CMR 170:940 states and I checked this twice..."Any condition or action that endangers the health or safety of the public is grounds for suspension of EMT certification" the word condition bothers me or am I reading to much into it?

Yes, but I am pretty sure there is an act under equal opportunity employer, where they cannot discriminate for sexual orientation or disease unless it affects the actual job.

A HCW with HIV, as long as they are careful, using necessary protection, meaning if they get a cut, cover it up, wearing gloves while treating patients. They should be fully allowed to continue there job. If you do not allow this, this is discrimination.

If any HCW were to have an exposed cut/wound, I'm pretty sure they would get punished for not following protocol. I know from working in a restaurant, if I cut my finger, i must go wash it, clean the wound, apply a bandage, then use a "finger condom" (dunno real name" which would safely protect my customers when i was serving them.

That's a poor analogy. Yes, you can refuse birth control if it is against your conscience. It is not "treatment" of any condition, and certainly not life threatening. You can punt it. Physicians have the right to refuse service to anyone, just like a bartender. The patient has plenty of options. There are plenty of other physicians around to give her what she wants.

Our patients have no such options, so it is a completely different situation.

Agreed, bad analogy. Couldn't think of a better example.

It seems like that for HCW, people have a lack of knowledge about HIV, I'm not just referring to this thread, but also my class.

You are a HCW, You have an obligation to treat every patient that requires your assistance.

If your a evangelical christian, you may not be obligated to perform abortions, but you cannot refuse a 16 year old birth control, just because you think she should be abstinent.

Trying to make a point there I guess.

Just saying, treat the patient, if your paranoid, wear all the gear you can, but give that patient the same care you would give anyone else.

Most patients with HIV, you won't know, because the likelihood is they won't know.

In class, they tell us to treat everyone as if they have infectious disease.

We work in healthcare, we must maintain constant high alert for infectious diseases. Would be the same for cops and weapons, CIA and bombs, etc.

This is your job, We are here to save lives, Obviously your safety comes first, but if you take the right precautions and know what your doing the likelihood of contracting a virus like AIDS is very slim. A statistic for you is this, from my EMT-B book, "The likelihood of contracting HIV from getting stuck with a needle which has been used on an HIV-positive patient is 0.5%." That is a very low number, and multiple that by how often you will be stuck with a used needle, by the how likely it is the patient is HIV+.

Your risk is relatively low, again, it's up to you for BSI and necessary precautions.

Yes, in closing, I'm not even a Basic yet, but to me this seems like common sense. To comment on another guy's statement above, I also have never heard a discussion of refusing HIV+ patients from any physicians or nurses.

Thank You.

The only 18-year-olds hired by our company seem to be full-time, 4-year, college pre-meds. I think it's because they're more likely to follow the rules and be a bit more mature, since they're generally more self-directed and care about their future. They're not here to be whackers, rather to get patient interaction.

perfect, that basically describes me. I'm exploring my interest in this field of work, as well as helping me gain experience for pre-med. Also, it seems like a much more exciting job then what i was doing. lol

First most services seem to give little or no credit for time as a volly and some say that it actually counts against you. As far as age I would prefer someone older working with me. Yes I know some older people that are not very mature and I also know some young people that are very mature. Getting hired at 18 will depend on the service and also the insurance company.

I wish there was a way for young basics/paramedics to be third team member for a couple of years so they could get experience before being turned loose as a primary member of a team.

I was wondering the exact question as well. I'm a year old. A freshman in college, but plan on working this summer after passing my EMT-B. I'm 19 turning 20 in december. Does previous work experience, even though unrelated, make a difference. For example, I've worked in a restaurant for 3 years. I also know there is a high demand for EMT-B in my area, so i guess i'm hoping on that one.

-Marc

The EMT-Intermediate level is essentially not used in California (it's several restricted [considered "Limited ALS"] and they're trying to move it towards modular additions to the EMT-B level). In California nomenclature, an EMT-I stands for "EMT-One" and is the same as an NREMT-B. Intermediates go by the term EMT-II which stands for "EMT-Two."

okay, that make sense and helps me out. For Orange County, where I would practice, I need to get a special license for that county. They call them EMT-Is there. It confused me, i thought i needed intermediate status to work.

Do you need to apply for a separate license for every county you plan to work in? Mainly for California, I'm asking.

I have looked into these "accelerated" programs because I am planning on getting my EMT-B certification. I'm currently a full-time student, and signed up for an "accelerated" program over my spring break. The course consists of 13 days with 13 hours per day (9am-10pm). I doesn't seem like it would make a different, me doing it all together vs. doing a community college over summer for 8-10 weeks. So I've decided on this one.

I am a Psychobiology major with pre-medicine, so i don't think it will be too difficult, plus I'm totally committed to doing this because i want to do it part-time during school and over summer.

Just some questions:

What benefits would EMT-I give me? How long does that take to achieve?

Thanks for any help you can give. Also thanks to JPINFV for the course information.

-Marc