scoobymedic96

I have heard mix things about hawaii....we may move there next year and i have been warned that they wont hire mainlanders US basically at least that is for the county and fire side but i believe there is private services n i am checking into that to see if i would have a job there or not. i too am a nremt paramedic.....i will post something if i find a job or not. good luck.

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is helpful! I get to do ridealongs with the EMT course that I'm taking - can't wait! And there is a county near me that has a volunteer ambulance service, so once I have EMT certification, I will do that too.

Eek - paramedics REALLY should get better pay for what they risk and for the responsibilities they have!!! So the pay you are quoting is Paramedic, not EMT?

I don't know what the pay runs down there maybe vent or the other guys can give u a pay range.

The basic start around $9/hr county n private maybe a little more.

The medics start around $11/hr county n private $13/hr. remember that our shifts are usually 24 hrs on and 48 off so there is overtime involved too.

Now the pay in Houston, TX is better than here in Charleston SC. California and Washington was about $8.50/hr as basics even with some experience. i kknow we dont make much for what we have to spend to stay certified but most of us will tell you that we don't do it for the money, its what we want to do and most of us like/love our jobs.

Be Safe

Hi, I have just finished reading alot of the replies and I am suprised no one mentioned NREMT. If you relocate to another state be sure to have taken the National Registry, most states take it. There are some states Florida being one that does not recognize the National Registry but many states will give you reciprocity if you are national, I know I have recieved reciprocity in many states. My husband is active duty so we move every couple of years. I am currently in South Carolina and here EMS is a seperate system in most counties, some cities are FF/EMS but most counties have EMS seperate. I have heard rumors of us needing FF creds but nothin has come of it yet. Right now the state is busy taking skills away from our basics and intermediates and possibly some medic skills as well....,but we shall see what happens later. Our pay here in the counties for basics start just above $9.00/hr for 911 and you can make more with a private service. Paramedic pay with 911 starts around $11.00/hr for new medics and higher if you have experience, private service can start around $12-14/hr debating on the private service. This is an estimate of the counties around Charleston, SC. I have researched some of Georgia's requirements and alot of the counties there are FF/EMS. Washington state, California and Texas all have some FF/EMS systems and EMS system it depends on the location in the state. You may see if you can do any ride-alongs with the city. We do that here occassionally so one can see if EMS is really for them or not. It never hurts to ask. Hope all this helps.

Okay Yall here are some answers to the questions:

There will be 3 US put on 3 different trucks in our county. I live in South Carolina. We are doing training at inservice and at our stations. Until we are checked off on it we are not allowed to use it. Only paramedics that have been checked off can use it. So, we will do as many exams as necessarry to get proficient with it. Our protocols havent changed. The US are portable and compact the picture is difficult at first because you constantly have to mess with the gain on it but i am sure we will all adjust to it. I am actually looking forward to becoming proficient with it.

So is anyone using them besides us? I am sure there is some service.

be safe and thankx for all your thoughts. I look forward to reading more.

While are your transport times?

anywhere from less than 10min up to 60min all depending on call location in the county and which facility we r going to.

How much extra time in total will be spent at scene using the US device?

none we are to do enroute is the way i understand it

Do you not already have trauma criteria or other facility determination in place to determine appropriate destination?

we do already have

How well trained are you in all patient ages, sizes and body position?

no extra training at the moment

How many live patients, of various sizes and ages, will you have to demonstrate your skills on before being allowed to utilize the US in the field?as i understand it 1 adult male pt locate 3 organs within 20 secs, organs to be determined by evaluator

What additional treatment protocols, skills and meds are implemented? none to my knowledge What will change in your overall treatment of the patient? Are you still going to go with the other vital signs, symptoms and MOI to provide treatment regardless of what the US may or may not show? Are you "ruling in" or "ruling out"? ruling out i believe

If you have lengthy transport times and the appropriate advanced protocols to treat your findings differently than how you do now, it might be appropriate. If you are only looking at three organs with a limited focus, you may not be looking for other possibilities that could also be life threatening or require treatment at a specialized center. A false sense of security could be given if the findings appear normal just from age, size and body position but the patient condition still warrants treatment. Or, you may not have had that chapter for abnormal findings.

Portable US can be of very high quality but unfortunately it often becomes an expensive vein finder rather than being used for its intended purpose.

US is used by some Specialty and Flight teams but if it doesn't change what you do, it becomes another piece of equipment that requires careful storing and maintenance. It may also take a few minutes away from something else that also needs to be done and if you only have one Paramedic (EMT partner) on scene, this could be crucial. If it is used too infrequently, more time may be lost and a greater margin of error by lack of familiarity may influence findings.

Hi yall,

I was just wondering if any of yall are useing ultrasounds on your trucks. Are ya? We have just had them rolled out to us in our IST program. Not sure yet if we like them. They haven't been put on the trucks yet we have to be able to locate 3 different organs within 20 secs to be able to use them on the trucks. I am curious as to how they work with the truck moving and how good of a picture we are actually gonna get. So any input yall might have would be great.

Be Safe Yall

this is Medic5 enroute with a 50yo female c/o difficulty breathing

pt is ao x 3, labored resp @ 24/min 90% room air, wheezing all lobes

currently taking a nebulizer atrovent & albuterol mix

given 125mg solumed via iv

bp: 150/90 HR 115

154/96 HR 105

140/92 HR 95

Sinus tach

18G left AC

eta is aprox 15 min any questions or orders

medic 5 clear

this info not usually given via radio unless asked for by er:this pts hx as follows:asthma, diabetic, htn multiple meds, allergic to asa and pcn

this is Medic 5 enroute with a 79yo female c/o chest pain and heavieness

pt states 10/10 pain radiating to left arm, hx mi 6months ago

normal sinus with PAC's, 12 lead st elevation in II, III and AVL

18G right AC

324mg asa given

2 sprays nitro given with some relief

1/4" nitro paste applied

vitals are as follows: 131/81 HR 88 02 95% on 6lpm via Nasal cannula

(these were the rest of the vitals during the transport: 140/79 83 96%, 139/79 78 97%, 134/77 87 96%, 138/81 87 97%, 137/83 88 98%)

requesting orders for Morphine

Per Dr.______ 4mg morphine IV ---- confirm order by repeating it back

eta 15 min

no other questions or orders recieved

medic 5 clear

this info not usually given via radio unless asked for by er: this pts hx is as follows: chf, asthma, copd, cardiac stents and bypass, mi 6 months prior, htn. meds plavix, lasix, atenolol, lorazepam, klorcon, nitro tabs. allergic to elavil

This is medic 5 enroute with a 85yo male c/o altered mental status in hypertensive crisis

pt is responsive to verbal stimuli but is unable to follow commands, pt is at times combative with non specific speach and sounds

pts bp 240/122 101 97% room air

18G left AC, bgl 120

sinus tach

hx of cva 4 months ago

+facial droop to left side with right sided weakness

requesting orders for labetolol

per dr._____ denied

eta aprox 20 min any questions or orders

medic 5 clear

this pt's info as follows: previous cva's, cardiac, diabetic, htn. meds multiple. allergies NKDA. Vitals 220/110 105 97%, 232/98 105 97%,

222/104 107 95%, 236/106 104 97%, 218/99 103 97%

Hi, If you go to www.nremt.org you can see which states require it and which do not. I don't know of any that take out of country education. Hope you find some. Good Luck.

some people in my department think they need to use them all the time i dont agree. i dont think all calls need them. if you have a pt with a non emergant illness i dont think they are needed. another question i have is when doing a transport from one hospital to another do you use them

We are required to respond to any call with lights and sirens but it is a medics choice on use when transporting to the hospital. If they are just a taxi ride then we don't use them but if it is more serious we use them. You asked about hospital to hospital and that also depends on the call. I have ran lights and sirens to and from before without a patient but was ordered to by the doctor since time was a concern....organ transport. I didn't feel it was necessary due to the fact it was 3am and no traffic and the airport was very close to the hospital but that wasn't my choice and there really wasn't a benefit to using them.

Does anyone have a good scheduling program or way they schedule 2 crews for 24 hours.

Possible model for us will be 1 day on 72 hours off.

1 Crew as primary amb crew and 2nd as secondary

There will be 1 crew awake from 7a-7p and one crew asleep for those hours and then one crew awake from 7p to 7a and the other crew asleep those same hours.

This will ensure 24 hour coverage.

Anyone have a existing schedule like this.

I work for a county that has a 24hr on and 48 off schedule but I have seen other places with schedules that have the same crew work the same days every week like every Monday and Friday or Tuseday and Thursday. We are not suppost to be in bed until after 4pm during the week but weekends are pretty easy. There are also 24hrs on and 24hrs off which I think is a crazy schedule but some do it. Hope this helps.

There is a lot of opinions on this even in my county. I have ran into a lot of medics that think new medics should be thrown in and they strongly believe that you will either sink or swim. Our service plays it by ear...basically they go on how the new medic feels and how they preceive the confidence of the new medic. I am riding with a different medic every month since we change stations monthly. Plans were to be on my own by December but that probably won't happen due to time off for me cause of an injury. I know that some of my classmates have been on their own since the day their numbers came in and some have made some mistakes and been taken down a notch and other have no problems. I personally am glad to have another medic with me just to keep it all straight. I am on a truck with a basic at the private service I work for and have had no problems but sure would of liked an orientation to their equipment which I have told them that but at county I am always with another medic.

hi, i worked for amr for awhile in sandiego. i know that all the contracts they have for medic trucks have now gone to dual medics and the basics are loosing their spots. amr in sd has lost some big contracts lately. i don't know much about rm but do know they run all the 911 calls out of the city and they do some transport. the pay sucks it's about the lowest i have seen in the country for such an expensive place. amr does have a union which was the first i had ever seen. i am not crazy about the protocols but u learn to adjust as you go or don't work in this field. i wish you luck it's a beautiful place to live but very expensive.