Quakefire

Yeah there have been questions about the training modules the college has approved, even though we have completed ours we have been advised to avoid using the king while the college makes up its mind. Arctickat any other insights into whats comming down the pipe for the PCP's and ACP's in Sask?

Any opinions on the freightliner or international chassis? Is the bigger mod well worth it? And has anyone noticed the floor in the GM chassis gets really warm behind the captains chair

I just told my girlfriend that yes even in rural saskatchewan every day i work is just that exciting, and yes I delivered 4 babies and apprehended the mother for being a world class bank robber all at the same time. Mobey will attest to just how exciting it is in the life of a sask emt

I work for a service that is rumored to be replacing two 10ish year old Ford E350 ambulance with something new, probably crestline but it may be Demers. All of our units a diesel with the exception of our rover which is a gas expedition. With for discontinuing the diesel ambo prep what are other services looking at for chassis for new units? Chances are slim for GM just due to the fact that the chev dealer in town wont be a chev dealer soon with GMs cutbacks. We do alot of highway and alot of bad dirt roads. Just want to see peoples opinions of what the options are

I'd like to point out that at the service I work for, 4 out of 8 of our paramedics were trained and employed in Alberta before moving to Saskatchewan, as well as out Operations Manager, So as much as I love the mountains, jump the border and come on over. I have a feeling there are lots of managers looking to see whats happening in BC, if there is a precedent to cut staffing and force OT, in the long run it makes it cheaper for the employer and they will do it. Even if you dont care about BC, support them anyway before your service figures out they can own your ass too!

It was probably Regina that bought 28 power stretchers, they have a full no lift policy now. More than 3 stairs....Fire department

Jeez aparently I need to ask more questions, I like free stuff

Hey Rock_Shoes it isn't so flat is Saskatchewan, I moved from Calgary to Saskatoon and its alot better than the southern part of the province. Most of our services are private (just kinda the way EMS started here) but we just became self regulated. So far the president in the PCP program head in Saskatoon, and a couple of the members at large and council members are instructors of mine so I think we are doing pretty good so far, I just hope we dont have the horror stories some of you do in a few years. Personally I think the unions should have challenged the courts order, with the labour laws in mind. The governments can't just ignore laws they dont like, didn't work for Nixon and shouldn't work for them either. I wonder how much the public understands that yes the paramedics refusing OT may seem selfish to them at first, but it BC starts losing people due to burn out faster than it can replace them it might last longer than a weekend, or a week or even a month. I wonder if they are prepared to wait for the next graduating class to have even BLS coverage again

I'm sure IV's are comming, there is word about making us the same with Alberta. I'm looking forward to the kings personally, especially because our service doesn't carry a CPAP machine.

Howdy. Acording to the new Sask Health Protocols Sask EMT(PCP) practicioners are now able to use Entonox, King LT's, CPAP, and 12-lead ECG's. There is also the possibility of expanding our Nitro protocols with med control. Seems like a move in a good direction, especially for rural BLS services.

I used the Ferno power stretch on my practicum and my current service has a stryker version. Overall the controls on the stryker and the "smoothness" are way above the ferno. I dont know if its just me, but the bare stryker seems heavier than the ferno and I like how the ferno charges when in the unit which the stryker does not, never had a dead streatch with the ferno, the stryker on the other hand... The replaceable battery is great if you have the charged spare with you

Its hard to justify that without looking at all the other factors. I work with a couple people who are taking their ACP with distance learning just because they cant afford to take the 2ish years off and second, the only ACP school in Saskatchewan is in Regina, I work over an hour out of saskatoon in the wrong direction. So yes choosing a better school is a good idea, just not always a possible one. Besides generally if your going to ITT tech and spending 3 times what you would have at a real university, theres probably a reason (like not being able to get into a real university)

How do they back into base?

This issue they want to strike over seems more that they have medics that attended very similar programs, same education, only School A can give a diploma and school B cannot. That would make it rediculous to cut the pay of providers that are missing the papers

The service I work for currently only runs one car of 2 paramedics, and the rest of us emt's are on call, does this affect patient car? Maybe, but atleast in Calgary they will have easy access to an ALS intercept, and the EMT's can deal with the drunks and the medics can get to the realpatients. Using an AAA as an example for the detriment of BLS vs ALS is silly any way, if it bursts then a ambulance isn't going to save your life, ALS or not

Its a good idea but UV light is what kills plastics and rubber. So the rubber handles, vinyl seats and such would start to degrade. Plus there might be problems with suction, ett, and bvms if they are exposed at long intervals. Plus the areas under the stretcher and so forth that are shaded would not be disinfected. A portable unit that can be used at base may work. Something like a smoke machine with disinfectant may be more through though

Well I just found a new way of cutting costs of running an Ambulance Service.... Steal their kits.... That is all

Wow its amazing how well laid out and organized your rigs are. Usually our LP's and sitting on the bench, sometimes even belted down, but not often. Cool to see really different rigs compared to what i'm used to seeing. On the first page of pictures, the stretcher seems to been in some form of box, is this a loading ramp?

So after a quick search, and following Scuba's link (USA only i'm afraid by the looks of it) i'm still kinda at square one.

It was my understanding that their best bet is to sue everyone involved, and while the services you work for should have some form of coverage, anything over and above that becomes the responsibility of the medic. We operate under a doctors license but unless we bring him online its our call that makes the mistake, not theirs. I think hiding under the face that "its their license" would be a bad mentality for anyone to develop

I'm sure everyone hears in school about the horrors that can befall you if your documentation is a little off or if you actually screw up, and the large financial penalties you may face in court. Doctors protect themselves with malpractice insurance in the event they kill/injure a patient, should we protect ourselves the same? Can we even get malpractice insurance, and does anyone actually have it? I'm new to the industry, and in the near future I want to buy a house and start a family. Having all this taken away is a frightening thought

The only issue I would have with chemical restraint ( besides I dont have a protocol for it) is that if he is going down hill, its going to be harder to detect any continuing change in LOC. If given the choice it'd prefer to use my own fabric style restraints instead of hand cuffs if he if going to be fighting alot, easier on the patient, and gives something nice and long to hang onto when transferring from cot to bed. I agree with a psyc diag. but i've been surprised before.

Did the world end???

That mean your moving back here Mobey?

That would be a horrifying experience, to be fully aware but paralyzed.