2wheelinemt

This war on drugs have not stopped the use nor even slowed down the amount of illegal drugs coming into the use nor state to state. Only law abiding citizens are suffering!!!

I carry an "Emt jump bag" in the trunk of all our cars.  We have come across many mvc's or neighbors needing you.  As far what you should carry and who will pay for it it's company to company's policy.  I always stock people personal vehicle bag.  But they changed who does the ordering now and have sloly stopped doing it.  I've been an Emt for 30 years n I still carry it!! Good luck.

hello everyone thats here at the city.

my name is anna mills. ive been in ems for 28 years and I am stull very active. I am the president of the monroe township ambulance n rescue assn.

I was herd back in nov. I hit a wall that I could not be on line. had a rough time since I lost my mom n dad. I missed being here. so I am back and I am looking forward to making some friend.

hello everyone. I joined this web site several years ago. I have totally enjoyed this web site. dad got sick passed away mom hot sick n she just now passed away a week ago. I didn't have time for internet since dad got sick.

I am looking forward to being on this web site again with everyone. to talk with each other. discuss out different calls and information.

2wheelie

(Anna)

The area that I am from as stated several times before by people if hospice didn't call the ambulance then those bills are on the family. Hospice has there own ems squad they call, their own er..for us if was a hosp that was appx 40 minutes away. We were told several times when we placed my dad on hospice. To call them for every little thing. Don't call your family doc..don't call your cancer doc. Call us. We are your pharmacy, your doc, etc. It's hard to get used to due to they way we are use to doing things. If we called no only would we have to pay the hosp bill,amb bill but we would need to reapply to hospice, hospice would need to reapply to Medicare for hospice coverage. So may of things are involved. But most of all hospice let's you know. They tell you every visit to call then. What the proper procedure is for the family and the pt on hospice. But hospice. Means you are terminal, so unless you want to be in and out of the hosp..which would mean no hospice. I just see some families calling 911 to have the pt removed from the house. You are suppose to call them, they come out, they call who you picked to be your funeral director when you signed onto hospice. They call and handle everything. But this one family wanted their family member out of the house they didn't call hospice till we were at the hosp. It was clear to us what was going on. Made me very upset that was the PTS last wishes and that couldn't even be followed!

Last sat night me and my crew were dispatched to a residence for an unconc pt. En route we get an update cardiac arrest. Dispatch tell us that the Family does not want to do CPR. As we arrive We grab all of our equipment (defib,suction,etc). As we walk into the home the family is standing in the living room, the pt is in the back bed room! Only one person is in the room with her and we try to ask her some questions of when she was last seem, her med hx anything! My partner checks her pulse, gets to move her to the floor off the bed to start CPR. I ask the family in the living room if she has a dnr? The family states no! I state did she want to have CPR performed? Any heroic measures done? They state yes do everything. We start CPR. The pt is in a Non shockable rhythm. Our Pd was on location (they are a great bunch of guys) they helped us move her on a back board and carry all our equipment to the rig. As my partner and the policeman are carrying her out I again ask about hospice and a dnr. Why was I so sure that she was a hospice pt? I saw the wheel chair with the hospice name on it, the hosp bed with the name of hospice on it. They meds with the name of the pharmacy and hospice. She was a 98 yr old female. Extensive med hx. Fluid so thick in her lungs, that it was very hard to bag her. I again asked them, did she want to have everything done? Or did she just want to stay home and not having a tube down her throat, someone pushing hard on her chest? They stated yes do that and take her to the hosp. You're kidding me right? her! We had my dad on hospice,( which he lost the battle to cancer just recently). So I know how hospice works. If you are on hospice it is mandatory to have a dnr. For the sake of your Ins. What Medicare/Medicaid will and won't pay. They won't pay for any CPR, ems transport, etc. These people didn't produce the dnr. So we needed to work her. I was very much enraged. The family didn't take their eyes off the tv. They were not wanting to give my partner any pt info. This poor lady wanted to just go peacefully, instead the family seemed to us that they didn't want her lying there in the house waiting for hospice to come. They wanted us to just remove her. So calling 911 was a way to make that happen. How frustrating! My crew ( we have 2 trainees with us ) they were worried that we did something wrong. I explained to them that if they didn't produce it state law states we need to act. Has anyone come across this not the dnr and not producing it, but the fact they just wanted her gone from their house!? Leaves me very angered.

Got this sent to me. Pretty interesting read.

Blog starts here:

Last Friday, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak stepped down. And almost everyone I know — whether talking heads on the news or friends on the telephone – was in high celebration mode. But I couldn’t join them. I still can’t.

What exactly is everyone celebrating?

Yes, Mubarak was a despot who denied his countrymen democracy for the last 30 years. But until last month he was among our closest and most important allies in the Middle East. Have we been pursuing an immoral policy for three decades? If yes, where are the mea culpa’s from those who were so chummy with Mubarak until so recently? How is it that President Obama is as sanctimonious today as he was when he called our Iraq war — to depose a far worse tyrant — “stupid.”

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, shown last week in his presidential palace. Amr Nabil / AP

Yes, all people deserve democracy. Yet I’ve been lectured over and over on the fact that democracy is a long process. It takes time to develop democratic institutions. George Bush was foolish, I am told, to try to impose democracy on the Middle East too quickly. Where are all of these pragmatic critics now? It seems that they are out celebrating the birth of instant democracy in Egypt ….

What’s important is not who wins the battle today. What truly matters is who ultimately emerges with power in Egypt. And as of today we have absolutely no idea who this will be. Will our Google hero Wael Ghonim and his friends emerge as the leaders of a brave new democracy? Or will they be among the first executed by the new despots who ultimately seize power?

We have seen this movie before. After a similar middle class revolt in Iran in 1979, the fanatics who ultimately seized power arrested, exiled and executed those democratic souls who had opened the door to them. In the 2006 Palestinian elections, Hamas emerged victorious and eventually carried out a violent coup to seize power in Gaza. Those who opposed Hamas were not just thrown from power. They were thrown from the roofs of tall buildings.

The Muslim Brotherhood remains the only organized political opposition in Egypt. During the recent upheaval, the Brotherhood has gone to great lengths to project a new image by hiding both its role and its aspirations. And this effort has worked wonders among the amnesiacs who make our policy and report our news. Our Director of National Intelligence has gone so far as to call the Muslim Brotherhood a “secular” organization. Many talking heads demonstrate only a slightly better grip on reality by calling the Brotherhood a ”moderate” group. But for those who bother to look beyond its current pose, the Brotherhood’s ideological roots and ultimate goals are as clear as they are troubling. The Muslim Brotherhood is a close relative and ideological forebear of both Al Qaeda and Hamas. Their goal of promoting Sharia law in Egypt can only be achieved if they take power. Everything else is a tactic.

I pray that true democrats willing to respect the will of the Egyptian people and live in peace with Israel emerge victorious in the power struggle now underway in Egypt. But I cannot celebrate so long as this remains so unlikely an outcome. We know not where the whirlwind now unleashed will lead.

David Brog is the executive director of Christians United for Israel

hello everyone i am back after taking time off that i didnt know i was going to do to take care of my father who was dying of cancer(which i lost a month ago)

hello to everyone

2wheelie

i too am a person with a pre existing health problem but i feel that no government has a right to force any employment to health care or anything for that matter...this is so not what the fore fathers had in mind...they are rolling over in their graves....and if the government has only our best interest in mind why did Biden lean over to Obama and say this is a f.... big deal (forgot his mike was open)

we have a heavy rescue and a light rescue. each truck carries a jump bag with all the basics. c-collars. long boards, scoop stretcher,and the same stuff for pedi. all except a stretcher. but the difference is that we only roll when there is a rescue call. the ambulances all respond by themselves and we'll call for rescue for extra hands..lifting, code. we have medics that respond only to certain calls as per protocall that is set up with the 911 center. southern nj is run that if you bill for your services which in no way does it mean that we get paid. just we bill the insurance we need 2 emts...but if you your squad dont bill then you just need one emt and a driver..

crazy i know but that's nj.

to me there is a no greater abuse of a any other system then the 911 (ems system) we do our best every time we make that decision to be part of the 911 system. people call for all types of problems. and most of them dont even need to be seen at a hosp never mind an ambulance. i also thought that an ambulance was used for someone having a heart attack. some bleeding that cant be controlled. i would thing if you were injured and no one was with you and you couldnt drive your self them 911 is called. not iv had a sore throat for 3 days and my g/p cant see me to tomorrow. no that is not what 911 is for! but will we change that? i dont think so..about 2oyrs ago things were not as bad as they are today with people calling 911 to be seen at the hosp. part of it is that they have learned that if you went to the er per ambulance you were seen above every one else.

well things have changed but the people dont realize that. they still they are going to be seen in front of every one else.

our hosp triage those pt back into general pop..and not given a bed right off the bat. but it still delay treatment of say someone walking in with chest pain..i walked in to the er with chain pain, diff breathing,heart rate of 28. i had to wait half hour due to the amount of ambulances that came in and where triaged back to general er. is it a tax on the the ambulances and the er staff.,you bet..the pts that dont abuse system? you got it.

our response time are always the topic, not how we treat the pt,not that we need to do our best, but the response times..

crazy things have come to this!!!!!!!! hang in there everyone things will change again.....

well this is new to me to jump into the nom for chat...

but i would be great if i could be nom

be the first time i won or been nom for something

thanks

2wheelie

(anna)

hello everyone

as you can see i havent been around until just recently again..my family and i have gone through some very rough times.

as a lot of you know i have been struggling with two most nasty diseases. they are lupus and its cousin sjogrens syndrome. the later i have never heard of but have become up and personnel with this disease. it starts out with the basic dry eyes and mouth. but you quickly realize that what you have isnt normal. you eyes feel like sand paper is in them and you cant swallow because your mouth is too dry. you feel like you have the worst flu ever with body aches through out only xs that by 5. you go from doc to doc with no one knowing what you have. finally if you are lucky enough you get a dx in about 3-5yrs after this disease comes into the fore front. then you read and read on what you have, and oh by the way there is no cure. your whole body that relies on any moisture is damaged. your tear ducks stop working,your salvia glands gone! your lungs,heart,kidneys and any other organ that need fluid is damaged. lupus is no better..same basic thing, body aches xs5,join pain,lungs,heart,kidneys,and 75% chance of getting lymphoma. no cure and most deadly by age 47..i have been hosp this year alone 2xs in icu for a heart rate of 20. fluid around my heart and lungs, your lungs and heart damaged each time an episode happens...chemo drugs to try and help keep it at bay..countless meds that amount to thousands of dollars every year. cant work a steady job, between the pain and never knowing what is going to set off an attack (called flares)makes even making family affairs impossible. i have missed my brothers weddings, christmas parties, etc. sleeping at night is out of the question, getting tired and needing to sleep right this minute is the norm but you can only sleep for 20 to 30 min and the pain wakes you up..i guess it worse with the two diseases together..your white blood cells think that there is something wrong and they need all there little buddies to come and fix it when really there is nothing wrong so your body is attacking itself. crazy i know! i have been truly blessed with the man that was put into my life some 23yrs ago. i dont know where i would be with out him but my docs all tell me how lucky i am because many marriages dont last when people have what i have..my poor husband never knows when that phone will ring to come to the hosp that im in icu and cant breath..i thank God everyday for him. and so my battle to try and live a half way normal life continues. heres to a cure!

my latest struggle has been that my oldest son 20yrs old is struggling with a drug addiction. i knew never would have thought that this could have happened but isnt that always the way. he got addicted to all kinds of prescription drugs. he asked a doc that was running on his squad if he could give him something for his anxiety and the doc started writing for percocets 10s..he kept writing everytime my son asked..after a while he was hooked and then he branched out to other stuff because the docs partner found out and stopped him writing them but by them it was too late!

for over 9months to a yr he tried everything oxys,cocain,ecstacy,percocets,morphine,vicoden. it is only by the grace of God he isnt in jail or dead. i have him back home and we are helping him through his recovery process. he stopped cold turkey and been off everything for over 9 months. he has relapse two times. both times stealing my meds i have and taking over $600 this last time to buy what he needed. we are 20thousand in the hole from him stealing our credit card and money from our account. i dont understand how my son could steal and put his parents in a money crisis never mind steal my meds i need for my illness. we had the meds hidden and he had to really tare the house apart to find them, but he did. i need all your prayers for him and for my husband and i to stay strong and see through his lies. i want so bad to believe my own son it hurts but i know when that craving starts for him he dont see parents..he sees a means to an end of his suffering. but it not only causes me physical pain it causes me mental and spiritual pain. i never would have imagined pain like this! my heart hurts that i cant help him thats what moms do they make everything better for their kids and i cant! i have him talking to someone that is certified in drug addiction and recovery from our church. i have such guilt that some how some where i didnt do something right..my daughter that is 11months younger then him helps me so very much. she stated to me that i raised her too and look how she turned out. that its nothing i did or didnt do it just something that he felt he wanted to do at the time and for what ever reason got himself hooked. my son says its nothing i did or didnt do but i would think he would say that no matter what. we have since made a packed that he would tell me the truth no matter what. there is nothing he could do to make me love him less and the worse is out so lets be honest no more lying. lets see how that works out.

well i guess i rambled enough thanks to all who took the time to read this and keep my family in your prayers.

i guess i am one of the lucky one that knows why i do what i do!! i have always seemed to know but let me just say one thing

as many people have said prior to me you do it because you want to help!!!! and if being good at it and caring makes you question why i know you are on the right road!! i have had the misfortune or as i like to think of it now adays the fortune of being a pt myself..some trips i remember and some i dont but make assured i remember the emts that treated me (on all the calls i do remember) i remember which ones did all they could and were compassionate and which ones were not and were just doing the bare minimum to get by...and they are no longer running calls, because people that dont have the compassion and the caring for the fellow man cant stay in this business long they just cant. so rest assured that if you truly care how your pts turn out then that is why you do what you do. if only to give that pt comfort for only the time that they are lucky enough to end up in your rig with you caring for them then they are the most definitely they lucky ones..keep this in mind when you are running the killer shifts and reach back into the city family for strength that is why we are all here to give everyone of brother and sisters a boost when they need it! thanks for sharing your struggles with us and keep up the good work!!!

best of luck with your union also let us know how it is going!

2wheelie

wow i checked out that pic of them there splints very confusing looking!!!

hope today finds you better accepting you what you have gone through! time can be a healer because we can see things hopefully for what they really are.

i had a very bad call and had been an emt for over 10yrs. thought i knew what needed to be done etc..

my mom calls and says grandma dont look good can you come? over i get there and can hear her breathing as i step into the house and shes in the bedroom. go in and she is in the tri-pod position,grayish blue and can hardly hold herself up..i call 911 and get angry at the dispatcher for all the questions, i felt they were keeping me from taking care of her..i get back to grandma and she is fading quick..o2 on take vitals..she looses conc 2xs before the ambulance gets there..as we are taking her out of the house she codes..my moms best friend...her life...i am praying please no..not this..oh god please no..

but despite everything i did she died...i felt responsible..i let my mom down and could not live with that!!!i was able to move on some but never let go the fact that i let my mom (my best friend) down..how could i have done something like that..what did i do wrong..i finally after years told my mom how i felt and asked her to forgive me..my grandma died of chf there was nothing i could have done short of god giving me a miracle..but it was her time my mom said. nothing you would have done could have changed that outcome

in my 23yrs as an emt i have taken care of countless pts and we need to understand we are human and with that comes mistakes!

all of us! but learn from them.embrace them and then move on to do your very best vowing to never do that same thing again.

that is all we can do. to me the best emts/paramedics are the ones that still feel..if we are going to accept the saves and good care you need to do the same with the bad ones!

hang in there and keep on trucking!!!

i agree every state is different! i too am very glad that no matter what you have not given up what your dream! i knew that i wanted to be and emt and paramedic someday.... i was lucky enough right after i got married to see the dream of an emt come true..but after being an emt for several years i was going to go paramedic school life hit me with a curve ball and i got struck down with lupus and the cousin to it sjogrens syndrome. so i watched that dream slip away!! i am thankful that i could still volunteer as an emt...never let your dream slip away..good luck in your endeavor to be am emt and then medic!!!

anna

i just dont understand

this is very scary times for health care. the government has no place running this! health care should never be run for profit, you lose sight of what you are doing and for what reasons.

the not covering the open shifts when someone calls out and/or the rig isnt back yet from the last call is so wrong in so many different ways.

my son runs for a paid ems company here in nj and they are doing the same thing. no ot and covering anyones shifts.

we were just discussing how wrong this is.

in my humble opinion the government has no place in health care. they are just sticking their toes in the water right now and its already a mess!

just me opinion

2wheelie

i saw the preview of it while watching something some other program on that network.....the paramedic was doing cpr and then the guy opened his eyes while she was doing compressions and telling him not to die and he didnt!!! he looked at her... what???? REALLY!!! like that happens?? baywatch all over

i have to agree that this show angers me.. we are professionals and this show trashes that. with the sex in the rig and all the other garbage of that show. i will never watch it! mnf is on anyway but this show has all our brother and sister that have paved the way for us rolling over in their graves!

ugh just my opinion

2wheelie

newbie or not i just dont see any reason why someone should have to deal with being mad to look bad in front of a pt.

the senior emt is there to teach you and i agree there are many diff ways to teach. but making someone look like they dont know what they are doing in front of a pt isnt it. everyone has started at the same spot, no one was born an medic or emt.

many senior emts need to remember that!

i would talk with your partner and if things dont get better find a different one! good luck!

2wheelie

i so agree with you all

this i have witnessed as many of you first hand and have promised all my loved ones that as long as i am breathing they

will not go into a nursing home to die.

i have been a patient too many times to recall but it has shown me first hand what people have experienced. i have just

came home from the hosp this week and as the grandma in the story i too felt passed around and each time a set of no less

then 5 docs would come in and do the same thing the other 5 docs did. ask the same thing and try and run the test that were

run just prior. i finally put my foot down about these test worried that my ins wouldnt pay for the same test just because!

i dont know where the answer is to stop treatment like this but we need to stop it one patient at a time,

lets stick together and treat each patient as our loved ones. i would want to be home no matter what!

hello all just wanted to stop by and say hi to everyone at the city. i was on here every night for a while. but then i got really sick and wasnt able to keep up with things. im back now missed popping in and out saying hi and learning from here.

so hello all from southern nj

2wheelie

here in nj we need to take all those classes also. they are very boring and do repeat themselves but i do hate to say it they do work! of course you will get one or two that will go off doing whatever they want, but for the most part they work. you know that you can go anywhere with your co and be able to work a job.

so hang in there keep studing and know that someday all this wont be for nothing.

just another quick thought thrown in i know im not as smart as the rest of you but i do know that my husband was working outside and was drinking all day like he thought he should and right before his 12hrs shift is over he starts getting legs cramps just as you decribed. he dranked water all day and thinned his electrolites out thus becoming dehydrated. so just because she was drinking all day like she thought she was suppose to that could have been the problem just a thought

2wheelie

food