Connie31079

I have Lilapsophobia.......fear of tornadoes or hurricanes.

Not hurricanes so much for me, but tornadoes.......YIKES!!!

Everytime I hear of a funnel cloud touching down somewhere in the States, I freak, wondering if that storm system is heading my way! And I immediately go down to the basement.

And sit there.......sometimes for hours!

I think I'd die of an MI before the tornado touched down, if I ever saw one!!

I know, I'm weird.......but so is everyone else, from what I've read in this thread!! LOL!

Kim:

What I have exactly is the firefighter who said he saw the wires hanging out, and was actually told to push them back into place.

Then, according to him, the attempt was made to temporarily fix the problem, however they were able to do that I don't know.

There is a white cover that sits on the outside of this whole wire mechanism that basically covers up everything except for the defib cable, so if they were successful in in pushing the wires back in and then covering it with this outside cover, it is completely possible that nobody else would have noticed the problem again until I came in for my shift 4 days later.

But, how can I prove it? My supervisor is choosing to believe the medics who were working that night, and not the firefighter, and what he said he saw, and what he said he was told to do. :roll:

oh well......I've given up on the whole issue. I'm being nailed to the wall, and I've got to deal with it now, suspension or not.

Thanks for the info, N.S ACP, I certainly appreciate it!!

Right now, our shop steward is in the running for the SOP position, which may be a conflict of interest, and the union may request us to find another shop steward, so I really don't know who to turn to for help.

But maybe I'll call the union office directly.

Thanks again!

nsmedic393:

What lesson are they learning if I get suspended? The lesson that if they cover their tracks well enough, they can get away with basically anything.

If I get suspended, it ain't no skin off their arse!! They're laughing all the way to the bank, because if I get suspended for a few days, it means extra shifts for them!!

Unless you're actually in my position, you have no idea how I feel......no idea whatsoever.

I'm actually become rather dis-gruntled over all of this, and the lack of compassion I feel from you. If anything, I thought that a fellow EHS medic in this forum would be on my side.

I hope to God you're never in the position I'm in now, and that you don't find someone else's mistake, they successfully cover it up, you get the blame, and you get suspended. I won't have any compassion for you either.

hfdff422:

This is exactly what I did in the beginning, when I thought it was completely my fault for not reporting the defib problem until the end of my shift. I went into my supervisor's office, asked to talk to him about it. Told him I was sorry for what happened, it was my mistake, I forgot. He said he was going to have to talk to our Regional Supervisor about it because it was now considered a "critical equipment failure", and my punishment was basically out of his hands.

It was only after I found out that the problem with the defib happened 4 days before my shift did I ask my supervisor to investigate, and try to find out why it wasn't written up at that time, or reported to him, and why I was taking all the blame.

Ever since then the "shit has hit the fan", so to speak. Because nobody else wants to take responsibility for their part. According to them, it's all my fault.

James:

What about holding those medics accountable who knew there was a problem with the defib 4 days earlier, and did nothing about it?

I can't believe how many people in this thread just want to let them walk away scot free and let me take the fall! I am astonished.

So far, this is what I've learned from this thread.....if there's a problem, don't admit to it.......unless management can prove it. If they can prove it, watch out, you're gonna get nailed. If they can't prove it, well........I guess you get to walk away free as a bird without as much as a scolding. Is that the message here???

I'm not saying that I'm not guilty, I found the problem and I didn't report it until the end of my shift, but at least I reported it, unlike some of my colleagues.

The medics who were working that night in question are now acting very distant towards me, and barely speaking to me. Why is that, do you think? Maybe because they knew the problem existed, didn't write it up or report it to the supervisor, and now they're worried that THEY might actually get into trouble? Mmmmm.....I think we have a winner!!

If it wasn't for the firefighter telling me what he saw that night, I would have known nothing about the fact that the problem had occured days before.

People keep saying that I'm trying to "pass the buck".......that's the furthest thing from the truth. I'm accepting my guilt about not reporting it right away.......people say I just need to "bite the bullet", chalk it up to experience and move on.

It's pretty hard to do that, when I know that the problem could have been fixed days before my shift, and I'd never have known that there was even an issue.

Like I said before in an earlier post, you can be sure I'm going to check and re-check every piece of equipment over and over again, all day long. It took me 40 minutes to check the truck this morning, because I'm afraid I might miss something, and I'll get into even further trouble.

I should NOT be the only one disciplined over this!!!

================================================================================

Oh yeah, just as another little tidbit of information.......one of the medics who is barely speaking to me, he was working last night. When his wife got sick in the middle of the night last night and he had to leave work quickly in order to take her to the hospital, who did he call first and ask to fill his shift?

ME!!!

Because he knew I would.......that's the kind of person I am, help out anyone at any cost, regardless of how they've s**t on me!!

So I came in @ 2am in the morning to relieve him......he wasn't even here to say thank you.

Thank you, jw-c152.

I appreciate your support more than you'll ever know.

I think from now on, whoever I work with, wether it be a regular partner or a casual, they're gonna think I'm neurotic, because I'm gonna check, re-check and re-re-check every piece of equipment over and over and over again, all day long.

I'm sure I'll border on obsessive-complusive, but if that's what the company wants, that's what they'll get! LOL!

And I'll generate paperwork like they've never seen! I think I'll start with the fact that last night's crew didn't clean the toilet like they were supposed to.......I wonder how they'll manage to blame that on me??

Have I cracked??..........ummmm, maybe!!

By the way, my partner that I worked with that day who checked the defib during the truck check.........she's a casual, only worked here a couple of times, so she can't be disciplined.

How you going to discipline a casual? Say you can't work here anymore? She's only worked here a couple of times! No loss to her!! She'll find work in other areas of the province.

And I was speaking with her on the phone yesterday, she had no idea that I was being disciplined for this. She hasn't even gotten as much as a phone call to discuss what happened that day.

She didn't even know there was an issue.

nsmedic:

I have no idea who you are. You say you've met me once, that may be true, but I wouldn't know you if I tripped over you in the street.

I'm not trying to "pass the buck" at all. Up until I heard the info from the firefighter who was on-scene of the MVC and saw the wires hanging out of the defib 4 days before I found the problem, I was 100% completely ready to accept the fact that it was my fault.

I found the problem, and I didn't report it until the end of the shift. Simple, end of story, my fault.

But I think some responsibility should be shared between the crews that didn't "notice" or report the problem in the 4 days before I found it.

I was just speaking with my SOP about it, his stance on all of this is "well, nobody can verify that the problem actually DID exist 4 days before, and even if it did, nobody is admitting to it, so I guess it didn't happen. Because you found it on Tuesday, we have to assume that the problem occured on Tuesday, end of story."

So, as a result, I'm getting 100% of the blame, and NOBODY else is being punished, AT ALL!!

I'm completely willing and ready to accept my punishment......my beef is, I don't think I should be the only one penalized.

Thanks for all the replies, wether for or against me, I appreciate them all.

But the way I see it is, if the defib had been reported by the crew who originally noticed the problem on Friday night (and also noticed by the firefighter), then there wouldn't have been a problem for me to notice (or report) the following Tuesday, because the defib would have already have been changed for a new one.

Right?

But I'm being made to take the fall for the crew who didn't do thier job on Friday night, and report it to our supervisor.

They're playing stupid, and claiming everything was hunky-dory that night.

Well, it seems like nothing I do now is going to change the minds of management. They're going to discipline me as they see fit, it doesn't matter how much of a fuss I raise, so I might as well just sit here and accept my punishment.

Thanks Dust!

Finally, someone who understands where I'm coming from! I appreciate the support!

OK, let me start from the beginning.....

Last week, reported to work for a 12 hr. day shift. My partner and myself did the truck check, she checked the defib, I checked everything else, made sure everything was good to go, we logged into service.

Fifteen minutes later, tones go for a call, general malaise, nausea, vomiting and diarreah. No problem, we respond.

On-scene, I personally always take in my Lifepak 12, because it has the built-in pulse oximeter on it, and I always like to check that on a patient, along with vitals, regardless of the chief complaint.

At this time, I noticed the defib cable was "pulled out" of it's normal position on the defibrillator, and was only attached by the internal wires, which we aren't supposed to see!

Made a mental note to report that to my supervisor upon completion of the call.

By the way, monitor worked fine, no patient compromise in any way, as a result of finding the defib in this condition.

Got back to base, and to be quite honest with you, it slipped my mind to report this to the supervisor until the end of the shift, at which time an incident report was filled, and reported.

Now, I'm facing a possible suspension because of "not reporting this sooner, which could have resulted in a critical equipment failure."

I'd like to reiteriate patient care was not compromised!! The defib/monitor worked just fine when it was used that day!!

Now, to make things a bit more interesting, a firefighter came to the base for a visit the other day, and saw the incident report that I had to fill out regarding this. He chuckled to himself and said out loud "Oh, was that only reported on Tuesday? Because I was on an MVA the previous Friday night, and saw that the defib cables were hanging out then, too. Actually, I was told to push it back into place."

Needless to say, my jaw dropped to the floor. Here I am, being railroaded into thinking I'm responsible for not reporting this "critical equipment failure" until the end of my shift on Tuesday, and now exists the possbilility that the problem may have occured FOUR DAYS BEFORE, and it was never reported to the supervisor.

So, I wrote a letter to my supervisor, and asked him to investigate. Now, a medic who worked that Friday night in question is angry at me for writing a letter to our supervisor about it, claiming that the defib was just fine on that night in question.

So, who's lying? The medic or the firefighter?? And why should I have to face possible reprimand and suspension over it all, when it may not be my responsibility in the first place???

Dust, my instructor wouldn't show me the evaluation from my preceptor, but he told me in so many words, why he (my preceptor) gave me the mark that he did. I guess my instructor and my preceptor had a little discussion amongst themselves, just the 2 of them, and this was the reason my preceptor gave for giving me the mark of 2/10.

As a result, the college that I went to for my ACP program was fully prepared to fail me, based on this mark of 2/10 on my clinical evaluation. I appealed it, saying that it was biased, and that I didn't get a fair shake. I felt that my preceptor had a personal grudge against me because of my size and because I was female.

So, in the end, I was awarded another "chance" to prove that I was indeed a decent ACP, and that I deserved my diploma, but had to do another month of clinical at another site. Thus I was charged for an extra month of clinical ($700), and was not allowed to take part in the graduation ceremonies of my ACP program with my classmates that I had studied and gotten to know very well over the course of a year.

Once I was done my extra month of clinical, and got the marks that I deserved the PREVIOUS month, I was handed my diploma in my instructor's office, and wished the best of luck in finding a job.

I'd just like to add my 2 cents to this discussion.

During my clinicals for my ACP program, I was gung-ho, ready to go for every shift. Show up for work, clean uniform, polished boots, and EARLY......so that I could help check the truck, and make sure everything that was supposed to be there was there, and working properly before logging on our crew.

Well.....I was black-balled from the beginning by my preceptor, and ya wanna know why?

Because I was overweight and because I'm female, THAT'S WHY!

Can you imagine how I felt when I got a mark of 2/10 for an evaluation when I was done, even though I thought I'd done a fairly good job during my clinical time?

Sometimes preceptors go on a "power-trip", and it goes to their head that they have the ability to pass or fail this person, who wants so badly to do well, and just get a job when they're finished. That's all I wanted.

In the end, I had to do an extra month of clinical time, and my college charged me an extra 700 bucks on top of the 10 grand that I had already paid at the beginning of the program, all because my preceptor didn't think women, especially overweight ones, should become paramedics.

Rid, you crack me up sometimes!

I'm sitting here, laughing my ass off at your reply......"I think I described yes".....that's hilarious!

Thanks!!!! I needed a good belly-laugh today, you just gave it to me.

I'm currently in hour 15 of a 24 hr shift, and it's been nuts, almost wanted to cry a few times today, so a laugh was badly needed!!!!!

Geez guys, it sounds like so much fun!

I might go, it all depends on how much retro-pay I get, and when I get it. We're in the process of negotiating a contract here, and when all is done and settled, the company will owe us pay retroactive from the end of the last contract, which ended April 1, 2005, so it should be a little chunk-a-change!

If it's enough, I'll use it to go to Vegas a party with y'all! YA-HOOOOOOO!

There is no need for her to be acting like this. Sounds like she's on a power trip, and trying to throw her weight around with the newbies.........which says a lot about her character.

Go to management.......there's no way in reaching a compromise with her, who has a MAJOR attitude problem, in my opinion.

Hey lynard:

Listen darling, it's not only newbies who question and beat themselves up all the time! LOL!

Went to a cardiac arrest last night.....geez, I've been in EMS for the last 15 years, a paramedic for the last 8, well, here's what happened to me last night....

Typical arrest, gosh, how many of them have I done in my 15 years? Too many to count.....my partner last night was also a medic (thank God!!), he went for the tube, got it on the first try....I went for the line and the drugs.....got my line on the first shot, pushed epi IV, blew the vein.......

Went for the 2nd line, got it, pushed the atropine, blew the vein.....you see a pattern forming here??

I was so angry at myself, I could have spit!!

My partner went for a line, MISSED IT!......haha.......we're also pushing drugs down the tube by now, but our patient is rapidly filling up with drugs (fluid), and not willing to take anymore. Having to push some down the tube and bag it down with the BVM.....

In the end, we couldn't get another line......

So you see, even seasoned EMS'ers can screw up from time to time.......screwing up is a learning experience, so learn from it and move on.

Have a great day!

Here's how I handled being called an ambulance driver:

I had (actually, still have) this really nasty RN who works in my local hospital, and she would ALWAYS refer to us as "ambulance drivers". Well, one day, I was in a particularly foul mood, it was early in the morning, and I was on my 5th call of the day without having as much as a cup of coffee yet.

My partner and I rolled thru the doors of the hospital with a patient on our stretcher, and this nasty nurse says out loud for everyone to hear "Oh!! The ambulance drivers are here! What did you bring us this time??"

Well, my face got red (according to my partner), and I said out loud, to the nasty nurse, for everyone to hear "Geez Ms. LPN, I have a bedpan in the back of my truck that needs cleaning. Would you be a sweetheart and take care of that for me?"

I said this, knowing full well she was an RN, hoping to elict some sort of response from her, which I got!!

She huffed "I'm NOT an LPN, I'm an RN!!"

I said "Very well, I'm not an ambulance driver, I'm a PARAMEDIC. Let's see if we can keep that straight from now on, shall we?"

Needless to say, she never call me an ambulance driver ever again.....

Yep, I'll admit, I've puked while on a call before!!

But it was pretty much due to nerves.........responded to a call for "shots fired" in a small community, was told the "stage" upon arrival on-scene, wait for cops to declare scene safe.

Well, we were staged for 20 minutes, and I was the only ALS medic on-scene. My partner was basic, and so were the other 2 medics who were there (we had 2 units respond), so I knew if there was going to be any resus required, I was pretty much going to be doing it all (IV's, tubes, etc) because I was the only medic there who could do it!

Oh yeah, I should add.....this was my first GSW call I'd ever been on.

I was praying while we were staged that maybe somebody wanted to show his neighbor his new gun, and it discharged, hitting him in the foot or something, and the more I thought about what I might have to do, the more nervous I got......until I heaved my cookies all over the side of the road!!

When we were finally allowed on-scene by police, it was bad......turned out to be a murder-suicide, first time I ever got to see brain matter as a result of a GSW, but neither of the 2 patients was "workable", so we called it, and called the M.E.

Here's another poem:

A Paramedic's Life

No two days may be counted on

For things to be the same

The routine jobs completed

Then comes the waiting game

The mind is set on ready

Whether sleeping or awake

Time's the constant enemy

The difference it can make

Some days it crawls so slowly

But still alert you stay

Then someone's time is running out

As seconds charge away

Adrenaline is pumping

Your race against time starts

Your intellect's in action

with controlled, chaotic parts

Precision, skill and timing

You use them all, but yet

Each call could be the one from hell

Your heart won't soon forget

Your shift then ends, and finally

You're able to relax

Time relents it's power

And soon you're back on track

You will return another day

No two will be alike

For God still writes each ending

In a paramedic's life

Author: unknown

Only our CCP's (flight medics) can do RSI within our province.

They have all the fancy-schmancy drugs......succs, rocuronium, dipravan, fentanyl, etc......all the "cool" drugs, as far as I'm concerned! LOL!

All we have to aid in intubations on the truck is versed, valium, and lidocaine prior to ETI in head-injury patients.

Hmmmmm, good question!

What do I do on my days off??

Well, sleep is first and foremost......I work 2-twelve hours days and 2-twelve hour nights here in Nova Scotia. Then I have 4 days off, but most of the time, during those 4 days off, I pick up a couple extra 12 hour shifts somewhere. The amount of OT available here is crazy.

So, day 1 off is usually sleep for the first few hours......then get up and watch TV for awhile, do laundry, clean up the house a bit, pay bills, get groceries......you get the idea.

I also LOVE to cook!!

I'm also the only medic on my local volunteer fire dept., and I have to fit training nights into my schedule too......and of course, BINGO!

Life isn't worth living without a night of BINGO!