crotchitymedic1986

For gods sake wake up and smell the coffee. This country is facing the toughest economic situation since the Great Depression, and there are still folks out there who are demanding raises. And Unions wonder why they so often fail ? Those folks should be greatful that they have a full-time job with benefits, and should be offerring to take cuts in pay, not payraises. But all you folks keep paying those public safety union dues, the union will do the same thing to you that they did to the automotive and manufacturing industry in this country.

Anyone doing this or heard anything about it:

http://soundmedicine.iu.edu/segment.php4?seg=1936

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_hypothermia

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/108/1/118

http://www.childrenshospital.org/views/feb...ypothermia.html

I disagree with adding your name to it, unless you do it with the State and they ensure your anonymity. This person has already been suspended once for similar problems, if he/she adds their name to the complaint it will be Strike 2, as their employer is obviously more worried about keeping their contract than ensuring proper patient care.

AND YOU KNOW I DO HAVE TO ASK: WAS THE PATIENT BLACK ?

And before you jump on the "here he goes again" bandwagon, if you will study your refusals/no transports you will see that blacks have a far higher statistic than whites, considering they are only 1/17th-20th of the population. But I will grant you that most of those are not due to racism, but are more likely due to lower socio economic groups using EMS as their Doctor or atleast triage nurse.

And most professional corporations have an anonymous avenue to complain, in case it is the manager who is doing wrong; most call it corporate compliance. I agree with the posters who are for investigating all complaints. I may not give an anonymous complaint the same importance or speed than I would for someone who calls or shows up and will go on record, but you should investigate all. The quickest way to get a JCAHO, State, or Political Investigation is to ignore a complaint. It is better to say, yes we investigated it, but had no way to follow up since it was anonymous -- there is usually some truth to what they are whining about.

Would love to hear more about Ferno versus Stryker, instead of power versus manual. Those of you who demo'd both, can you say why you chose one over the other ?

If it fails it is all on us --- we can no longer blame you. If we choose to spend it on rims, weaves, and drugs, then that is our fault.

I need to do a little more research before I name the equipment, because that could result in instant lawsuits if I am not absolutely sure I can prove my claims. Everything I have read has been anectdotal internet stories, and we all know how reliable that is. I am about 90% sure the info I have is reliable.

P.S. glad to see you think deaths and injuries in our business is a laughing matter.

Thats some good suggestions, it wouldnt all have to be in cash. Some housing and education credits would be useful. Maybe a new home (that would spur the economy as we spent that money). But that would be reasonable, originally we were promised 40 acres and a mule, not cash.

As far as when you would get your money back, as soon as you pay those tribal leaders, you can sue to try to get compensated for your losses. It is not that I have no sympathy for your cause, but at this time, I am fighting for my people, I hope you will do the same. Anytime one race enslaves another, they should pay --- doesnt matter what color they are.

Just think, if your ancestors would have been smart enough to do the 40 acres and a mule thing 150 years ago, I would have nothing to gripe about today.

I am researching some industry death and injury statistics and may have stumbled upon something very troubling. I have strung together various news stories that show we do have a problem. If I told you that one piece of equipment on the ambulance was responsible for over 120 injuries and 20 deaths in the past year, would it concern you ? Or would you say, that is a reasonable number based on the thousands that work every day in this profession ? And what if I told you that upon telling the manufacturer of this product of the problem, that their only response was "our product is safe, and we do not see the need for a recall" ? What would you say ?

I would make an appointment with your local hospital's respiratory department head/employees to ask their opinion of whether that cost is reasonable, and whether or not your state will recognize it ?

no joke, i am serious --- what value do you place on ruining a race of people -- and thanks for reminding me, reparations should be paid to Native Americans, and to Asian Americans that were mistreated during WW2

When American corporations have been found to cause death and injury from their products, they have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars, and it is usually only a handful of people who were damaged. These are whole races, and or generations that have been damaged.

Complain annonymously to the fire department chief. Tell him that you live on that street and wondered why the fire truck waited -- tell him you took videos of it, and will turn it over to the news. I imagine those employees will be fired. Anyone that with-holds care to a patient in need should have their license taken and should be criminally persectuted. Notify your State EMS Office as well, even though these guys are fire department property, they are EMTs and Medics, and fall under the States jurisdiction. The response time records should prove that they did wait, since they arrived at the same time you did, and you had an extended eta

As far as only whites being racist, why is it that when a 'white only' group/organization/club is formed, it's a 'racist entity', but there can be NAACP, BET, United Negro College Fund, Black Chamber of Commerce, Black Mayor's Coalition, National Conference of Black Mayors, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, National Black Business Trade Association, Black Business Owners Association (to name a few).

You still have your whites only clubs, the boardroom of most major corporations, head coaching jobs in professional sports, most country clubs, any afluent neighborhood (the only blacks in beverly hills are a few rap/nba stars and the maids). Without the watchdog organizations that you list, the plight of blacks would be far worse.

Since you throw out a reference to the infamous 'n-word', why is it that blacks are allowed to use that word (it doesn't change the context or meaning of it), but when a white person uses it, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan call for their heads?[/color]

The same reason you can say to your wife "bitch go make me a sandwich", but if I told your wife that, a fight would ensue. And white people rarely use the work affectionately.

We've even invented 'syndromes' to excuse behaviors that have no social redeeming value. I direct your attention to the 'Angry Young Black Male Syndrome'. Why can't we have a 'Pissed Off Middle Age White Man Syndrome' to use as a justifiable excuse to act like a thug?

You do, just read all of the answers that have been posted -- lots of angry white folks here, if you wish to elevate it to a syndrome, please feel free.

Whites aren't allowed to use 'disparaging references' about any minority group, but yet we have to endure such wonderful terms as 'honkey', 'cracker', 'casper', etc., and nobody jumps up and defends US....

It is your job to defend yourself, not mine. If it is not offensive enough to motivate you to do something about it, it certainly will not motivate me.

When's the last time you saw the ACLU fire up the discrimination bandwagon because a white was passed over for getting hired, housing, etc. Don't fool yourself into thinking that it doesn't happen! If you notice, in the article that started this thread, there's been NO mention of the ACLU getting involved. I guess that whites can't have their civil liberties violated, and if they can, it's not important enough for the American Civil Liberties Union to get involved....is this because the complaintants in this case are WHITE?

All you have to do is go to their website and ask for help, I doubt any of the whites asked. The ACLU fights discrimination for anyone that asks them too, and has defended whites in the past. They tend to help those who do not have the means to help themselves, so that would not include most whites who have the federal government, court system, and legal system that already protects them.

Why is it, that when people like David Duke spouts his anti-black rhetoric, he's destroyed politically, and crucified in the media; while people like Louis Farrakhan can spout their hateful, deplorable rhetoric and people CHEER for him? HATE IS HATE no matter the color of the skin spouting it!

I think prominent blacks who have mispoken have been held to the same standard, or worse. Just look at Obamas preacher, he is now unemployed for speaking the truth that whites didnt want to hear. Whereas I think David Duke is still employed, and I see that Dog the Bounty Hunter is back on TV with his show, just a few months after he let his racist views be known.

As far as reparations, I think the idea has merit. The first step was made by President Clinton when he apologized for slavery; that was an importan first step. Reparations would not be necessary if whites would just stop discriminating, but that will not happen any time soon.

I think reparations for all african americans in this countryt and for the country of Africa would be helpful. I think ten million per household should do it, then each family will have the chance to compete with whites by getting the education they need and start their own businesses since whites will not hire us at the same pay rates or promote us when we deserve it. If that were to be done, I would never complain about the past again, and would say that whites have righted their wrong, and owe us nothing more.

Before you say 10 million is too much, let me ask how much is your dignity worth ? Imagine your child being flogged to death and ask how much is his/her life worth ?

I am not sure what questions I have not answered for you lonestar, but feel free to type any question and I will do my best . Please watch black in america this week on CNN and I am sure you will get an education. I do not THINK that a whole race is "dumb", it is just a scientific fact that blacks score worse on standardized tests, doesnt mean blacks are dumb, it is just that tests are written by whites, and are racist. We can go round around about all that, but the fact is that the department in question has a long history of racism that has been proven.

As far as the courts making a decision that is right, that is incorrect. The courts have been wrong many times. There was a time when the court upheld that women and minorities should not vote or work. There was a time when the courts upheld the imprisonment of asian americans during WWII just for being asian in america. There was a time when abortion was illegal, and currently the court has upheld the discriminatory practice of not allowing gays to marry.

I have not uttered any hatred of whites, I have just suggested that you owe us for the damage you caused. The same as if you wrecked my car, I would expect you or your insurance to make me whole again. Thats all we blacks want, is to have an equal playing field.

you guys are so funny. Yes the schools were desegregated, but try walking into a school as a black child prior to 1968. I seem to remember a historical event where a certain southern governor stood in the doorway of a university, blocking the entrance of black students.

As I asked you guys to do, i went to craigslist, clicked on New York City, went to rants and raves, and searched the N word -- here are some of the excerpts from this week/month -- not 1968:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/1274178551.html

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/1274028037.html

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/1273588292.html

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/1272042340.html

Lets try Los angeles:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/rnr/1270686505.html

How about Atlanta:

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rnr/1273866398.html

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rnr/1273531075.html

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rnr/1272145372.html

But we should be happy and quit complaining because all racism died back when Lincoln freed the slaves. What you fail to realize regarding this case is that this department had a long history of only promoting white Lieutenants, so that they would only have whites taking the Captains and higher promotional exams. It took a law-suit to fix that, just so blacks could take this test. The good old boy club at this department provided answers to the test and extra help to white firefighters. The test was written very "technically" with questions that only the most avid fire junkie would know, which has little to do with managing people. It would be like me asking you to draw a dorsal root ganglion -- you were taught it once, its in our book, but it is not something you use everyday on the job.

could give a long winded answer, but the short answer is "thats the price you (whites) pay for breaking the window". I know it wasnt you personally, or anyone in this room, but a price must be paid for what you did to the american indian and blacks. I am sorry your forefathers kept passing the buck, it should have been settled in the last century.

anyone can be a racist, but it does not matter if you are not in power -- only whites have the ability to enforce their racist views through racist policies. If you dont think racism is alive and well ---- go to craigslist.com, click on your city, click on "rants and raves", then type the "n" word in the search box --- see what pops up ?

And not everyone is exposed to the same education because they went to school -- schools differ wildly from city to city and state to state. And yes, genetics and family history do have a role in how educated you are --- this is why poor families keep getting poorer and rich families keep getting richer. It is why adopted kids can do better, because of the change of family.

er doc, scroll back a few pages and read some of my links or google "blacks and SAT test or standardized tests". If I had you a test written in chinese, could you pass it ? To pass a written test you have to have a good understanding of the language and grammer that is used. Blacks were not allowed into the real education system until the 60s. Fire is fire.

And before you all jump on the "blacks were wrong, whites were right bandwagon, you might want to read some of the history of this Fire Department

http://www.slate.com/id/2221250/entry/2221298/

Great analogy, never looked at it that way, but the walmart example is dead on. Much like walmart, AMR comes in and destroys the small ambulance provider. At first you are impressed with the shiny new stuff they bring and the promises they make, but then you realize what you lost when the small providers are all gone. Walmart will put your hometown pharmacy out of business, and will probably sell you drugs at a reduced price --- but they wont open their pharmacy at 3am because your kid is sick, like old John Doe used to do at his pharmacy. Yes the food prices are cheaper, but are the vegetables as fresh as the ones you used to get a John Smiths grocery store ? Will AMR transport that indigent patient a long distance like ABC used to do, or support the local schools, like ABC ambulance used to do. When their employees are in the hospital, do they take care of the family like a small ambulance service would.

Luckily, the walmart analogy is also true in that sooner or later, the walmart gets too big and impersonal, and you start to visit the new stores that are opening up in the downtown district that was almost dead (because of walmart). The same is true of AMR, everywhere they are, someone opens up an ambulance service that eventually kicks their butt.

I am sorry lonestar, i saw alot of your opinions, but not sure what question you want me to answer. And your thinking that minorities make up more of the prison population because they are guilty is incorrect. Ever heard the term "driving while black" ? Its kind of like having a supervisor who gets off on writing his employees up, he will look until he finds something to write you up for, and yes just about everyone in this forum could be written up on a daily basis if your supervisor wanted to do it, does that make you a bad paramedic or EMT. Anyone in here that claims they have never broken the law is a bald-faced liar, all of us have sped in traffic, maybe drove under the influence (not drunk), claimed a deduction on our taxes that was maybe embellished, ran a stop sign on accident, vandalized something as a teen, maybe even stole something somewhere along the way. Blacks do not break the law anymore than their white counterparts, it is just that the police focus on us more. All you have to do is look at the imprisonment statistics for powdered cocaine posession (white man's coke) versus crack posession (black man's coke).

http://www.ussc.gov/crack/CHAP7.HTM

Good points made by all, and I have to agree, I think you will be hard pressed to get a PA who will turn down urban money to work at rural Paramedic wages. Remember that if a PA wanted to make $30-40k per year, he/she could have attended far less school to do that.

I still do not believe that all of these communities can not afford an ambulance service, maybe they cant afford it in the traditional sense, but I imagine there is a way to fund it if you had to. Again, you do not have to start with 24 hour or even ALS coverage. Can this team serve a dual role of on-duty fire-fighter or police officer (to start) ? Can local business chip in on the cost ? Can you have fund-raisers or add a penney to the sales-tax ? Have you exhausted all grant funding possible ? Are you maximizing collections ? Have you thought about the outside the box ideas you could do (ie... Any Paramedic who moves to your county and volunteers for an 8-hour unpaid shift per week is exempt from homeowners taxes ---- or gets county health benefits, but no pay) ? And like I said, if you have a community that absolutely can not afford it, then I think placing the ambulance on the county-line between two counties that share the cost is the sensible alternative (supplemented by volunteer first-responders).

How many transports do you guys average in a month ? What are you charging for those transports ?

I applaud you for throwing your ideas out there, if more people acted like you did, instead of just throwing their hands up in the air, and saying we cant fix it, EMS would be alot better.

The problem with your premise, as I see it, is:

1. You have to have EMTs and medics to make it a licensed ambulance so you can get reimbursed.

2. You will have trouble getting PAs to work in the rural area. Most rural areas would love a PA to function as a PA , but they cant find them.

I would offer three different suggestions:

1. Start with a basic service with paramedic on call, and do the non-emergent transports in your area to supplement revenue. You could pay someone to work 8 hours and still be volunteer at night until you got your call volume up.

2. If you have a hospital, use them to fund it, and use the EMTs/Pmdcs to work in the ER when not on call. The hospital gets some hands to help them, which they would pay more to hire RN hands, and you get some financial backing to get your paid service up.

3. Create a multi-county paid department. If you are that rural, the county on either side of you probably cant afford a service either; so none of those counties might be able to afford 100% of the bill, but maybe they could afford to pay a 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 of the cost ?

Get to add two new categories this month, it seems we are no longer satisfied with just crashing vehicles, we are now going after pedestrians. Unfortunately, we had our first EMS Personnel Death :

Ambulance Accidents Jan- June 99

EMS Personnel Injured: 92

EMS Personnel Killed: 1

Patient Injured: 21

Patient Killed: 5

Passenger in Amb injured 1

Passenger in Amb killed: 2

Other Vehicle Injured: 55

Other Vehicle Killed: 12

Pedestrian Injured: 1

Pedestrian Killed: 1

I agree that first you have to figure out what you enjoy, or you will be making this decision again in a few years. Anything in medicine puts you at a higher risk for being sued, but how many folks do you know that have actually been sued --- I wouldnt let that drive my deicsion.

I am not saying this is you, but consider whether or not this phenomenon plays a part in your thinking. What I see as burnout is usually self-induced and not the fault of the industry, the patients, or the employer. All of us thought we would be millionaires by the time we hit 30, then we get to 30 and realize that we are working two jobs (usually both EMS jobs). That is the first mistake, living above your means so that you have to work 2 jobs (no you do not have to have a brand new car at age 19). The second mistake is working the same job 100+ hours per week. I dont care if you were getting paid to provide oral sex to super models. If you did it 100 hours per week, you would get tired of it.

Before you bail to another industry, think about doing something different in this industry, where you already have some expertise. Can you teach EMS, can you go rural, can you go industrial, can you work for Homeland Security, can you work in a doc in the box or ER ? Can you be a flightmedic, can you work on a critical care or pediatric MICU team, can you become a manager or a consultant.

My response of "typical white answer" is not an insult, it is just the truth, as it is hard to be truly empathetic if you have not walked a mile in the other person's moccasins (another race the white man destroyed). It reminds me of the famous quote of a certain leader who said "let them eat cake", when she was told the peasants had no bread. She had no idea of the damage she had done, and had no knowledge of what it was to be the underclass. Much like the John Kerrys who get $1000 hair cuts.

I really shouldnt not have to type more after CBs response, which is the most sterotypical racist statements I have heard since All in the Family went off the air. The closet racist does as much harm, if not more harm than the proud KKK member.

CNN is about to air "black in america part 2" in the next few weeks, I would encourage you to watch it, and to watch black in america part 1 on the web.

You are looking at your career choice from the wrong direction. You should choose a career based on what you love, regardless of pay. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a job you hate. The problem with this generation is that you tend to live above your means -- your parents probably didnt have two car payments of $300-400/mo, and a $1000 house payment when they were your age. They probably drove a used car, and rented their home for the first several years.

The EMS profession pays very well compared to other industries (EMTI, not EMTB), and as with most industries your goal should be to reach the top, paramedic then management (if you are a nurse you want to be an RN not an LPN, if you are an electrician you want to be a master electrician not an apprentice). Now to those who will say I have lost my mind on the pay scale thing, lets compare your data entry clerk. According to salary.com the average starting salary is $23k/year ( http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouth...OF13000022.html )

EMT is slightly higher (http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_salaryresults.asp?hdSearchByOption=0&hdSearchByOption=0&hdKeyword=Emergency%20Medical%20Technician&hdJobCategory=HC02&hdZipCode=&hdStateMetro=&hdGeoLocation=U.S.%20National%20Averages&hdJobCode=HC07000326&hdJobTitle=Emergency%20Medical%20Technician&hdCurrentTab=&hdNarrowDesc=Healthcare%20--%20Technicians

But regardless lets go with a low starting rateof $10.00/hour for EMTI who works the typical 48 hour/week schedule than now dominates the industry: you would be making 27k without any extra shifts to start, and you would still have 3 days to pick up extra shifts at your overtime rate of $15.00/hour (or at another job).

Now lets take a 24/48 at $8.00/hour, you would be making 26K to work 2 days per week, leaving you 4-5 days per week to make extra money. At your data entry job, you would probably work Mon-Fri, with little Overtime available.

We can argue all day about whether you should have to work two jobs, but being able to pull in two incomes during my early career allowed my wife to stay home with the kids. The pay has doubled since I started in the 80s and you now have benefits at almost every employer. With that being said, it is still a young profession, so you will be one of the early pioneers who helps to make it better for future generations, just as my generation did for you. Most EMTs are starting in the 20's-30s, and most medics are making in the high 30s to low 40s to start, without a 4 year degree. Thats not bad.

As I always ask the whiners who gripe about EMS pay, I always counter with, what could you do at your current education level (most are college dropouts) in this current economy, and make the same money ? There are not that many options.

Yes in data entry, you would be in a climate controlled building, and would probably never break a sweat, but would punching the same data into a computer 40 hours/week for the rest of your life be rewarding ? Would it be too boring ? No two days in EMS are the same, and you get to make a difference in someone elses life occassionally -- you cant get that in data entry.

And to help you understand why you hear only negative, we have a running joke in this industry: Whats the difference between a Paramedic and a puppy ?

The puppy quits whining after 6 weeks.