crotchitymedic1986

No problem, I was a paramedic for over 20 years, i was a director at two 911 services and 2 private services. I got out in late 2006 when i took a job in canada in medical sales. During that time my employers (full and part-time) included urban & rural 911, hospital, county, and private EMS. I worked in the ER at a pediatric trauma center, and a rural ER. I did holter monitoring for about a year as well. The ideas I have presented are my facts, beliefs, and definitions of paragods, which obviously differ from your own. I think we just have two totally different EMS experiences, and as I stated before your experience is your truth and fact, my experience is my truth and fact. Doesnt make either right or wrong. I dont know Mike, and maybe I was wrong for suggesting he might be a paragod, but I based it on what he typed (I cant read his mind -- only his words): Mike said: There will always be people that, no matter what you do or say, will always regard you as a "para-god". Nothing can or will change this. You could be the nicest person in the world and they will still try to be down on you in this manner. I have never been called a paragod, nor have the majority of the medics I worked with over the years (unless it was in the positive light as I described). The only people who got called this in a negative tone, were the ones who deserved it. So in my world, I cant understand having lots of people that I work with call me a paragod in the negative sense, unless I was acting like a paragod. And as I stated, more times than not, the paragod doesnt recognize that they are one, instead they see their coworkers as the problem (either because of jealousy or incompetence). But I guess where you work, there are bitter EMTs who do label non-paragods as paragods. If Mike is not a paragod, then I do apologize.

well stated wendy, and i imagine the laws very state to state, just as there are different rules for minors who want an abortion in various states. But lets say you have a 12 year old that crashes his bike on the way to the store,or injures himself on the playground at school. He is not seriously injured, just skinned up. Either as a result of your questioning or because he just wants to tell you, he admits that he is using crack cocaine on a regular basis. Parents arrive, sign the refusal, and are putting him in the car for the ride home. Do you have an obligation to tell the parents what you know ? He is not in a lifethreatening situation at the moment, but obviously if he continues to smoke crack, he will not live a long life. If you do not have a responsibility as a medic, dont you have a responsibility as an adult. If the kid said he was going to carry a BBgun to school tomorrow, not to shoot anyone, but just to scare a bully ? Wouldnt you tell someone ?

I disagree with the reality statement. If you had only been in EMS for 6 months and only worked with one "horrible" female partner, you could make the honest statement that every female that I have worked with in EMS was horrible. Which would be true, and your reality. If I read that statement, knowing that I have worked with many great females, over 20 years, I would take great offense to that statement. In any arguement, both sides are fairly sure they are right, and have their facts that back up their arguement. Like Pro-abortion versus anti-abortion, both sides have facts, and you can present your facts to the other side until you are blue in the face, but i doubt you will change the other side's belief

good point !

I wasnt speaking about canada, i was speaking about the US. In the US the parent can access and get copies of their minor-child's medical records, including EMS trip reports. So if you keep information confidential, as you have stated, but document the secret in your run report, the parents can easily access the secret.

i didnt mean that pregnancy wasnt important to document, i was saying pregnancy really wasnt a privacy issue since they become adults once they become pregnant, and they can decide what they want their parents to know. The question is about confidentiallity with pediatric patients, once they tell you something the parents dont know, but should.

sorry, thats not the point. The question is about protecting the child's privacy if they share something with you that their parents dont know. My point is, if you document what you were told (previous pregnancies, sexually active) in your report, the parents can get a copy of the medical record in which you documented their secret.

But are you not going to document the answers to those questions in your report ? Although pregnancy is not a good one, because once they are pregnant, they are emancipated adults.

I cant believe you guys feel ok about letting a patient die that you could save. I guess I, dust, and spenac are in the minority, but I couldnt let a child die just because I might get sued.

I dont know why you just didnt slap the b***h. There is no law or requirement that says you should serve your country first in career or charity. But I feel you are serving US EMS by being a representative or diplomat on our behalf. Imagine telling a Ford executive that he couldnt take a job with Toyota. How many US medics are you working with ? Lets assume you all packed up and came home tomorrow, how would that solve every problem that US EMS is suffering from. I doubt it would even help one city. Live your life on your terms, do what you feel is best.

Can you paint me an EMS scenario mike ? The article purposefully pointed out that this was not about the "easy" life threatening comments that a child may make, but was more about keeping the child's trust as their long-term pediatrician. We do not have that kind of relationship with our patients. The other question i would ask is: Is the point moot anyway, as I would most likely document anything the child said in my report. Even if i didnt rat the kid out to his parents, they can get a copy of the report whenever they like. So should I not document things that could be embarassing to the kid, to help keep it a secret. It is a great topic, havent much thought into it, but now its got me wondering ?

You cant screw up a c-section on a dead person. And yes if you are using all the sensitivity of freddy kreueger, you could cut the infant --- but the infant dies if you dont cut it out. No one is advocating that medics start doing c-sections on normal patients, this patient has a crushed head, and fetal heart tones are present, with a Doctor on the scene (although that wouldnt matter to me). Note that I also said call Medical Control for the order to do it (which would also provide doctor communication/instruction over the phone or radio), which is not guaranteed -- my guess is that most doctors would deny the order today. It's a good thing Roy and Gage arent working today, I remember all those times they had to do an emergency trach in the field, with Dr. Brackett walking them through it, followed by some D5W TKO. I am not certified in wilderness rescue, rope rescue, water rescue, extrication, or firefighting, but I cant imagine not going in after those patients while they are dying, to wait on someone who was certified to get there 20 minutes later.

Yes i am comparing the two, both kids will die if there is inaction over a perceived FEAR that is a maybe. But i can make it more apples to apples for you. Lets say that the guy at the pool was trained in CPR but it expired years ago. Maybe he is afraid that the child in the pool will require CPR, and he will perform it incorrectly, and maybe get sued.

I promise that this is not an insult eyedawn, you and I are just in two totally different worlds. Maybe it is because of age or geography, but i have never experienced any of the things you listed, so I can see why we dont understand each other. Maybe EMS changed since I left. Anyway, I can not argue with your logic since I have not walked in your shoes.

Do you start compressions in the home of the patient that is purple and has rigormortis ? No, so essentially you have pronounced them dead when you chose not to work them, although the official document will have someone elses name on it. Let me put this in a different situation to see if I can clarify it for you. You are at a hotel pool that does not have a lifeguard. There is only you and an 8 year old kid at the pool, whom you have never met. The kid swims to the deep end and starts to panic and struggle and goes under. You know how to swim, but you are not a licensed life guard. The pool rules clearly state that children are not to be left unattended and that you must swim at your own risk since there is no lifeguard on duty. So do you jump in and save the kid, or do you stand at the pool and scream for a licensed life guard ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1GjyrQiSRs

For all of your spouses that work in an office: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4a1z7NLnNk

It has to be : compartment syndrome or Putti-Chavany syndrome.

Well, at 800lbs, you arent getting any booty even if you can find someone willing, so i guess i would rather look marvelous. Would you rather be invisible for a week, or get to commit one single crime without punishment (any crime) ?

I have always been cynical of whether or not back boards immobilize the spine any better than a mattress, especially when you consider that many medics tape or strap their patients to the board with the most minimal of equipment (3 LBB or stretcher straps), which means that every time the truck slams on brakes, there is axial loading to the spine and neck as the body shifts forward. The backboard limits more damage to the spine as you transition them on and off the stretcher, but to claim that it actually immobilizes the spine is a stretch.

So, of those that have Critical Stress Debriefing or some kind of employee assistance program at your workplace, do you find that it is benefiical after a call like the ones mentioned ? We used CSD, but I dont know that i can concretely say that it helped, but I think that it did. I umderstand that many experts are now saying CSD is a bad thing. What is your opinion ?

Eliminate all cars that use oil and replace them with solar powered hover cars (like the jetsons). This would leave the middleeast rich in worthless oil --- HAHA To quote Chris Rock: Would you rather be poor and white, or be rich and black ?

I know we xrayed/scanned his spine and leg ? Have we done an MRI on his brain ? If we have, and it was negative, then I say transport him to the hospital that "House" works at.

What made me think he might be a paragod is that he used the plural "people" instead of "person", which meant more than one person to me, which may not be what he intended. Like all of us in this forum, I can only go by my life experience, which may be totally different from the way things are presently or in the past in your region. My experience is that those who act like paragods (negatively) are actually not good medics. The qualities I see that makes someone a negative paragod (your definition may differ), is someone who acts superior to his coworkers, especially EMTs, someone who cant admit when they are wrong -- or refuse to realize that their way is not the only way. They have an aire about them that says "my s**t dont stink. They may be book smart, but can rarely apply that knowledge in a critical situation. No one at the service likes this person, OR LIKES TO WORK WITH THEM, and most will label them a paragod in the negative way. Positive Paragods, are very intellectual, knowlegeable, and can run a critical call without yelling and screaming at everyone (they usually become flight medics). They are always willing to teach, and do so in a manner that is positive, without belittling the people they are instructing. They have a positive attitude and are fun to work with. EVERYONE at your service wants to work with this person. Can their be people who are jealous of this, and try to talk negative about this person ? Sure, but guess what, it doesnt stick cause the vast majority love this medic. So my point is, if the vast majority of people at your workplace are calling you paragod, and you cant seem to keep a partner, you probably need to work on your people skills, as you are the bad paragod. IF everyone is fighting to work with you, and are frequently asking you to review their calls, or asking you what you would have done on that call, you are the good kind of paragod. The bad thing is that people who are negative paragods, cant see their faults, and assume everyone is jealous of them. Just like the person with bad body odor, cant smell how bad they stink. There are many negative paragods walking this earth who think it is all of their "stupid" coworkers who have the problem.

Thats the beauty of AFIB, if you stare at it long enough, you can see every other rhythm, premature beat, and escape beat none to man. It is simple AFIB, not flutter/fib.