flight-lp

I stand corrected Nate, your nurses didn't technically lie, they are not a rated level 1, but they do have the capability............

Ben Taub is no longer accepting pedi trauma or surgical patients. TCH is a wonderful trauma facility, but unknown to most, you can not fly a primary scene trauma patient to them as you have to land at Methodist and then travel through the "tunnel". Apparantly during this 12 minute walk, a pt. had a deterioration and thus no more helo flights into TCH. Conroe is no longer a rated trauma center, they dropped their level III which has screwed up Montgomery County beyond belief. MHHS-The Woodlands is now MCHD's dumping ground and it is severly overtasking them. Kingwood should have their level III soon, we are hoping by summer. People have talked for years about another level I or Level II. Bottom line is tax payers never approve it! Everyone is supportive until they find out that they have to pay for it!!!!! Mainland isn't a rated trauma center, no need as UTMB is only 12 minutes away.................

"Monkey County" - That pretty well sums it up it a nutshell LOL!!!!!! O.k. I think it is nice to have advanced treatments such as Retavase available, but they serve no advantageous purpose in an urban environment. Thrombo's are a temporary solution to a permanent problem. Angioplasty is the definitive treatment, so why not just get them to the cath lab? I cannot offer an educated assertation to other areas of the country, but around here, most Interventional Radiologists and Cardiologists will not touch a thrombolytic patient for 24 - 48 hours, thus increasing the time to corrective therapy. I say fix what is broke................ While on the subject of specialty centers, I just wanted to point out an interesting statistic that Houstonian's have dealt with for years. We are severly underserved for trauma care. I know, it's all about the money, but.......... Houston, Tx. pop. 2 million + 2 adult level 1 trauma centers 2 pedi level 1 trauma centers 0 regional level 1 trauma centers (outlying trauma centers) 0 level 2 trauma centers 0 regional level 2 trauma centers Chicago, Ill. pop. 2.8 million 4 adult level 1 trauma centers 4 pedi level 1 trauma centers 4 regional level 1 trauma centers 26 regional level 2 trauma centers!!!!!!! St. Louis Mo. pop. 350000 3 adult level 1 trauma centers 2 pedi level 1 trauma centers 4 regional level 2 trauma centers Just a statistic that I thought I would share...............................

What will they think of next? This is just like the Auto Pulse thread, lets stop wasting time and money on these "toys" and focus on Medics actually performing their jobs correctly. Why spend $120 on this thing, when a Medic, for free mind you, can 1. visualize the ETT passing through the cords, 2. confirm with ETCO2, 3. confirm with an increase in SPO2, and 4. confirm with the presence of bilateral breath sounds.

Why not just go with a ResQpod, it increases the pre-load significantly and has proved its worth in the case of both pre-hospital survival and hospital discharge. Plus its only $20! Auto-Pulses are a waste of money, why spend $15000 on a piece of machinery which will not provide an effective return of investment and has been controversial since day one, when that same amount of money can fund almost 6 months of a Medics salary?

A service near by uses Retavase pre-hospital. I think it is pointless though, considering this county service has 6 cath labs available less than 20 minutes away!

Yeah Nate, we are fortunate in Houston. On the north side we have 9 cath lab hospitals, 6 of which have open heart capability (of course why any hospital would cath patients without open heart capability is beyond me, so called diagnostic caths are dangerous as hell should they go south). I always transport any cardiac patient to one of these facilities. STEMI's go to the closest hospital with CV surgical capabilities and a cath lab. If one is not immediately available, put your patient on a helicopter and fly them to one. Going to the local ER not only delays definitive care, it also opens the patient up to numerous complications, especially if the ER doc administers thrombo's. I have seen more than one patient thrown into an uncotrollable bleed, even as far as a patient going into DNC. Just like trauma's, go to the closest MOST APPROPRIATE facility.....

Maybe its just me and I really do not feel like going into great lengths about it, but I already see the doctorate level of EMS research and generalized health prevention. Its called a Physician! EMS is not on this planet to promote prevention, we are here to offer stabilization and transport. The two are like apples and oranges. UM while I appreciate your vision, I fail to see its direct correlation with EMS. To me it appears to be more consistant with Nursing and public health education. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way down playing the need for these roles, but in my personal and professional opinion, they would be better filled by personnel who are more appropriately trained in public education, public health, and a long term treatment care plan for the public as a whole. i.e. an RN or public health LVN. EMS needs to stay focused on our mission; to provide emergent medical care to the acutely ill or injured.......................................... Sorry if it doesn't make sense, 38 hours of no sleep are catching up with me!!!!!!

Yeah, I would have started out with 12.5 if not 6.25mg. I also probably would not have given the Nubain until I could ascertain a reasonable idea of etiology. So much for the doc trying to get a decent H/P................................

But, should everyone else actually do things appropriately, then the only extent of damage would be to the "hot" ambulance. If the hospital remotely had any level of intelligence, then would either decon the patient or refuse entry until someone else does................................................................

"When I got to the hospital, one of the residents ordered 4mg of Morphine, then told me I was ignorant for not giving anything for pain. Well one of the staff doctors walked in, saw the order, and then jumped all over his butt for giving morphine to someone who had 12 + beers and her blood alki level was unkown". Hermann?? (Just a guess, sounds like somethin' they'd do!!!) DAMN RESIDENTS!!!!!!

Not the greatest method available, but much better than duct tape!

"Moral of the story....dont put flammable liquids in your stove". 2nd moral of the story, decon your patients. I am really surprised that the air crew even allowed the patient in their helicopter. Never put a "hot" patient in a helicopter, appropriate protective gear is not available. Personally had it been me, I would have refused to fly them under the suspicion of possible meth chemicals.......................................

Hey asys, no apologies needed, you hit the nail on its head. As I am aware of where this stemmed from, you are correct in laying into them. Stupid people deserve a little eye opening every now and then...............

Yes they are owned by ETMC.............................

i'll keep this one brief as I am running on minimal sleep............. I'm a step ahead of you. Late last year I did a feasibility study in Houston for this same idea. Problems that were identified were.............. 1. Finances 2. Retainability, you will have to have a "purchase clause" should a company wish to employ the medic. i.e. they make an offer just above what you do and the employee decides to take it. Many agencies here have a stipulation that a company has to "buy" the employee to hire them as an internal employee. 3. Finances 4. Protocols, here each individual company has its own protocols. Not all medical directors were willing to allow non internally trained employees to operate under their protocols nor were they willing to go with my "agency" protocols despite their thoroughness. 5. Finances 6. Insurance, many companies were not willing to cover agency employees on their auto policy nor would they accept a policy from my agency. 7. The infamous 911 vs. transfers thing............Again, medical directors and clinical managers did not like the idea of an agency medic not being trained by them. 8. Internal company employees were not happy with the idea of a company employing medics doing the same job for more money thus causing dissention in the ranks and potentially hurting the interpersonal relationships within the company 9. Finances 10 Benefits, quite costly i.e. FINANCES!!!!! Its a great idea, just not one that would be beneficial in this area. defeat the challenges and it could be quite successful for you! I wish you the best of luck.............................

Thats what I thought, thanks guys!!!!! Gotta get my money back for the Sally Struthers "how to be an RN in one easy lesson" course!!!!

I have seen several quotes lately on several boards about Paramedics chellenging the NCLEX-RN. Now I have heard of some states allowing RN's to challenge the EMT-P exam, but I have not heard of any states allowing a Paramedic to take the NCLEX without completing a school of nursing. Is there any validity to these claims or is this another case of people blowing smoke up my a%$??????

Its also kinda fubar to keep the blood sugar low and not give Glucagon. N/V is a risk, but one that definately does not out weigh the benefit..............

I would say more than likely they would.....

Dr. Brent King is the director of the ER. I've never met his dog though.................

No updates that I am aware of. I flew a patient down there last week and co-workers say he is doing better, but no specifics (HIPPA and all). I love flying trauma's to Hermann when Duke is on duty. He is an absoulute riot to work with. Plus we can go up to Life Flight Communications and say hi to his dog. Ugly thing but sweet as can be!!!!!!

Dude, not cool...................You haven't been here long enough to even remotely know anyone. She was offering her opinion, she has that right, just as you do. But what you cannot and will not do is start making preemptive personal attacks on someone because you do not agree. I believe an apology is in order...................

You Are a Hunter Soul You are driven and ambitious - totally self motiviated to succeed Actively working to acheive what you want, you are skillful in many areas. You are a natural predator with strong instincts ... and more than a little demanding. You are creative, energetic, and an extremely powerful force. An outdoors person, you like animals and relate to them better than people. You tend to have an explosive personality, but also a good sense of humor. People sometimes see you as arrogant or a know it all. You tend to be a bit of a loner, though you hate to be alone. Souls you are most compatible with: Seeker Soul and Peacemaker Soul

I've been told I am an AsSoul sometimes......................