Jeepluv77

Fuel- by Metallica

You've gotta be freakin kidding me. Neither of these people should be allowed to breed.

If you still haven't eaten my vote is the cold cut combo at subway on italian herb and cheese bread. With american or provolone cheese, oil/vinegar, pickles, lettuce, onion, tomato, yellow mustard, and salt and pepper. Top it off with a mt dew or root beer and bbq chips. Then send some my way!

4, The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk How old were you when you realized you weren't invincible?

Ours is a minimum of a 75 to pass, and you don't have to pass all tests not even the final. Just a 75 overall. I thought this sounded like awfully low standards. Also, I hate to say it but I'm glad to get rid of some of my classmates. There were several you could tell from day one that just weren't there for the right reasons and intended to put forth no effort. One woman I'm sad to see go. I just found out she won't be returning. She has all the heart, she studies her tail off, comes in a minimum of two extra days a week. She just simply wasn't getting it. The others, forget em. That just means more hands on time for me in practicals and more q&a during class when the teacher isn't constantly having to break up their idiocy.

This is all exactly why I wanted to find out more. In past years we've have serious problems with a lot of the "more affordable" nursing homes(i.e.- the ones that didn't cost several months or even a year's pay per month) abusing and/or neglecting patients. I know there is no way anyone I care about would ever go to one a facility around here at this point. I just wouldn't want that to mean they had to suffer without proper pain management. It sounds like it is a difficult situation all around. I can see a pt being cancelled from hospice if they are rescusitated, but not for seeking treatment for comfort even if that comfort means attempting to better manage their condition. Out of curiosity, why would the hospital counteract all pain meds and raise their bp? Is this regardless of the reason they are there?

When my oldest son was very young he had several bouts of status epilepticus. The crews that transported him were great about me riding with him. Five times I rode (belted) on the jump seat in the back. Once I rode in the front of the cab. Not one time did they even try to talk me out of it, which they have the right to flat out refuse. What was the reason for this? Well, I can't say for sure, but I'll bet it's because even though I was visibly worried, I hid that from my son and was nothing but upbeat in his presence. Now, when I left the room to talk to the medics while he was packaged I did cry. But as soon as I walked back into that room, I had already pulled it back together. I wanted to be able to comfort him when/if he came out of it and freaking out myself wasn't going to further that goal. To this day, I really believe that's the reason they let me go. Same thing with my dad when he had what we later found out was bi-lateral subdural hemotomas. I had no questions from the crew on whether or not I'd be riding. Also, since the pts in all cases were unconsious, they explained everything in great detail which helped a lot to maintain my cool.

I want to say I don't see a problem with yelling at the rubberneckers, but if you think about it you almost have to. Being disrespectful isn't my concern here. They are the ones being disrespectful blocking access to a pt. Especially one they couldn't be bother to even attempt to aid, even if that just meant the comfort of someone being there and being friendly. That, being said, it seems to me that it could easily turn that crowd hostile, creating a dangerous situation for you and possibly making it impossible to render aid. Just my thoughts and I could be wrong. We were taught to give them a job, like holding the rest of the crowd back or holding up a sheet for privacy. That way they (hopefully) become more interested in each other than what you are doing. And a little niceness can go a long way getting people to comply with what you want. I'm not saying don't raise your voice to be heard. Simply that it may be wise to be mindful of the words you shout.

You also might want to look into whether you may be able to expand your scope of practice. A few of the hospitals here train emt-b's (in the er, i don't know about wards) for iv access and 12 lead ekg. Of course, those skills can only be used in the specific hospital/system that trains you, and you generally must repeat them if you transfer to another hospital/system, but it sures beats the hell out of butt-wiping all day. Also, they generally pay around $10/hour pre-training with a bump to between $12-13 after. Not too terrible for entry level. Just thought it may be worth looking into. You still won't be able to put anything in those iv's but saline, but it's a start.

Welcome Wolfman. I'm pretty new too. Careful, they'll get you hooked here! Really though, this is a great site full of great people. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

So, let me get this right. Someone pays thousands a year for health insurance. Then, they become terminally ill. Hospice care is covered at just enough to keep them at the minimal level of comfort. If the family doesn't have the ability to care for them, they either have to send themselves horribly into debt or send their family member to a nursing home that that they don't like because that's what hospice says, thus making their last days that much more stressful? And then if the family calls 911 and has the pt transported(say their pain is beyond what their current meds can handle) the person is no longer eligible to receive comfort care because the family forgot to call the hospice first? Someone please tell me it isn't like this and that I'm just reading too much into. I know that if I was in the position this family was in, calling someone that has no idea what's going on with my loved one at that moment for their opinion on what I should do would be the last thing on my mind. Also, would hospice care still be cut if the family transported? Maybe the crew could help load the pt into the family's vehicle and some one else could help get them out at the hospital? Or would still ruffle the feathers of some anonymous hospice overseer?

So I've noticed some students take courses like a&p and pharm seperately. My intro to als has all of the emt-i pharm and our a&p as well as pathophys, human systems, airway management, iv access/med admin etc with it. It's an intense 8 week course with a very low pass rate. When I asked about it one of the department heads said it was set up like this to more or less weed out the people that don't need to be there, giving the rest of us more time for one on one time as needed as we advance. It's (alledgedly) to drop slackers, title seekers, and people that may have all the heart but just don't have the critical thinking skills. We were told to expect less that 1/3 of the class to return(we are on one week of spring break right now, class ended the 8th). I got and 88( on my final and 87( overall and when I expressed my disappointment to a proctor he told me I was in the top 5% of course enrollees. Does anyone else have a set up like this or is unique to this area? In case anyone is wondering, we use Mosby's Paramedic Textbook. Also, are there other programs with such a high failure rate? If anyone is curious about the rest of the course, feel free to ask. I'm just too lazy to go get my full syllabus unless anyone actually wants to know.

This is scary. We've been trained to always be aware and always have a way out, but in this case they weren't even in yet. As far as fire crews being first on scene, I don't know how it out there but here in va beach(and I believe the surrounding cities) all firefighters are required to carry emt-b or higher certification. Which means if they are closer they will be first on scene. Is this an unusual practice?

This is pathetic. So many people say we live in a "civilized society" and the "most advanced society on earth" etc. There is nothing civilized about this. I feel bad not only for the woman's family, but also for the 4 people that tried to help and have to live with this memory the rest of their lives. So many people look at someone in need as being a stranger/drunk/bum etc. What happened to that person being someone else's parent/spouse/child/friend etc.? You know if that was them or one of their loved ones they would expect help and be furious if they didn't get it. And I'm sure that guard wasn't the only guard around that day. If he was, that's pretty sad in and of itself in a place that busy. But we'll say he was and couldn't send another guard to see what was going on. Even so, 60 seconds of his lazy self walking to see what was going on could have been all it took to save her. He could have told dispatch the true nature of the situation and they may have sent a cop that was closer to help. He/she would have had a knife and been able to free the woman. He could have even radio the ticket office(or some office there) and they probably would have had scissors. Every person that turned there heads that day should be ashamed. In the nearby office buildings, on the platform, that guard. One more person could have made the difference. Also, why did the paper have to mention his criminal history? Was he not doing good at least on this day? And he ministers at a community center? I'm willing to bet it's been a long long time since he's been on the wrong side of the law. I'm also willing to bet that a lot of people found the justification they need to not stop if they should find themselves in such a situation. If they do, the paper will drag out all their skeletons in the closet.

Thanks for the suggestions! At my clinical last semester for my basic I asked everything and watched everything. Even stuff like sutures that were way out of my scope of practice, I was right there. I worried I was driving them nuts, just like I worry I'll drive people nuts here with questions. I don't just want to memorize stuff I want to really learn it and be able to put two and two together rather than just following an algorithm that my patient may not really even fit into. As for the whys, I was always that "why" kid too. I kinda feel all the knowledge in the world is useless if you don't know why things are the way they are. It's great to know that at least some people don't mind the relentless questions.

When was the last time he took his meds and is there any chance he took too much of any of them?

Glad to know I'm not the only one! I'm really really new to ems so I'll probably ask tons of questions. I apologize in advance to anyone I drive totally nuts. Just want to learn everything possible.

I had no clue it could be used for allergic reactions. Why isn't it used for that more often here? As for whether you can be allergic to the actual drug: I don't know if the chemical(s)/proteins in it are naturally found in the body, but if they aren't then I would imagine you could be allergic to it. If so, then I would be interested to find out if maybe it's an abnormal type of allergic reaction, if that's even possible. Does anyone know if there have been any in-depth studies into it?

That was so sad. I'm really new to the ems world but I can't imagine any of the emt's I've met acting like that. I don't know if it's because we have a mostly volunteer service or a difference in the community or something else. I just can't imagine it happening.

The 3 groups are early, classic, and late onset. Early occurs within 24 hours of birth. We can rule that out. Classic within the first week of life, we can rule that out. Which leaves late. Late onset presents between 2 weeks and 2 months of age. Risk factors include Alpha1- antitrypsin deficiency, biliary atresia, exclusive breastfeeding, celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, diarrhea, and hepatitis. Since mom had no prenatal care it's safe to assume she was not screened for any of these and had no ultrasounds. We need to get a history on mom, a good physical exam focusing on palpation of abdomen on baby, possibly check mom's abdomen for liver abnormalities for undiagnosed hepatitis. Is/was she an iv drug user, alcoholic, etc? Even if she has stopped now, damage may have been done. Also, a family history for mom and dad both would not hurt in the absense of screening for celiac and cf.

Any chance mom had undiagnosed and untreated gestational diabetes? From what I remember this can lead to serious complications in the newborn who is likely to be able to regulate their own sugar/enzyme levels. Also, I'm assuming baby has had no immunizations? Is this family in a high-risk living condition? Also, is the baby jaundiced? This is common in newborns and some require phototherapy to control it. What time of year are we talking? How much sun exposure does baby recieve? Is the baby breastfed? This can sometimes lead to problems clearing bilirubin. I'm thinking we have a case of kernicterus on our hands. S/S start with poor feeding, n/v, and drowsiness. If untreated, leads to arching of neck and back, seizures, upward eye rolling, and brain damage. Can progress to coma or death.

Establish at least one iv. Atropine can be used to prevent heart block. Monitor resperations closely and be prepared to treat any compromise. We would need ekg results to determine which antidysrythmic to use. Which is where I am stuck. I don't even start my acls till the 16th. I can however find the answer if given time. I'm good at the research.

My thoughts exactly. Most of my proctors are great so I've picked up lots of little "mantras". Like BLS before ALS. I had a problem with wanting to pull out the big guns and sometimes forgetting my ABC's. Fixed that though. Finally.

My name is Jessi. I got my EMT-B in December and just started towards EMT-P, but I'm thinking of stopping at EMT-I till life calms down a little. Hopefully, I will be eligible to test in August and I figure I will reevaluate then. Other than that, I'm a stay at home mommy/housekeeper/chauffer/chef/etc. I'm a bit of a dork sometimes, albeit a cool dork, and I love crosswords/word puzzles(but not word searches, too easy), medical and crime dramas on tv, and tearing up the roads in my half busted jeep that's my baby. I think that's about it. I'm pretty boring. I love the site and everyone here is great. It's nice to talk to people that understand why I want to do this instead of thinking I'm nuts. Great meeting everyone I've talked to so far!