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FireMedicChick164

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Posts posted by FireMedicChick164

  1. Well we have a pedi board if we need to backboard a kid and we have a built in car seat in the "airway seat" in the back of the bus. Usually I will txp the child on the parents' lap on the stretcher with the seat belts on. Usually that makes them more comfortable and cooperative.

  2. I am a volunteer and we strive to be professional and instill confidence in our patients and co workers. Our Chief's office holds us to very high standards and expects nothing but the best from us. I am an officer and won't take any bs from my crews.

  3. Were you able to text your friends from your hospital bed while you had that migraine? Just curious... :-)

    Dwayne

    Edited for spelling only.

    I was feeling so lousy I actually turned off my phone and left it in the pocket of my coat when they helped me get out of it. Couldn't deal with anything...no noise, no light...ugh horrible. I haven't had one that bad since.

  4. Thanks to all the replies confirming that I am indeed not crazy. I thought briefly that I was losing my mind. After my stupidly long shift I slept for 16 hours and feel normal again. Survived the rest of the week without incident. Back to my normal night shifts next week...lord knows I am not going through that again!

  5. I had the weirdest experience the other day and with 12 years experience as a tech this was a new one for me. Wondering if this has ever happened to any of you before.

    I have been a vollie in my local FD for the last 12 years. I was teaching (as my paid job) until recently when I quit to take a job as a AEMT full time working overnight shifts doing job site medical (which I love). The last week has been a little stressful...working 12 hr shifts and not getting much sleep in between. So Sunday I worked 9 hrs, then Tuesday 12 hrs. Wednesday into Thursday 12 hrs then picked up an 8 to cover someone else (with a four hour break in between). This is not my normal schedule as I was covering a site that I don't normally work. Next week I am back to my normal site/hours!

    Here is where it gets interesting:

    I had gone home after one of my shifts to sleep (I had 12 hours off) and was asleep for 2 1/2 hours when my FD pager activated. I remember hearing my pager go off and then the next thing that I know I am standing in the middle of the ER that wen had transported the patient to. I have no recollection of the 45 minutes that I was on the call, don't remember anything that happened, don't remember talking to the patient or any of the crew. There were 2 other techs on the call so I didn't have to write out the paperwork. Apparently I was acting perfectly normally and no one had a clue what had happened.

    When we got back to the firehouse I mentioned it to my 1st Lt. (I'm the Captain currently) as he has been in this line of work for 25 years. He didn't seemed too concerned and said I was acting like I do on every call I go on. I then spoke to two of my other friend who are medics and they both said it has happened to them before. Both said it happened to them when they were over tired/sleep deprived. I could totally see that feasible as I had gotten 6 hours of sleep in 3 days.

    Any thoughts??

  6. I get migraines so I can sympathize. Last time I was in the ER with a bad migraine they gave me Benadryl IV 50mg, Compazine for the nausea and some pain meds I can't remember the name of. Slept for quite a while after that cocktail! I hope you feel better real soon. Maybe he was referring to Dilaudid?

  7. In your first scenario....as long as there is no difficulty breathing you can really use a nasal cannula and continuously suction (get an emesis basin ready for vomiting) or have the patient hold the mask by their face and move it away so you can suction. If the car accident is that bad and they are on a backboard and in a collar you will need to keep one side of the backboard tilted up otherwise there will be vomiting! I had a patient one time that I gave the suction catheter to and had him place it in his mouth and he did the suctioning himself (long story). I can't imagine a scenario where there would be that much bleeding from a mouth...maybe a severed tongue....but then you'd have facial injuries and broken teeth too...gets more complicated after that.

    Second scenario...if the patient is in cardiac arrest you will need to suction to clear the airway as well as do CPR. Hopefully if you have an ALS provider there so the patient can be intubated to protect and manage the airway.

  8. Thank you all so much for the advice! Im not expecting a job diretly out of school, especially since I will be heading in to Paramedic school the semester after I am done with EMT. But there will always be that "first job" and having a kick ass resume will help me, I am sure! Thank you again!

    Not to bust chops but if you were smart you'd work as an EMT for a few years before going to Medic school. They base everything in the curriculum on experience and it will be that much harder for you to pass going in with no experience on the street at all.

    I've been in this business for 12 years...join a vollie dept if you can too. That's how I started out.

  9. Patients lie to us and the police all the time! They like to change their stories when they get to the ER and tell the triage nurse something totally different to make us look like dummies too.

    Here in my district in NY the police are dispatched to the call AND we are dispatched to the call. Most of the time they get their first so they can advise of any issues prior to our arrival.

  10. Michigan has some services that also have MICU/NICU trucks.....

    If the term 'bus' was such a part of common vernacular in NYC, then why don't our NYC members all use it? I can't think of one time someone like RichardB has used that term.....

    You just gotta love those people that take all the shlock churned out by Hollyweird as gospel (I saw it on TV, so therefore it MUST be true!)!

    ô¿ô _♫♪♪♪♫♪

    The term "bus" when referring to an ambulance is really a slang term here in NY. We us it when talking amongst ourselves but not over the air. Over the air we use the unit numbers but in conversation it's not uncommon to use.

  11. Sorry for being Off Topic, but:

    I`ve already heard that you guys only have chlorinated water. Do you actually drink your water out of the pipe too, or does that lead to buying more bottled water?

    :rolleyes:

    We have great tap water here. It's the only thing I will drink...no bottled water for me.

  12. The only thing I believe will restore blood is letting to body make more (or a transfusion). They took LR out of protocol years ago and now we only use NS here and for fluid replacement and to increase volume (to try to raise BP). They do have "artificial blood" out there but I don't know enough about it to have an opinion.

    Info on artificial blood:

    http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/artificial-blood.htm

    http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2010/October/ArtificialBlood.asp

    Info on Lactated Ringers:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactated_Ringer%27s_solution

  13. Hey Brother...I feel your pain. Glad you are back in the green as far as your bank account goes! I have been a NY EMT B for 9 years and for the last 2 have been an EMT CC (our EMT I) I joined my local volunteer FD when I was 19 and they have paid for all of my EMT school thus far). I just recently landed a good job and began to see my bank account go up.

    I have been going to college on and off for the last 10 years to train to be a teacher (in between life getting in the way). Lo and behold I have 2 more semester left to go and there are no teaching jobs around here! My fiance was laid off from his teaching job in February and can't seem to find anything. I was working teaching pre school for the last year trying to pay the bills and it wasn't working. We have to pay for our wedding and get my debt all paid off and my nerves were starting to fray.

    My life is beginning to look up. So is yours. I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in the frustration of the job search. That conviction you have may hinder your getting a job but some employers still may hire you if you can speak to them and let them know that was in the past and you have every intention of going forward honestly. You never know. Private companies (at least here) pay just above minimum wage. If you can get in to a big city EMS as a career that's probably the route you want to go. Some of the hospitals here hire EMT's as ER Technicians....have you looked into that route. Do any of the hospitals have their own EMS? Good luck with your job search and keep me posted.

    Meri

  14. When I took my EMT -B class (11 years ago) the academy I was attending gave a practice exam to the students who wanted to take it a few weeks before the actual exam took place. They had a pool of questions from previous tests and quizzes and gave us a 50 question practice exam. It was great because we were able to focus on what areas we were weak in and either get remediation or just study extra on those topics. If your school is considering it I'd say it's a great idea. They even gave a practice exam when I took my EMT-CC 2 years ago and it helped me quite a bit. It can only help you! Good luck!!

  15. Just a random thought:

    If you are sitting in the waiting room...have you been triaged yet? Sometimes there is a wait to even be triaged and if you are just waiting for them to triage you no chart has been initiated so technically you'd just be in the hospital not registered yet in the ER.

    Also I have heard of ambulances being dispatched for calls outside of hospitals but never to an ER.

  16. I agree with everyone else here, This guy needs to be reported! If enough people complain about him maybe they will be forced to do something. Unfortunately there are providers like that everywhere....We have one in my agency that I'd like to punch in the mouth sometimes. He is arrogant, childish, and although his skills are fine his patient interaction and judgment calls leave a lot to be desired. I have mentioned it to my supervisors and had discussions with my Lieutenant (I'm a Captain) about it and he is being watched now. Good luck and let me know if anything positive happens. Keep us your skills and be the best EMT you can be!

  17. I agree with the statement that addicts need to admit that they have a problem before they can accept treatment. How many agencies are really equipped to offer some form of referral service or help in the event that one of their members does have a problem? What type of things could be do to PREVENT providers from stealing medications? It's not just the EMS field that this is a problem, I have also heard of docs and nurses stealing meds or diverting them from patients who need them to fuel their own addiction.

    As of last year my vollie FD began carrying narcs on our ambulance. They are kept on the ambulance in a locked box with a numbered zip tab and that box is in a safe that requires the ALS providers key tag AND code to gain access. It records when the safe is opened and we have to have a witness if/when we even open the safe and we must fill out the log book. The restock safe is located in the dispatch office (same set up) and the only people who have keys to that are the 2 narcs officers. Witnesses are needed for that to be opened also. Hopefully we have put into place enough safeguards so if we did have someone involved in our agency with a drug problem they couldn't get access to anything.

    I'm wondering what other agencies have put in to place to discourage providers from trying to steal narcs. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any input. Thanks!

  18. Hey guys, maybe instead of attacking JLO1965 someone could do some research on the protocols from the early 90's. Also take into consideration that the MAST was originally a military invention to treat those in the field who were gravely wounded so they may have time to get to a field hospital. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_anti-shock_trousers

    I'm all for sharing info about what we do and our equipment. Nothing that I said in my first post is anything but facts and I cited my source in my post. If we can't educate the public and/or share info with each other how are we ever going to learn from others mistakes and improve our patient care. Protocols change all the time for a variety of reasons which is why research is being done on a consistent basis.

    It also sounds to me from the reply by JLO1965 that the record keeping was sloppy on this case.

    Just trying to see things from both perspectives.

    Meri

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