dystorteddream

Vomit = bad. Trench foot/decomposing body = worse. Perfed colostomy = worse still. Odor from a crispy critter = worst.

Check this out, it's a video of an electrocution fatality. NSFW. 6-05-09, Electrical Guide Wire = bad It's pretty graphic. See how you react to it.

http://www.fridaypage.com/

haha 46Young... I was eating my wendy's spicy chicken sandwich and i started to LOL at the brilliant guy touching the guide wire. Thanks for the chuckle. But anyway, back to the original question. I find when i'm working on a "gory" scene, I end up losing the human side of things, and view their injuries as something that's not right, and needs to be right again. If their leg's broken, it needs to be splinted. If their fingers are amputated, the bleeding needs to be controlled and the separated fingers need to be found, wrapped in a moist sterile dressing, wrapped in plastic and soaked in water. It sounds crude not viewing them as a "person", per se, but once I'm able to see the problem, do what I can to fix it, then I can focus on a little more emotional support. But that's not saying I'm being rude or ignoring their emotions. Calming a person down when they've gone through a traumatic event is part of patient care... if they're freaking out, then their heart rate's going to be up, BP will be up, which can be a bad thing if you're trying to stop gross hemorrhage.

Just my two cents on the matter.

Thanks everybody for the input, gave me a few other areas to ponder on and think of some good responses. Tomorrow's the big day! Hopefully all goes well and I'll hear back from them soon!

Thanks again!

D~D

Hey everybody. I've come to ask for a little advice.

I'm currently testing through to get on a full time department in Idaho. I took their written test, and received a 96 on it. Passed their physical agility test last week, and I have my oral board interview here in 2 days. There are two full time positions available, and the 17 that have been called back from the physical are the ones with EMS background/experience. Now one thing I know that'll help me out, is that i have actual field experience, whereas the majority of those with EMS "background" out here that have applied are either fresh out of school, or have had their cert/license but have not been affiliated with a department/company and not been on actual calls. So I see that as a bonus.

Anyhow. For those with fire background, what should I expect for my oral boards? There are going to be 3 officers for the oral board interview. I had an oral board interview with my current P.O.C. department, including questions of what are my goals for the short term/long term future, why do I believe I'd be a good member of the department, etc. I know that each department is different, but was wondering if anybody had any advice or tips for going into my oral boards on Thursday. Thanks in advance!

D~D

it double posted

You know, I've grown really tired of this insurance fraud crap. They didn't even teach me about this at my school, I found out once I got in that an ambulance can also be a "Cabulance" in the privates. I really hate that. Greedy companies man, friggin greed.

I agree about your theory on my co-worker. It's a very strange relationship you know, because first shes telling me I'm one of her favorite partners and that she loves working with me. Great. Next min, the stuff I already told u about happens. It makes me wonder how she truly feels about me. As far as deeper issues are concerned, well I have mentioned in my initial post that I've gone through a very rough time over the past few years especially the past 12 months - My best friend killed himself a few months after his mother died, then my mom dies a few months later, then my dad who didnt give a crap was already seeing a younger woman who moved in the old house I grew up in and has taken over everything and even turned my dad against me so now I have no parents basically, I was married to an evil witch for 3 years who tricked me into marrying her to get her green card cleared now I'm divorced but it messed me up in high school (couple that with my mom in the process of dying of 6 years). I've gone through a very bad mental holocaust so-to-speak from the early 2000s up until now and you can't even imagine how hard it has broken my spirit (and yes that includes my self confidence).

Thats why whenever crap like this happens to me at work, I feel like the last person in the world whom anyone wants to mess with and I wanna show that to people so bad because after going through all that I went through, I'm really not in the mood for name calling, belittling, and bulls*** of that nature, but at the same time I don't wanna lose my job by saying the wrong words so that creates a very very gray area that is hard to interpret when it comes down to telling your co-workers off. The recent deaths of my mom and my best friend are always in the back of my mind, whether or not I am directly thinking about them, I feel like I am in hell. Like you said and I said before, I do have deeper issues.

Hey brotha, first of all, I feel for you. And I'd be willing to wager that a great lot of us have been through very similar situations as you have in their professional life, like with your partner, along with your personal life. That being said, extraneous information like that seems to be only for getting attention and pity points to get us to say "screw the b*tch you don't deserve that crap!"

Now first thing's first. Your telling of the way she's acting around patients and other medical professionals is not kosher at all, and I'd recommend having a little discussion about it. Just with what's been said earlier... YOU are the tech. It's YOUR call. It's YOUR patient. And your partner is just that, your partner. They should be there assisting you with anything going on, if you've overlooked something, bring it to your attention in order to give better patient care every time. There is no reason to belittle your partner in front of people, and there is most likely, always a more tactful way to put things. So bring that up to her and hopefully a resolution will come of it. Just remember, a resolution isn't necessarily the ending that you want.

That being said, I think it's time for you to throw on an extra layer of skin. I can completely empathize about the sh*t going on in your personal life. It sounds like you've gone through the ringer and still going through it. But that doesn't make what she's saying/doing personal... and it honestly has nothing to do with it. I'm sure she knows about all the crap going on in your life, if you're as close as you implied. The two scenarios are separate and should be kept that way. Not saying that we don't feel for ya, and want to help you through it, but your situation with your partner has nothing to do with your best friend committing suicide, your mother's passing, your dad being a cradle robber and your ex wife "making" you marry her.

I really hope that you can get a good foothold in yourself and your career in EMS. It's really a fulfilling job if you let it. You will always have sh*t going on in your life, but life is a series of responses and reactions to what goes on around you. You can either become a doormat and feel sorry for yourself, or you can take ownership of your life, and respond accordingly.

Before this turns into a rant, my condolences to you with your loss of friend and mother. I wish you the best of luck with your partner and work.

Be safe brother

D~D

wow gotta love idiotic representations of our job. And then we wonder why we don't get paid jack squat for doing what we do. Instead of celebrating those that come early, make sure their rigs are in tip top shape, do everything for their patients that is ethically possible... we're instead stuck watching the egotistical paragods who can't keep it in their pants and risk their life, their partner's life, and can't forget their patient's and the public's lives. We all know that the majority of us are type-a personalities, but that doesn't mean that all of us are in it for the EMS (extra marital sex). Maybe one day we'll be taken seriously, but until then... we'll always be too slow arriving when we're needed, or in the way when we're not.

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forums. started working private EMS in 03. Moved from Detroit to Idaho and am now on a volly fire dept, waiting for my oral board for a full time fire/ems department on 10/01.

Not saying the the fire service is the best, but one particular reason on how you view these items is 'manpower'. Fire services usually have 3-4 members for each rig where ambulance services typically have 2, and some 3. Most of the time for backing a rig, the ambulance team is understaffed and are providing their specialty, patient care. There is no excuse for not keeping your ambulance clean and stocked, but again, view this as a potential staffing versus time differential. Ambulance companies handle many more calls and this cuts the time down on cleaning. Just a couple of ideas. I do agree that when ever possible, your ambulance should maintain a clean appearance and should be stocked and ready to go. If at one point during your shift work, it becomes totally soiled (usually inside, but outside can count also for visibility), you should go out of service until this is taken care of.

I completely agree. I started off in private EMS, and am now in the fire service, with EMS response. There's nothing more infuriating than coming in to shift and finding your ambulance a complete pig sty. I've even had produce left inside of an ambulance once... and by produce, i mean a melon. Which begs the question, why on earth would you want that in your truck that can't always get sterile and has had god knows what squirted, smeared and sluffed off in your ambulance. It just comes back to ownership and accountability. But it is hard to have then when working private EMS, especially if you have difficult management. But getting your own cleaning supplies for your rig shows a lot of pride in your equipment, and it's a tax write off! Show up a few minutes early and check your truck out. Spending a couple minutes before shift is definitely better than getting to that MCI and realizing you don't have 1/3 of the equipment you NEED.

Also having your equipment and cabinets properly labeled is a wonderful practice to get into. Especially if you have extra manpower ride along with you for those certain calls (CPR, major trauma, etc) There's nothing more difficult than trying to tell someone where a certain supply is when you're busy trying to maintain an airway, doing chest compressions, or wound management.

This isn't one call in particular, but rather telling of a lovely frequent flyer we ran on constantly. I think the funniest time we ran on her (drunk homeless) is when we got called for a "man down" (which we knew was her based on the cross streets given) except there she was... flopping around on the front step of someone's house in the worst seizure impression ever. my partner and i, rolling our eyes, get out of the truck. My partner grabs the cot and i walk up to her. <insert name> what the hell are you doing? "heey baby!! I need to go to the hoshpitalll." I see that... but how about next time, don't knock on someone's door, tell them you're having a seizure and to call 911, and flop around on their porch "oh c'mooon baaabyyy... i just needs to go to the hoshpitaaalll"

My partner has the cot set up and with us now.

me- "alright <name> get on the cot, but remember... what's my rule"

pt- "oh c'mon baby... do i have to say it?"

me- "yes... what's my rule?"

pt- *heavy sigh* "don't piss on the cot"

me- "that's right! no peeing on the cot! now let's go"

Every. Damn. Time. While we're in the ER, about to transfer over to the hospital bed...

pt- "hey baby?"

me- *sigh* yes?

pt- "i pissed on the cot"

me- "yeah... i know. i can smell it"

pt- "i'm gonna stop drinking and i'll marry you and put you through medical school"

me- "that'll be wonderful <name> how about we do baby steps and get you over to the bed"

______________________________

I have to say, now that i've moved 1800 miles away, i do miss that patient, but mainly for the laughs. haha

hi! first post...

I've heard from a couple of different sources that the high-stress environment in ems and healthcare in general has led to high (no pun intended) percentages of healthcare workers with substance abuse problems. I was wondering if people would open up about there habits, concerns, colleagues stories.

I myself smoke weed but don't drink.

I've had personal experience with substance abuse in EMS. One of my partners had "back problems", which we all do in some way... however working on 1000mg of hydrocodone while on duty is not cool. No matter how much "control" you think you have over what you're doing... you're still on a substance that will mess with your mojo. Many times working nights he'd wake up from a dead sleep and start driving, thinking we have a call. However... 1. we didn't... and 2. why are you driving if you don't know where you're going? I finally found out he was abusing the pain pills and tried to report to management, but nothing happened. It finally came down to me pulling rank and always driving, which sucked because of minimal patient care, but not going to risk my neck because he is doing his own type of "pain management".

Abuse of any substance, whether they be legal or illegal should never be accepted in public safety. For just that reason, it's not safe for the public. And if you ever EVER get into a wreck while on duty, you'll automatically be tested for illegal substances, and even if you weren't stoned while on duty, it'll still show up in your system. Not only will you most likely lose your job, but you'll look at jail time, malpractice, loss of your license, etc.

Be smart.