Lisa O

If your job is to not diagnose and treat, then your job is to follow a protocol like a cookbook. If your job is to follow a protocol like a cookbook, then the vast majority of an assessment is of no consequence and there is no need to understand anything at all about a disease process or the human body. Additionally, there is no need for continuing education, just continuing protocol updates.

If your job is to perform an assessment and provide treatments based on said assessment, education, and experience, then your job is to diagnose and treat.

My words are not coming out how they are in my head. If I have any excuse for asking something that may seem like a no brainier (or that makes me look bad) to you guys is because I am not even in EMT school yet. I am still working on all my general ed for the AS part of my medic degree / certification. My EMT classes start in January, and I will be finishing all the rest by the time that wraps up in May.

There is no book that will provide an "overview". There are 1000 page books written on single diseases. If you want something a little more indepth that your average Brady book, check out the following:

Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine

Harwood-Nuss, Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine

and then the Emergency Medicine bible, Tintinali, Emergency Medicine

I will look at these as well. Thank you

Wonderful, thanks to all. I read the posts of scenarios, and see the wide spread signs and symptoms. I can see how people process these and start throwing out different diseases that it could be based on the info they are given. I wanted to get my hands on something to start training my brain the same way. I don't expect to know everything, but it would be nice to say okay based on 'this' we can start looking at 'this' and gathering more clues and information to start working down the paths of what it might be.

Plus I am very curious on how some diseases might mask others, or be totally different yet involve the same system / organ. As long as it doesn't backfire and confuse me more..lol

Thats why I was trying to say overview since I am not a doctor, and its not my job to diagnose / treat, but I do want to have a better idea of what I am dealing with when it comes to patients to help them better.

I have been looking to see if there is a single book on all / most diseases. Signs, symptoms, etc. When I try to find it, I get books on each disease, but nothing that groups them all together inside one book. There has to be one, maybe in textbook form for doctors or nurses. I assume that I am not putting in the right words for Google to narrow down the search.

Thank you

First off I have to blast a cosmic thanks into the ether to all my partners who put up with my motorcycle magazines and parts catalogs strewn all over the rig.

I spent the last 18 months during my off time building myself a custom Harley. No, it's not a mid-life crisis, or watching too many of those chopper shows, I've always been a biker since the 1970s and I've always had a bike. But never one I built from the frame up.

So after lot's of extra shifts to gather the funds, and coming home after work and picking up a wrench instead of some sleep her she is. I had to go easy on her the first time out as it's a fresh motor and not broke in yet, but I'm a happy boy . . .

(Pronounced 9ina.)

That is a sexy bitch...... Very very nice

Hey baby are you choking? bwhahahahahahaha

My class is over, I took my final on Tuesday. I worked my butt off in that class, and enjoyed every minute of it. I got my score today, and I passed the class with an A, and my score is 101%! I am so proud of what I did, and so thankful to those of you who pushed of the importance of this class. Reading things on here, hearing EMTs and Medics talk about patients, or scenarios used to be totally confusing to me. While most still is, I finally feel I have an better understanding as to why or how when it comes to the human body and treatments. I can not tell you how many times I read something, or during lecture that something would 'click' and made sense as far as illnesses or injuries etc. It makes me feel more confident knowing this will help me in my EMT class, and be a refresher for my medic classes.

I am enrolled for summer classes to take care of my math and English. I will have a 12 unit semester this fall, and will take my EMT class in January. With that class under me, I will only have 5 or so units to complete my Assoc. in Science to transfer over to CC SF when I can join the Paramedic program. I hope to pass the EMT class, become certified, work, and finish off the 5 remaining units. Then within the year, or as soon as the program opens up for enrollment in 2011, I can submit my packet, and hope to be one the ones chosen.

Again, THANK YOU. I could not be more grateful.

Ohhh I love Dexter. But it pisses me off that I have to watch that, and Nurse Jackie, pirated online now. The cable company dropped Showtime, and replaced it with RFD-TV.

Oh I love Nurse Jackie, but, with the way they have that one single EMT (who apparently has No partner) who is just a total bum kinda miffs me. But, Jackie makes up for that. lol

My first knee jerk reaction was for those boys who wore the patriotic shirts. After hearing the story better from local news (I'm about an hour away, so its big here) I feel differently.

In years past, there have been issues with students wearing both American and Mexico flags and it always causes problems. So, last year the school made it a rule for NOBODY is to bring a flag to school. These boys wore shirts, but did not wave flags, so yeah, technically they broke NO rules. I'm not stupid, I know they picked May 5th for a reason, and that reason was to either get attention, or to be instigators. I am pretty confident they knew there were gonna stir up some $h!t for that. I guess you have to decide if they truly broke any school rules or not. I don't think they did. I however agree with them either changing their shirts, or being sent home on the sheer fact they seemed to want to cause trouble or get attention. The Latino vice principal I believe did the right thing. However, I do believe that with whats going on with Arizona that the Hispanic community there is on fire and wound up tight, and looking for any excuse to be offended. I believe that they are the ones that turned this into a racial issue, not the kids who wore the shirts. And now, I think its gotten way outta hand. I really hope that this just dies down and goes away. It will be interesting to see how the school handles it from here on out, and how the surrounding communities decide to deal with it as well. In my humble opinion it never started out as a "racial" deal, but boys being boys.

Oregon is the greatest state in the Union because they require an Associates Degree for Paramedic.

Oregon approved schools: http://www.oregon.go...hool.shtml#emtp

CAAHEP/CoAEMSP sccredited programs are Chemeketa Community College in Salem and Oregon Health Sciences University in Sherwood.

Note that I didn't include NCTI which is AMR's patch factory.

Washington has some serious education programs for Paramedic, Counties who are part of the Medic One system (King/Whatcom/Pierce etc) require thousands of hours of work.

Now generally, I really do like Seattle it's an awesome city and they have a really cool pointy thing.

Could always get a job as a Tech at Seattle Grace; Arizona Robbins is hawt!

Here is some info from another post regarding WA

Now go get me In N Out, stat!

Oh thats right, no In N Out huh..lol Damnit! Thank you for the info (yes, that I should have gotten on my own - I totally didnt even think to look for info on here prior to me asking. Sorry about that.) I will save it, and look into as things get closer. The only thing I can do now is finish my Assoc. of Science degree. I think I will take my EMT-B in January as planned, and become certified as I get my degree. I can work and go to school while I start to get my ducks in a row.

Then, if I do move I can have work experience, the degree, and be better prepared. Thank you

I'll try and give you my take on WA. Having only lived in eastern WA my whole life, I can't really say how the west side is. However, if you want the rainy type environment, the west side is for you. I have spent quite a bit of time in Vancouver, WA in the past year and a half and it seems like it rains a lot. It seems like a pretty decent town. If you drive 15 miles north, east or west, you're out of the big city and into the country. Eastern Wa is, for the most part, pretty arid. We get snow during the winter and its hot during the summer. Where I live we get about 18" of rain a year.

The cost of living is decent. There is no state income tax like there is in OR. AMR is all over the place. Vancouver, Longview, King and Pierce counties (BLS). They're also on the east side (Yakima, Tri-Cities, Spokane). There are several other private services I know of. There is also the fire service, if you want to do that. If you join a volly squad and have your EMT and red card, you can get called to state mobilization fires and make pretty good money from what I've been told.

WA can be a pain to reciprocity in if you're an EMT-Intermediate. They have 5 different certification levels between Basic and Paramedic. One of my co-workers was an I-85 in Idaho but washington would only let him certify as an IV tech. You can look up WA's scope of practice for all of the certs available on the WA DOH website.

As for the schools, I can't really tell you a whole lot. I don't have kids and I've only been to a few schools. I don't personally think they are bad, but maybe someone else can answer that better for you.

If you're into outdoor type things, WA is a great place. We have mountain climbing, hunting, fishing, whitewater rafting, all that type of stuff. Hope that answered a few of your questions. Maybe some of the people on here from western WA can give you some better answers on the west side.

Thank you very much. I will keep all of this in mind!

I really have not liked CA, ever. I am an Army brat who was moved here from KY when I was 5. I have never "adjusted" to it here. I am a person who is in love with water, and rain - clouds, gloom, fog, etc. Someone a few years ago mentioned to me that I should move to WA as a joke, I have not gotten out of my head since. Here is the kicker, I have NEVER been to WA. I have been as far as Oregon, and that is where it ends. (BTW, I fell in love with OR)

We are planning a trip up there next year to check things out. I plan on finishing school here before doing anything drastic, so I am looking way into the future, about 2 years.

I am learning the different areas of WA, aside from Seattle. Can anyone who lives there, or who has lived there tell me about life up in WA. I will have two kids, ages (then) 15 and 13, how are schools? How about employment, esp. for medical / EMT-Medic jobs. I am thinking of staying here, completing my Associate in Science degree, and waiting to do any of the EMS training up in WA, (unless if I can get my EMT-B here, and be okay to transfer up there with out too many hiccups). I have plenty of time to think this through, feel things out, and plan. This is my first step, asking people with first hand knowledge. Then taking the time to actually go up there next year, and see how it really is in person.

Thanks in advance

Yes, if you are doing the job at home, then the lesson will be simple reinforcement of knowledge already gained...so what is the harm?

It is for all the ones that do not have proactive or interested parents in their lives that need this foundation upon which to build so we as a society do not continue to pay for the lessons they learn the "hard way".

No harm at all. I am not against teaching sex ed in the schools at all.

Some excellent posts so far!

LOL Lisa - a friend of mine did that with his son not too long ago. He showed him some nasty STD pics, and had the talk. Now, he didn't just scare him with that, but he also discussed the positive side of sex, and the joys it brings in a relationship. This friend of mine is an excellent father, and his three boys are growing up to be excellent members of society, because of the effort he puts in as a parent.

And there are many positives towards healthy, smart, safe sex. I think that does need to be explained, and taught just as well. I am just not a trusting person. And, unfortunately, I can say with all honesty, I do NOT know what is being taught in my children's schools. For one thing, they are not in HS as of yet, and go to two different schools. I know that they did go over puberty in my daughters 5th grade class, but nothing at all about sex.

I cant rely and hope that my kids learn how to be well rounded and smart people via the public education system. It is the job of myself and my husband to give them the tools to become productive wonderful human being who make the right choices in life. And when they don't, learn from those mistakes they have to make. I just do not feel confident or comfortable leaving that in the hands of teachers who are already overwhelmed.

I plan on printing out all the full color, in detail pics of STD's that I can get my hands on and showing my kids!

And, then after all the vomit is picked up, and everyones heads are done spinning....we are going to talk. Honestly, openly, with NO BS. I would love for my kids to "wait" till they find the special one, or they are married, or in their 40's, whatever comes first..lol But, crossing my fingers, and hoping for that will not make reality go away. They need to know, and will know all the aspects of sex including risks on all levels; physical, emotional, mental, etc.

$15 an hour as an EMT??????? where the hell you from??! Im moving there!! medics start at $12-14 here and EMTs between $8-11 an hour, depends on service and your longevity as EMT.

Thats about right here for CA. I would definitely not go into EMS to make money. I think you really have to have a true passion for it to force the negatives to outweigh the positives.

Did you happen to read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.". It was written by the same author and I would highly recommend it. You basically have the original story with the same old stuffy Brits, ninjas, Kung Fu and zombies.

Take care,

chbare.

My 12 yr old son read that since he has a thing for zombies. He really liked it!

I really enjoyed this book The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks.

From the site, "Just the simple facts are hard to believe: that in 1951, a poor black woman named Henrietta Lacks dies of cervical cancer, but pieces of the tumor that killed her--taken without her knowledge or consent--live on, first in one lab, then in hundreds, then thousands, then in giant factories churning out polio vaccines, then aboard rocket ships launched into space. The cells from this one tumor would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry and become a foundation of modern science--leading to breakthroughs in gene mapping, cloning and fertility and helping to discover how viruses work and how cancer develops..."

However, the sad fact is, that she and her family never knew, and died poor and with NO help from the medical community.

Love it!

Don't you need a "lab" for A&P? My a&p meets for a lecture, and a lab. Not sure how you can do the lab online?

I know for the EMT program I am starting in January makes priority of the lab for A&P. Since I am coming from another college, they are concerned that my A&P only has 3 units with lab. They really want atleast 4 units, with lab. So right now I am on hold while I finish this class (since I already started) to see if I can get in? The first thing he asked when I told him I was currently in A&P was, "Does it have any lab?".

So that is a good question FireMedic.

I would. If you don't receive college credit for it, it ain't a good option.

I just want to do it for two reasons: 1) When it comes time to take my EMT-B class, and then work as a basic, I want as much understanding of medications as possible. I think it will better help me to help someone on a call. 2) When the time comes for my medic class its more review for me. I have heard how hard Paramedic school is, and I am hoping that by having A&P and Pharm. as a review, it will take a little bit of the stress off.

I have found this class, and will be taking it over the summer.

Pharm class

However, if someone knows of a better class, please let me know (too).

I tend to seek out male doctors for myself. No real reason, I get along with everyone, but I just seem to mesh better with men in general. But, I will drop any doctor who doesn't seem to hear/listen to me, doesn't matter the gender. For my children though, when they were younger (not too long ago) I liked having the women pediatricians. My daughter still wants our female doctor (she will be 11) and my son now wants a male (will be 13).

Well, I've missed the last two episodes, so I am a little behind here. I I just now watched them while waiting for the forum to come back up. But here's the exciting critique of tonight's episode:

Ever notice that not a single emergency vehicle in the show is California law compliant with their lights?

Cellphone picture taker at shooting scene, lol. That’s realistic!

All these people standing around with the suspect outstanding, even cops.

Field abx prophylaxis in California, lol. Not in our lifetime.

They’ve just about broken Rabbit’s spirit. That too is realistic. Every big department does it sooner or later.

Tyler bought himself a $300 Littman, lol. Whacker!

Too lazy to put your vest under your shirt, where it belongs? You deserve to die. But at least it covers up those stupid badges.

Shooting something out of Tyler’s hand is just way too formula.

Doctor walking around in bloody surgical gown. Puhleeze… this is the 21st century.

Regardless, I’m beginning to think I’d do her.

I still wouldn’t touch the blonde bimbo with AK’s dick though.

This is becoming like Star Trek. As soon as you see knew faces, you know they’re fixin’ to become casualties.

Sniper wasn’t near as good as his equipment. Poor aim. Trigger jerk.

Way to go, blonde bimbo. Just about got the cop killed. Hopefully she’ll lose her ticket next episode.

Ambulance on scene with lights running, but engines off? Yeah, everybody does that.

Putting dressing over body armour, lol.

Marisa’s wings are Air Force Flight Surgeon wings. Puhleeze.

Not all bad. It may be improving a bit with the character development, finally. This would have been a great episode to kill off the blonde bimbo though.

I had to laugh when Tyler said Pair of medics...lol

I am actually myself seeing more and more of that "entitlement" among people of my age. I am not sure if I am just now open about it, or its just becoming more common?

What I am noticing with younger kids and teenagers is a lack of patients. With the INTERNET, I'M, texting, etc. they don't have to wait for anything anymore. Its now now now. So maybe, you can somehow bridge cheating with the thought process of instead of waiting to learn, just taking right then and there?

Also, kids are treated with kid gloves and have been for a generation now. I am very militant with my kids (Army brat here) . When they mess up, it's usually a harsh punishment. I let them know that they chose the action that chose the consequence. I make them think twice about doing something stupid again, or even for the first time. I have not spanked them, I usually make them give up something or do something physical. They know they are loved, and that their father and I are doing what we need to to ensure that they are smart, grounded, productive, active, and healthy members of society when they become adults. They know that to get something you have to work for it. Nothing is handed to them, except at Christmas and birthdays and honor roll. The rest of the time, if they want something, the first thing they do is come up to me or their dad and say, "I want ______, what do I need to do to work for it?" and we set up a plan for them to get _________. They know about dishonesty, and what it can do them as a person, and how even one little lie can haunt them for a long time.

I am scared as hell quite honestly. I have no idea what will be of EMS by the time I am done with all of my schooling and training.

1)I have no idea what will happen under the new Obamacare bill as far as EMS jobs, and now, education wise as well.

2)I keep hearing (reading blips on here) how fire wants to take over EMS. I do not want to be a FF, thats not my goal. If I did, I would go for that. Not knowing exactly whats going on between the two, I do what I do best, think the worst..lol

The only thing I can do is just buckle down, get what I need to get done, and just hope, pray and cross fingers that everything will work out best, and be just fine. I can only hope that where I live, within an hour (give or take) in each direction of me is a larger city, I hope my options are greater.

If you cheat in class or on a test, you are only cheating your patient whos life depends on you. It's unfair and uncalled for to those who have called upon you at a (possible) dark moment in their life.