uglyEMT

Dont watch Trauma but answering your cheerleader question from personal experience. My squad staffs all the home games for the footbal teams (peewee to highschool) and I can say from personal expeiernce we have transported more cheerleaders then players. Hell in one game we did 3 transports of cheerleaders and had just one "check out" of a player.

Most of what we see are fall injuries, dislocated joints (mostly knees), and funny enough allergic reactions from bee stings (not saying the reaction is funny).

Usually the players get a check out for possible concussions or supplimental O2 for asthma related issues.

The injuries tend to get more severe with age. The younger squads dont do much ariel(sp) display but we see more knee injuries or other dislocated joints. The older squads with the flips and stunts we see more C-spine related injuries or fractured bones instead of sprains or dislocations.

Thanks everyone for the advise! I do appreciate it. I have to add an update since last night's shift. Apparantly I didnt get the memo (hehehe) and she was covering for one of my regulars last night. Diffrent shift with diffrent members, excluding me. Well I must say this, she was totally diffrent. We had a stroke call and from the moment we hit the door she was like a totally diffrent person. She dove right into vitals while I grabbed a quick history from the family members and got the meds written down. When deciding how to move the patient she came up with the best suggestion out of the 3 of us (the reeves). I must say it was a breath of fresh air to see her work this way.

I did ask what was diffrent and she said it was the crew. She feels intimidated working with the Captn and is afraid to "make a mistake" or speak up. Also she feels the dynamic of that crew doesn't fit her in. I do understand that, like I said the 3 of us on that shift work pretty much without verbalizing and just have our "assigned" things. Knowing each others moves before hand can seem intimidating, I can understand and respect that.

I was glad we had a chance to speak last night on the ride back from the ED. I got a better feel of whats going on.

I am still going to take all your advice and suggestions and still talk with her more but instead of just her I will try and get the whole crew involved in the discussion. I know it might be hard being the Captn is on the crew but if we really are a crew or team then I think it should be welcomed and also will only benifit us and especially the patient if we are coheasive and all on the same page.

Time will only tell if she really is cut out for all this but at least last night I got to see a diffrent side of her and her actions were commendable.

Thanks Kiwi. I have been trying the scenarios with her. So hopefully they work. Yea the O2 thing is worrying because its repition to lack of details. I mean yes we all but a regulator or two on wrong when we first started but after that it was pretty basic. Line up the pins, make sure the seal is there, tighten. She messes up at the pin stage.

Maybe the next time around I will sit down with the whole crew and try going over our actual calls and reviewing them. That way it reinforces the real life expeiences.

As I type this it sounds as though I am a crew chief when I am a newbie EMT. Not new to the squad, was a driver for over a year, just new to the patient side. Guess that is why I am trying to help her so much. LOL

Gotcha Timmy.

Good advise thanks. I will try some of those next time I am on that crew.

Sometimes it is fun being on 3 crews Makes things interesting

Thanks Timmy. As far as the OIC she is on my crew actually LOL Its my Captn. She has tried to get the member more active thinking (as we all have) it may be lack of confidence. One thing is that when she does stuff she does it well, she just needs to be told what to do. Just dont let her near the O2, cant seem to figure out the 2 little pegs go into the 2 little holes LOL I guess it seems she is worse then she really is because the 3 of us gel so well and she just seems the "odd man out"

Talking with her is easy, I usually do that during the rig check before shift. I sit there with the clip board and checklist and have her do it all while I ask questions. I figure if she gets comfortable with us and the gear it might help. Right now it doesnt seem to be but hopefully it will. One good saving grace with her is she has no issues with the nasty stuff so shes usually cleaning the rig after a messy call.

Like I said before, I really do think she will be a great EMT, just needs to get involved more and think on her feet. Anyone have suggestions on how to do that? I know it comes with time an experience but anything I can do in the meantime to help it along?

Ok folks would like some advise if possible. The volly squad I am on is small (14 active mebers) so we are on multiple shifts with diffrent crews. What do you do if one of the crews you are on has a member thats just not gelling? The crew I am currently on during my 48 is awsome. The two women and me gel very well, work without having to say much and basically know each others roles and where to be and what to do. Well on this same crew is a 4th member who just seems off. Stands around at scenes until told what to do, stands in the background without much input, basically just in the way. I know this person can be a great EMT and will probably work out well in our crew but even after trying to help (training days, rig checks, that sort of thing) it seems everything goes in one ear and out the other OR total deer-in-headlights syndrom.

I dont want to switch crews and my other crew member feels the same way but we are at a loss on what to do. What would you folks do? I do think she would be a great EMT if she puts her mind to it and hopefully she does.

As far as GPs no preference, just be good at it. I can understand older generations reluctance to some things, folks just get set in their ways.

As an EMT I do see the gender issue come up alot unfortunatly. Thankfully I run with an all girl, except me, crew so it is helpful. Just as an example we recently had a rollover with submersion. Female driver tossed around unrestrained so as the FD was making extracation preperations I drew the short straw and went in to the vehicle to collar her and talk her through it. After a few minutes of her puking on me and talking with me in freezing cold water we seemed to have a report (as much of one as rescuer and patient can have). Finally after extrication and getting her strapped and boarded into the rig we went to cut the garments and as I reached for the shears she freaked and asked that I not be present. My crew chief explained to her we dont look at men and women in that way we just treat patients. Anyways, after a minute of talking with her I just got out of the back and got in the drivers seat just so she would be more comfortable. I know it shouldn't have mattered who was in the back but she didnt want a man (her words not mine) seeing her naked. I know it made me feel kinda off after talking with her during the extracation, her appologizing to me for puking, her crying and telling me her life story while under the fire blanket then like a light switch didnt want me to do the rest of my job. Thankfully for her there was 3 females in the back to take care of her.

I do feel patients should have the right to request male or female to check them out if possible but if it is an all male or all female crew then sorry, just be glad we are there to help. When I had an all male crew and we were transporting an uncomfortable female we usually requested a female officer (LEO) to ride in the back with us. Usually calmed the patient down.

Yes kiwi our ALS support is all hospital based. Usually with large response areas.

Yes Dustdevil very rural out here. Mostly state forests and lakes. Town has one traffic light LOL and we celebrate its erection with a festival every autum. Kind of a town where the wildlife outnumbers the residents. Our response time to the "local" area hospital is 45min, Trauma center is 1hr 15mn, nearest burn center is alomst 2hrs. Needless to say alot of calls get ALS support. Unstable traumas get medivaced usually. Stable ones get a nice long ride. We have probably one of the longest patient care times around our area. Get alot of practice in vitals and ongoing assessment.

The plane crash was my first so I was super facinated. Wish I was part of the rescue and not just stand-by but was nice being part of the expeiernce though.

The garage door spring was a bad one, no doubt. People should leave that stuff to the professionals. At least we were able to save the patient's eye and sight the rest is up to the plastic surgeons.

Had a busy weekend this go around. From the eye and face trauma from a garage door spring to the plane crash to the 3am MVA. Oh yea did I mention the plane crash!?!

From Fox News:

WEST MILFORD, N.J. -- One man was killed and another seriously injured when a small plane crashed Saturday in northern New Jersey.

The two were the only people aboard the Cessna 172, a four-seat, fixed-wing propeller plane, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker.

The single-engine plane went down around noon and ended up near a residential, wooded area in the Passaic County community of West Milford. One man was pronounced dead there a short time later, while the other was flown via helicopter to a nearby trauma center.

Their names were not disclosed, pending notification of relatives.

It was not clear what caused the crash, which occurred near the Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford. Authorities did not immediately know if the plane had taken off from the airport or was trying to land at the site.

UGL was on standby for this one! Yea couldn't beleive this call when the tones went out. We were doing rig check and washing the other rig and we all did a double take and wondered if it was true. We found out later the plane was just purchased and flown down from Ithica, NY to pick up a friend (guy who survived) for a quick joy ride. The plane did take off from the local airport as witnessed by local LEO. Wish I was part of the rescue and not just a stand-by rig but was nice being part of the experience. The rest of the shift was pretty crazy as well. Psych call, OD, Stroke, MVA w/ extracation, eye and face truma. For a squad that sees around 300 calls a year this was a very busy weekend for us. Glad I was able to swing dinner with the family in between calls on Easter.

Thanks folks! Wasn't the quickest reply, was on my weekend rotation and it wasn't quiet. At least I had some dinner with the family yesterday. Can't wait to know more so I can reply more to other posts but at least so far I can share experiences and stories.

Hello folks. Introducing myself to the board

Recent addition to the EMT ranks but part of a squad for over a year. Was a driver until January when our membership dropped too low and we needed the EMTs LOL

I am on the Upper Greenwood Lake Squad in West Milford Township. Hence the UGLy screen name. Actually its usually what the ED nurses call us so I thought it fitting.

Hope to chat with you all and learn some tips, tricks, and share stories with you all.