Dustdevil

I actually like a lot of what they do. Their process is nothing if not thorough! Three months as a third-man? Now THAT is thorough! And 8 hour shifts rock. Yeah, it kinda sucks that you can't take one shift off and have a five-day vacation, but short shifts go a long way in preventing -- or at least delaying -- burnout, so they are better for the career.

By living "in the city" do you mean they have to actually live within Boston city limits, or could you live in a suburb like Cambridge or Brookline?

I like the area, but man... I just can't see living any sort of decent lifestyle there on less than $48k/yr.

...they have about an 88-90% collection rate.

:shock: Holy crap! Whoever your billing manager is should either:

1. Write a book

2. Go on the lecture circuit

3. Send out resumes, because he/she could probably get hired anywhere!

Seriously. No BS!

Is that all direct collections, or does that include like the city or county paying for anything not collected after a certain amount of time?

Space is nice, but not absolutely necessary. I worked for many years in type IIs and even low-top vans, and was never so cramped that I could not function. I actually got along pretty well in Suburbans and hearses for the first few years of my career. We've simply become spoiled.

I think the Sprinters can fill a very useful niche. Lots of systems, both urban and rural, prefer a type II for various reasons, mostly being narrow streets, alleys, and country roads in their territories that would restrict the movement of a box. For those agencies, the Sprinter offers a similar slender platform on a more reliable chassis and powerplant, with a modest increase in room. Nothing wrong with that.

Wow, that's pretty weird. I know systems who hire medics into EMT slots, where they will always be scheduled as an EMT with a "senior medic." But I have never heard of one who actually prohibited those junior medics from utilizing their skills. I find it incredibly hard to believe that any progressive and intelligently designed system would allow their people's skills to deteriorate over a 2 to 4 year period, and then put them into a senior medic slot. That's just beyond moronic. It is a disservice not just to their personnel, but to the citizens they are paid to serve.

They better be paying $80k a year for an EMT, because between the NE cost of living and being crapped on by your own agency, that's about what it would take to get any medic with a brain and self-esteem to work there.

Not that there is any shortage of agencies who crap on their medics. :?

I found myself wondering what it is that your husband does for a living. Could he feel threatened by your job?

I doubt it is that complicated. Men aren't complicated creatures. It is more than likely as simple as him not liking the idea of coming home to a dark, empty house with no dinner on the table. You're asking him to change his lifestyle for your temporary craving for trauma. That isn't the lifestyle he signed on to when he said, "I do." Men like stability. I can't blame him for not being particularly excited about it. And no amount of convincing him what a noble calling it is is going to make him happier about it.

Rid's right. You need professional counseling for this. Otherwise the resentment is going to grow on both sides and you're doomed.

Okay, so like... help me understand this hiring system. If you are already a medic, you still work an EMT slot until promoted. I get that much. It's a good plan, so long as you have enough medics to pull it off.

My question is, if you are a medic working an EMT slot, do they not allow you to use ALS skills? Or are you simply paid and scheduled as a basic, with another medic being senior partner, but you can still practice ALS skills?

Also does anyone remember a show called "Code Red". It starred Lorne Greene, Andrew Stevens, and Adam Rich. It was on Sundays.

Not for very long, haha! That was THE WORST show ever! It was so ridiculous that it was almost a parody of the fire service. Andrew Stevens ruins anything he is in. For some bizarre reason, Hollywood seemed absolutely determined to make him a major star for about ten years. Thank God they finally gave up! At least we got to see Morgan Fairchild nekkid in that one movie!

'Emergency': gotta love Station 51

'Adam 12': the good old black and white

'Ripcord': parachuting is us!

'Whirlybirds': helicopters for fun and profit

'Time Tunnel': funky but fun

'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea': again hokey, but fun

'Combat': I know that sergeant

'The Lieutenant': Short lived but interesting

'Star Trek': the original - accept no substitutes

Oooh! Nice list! I don't remember "The Lieutenant," but the others were favourites of mine. I still see "Combat!" on late night television, but I havent't seen the others in years. Although, "Quantum Leap" was very much like "Time Tunnel."

Hehe... my uncle is blind and has two glass eyes. I always wondered what some nurse or medic would think if they didn't know and tried to examine him! Those things look really real!

I guess the funniest thing that ever happened to me was when I was working hospital-based EMS. We wore scrub suits, even in the field. I got to the scene of an MVA on the highway one evening. As I started walking towards the patient, I tried to clip the really heavy-ass Motorola HT over the waistband of my scrub pants. My pants immediately dropped to my ankles, and I tripped and fell in the middle of the highway. :shock:

Luckily it was night time, and not broad daylight with half the town watching!

It's a GAU-2B/A 7.62mm (.308) belt fed, air cooled, six barrell electric minigun. The rate of fire is 6000 rounds per minute, but you can't actually hold the trigger down for a full minute or the barrells will melt, haha. There are 2 or 3 of them on Air Force SAR and Special Ops helicopters. Good times!

You can see one sticking out the side window of my helicopter at this pic in my gallery:

http://www.emtcity.com/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=547

They are made by General Electric, which resulted in this popular poster back during the war:

When the scientist who invented Hymie told Maxwell Smart his name was Hymie, Smart said, "Hymie?!?" The scientist replied indignantly, "My father's name was Hymie!"

Later, when Hymie introduced himself to the Chief, the Chief said, Hymie?!?" Hymie replied, "My father's name was Hymie!"

Then later when Hymie met a KAOS agent, the agent said, "Hymie?!?" And Smart replied, "His father's name was Hymie!"

Hymie took everything literally. Remember when Hymie and Smart were leaving a room and Smart told him to "kill the light" and Hymie pulled out a silenced pistol and shot the light out?

In the good ol' days, I got to take one of these bad boys to work everyday!

I don't know the answer to that trivia question, but believe it or not, I do remember that episode of "Get Smart" and can tell you why the robot's name was Hymie!

Yeah... I'm old. :?

I have definitely known some real a-hole paramedics. Guys who want to do ALL the driving and won't attend on any patient that is not ALS. They crap on their partners. That's BS, but it happens.

Some of them aren't quite as bad, but will still make their EMT attend all non-emergency patients and not let them attend any emergencies.

It has always been my policy to alternate after each and every run. If I attend on this run, I drive on the next one and you attend. It's only fair. The medic will still end up getting screwed since he gets not only every other patient, but also every ALS patient. But I refuse to stick my partner with all the crap runs simply because I am the senior medic. And if my partner is a rookie, I am going to try and give him or her every possible opportunity to use his/her skills.

-THE MEDIC WILL ALWAYS FEEL LIKE HE/SHE IS IN CONTROL

It's not a "feeling." It's a fact. Besides, there is usually going to be a senior person on a crew of two EMTs too. There's always a pecking order, regardless of training levels. It's not about egos. It's about what is best for our patients.

-THE EMS ACADEMY WOULD HAVE TO BE LONGER FOR EMT'S

TO SEEK EXTRA TRAINING

What extra training would they need?

-DISPATCH WOULD HAVE TO TRIAGE CALLS A WHOLE LOT DIFFERENTLY

No they wouldn't. Triage is triage. Medical priorities don't change according to the level of training of the responders. The only difference would be that they would no longer have to spend that extra time trying to decide which level of responder to send. And it would totally eliminate the need for sending two units, or intercepts.

-AND ON TOP OF THAT THERE ARE MORE EMT'S THEN THERE ARE PARAMEDICS IN THE SERVICE SO THERE WOULD BE A HIRING FRENZY AND THE NEWBIE PARAMEDICS WILL PUT A STRAIN ON THE DEPARTMENTS BUDGET SALARY WISE

You may have a point there. What is the breakdown? How many ALS vs. BLS units on the road at any given time?

-PLUS ITS GONNA COST FOR MORE ALS EQUIPMENT

With some of the highest taxes in the nation, they should be able to find the money to protect their citizens. I bet you can think of quite a few things the city could pull money out of in order to fund EMS.

WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING??

As far as doubling the ALS capability, you still need two medics in a cardiac arrest

Two medics is a luxury in most systems. Most ALS systems run 1 basic/1 medic teams. I never found it that much easier to work a code with another medic than with a good EMT who knew how to hang an IV. Once the tube is in, there's only one ALS job anyhow. I certainly wouldn't say it was something I "need."

As far as I know, there is only one tiered system in Texas with both basic and ALS units instead of all ALS. That's Austin. Somehow they make it work well enough to get good reviews by the experts, but they still have a lot of problems with it.

Seems to me that if EMTs never work with medics, their professional growth is severely limited. Also seems like it would cause a deep divide between the two levels and increase the whole "just a basic" vs. "paragod" animosity.

Hmmm... I can see some sense in that. I certainly prefer a 2-medic truck when possible. But in a city that size, I would think it is better to give everybody one medic than to give half the people two medics.

What do you think, Richard? How often are BLS trucks ending up with ALS patients? And do they call for an ALS unit in that case, or do they just load and go?

No doubt about it. I've seen them panic themselves into distress if they couldn't find their inhaler, even if they weren't having any problems before.

It's not going to happen anytime soon.

I believe that has been established. The question is, why not? There must be some logic they are following. Do you know what it is?

I'm surprised they don't do it. It makes sense to double the number of ALS units you have by simply rearranging personnel. Most agencies would do this. Tiered response is an archaic concept. I can't really think of why NYC would choose to stay in the dark ages of "tradition."

Maybe they just can't afford the extra defibrillators? :?

You don't even start work for three more days, and you're already burned out? :shock:

That's gotta be some kind of record! :?

I can say our salesman that we're spec'ing our Wheeled Coach through has shown to be flexible (rare), honest (extremely rare for a vehicle salesman of any kind), and has even offered up a good number of suggestions for customization...

A good salesman makes all the difference. Seems like most ambulance salesmen haven't a clue about EMS though, and sold used cars or widgets before ending up at their current job.

I know the last time I ordered from Wheeled Coach, the salesman was really cooperative and wrote up the order just like I wanted it. But then when I took delivery, it had completely different lights, siren, cot mount and captains chair from what I ordered. Yep... they put in the "standard" off the rack stuff instead. When I asked, "WTF?" they tried to tell me how much better the stuff they put on there was and that I should keep it. :roll: They fixed it relatively quick, but it was still a disappointing hassle.

At least I got a free trip to Florida out of it to pick it up!

Ooooh! I like this analogy!

It's the difference between being a cook and being a chef!

Thanks for the inspiration! :wink:

I've never worked in a Braun, although the service in my hometown had them for many years. Knowing many of the medics there, I heard mixed reviews of them. They were the slope-sided models, and most of the medics wish they had the extra room of a full box. Brauns seemed to have fewer workmanship problems, such as things falling apart in the box and cab. But electrically, they didn't have any less problems than any other ambulance. They ate alternators for breakfast and a/c units That's just life in Texas though. No ambulance is built to handle summers here.

http://www.braunambulances.com/

I've worked in a lot of Wheeed Coaches. Like every other ambulance I have ever worked in, they had electrical and a/c problems. There were always little annoyances like pieces of cabinet trim falling off, and things rattling that you could never pin down. And -- although this was quite awhile back and they may have improved -- dealing with their salespeople was a pain in the ass. Buying a Wheeled Coach ambulance was like buying a Motorola radio system. Instead of asking you what you want, and then making it for you, they want to sell you what they already have. Really very much like buying any new car! They want to crank a bunch of clone ambulances off the assembly line and just paint them differently for each customer. If you want anything custom or non-standard, they act like a kid working at McDonalds when you tell them you don't want secret sauce on your Big Mac. They can't seem to understand the concept of "have it your way." Excellance was very much the same way. On the good side, Wheeled Coach service and support after the sale have always been excellent. They don't mind coming in and saying, "Yeah, we screwed up. But we'll fix it fast!" And they do.

http://www.wheeledcoach.com/

but here in NY its a little bit different instead of having idiots become paramedics we have inexperienced people that rush into becoming a paramedic for the $money$.

EMS for the money? Anybody who thinks they are going to make good money in EMS should be rejected outright. Obviously, they lack the necessary intellect (and self-esteem) to be a good medic!

Anyhow, I seriously disagree with any belief that EMT experience is somehow an important pre-requisite for paramedic. I'm all for schools that take you from zero-to-hero without any intervals. Wham bam, thank you ma'am. Time spent as a basic is usually just time spent picking up bad habits. Get to medic school as fast as possible.

But to stay on-topic, yeah... two years should be the minimum education for a medic.