PCP

I use to watch " Emergency " back in the day and " Rescue 911 " and I believe that is where it all started. I took my very first first aid course in the early 90's and from there just kept taking courses. I enjoy helping people and running calls. For me it is the best feeling helping somebody and knowing I may have made a difference just by showing up and taking them to the hospital. I love it when you finish up with the pt. and they give you a smile and say " Thank you ". To me that is what EMS is about.

Welcome to the City!

Welcome to the City! You will learn very quickly that you are judged by your posts so think before posting.

Only tip I can give you is always be respectful to your peers, teachers, and preceptors!

Welcome to the City!

• Taking someone home is something that is not done on a regular bases but it does happen depending on the paramedic you are working with and the situtation. Another thing would be it depends on what station you work at. For example if you work at a rural station it would happen more often than if you worked in the city.
  

So any other good BS calls out there that someone wants to share?

Welcome to the City!

Jump in and join the discussions or ask questions as there are lots of great people on this site to learn from.

I do not think I am hijacking anything, I believe contrary to the OPs point, and I am "on-topic", I did not change the topic, I just disagree with the statement that there are BS calls.

Easy Vorenus, without any details from the OP about what the real temperature or weather conditions were that day (raining/windy):

The definition of hypothermia is when the body temperature drops below 95 degrees. If a child is walking in the cold (even if dry and not windy), without proper insulation, it would not take long for mild hypothermia to settle in. I imagine the child was starting to feel those symptoms, and realized he could not make the rest of the walk. Who knows, if instead of lecturing the child, we actually took his temperature, we might have discovered that as well.

Now if it were 98 degrees outside, my argument does not hold.P.S. They stated they DROVE for 5 minutes, not walked for 5 minutes:So let's say they only drove 30mph (5280 feet x 30 = 158,400 feet per hour / 60 minutes = 2640 per minute x 5 minutes = 13200 feet / 5280 feet per mile = 2.5 miles the kid would have had to walk.

It was NOT raining, windy, or snowing! It was about 7 degrees out and when asked what was wrong he responded by saying he was cold and wanted a ride home! No signs of hypothermia what so ever temp. was taken and it was 36.7. done! Now if it was snowing or windy or minus 10 or something then by all means I am sure it would have been a different story but when the patient says I want a ride home cause I am cold and the weather was good that is a BULLSHIT call.

IMOP calling for an ambulance when you are cold is a BS call! I have been cold many times when walking home and did not put on a extra layer of clothes or jacket because I was too cool as a kid to put on my coat. NOT once did I ever think to call for an ambulance to take me home!

I feel it is a little different when someone calls an electrician and it turns out all he has to do is turn on a breaker as one can help themself by putting on a coat or sucking up the fact they are cold due to not putting on a coat but one can not help call an electrician when they do not have the knowledge of electrical issues and something is wrong!

Big difference my friend!

I wish we had been able to drop him off at home so we could have talked to the mom and dad or who ever was home at the time and explain to them when their kid should be calling for an ambulance.

Welocme to the city!

Oh this has the potential to be a really fun topic. My biggest BS call was for a vaginal bleed at 3 in the morning. When I asked when her last period was she just looked at me stupid and said "about a month ago" I stood there looking at her, didn't say a work. It took a full minute before the light came and she clued in...

That is funny! Not so funny for the patient as we all make mistakes but I stil would have to laugh after the call was done.

Mobey I did not realize that there is a law against this type of abuse towards the system but find it very interesting and will be looking to see if I can locate that law.

I just felt that it was a waste of resources as we were very busy that night.

I leave my cell phone at the station when out on a call as I have a job to do and any personal calls can wait. That way my ring tone is not an issue.

Hello everbody!

Had a call on my last shift where I felt it was a bit of a BS call but who I am to judge.

My partner and I where dispatched out for a cold 14 year old male. When we arrived my partner asked the guy what was going on and the patient's response was " I am on my way home from a friends house and I am cold." My partner asked if he called 911 because he was cold and wanted a ride home? The patient's response was " yes ". My partner explained to him that 911 is not used for this type of situation but we would give him a ride home this time. We drove for about 5 minutes when the patient said we could drop him off now as he was only about five minutes from home.

Curious to know what kind of BS calls the rest of you get.

Approx. 4,000 calls per year at my last station.

Not sure about my current station numbers but it would be much higher than my last station.

Welcome to the city!!

Watch out Dwayne we are getting stronger!

Welcome to the City!

welcome to the City!

I give you credit for taking the EMT program again after having a head injury.

. In no way should you feel dumb when you forget things while doing a scenario in front of the class. I was in the boat not too long ago so I know how you feel. It is better to make mistakes in the class room rather than in the field!

Sounds like your instructor is not much help in the way of boosting your confidence. You come across in your post as someone who is going to do well in the EMS field so stay with it do not worry about what others think and keep your head up and don't think of yourself as being dumb just because you make the odd mistake in class.

Welcome again to the City!

pros

Great place to have a discussion about calls you have done where you think you could have done something different

Have a chance to meet some real great people and make some new friends

The people on this site are for the most part are all passionate about EMS and are active in participating in discussions in a positive manner.

Cons

sometimes we judge people to quick.

It is addicting and I don't get my work done.

Would be nice to have a forum for BLS discussions only.

Nanaimo Canada work for the BC Ambulance.

Welcome to the city!

Tyler my friend I am not busting your balls but just want to give you a little advice.

Take the time to type out the dialog. This forum is very well respected by many and read by many experienced medics around the world and you will be judged by how you present yourself on this forum.

Just by reading your little saying underneath your posts tells me you are young and sure enough when I checked I was correct. We do enjoy the odd trauma call from time to time but in my opinion it is not a good day when I have a trauma call as it is going to affect that persons life, their family's life and possibly my life. Please keep that in mind when doing a trauma call.

I should mention welcome to the city and please keep posting questions and comments as I was just offering a little advice and don't take as if I was saying your are just a dumb kid who should not be posting on this forum cause I am not. All I am saying is take the time to type out what you are trying to say and proof read it before posting!

I myself need to proof read my posts once or twice as my spelling and grammer are not the best but I want to make a good impression as you never know who is reading your post.

Happy to have you part of the city and I look forward to reading your future posts and comments.

Brian

I

I am the new guy at the station with only two months in at this station. Most of the people at this sation have been there for the better part of five years or more. Most of the part time staff have been friendly and helpful but there is always the select few who choose to be the hard ass! I have not been " hazed " but I I welcome it if that is what is going to happen at some point. Of course as long as it is in good fun as I like a joke as much as the next person but sure hope they can handle it when I give it back at some point!

I do wish we as paramedics would treat each other with a little more respect at times and help mold new medics like myself. I know when I am working with a new person at the station I have not met yet I always introduce myself and give them a brief run down on my history of being in the EMS service. Some medics ask questions or say " Oh that is fine that you don't have much experience as we work as a team" When others have made comments like " Oh thats nice or don't even speak to me". That makes it for along shift.

The approach I take at being the new guy is I have to earn respect and trust and that is going to take time.

I feel some paramedics forget where they started and what it is like to be a new person at a station. It is very nerve racking being new and making sure you do a good job on each and every call. As the new person I am going to be judged on our preformance and I would be a fool to think that the other paramedics have not talked about me after working a shift with me to other paramedics in the station.

I do my best to always do a good job either as the attendant or driver and ask questions if I don't know something or bounce ideas off each other as to what might be wrong with the patient or the best way to extricate a patient out of a vehicle.

One day I will not be the new guy and I will always remember where I started, as well I am always going to greet any new person with the respect they deserve and make them feel welcomed!

Brian

Only thing I can suggest is talk to the school you are planning on going to and get a list of books you need and look online at Chapters if there is one in your area or what ever large book store you have and they can order them in for you possibly cheaper than purchasing them through the college.

Good luck on your adventure!

Thanks RaceMedic.

It always sucks when you get news of a fellow paramedic being involved in a accident. It does not happen very often but when it does it sure reminds me of how dangerous our job can be while driving.

_{Welcome to the City! I am looking forward to your thoughts and comments as it is always great to learn from a dinosaur!}