thbarnes

Grady is transitioning from a county authority to an independent non-profit, which will make it eligible for more external funding.

Grady EMS - Atlanta http://www.gradyhealthsystem.org/job_search.asp Rural Metro - North Fulton, South Fulton http://www.rmetro-ga.com MetroAtlanta - Cobb http://www.maas911.com/default.php AMR - Dekalb http://www.amr.net/careers/index.aspx Care Ambulance

Mary Wohlford, 80, of Decorah, Iowa, had the words “DO NOT RESUSCITATE” tattooed on her chest to make her medical wishes clear, but at least one doctor thinks that isn’t enough to stop medical personnel. Dr. Mark Purtle of the Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines told the Des Moines Register that state law defines when caregivers are permitted to end life-sustaining measures, and a tattoo isn’t enough. Wohlford noted that she also has a living will hanging on the side of her refrigerator. Complete Article

Georgia is talking about letting RNs staff ambulances after completing the airway, trauma, communications, ethics, and scene safety units of the Paramedic curriculum. They must also have ACLS and PHTLS/BTLS. This presents a problem in mind. Case 1: They are going to pay the ambulance-based RNs the same hourly rate as RNs receive in the ER or ICU, which is where they most likely moved over from. This wouldn't make sense, because there are already numerous EMT-P with their RN who don't receive the hourly rate as ER and ICU nurses. 2. They are going to pay the RNs on the ambulances the same hourly rate as Paramedics, many of whom also have their Bachelors. In which case, are these RNs total fuck ups?

And we are going to find these willing candidates, where?

A previous service I worked for had them, but I never got the opportunity to use them. My present service is getting them in October. The hold up? There's no check box in the billing system for them. See "Private Service Thread".

They may not be well aware of it right then, they might be feeling quite good actually (alcohol, pills, etc.) but they are going to be very well aware of the situation when they wake up in a noisy ER with a raging headache. The only thing you can do is be honest.

You will feel better when you do the hard work to pass again next time.

This is an original, ongoing work... You may have received an email or seen a local news report on "ICE". "ICE" was all the rage in 2005 but continues to crop up here are there. The concept behind ICE is that it's a number saved on your cellphone under the contact name "ICE", which stands for In Case of Emergency, which Paramedics can use to contact your loved ones in an emergency situation. I have news. I will never look through your phone to contact your next of kin unless you are dead and the police officer or coroner ask me to. If you are in a truly life-threatening emergency, the last thing I'm going to do is play with your phone, nor do I want to share the play-by-play with your blubbering family. I will be busy performing a rapid assessment to determine the extent of your illness or injury, obtaining vital signs, establishing vascular access, and providing supplemental oxygen and ventilation, if needed. If you were in an accident, I will be working hard to maintain your cervical spine. If you are a cardiac patient, I will be attaching and reading the ECG machine, measuring out precise medications, and monitoring your response. In other words, ICE is stupid. However, I do recommend the following: If you choose to down three six packs of beer, break into the YMCA pool, and decide to dive into the shallow end, please leave your car keys on the lifeguard's seat. I will return for your car after my shift is over. If you are diabetic and choose to skip your insulin for three days and eat seven boxes of Little Debbies instead, please leave your best recipe on a post-it note next to be bed, because we both know you like to eat, don't you? If you have a rare medical disorder, please make sure no one in your family knows what it's called. But do tell your family to call 911 periodically when you are sleeping to report "seizures". If you are planning on getting crazy on PCP today, please do us a favor and remove your clothes ahead of time, you're going to do it anyways, sometime between throwing the television at the police and them tazing you four times.

I am a new Paramedic, having passed my exams in September of 2006 and been hired right out of Paramedic school. When I was hired, the service who hired me was and continues to be desperately understaffed. I worked hard for them, because they needed help and I needed the money. I worked my first 24 hours shift my third day there, totally clueless, they just threw me in. Over the next 60 days, I averaged about 50 - 60 hours a week on grueling shifts in the busiest parts of town. I came in early and stayed late with no complaints, I gave it my all and had the best attitude. Then classes began at my University and I had to cut back on my hours, dramatically, because the service still utilizes the old 24-48 hour shifts and I can't work during the week. This was not a surprise for them, I had told them in my first interview that I would be returning to school in the Spring. A couple weeks later, out of nowhere, I was asked to come in and meet with the chiefs. I had not completed their "orientation program" on schedule ("What orientation program?" I thought to myself) and they would not have the time to complete it with me before my 90-day review now that I was going PRN and had classes at the university. They offered me the opportunity to work hard over the next 30 days with the Asst. Chief of Training, alongside my other classes, to memorize their protocols and improve my paperwork...I took it. Despite the Asst. Chief of Training's absence on most if not all of our scheduled days together, my documentation went from okay to stellar. I have also made a huge improvement in utilizing their awkward and sometimes backwards protocols. I actually had to go back and learn the old ACLS because they have not updated yet. I made dramatic improvements and many of my peers acknowledged this. So today they let me go. They did not feel I could finish "getting up to speed" before my 90-day review. They offered a good reference and a handshake but I am very, very disappointed. Why didn't they take me through the orientation program the first 60 days when I was available all day, every day? They certainly didn't have a problem throwing me out there the third day when they needed to cover that shift. I really feel taken advantage of. Why weren't any NRP, AMLS, or PHTLS classes offered for the entire months of November, December, and January? I know why the Asst. Chief didn't have any time for me, it's because they pile on so many other responsibilities onto him, but why not assign me to under-utilized FTOs (Field Training Officers). But now they are still understaffed. Since I was hired, they've let three other people go and hired no one new. And now I'm supposed to go get a job at, where? A fast food joint? I don't know what I'm going to do. I feel like my Paramedic training was a waste of time. I appreciate the reference, but a three-month stint does not look good on a resume.

Yeah, shift supervisor, lt, or capt...an extra $.25 an hour.

There has been much debate on requiring degrees for EMTs and Paramedics, especially Paramedics. We can look at other allied heath professionals and the 'degree inflation' their professions have seen, but it comes down to the fact that EMS is not a true meritocracy in most cases: degrees don't mean anything in EMS, until they mean something, not many are going to get them. In medicine, an MSN does not do the work of a CNA. An attending does not have to spend 80 hours at the hospital anymore, that's what residents do. They don't do these things not because of their experience, leadership skills, or other qualities, they do it because the have degrees plain and simple, no question. Today I worked with a paramedic of twenty years who possess a BSN and is pursuing his MNP, despite pursuing every opportunity afforded him, he's only a lieutenant in our service. Being the best paramedic I know, I don't know why he doesn't have 'chief' in his title. I took a patient to Emory the other day with a Paramedic with twelve years experience and two masters degrees, one in education and one in EMS leadership. He has no rank despite applying at every opportunity. Both of these medics I know make maybe two dollars more an hour than I do, a 21-year-old college student with a Paramedic certificate and not because of their degree, because they've stuck it out longer. It's a shame really that our profession while wanting to advance itself, shortchanges those individuals who take it upon themselves, on their own time and own dollar to do so.

My service responds either lights and sirens, or not, there is no in-between. If anything were to happen on the road and you didn't have both lights and sirens on, the driver could be personally liable.

Hey, that's the service I did my Medic clinicals with! Yeah, Yamacraw Village in Savannah, that's where I worked my first GSW, stabbing, and domestic assault. Pt was probably high on PCP or Meth. Been there, done that. I don't work in Savannah anymore.

Open ended topic starter. What mental illness do YOU suffer from? What diagnoses do you encounter most? What patients do you find the most interesting, obnoxious, etc.? ANNOUNCED TODAY - Study on Post Traumatic Stress among EMS Personnel http://www.tema.ca/news.php?news_id=9 Program helps cops respond to mental illness http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/sto...NG.32042ed.html Poll shows campaign to reduce mental illness stigma is paying off http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.d...OCEAN/110130160 Mental illness afflicts 30 million young Chinese http://english.people.com.cn/200610/11/eng...011_310680.html