hatelilpeepees

JPIN, I said pediatric patients in "ARREST", as in cardiac arrest.

Well you are entitled to your opinion USA.  The point is that a patient is a patient and deserves to be treated as all other patients would be, emergent or non-emergent has nothing to do with it.  And once you start letting medics choose who they will and will not transport I can assure you that your service will be sued out of existance, or go bankrupt.  

Had I been the manager on this call, I would have assisted and techd the call, to alleviate any of the ridiculous fears that have been mentioned here.  EMS is not black and white, and sometimes we have to operate in ways that are not perfect.  Do you transport infants who are in arrest in a car-seat ?  NO.  Using your logic, we should, as we do not want to break the law, nor risk an accident.  But to knock a hole in your arguement, let's change her chest pain to a twisted ankle, are you going to leave her at home.  Unless you have no idea of how to operate an ambulance, there is no greater risk of this patient being in an MVC than any other patient you transport on a daily basis.   To deny care to a patient because of an irrational fear is negligent in my book.  

The cost to outfit all of your ambulances to handle 1000lb patients is not worth the cost, especially when you consider how often you would use it.  But I am sure your company would be willing to accept your cash donations to make it happen.P.S. A patient ADVOCATE would have found a way to transport the patient, not abandon them in their time of need.

usa, i guess you will never transport another patient then, as their is always the chance of an MVC involving the ambulance. I guess you will never start another IV due to the possibility of infiltration. I guess you will never administer another drug because you may overdose the patient. I guess you will never use a stairchair, as it is too dangerous to transport patients up and down steps. I guess you will never work a wreck in the roadway as there is the chance you could be hit by a car.

So lets put this in a way that even you can understand. Lets change this patients location to her home, and she has just called 911 for chest pain. Are you going to leave her there until the bariatric ambulance can come the next day ? If it is unsafe to transport her non-emergency to a bariatric facility, how is it safe today to transport her to a hospital facility, just because she called 911. Same ambulance, same crew, what you gonna do for her ?

Patients who weigh in excess of 700lbs pretty much have to be transported on the floor of the ambulance, in most parts of this country, unless you are going to advocate loading them onto an open-bed wrecker somehow. It is obvious that you have never handled this type of transport, so please withhold your opinion when you have no clue what you are talking about.

And yes I read that the OP said the supervisor refused to let them remove the stretcher gear, but I doubt that is the way it really happened. And how do you think the patient felt, when she was refused transport because she is too fat.

I am sorry, but I would have terminated you. First of all, the stretcher bar and antlers are easily removed from the floor. We do this type of transport frequently, we typically roll them to the truck on the hospital bed (fully raised), remove the head board and then just slide the mattress and patient into the back of the truck, then reverse the process at the receiving facility.

You probably pissed off every social worker and nurse in that facility, and showed them exactly how valuable your competitor is. There are very few services that have a bariatric wench and lift for an ambulance, so the other ambulance may not have been any better equiped than you. It is not your job to determine who you will and will not transport. Hopefully you will still have a job when you go back to work, but do not be surprised if you do not.

P.S. You have no idea what the next stage of treatment was, so you may well have delayed definitive care. She may have been scheduled for a procedure of some sort that day or the next day.

I have to say the best pair I ever owned were military combat boots, once I broke them in (hurt like hell the first week).  I took them to shoe repair place and had them sew zippers into the side, and I wore them for probably 7-8 years, had them re-soled once.  Once I got into management, i just moved to a polishable black tennis shoe.  

I did have a part-time job that required steel-toe, so I went to walmart and bought their work-boot, and that was a big mistake, didnt last a month.  So I would definitely opt for spending more for quality.  In any major city, there is usually a quality "work boot" store, that may even have a truck that will come to factories or any workplace that invites them, see if you have one of those nearby.

I am not so sure about all of this. The one thing I can say is that it has sparked quite a bit of discussion here, and nationwide (usually groups from other states who are against it). I remember one ER Doc that I worked with who would come back from examining an obese child and be so upset that he could not say what he wanted to say, which was "You and your kid are too "f&&&ing fat", thats why he has ________ (asthma, diabetes, hypertension), but he knew he would be fired if he told the truth and insulted them.

No one ever challenges parents on what they feed their children, and no asysin, I can not blame the fast food companies, that would be like blaming guns for gun deaths. No one forces you to drive to a fast food place and order those high fat meals, it is a choice. I have yet to ever even try one of those monster burgers at Hardees, they look good, but I am not going to eat 2,000 calories in one meal.

As far as kids seeing the signs, it is possible, but the billboards that I have seen are located along the interstate downtown, I have not seen any in a suburb or residential area. I do worry that the "fat kid" will see it, and feel bad, but dont you think they are already ridiculed every day in school ? Maybe this will make parents do the right thing and quit making excuses for their poor parenting.

I might be reading you wrong but you sound really shocked at the notion that many of us change not only the sheets after every patient but that we might carry blankets enough that we don't have to reuse them.  Am I just misunderstanding you?

In all my time in EMS I have never reused sheets or blankets.  When the patient is dropped off at the ER the stretcher is stripped with sheets and blankets dropped into the laundry.  It is then wiped down from top to bottom and new sheets and blankets are set up.

Like ERDoc, almost every place I've worked has had some sort of requirement, either State or service mandated, that we have a certain number of linens and blankets on board.  Nitpicky?  Perhaps.  But it seems, as evidenced by the OP, that perhaps there's a good reason those rules are in place.

No you are not reading wrong, I am shocked that there are people who carry 10 blankets on an ambulance. I've always either had 1-2 stolen from the ER when on 911 truck (one provider did buy 1 wool blanket for each truck, that we sent in for laundering once it became soiled). Most of the privates either made you steal from the floor during IFTs, or they had some made up with their name on it (like funeral home) that you kept. I always put a sheet over them first to act as a barrier for the blanket, but we have always had "shared community blankets".

What about blankets? Do u carry enough for each patient or do patients share

I think we would be lying if we said we had never done it. You should not do it though,but u don't know that might have been there last sheet and they were planning on changing it before the next call.

So sad, I really wasnt here long enough to meet him. Is it possible to find his "last post" on here ?

You could go either direction. Paramedic makes you more likely to be hired as a firefighter, as there are 400 applicants for every position in most departments. On the other hand, if you can get hired at a large Fire Dept as a FF1 (might have to volunteer or work smaller dept first), the Fire Department may have an in-house medic program or pay you to go to medic school. Which career is your true passion ?

To shed a little more light, or a different perspective, I talked to one of the nurse managers at our local children's hospital and their stance is:

If someone brings in a child that suffers from accidental trauma (bike accident, not wearing a helmet) or from accidental poisoning (cabinets not locked), they have a duty to educate the parents of what they did wrong and how they can prevent injuries in the future (which they have done for decades). So why should they NOT step in when the parents are killing their children slowly through obesity ?

They knew it would ruffle feathers, but they are getting the message across. In the south, the juvenile diabetes rate is through the roof. I am still on the fence being a fat ass myself, but I understand a little more.

In Georgia, a new campaign has been launched to raise awareness about childhood obesity.  Some say that people need to hear the truth and that "chubby is not cute" (reads one billboard on the interstate, showing an obese 12 year old), others say the message is too harsh, and may do more harm to obese kids who are already targets of ridicule among peers.  Here is some information:

http://www.thatsfit....gia-go-too-far/

Here are four of the billboards, may be hard to read:

http://blogs.babycen...llboards-wrong/  

Is it toom much "in your face", or is it "what we need to hear" ?

1. Where do you buy beet juice ?

2. Why would you buy beet juice ?

It is probably a mild allergic reaction, I get that tingly feeling when i eat alot of strawberries. I dont break out, but I can feel when I have had too many. A large glass of beet juice may be just enough to give you those warning signals.

Sorry, but EEO has come down pretty hard in the humor area. No jokes. Ever. Same thing with TV. Someone might take offense.

You are kidding right, you are allowed to watch TV ? If not, why not ?

Good points crap and dwayne. To crap: one point i can speak to that you described as at the end of the affair you find the same outcome. Someone wise showed me that we are attracted to the same person over and over again, they are just in a different skin suit. For instance, if you and I walk into a bar and there are a 100 men in there, we will be attracted to maybe 3 of them right off the bat, the other 97 not so much. Those 3 guys, no matter what skin color (crotchity), physical appearance, or income level, are the same 3 guys we have dated all of our lives, they just have on a different skin suit, as we are all attracted to SOMETHING (different for all). I am not sure it works the same for men, as they will "do" any of the 100 usually.

Dwayne, I think your question has a variable answer. My answer would be, would your action "hurt" your spouse/partner/person you are dating ? If so then it is cheating. I say variable, as I may be hurt that you even texted another woman behind my back, for crapmagnet it may be that something physical has to occur. For another woman, she may allow you to cheat as long as she knows about it, or can share in the experience. If you have been with your partner any length of time, you should know where that boundary line is.

So crapmagnet, I ask you this. I understand why most men cheat, because the small head overrules the larger head. But why do women cheat with men ? Is it a lack of self-respect, daddy issues, what ? I can not imagine going to a hotel room with a married guy for any reason.

I wondered why this topic was locked yesterday ?

Hmmmm, making me think. I know this is crazy but hear me out. In my hood we have toll roads and are about to have toll lanes on another interstate, where most people by a transponder for your windshield so you do not have to stop and pay. So lets say there is an accident, which is visible by one of the traffic cameras, lets say the person has been ejected and is not breathing, and I just drive on by. Five minutes later, I pass through the toll booth, and my transponder is registered as going through the toll booth. A smart lawyer subpeonas all camera footage from that toll road, and you can see me on camera, looking at the wreck as I creep by, but I do not stop. What do you think a jury would say ? True, I had no supplies, but I could open an airway, or do CPR.

Or an easier scenario, I pass and do not stop, but call 911 and give a fake name. The investigators want to interview all of the witnesses to find out what happened, I am called in and it is learned that I am a medic. What then ?

I know that there is no written law about this, but that does not mean you will not be found negligent. Most corporations have been found negligent for something incredibly stupid, but they lost just the same "thats why Preparation H has a warning label that says "do not eat".

So you would use arm even though double mastectomy, I guess I should have also stated shunt in left arm sat bicep

So you have a renal patient that has had both legs amputated above the knee, and she has had both breasts removed due to cancer. You are called to the dialysis clinic because she is unresponsive, where do take a blood pressure at?

Kind of got my eyes opened this past week.  My partner at work is married, and it became pretty obvious within a week or two that he is a man-whore, and has probably slept with several hundred women over his illustrious career.  A group of us when out for beers this weekend, and one of the young studs asked him how he did it without getting caught.  OMG !  I was amazed at the skill, effort, and planning that this guy went through.  I won't bore you with all of the details, but this was some of what he said:

1.  No cards, notes, love notes, emails, texts to any phone/computer with his name on it, ever.  He has a trackphone for sexting and arranging hook-ups that the wife does not know about.

2.  He always keeps a bar of soap from home in his car, so he can shower and not smell like hotel soap or his slut's soap.

3.  He makes the women store his number in their phone under a female name, and he uses code words before he begins any text or emails to make sure the coast is clear before he sends something embarassing.

4.  He always goes to hotels that are atleast 40 miles away, to reduce the chance of bumping into someone he knows (when he uses a hotel).

5.  He tells most of them that he is married, but about to divorce, but tells them all a different work schedule so that he can juggle several on his 2 off days.  

6.  He usually targets single moms, as they often have a place of their own, so his cheap ass doesnt have to pay for a hotel room, and because they are "easier" per him.  

7.  He has a set of "15" rules they must abide by or agree to before sex, with the first being they can break up at anytime and the other will walk away quietly, no drama (guess who is being asked to remain drama free).

Now I know no one in this room would ever cheat, but I bet you have worked with those that do.  So what other tricks and devious things do they use, there is no telling how many times I was cheated on and never knew it, because they were smarter than I thought.  I have never heard of this much planning.  And yes, I am sure there are just as many guilty women as guys, so please enlighten me about what you know.

Have to take exception AK, even in the smallest hick town, the populations tend to run 45-55% female. We had the same BS here in a suburb of Atlanta; it was a hospital run EMS - turned county service, with a female director, who absolutely refused to hire women. Thank God she finally died, now maybe the neanderthals will come up into this century. I can't believe you would defend the attitude of "those pretty little women don't want to do work where they might break a nail, they are far better off at home chained to our beds".

Kim you didnt give us a challenge after your answer. Here is one that is a trick, it is easy, but the way I understood it was not the real words used:

Guys like us we had it made (not the beginning)

Had this song stuck in my head, can't remember all of the words. Without using the internet to look it up, please complete the song, list the name of the TV show, and then challenge us with a new song:

"Come and knock on our door, we've been waiting for you"................

OK, I feel a little better now, at least I know I am not alone.