flamingemt2011

That's the thing, there are so many BS calls in the city along with the occasional 'real' call. Resources 'per capita' if you will are just as stretched. Mind you, we have maybe 25 on the road and that's less than minimum staffing requirements. Still, a larger city with more units on the road does more bullshit.

Anyhow, flamingemt ... what about the woman who bends down to pet a kitten while walking near her apartment at night; gets scratched by said kitten and phones 911 because she has no bandaids? That's bullshit.

Could get cat scratch fever, cat could have rabiesWhat about the chronic narcotic abuser who is new to the city, who 'heard from a friend' that calling 911 and telling the ambulance that their doc in another province said to call 911 if they ran out of morphine and that the ambulance would give them morphine?

Drug abusers are the most dangerous patient to not transport, they dont live a healthy life style, not transporting them is dangerous. No, I would not give them morphine, you have to educate the patient, but this is a real patientWhat about the ever helpful drive-by caller who phones 911 in the middle of summer for a person lying on a bench near a busy street, who doesn't have time to stop to see if this person is breathing? Only to have the ambulance get there for the typical drunk guy sleeping on a bench because he's homeless and has nowhere else to sleep?

Since the first symptom of over 30% of MIs is sudden arrest, it is good that the samaritan cared enough to call 911. And how can you blame them for not stopping, since the majority of EMTs/Medics in this room stated they would not stop while off-duty.What about the person who phones 911 in the middle of the night living RIGHT BESIDE A DRUG STORE because they can't sleep and their Imovane isn't working?

???? It is abuse of the system, but still a patient with a complaint, you must educate them.

What about the 18 year old male who vomitted 2 days prior to calling the ambulance, who only called because their abdomen is still "just a little bit sore" from wretching?

I do not know why he is vomiting, could be food poising, the flu, appendicitis, ruptured bowel, or any number of life threatening ailments we can not diagnose in the field.

What about the person who calls 911 because the medication they were given is "working too well" and all their symptoms disappeared and they thought they should see a doctor about it?

Again, it is abuse of the system, but we have educated everyone to call 911 for anything and everything, can't blame the patient for our failure.

What about the girl who gets a flu shot, then phones 911 because her arm is a "little bit sore" the next day? No other side effects. Just a sore arm.

Could easily be cellutlitis or nerve damage from the shot or reaction to the medication

I could go on for hours ... There certainly ARE bullshit calls out there. It's even more frustrating when you're sitting there on one of them hearing a cardiac arrest getting dispatched to a PRU (single member) because there are no units available. To deny that there are these types of calls is like denying one's shit doesn't stink.

Double dog dare accepted, my answeres are below each question. If your system does not have a tiered response or enough units on the road, then that is your systems fault, do not blame the patient. Your job is to treat the patient in front of you. And let's be honest, this is about you having to get out of bed and run a call, its not about the supposed cardiac arrest down the street. Your system should post units so that all areas are covered while any truck is on a call, and you should have enough trucks to handle your peak call volume.

If I hit a kid with my car, I call the cops

If I know a kid has been raped, I call the cops

If I know a nursing home patient has been abused, I call the cops

If I know the woman who just came in the ER has been assaulted, I call the cops

If I accidentally shoot my hunting buddy, I call the cops

If you as a medical professional kill a patient with an error, we report it to our supervisors and they bury it like the Penn State staff did with the sexual assault case, and somehow it is all OK.

You Dont like to be proven wrong, I understand .

I would think your employer would/should have a problem with that, it is the agency's medical record, not the medics.

Deleted by AK....

Stay on topic please. Your tangent is for another thread.

Can't speak for hlpp dwayne but I believe obtaining the phone number for personal use was a violation. It is part of her demographic info and he used it in a non medical way, we do not know that her number was listed or unlisted. Imagine if u transported a celebrity and then gave his cell phone number to the enquirer for $100, think y wont be in trouble?

So you are outraged when a church or college covers up rape but it is ok for medics to cover up involuntary manslaughter?

This will make you cry, so don't read it if this is an emotional day for you

http://cbschicago.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/sandusky-grand-jury-presentment.pdf

Seems like Penn State went to great lengths to cover this up so they would not be sued, embarassed, or lose their standing.

UUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHHHHH, wonder what other industry does this on a regular basis ?

See, I don't get that at all, what is it that makes you and HLPP feel that way ?

We do not know that Fire was dispatched before EMS, that is what the parent thinks happened. Nowhere in the article does it state that EMS was delayed because they were waiting on Fire to request them. The policy that requires that is for "non-emergent" calls. I imagine both were dispatched at the same time, but the ambulance came from a different area than the fire station.

I never said every patient should be transported, just saying every patient is a person that deserves a professional response, no matter how low-acuity their illness or injury is.

I vote, both patients in a single ambulance with one EMT from second truck and Mobey as the medic, other EMT drives the second ambulance to wherever.If one EMT is good enough for patient #2, then two EMTs and one Medic should be good enough for both. Althoug I agree with Mobey that patient number one has little chance of walking out of the hospital, I would not give a lower standard of care based on those odds. I have transported two criticals with my partner in the back and a FF driving several times.

Why is it wrong in the scenario of they bumped into each other in the grocery store ?   People meet in weird ways all of the time, so just because he treated her one time, he can never see her again ?  

To me this is a far more civil way of meeting than the current generation's way of asking for your nude pics on myspace, facebook, craigslist, or some chat room.  The Paramedic is not her doctor.  So if her house caught fire, the responding fireman could not date her ?And why is she nuts if she chases him ?

I remember something someone said on here (sorry do not remember who) that stuck with me. In EMS we have far more opportunities to "Touch" a life than we do to "Save" a life.

Yes I would have gladly rescued the person in the wheelchair, what is the better option, leave them there till some citizen comes by ? Then do you leave the expensive wheelchair on the side of the road because it will not fit in their trunk ?

It is like when fireman are called to cut up a downed tree in the road or to get the cat out of the tree, it is not what they went to school for, but it comes with the territory. Sorry Roy and Gage, but EMS isnt like what is portrayed on TV.

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.

Sorry voranus, those are real calls. HLPP, give me a list of examples of your definition of BS calls, I will prove you wrong.

Much different here in the US, we practically beg them to call 911. We have 911 coloring books we pass out to the kindergartners, hell we even have some dogs trained to call 911 over here.

How can you say that Voranus ? Have we not taught every child to call 911 for everything for the past 20 years. I am surprised we do not get requests for pizza delivery to teenager's homes.

Yes I consider a false call a BS call, that is why I typed (except for False calls).  That patient you describe is truly in need, it is the healthcare system that is letting that patient down, be part of the solution and get him/her the help they need; when you choose to take on the role of taxi cab driver instead of medical professional, that is your problem, not the patient's.Sure there is a difference between volly and paid.  You are paid to respond to ambulance calls (not just the calls you deem legitimate), a volunteer who is volunteering their time and gasoline has a right to be upset at an abuser.   Similar to the electrician issue, the paid electrician has no reason to be upset, myself on the other hand (in the role of relative or friend) has a right to be upset if I drove 60 miles to your house and wasted my time because you were to dumb to check the box.P.S.  If your system is not properly staffed to handle your call volume, then that is your service's fault (your Director, corporation, and/or elected officials).

I see nothing wrong with the second scenario, I met lots of guys that way in the early days, or the opposite --------- they would see me in a gay bar and remember that I was their medic and buy me a drink.

There is no such thing as a BS call, every call is a cry for help (except for false calls). Some are more acute, some are actually not acute at all. Calls only become BS, when you the practitioner feel that your time has been wasted. If you are paid for every hour you work, then you should not gripe about any call that you run (a volunteer has the right to be mad).

Imagine your electrician scolding you or getting pissed off because he did a service call to your home and found that they only problem you has was that a circuit breaker tripped in your fusebox, and you were to dumb to go check that before calling a professional.

http://firelawblog.com/2011/10/louisville-metro-ems-paramedic-ordered-to-work-overtime-falls-asleep-in-patients-home-and-is-suspended/

then they fired her, can you say whistle-blower lawsuit ?

http://www.wlky.com/r/29472116/detail.html

I remember in Paramedic school, I made some kind of off-hand comment that put down some profession, with the attitude that I was superior because of my profession, and my teacher tore me a new one. As she pointed out, every job is important, and there is no job that is superior to another. If the garbage man fails to do his job, he will lose it, and his job is just as important to his family, himself, and his community as any other job.

If anything, we should thank our patients for calling us. 99% of them could get in a car and make it to the ER just fine.

ask him how many mistakes your service had this year.

I told you about an ambulance crew that got in trouble because the home alarm system activated the camera when the patient pushed the medic-alarm, and that the entire encounter between medics and patient was recorded. I was recently worked an injured kid at a middle school football game, looked up into the crowd, and noted several people had their cell phones out, recording my every move.

I didn't like the feeling at all, not that I was worried about doing my job, or getting caught, it was just unnerving. How do you guys feel about citizens recording you while on-scene ?