flamingemt2011

Good point ruff, and I am fine with you choosing who you hang out with, I think that is bias or personal preference, not discrimination. What I am argueing against his discrimination by employers. I would not label you a homophobe because you refuse to go to gay bars or hang out with gay people, but when you treat them less than professionally in the workplace just because they are gay, that is a problem.

Walk me through a scenario where your failure to document race in your narrative would somehow harm the patient please.

You are entitled to your beliefs, and obviously she will not be harmed by higher education, but I have to ask: If you were King you would require an Associate's Degree, Right ? If education is so important why not demand a Master's Degree as the minimum ?

Was it really because my advice was poor, or just that it was contrary to what you believe ? None of us are all-knowing or are perfect, the fact that I have a view opposite of yours does not make me stupid or evil. Please also note that I originally asked for my gay bretheren to send me their stories, I did not accuse any member of this room of being a homophobe, nor did I entice straight people to jump in my conversation. I think over the past 7 pages, I have responded to everyone with respect. If you want to discuss veracity of posts, I would suggest you give a negative rating to the straight poster who threatened physical violence against any fags he saw kissing and groping each other. But I imagine he got positive points for that language, while I got negatives for simply asking questions. But I am used to it, the same thing happens every time I have a performance review, I get a lower rating than straights that I outperform on a daily basis, but I do not expect straight people to understand, as you have already decided that gays and blacks are looking for racism rather than experiencing it.

Exactly, thanks for that clarification, I should have messaged that better. Most addicts do not seek assistance until they have hit rock-bottom, and by then they are in real trouble. I believe we have a hollywood actor, who was recently fired due to addiction, and has still not sought help despite pleas from everyone. His behavior is typical of most addicts.

Also note that I already have a "-2" rating just for asking questions. I dont think I have been rude to anyone in this room, but again, because I am different, I am judged and publicly given a negative rating.

I am not against higher education, I am against wasting money on courses for a career you are not already in. I think you should take courses that help you advance in your career and in your personal life. I think that the entry level EMTB is taught the amount of A&P they need for their level in their EMT B class, when considering their limited scope of practice. Should that EMT B student become an actual EMTB, and then they decide they want to progress, it would then be appropriate for them to take those higher level courses. You can argue that I need to have an advanced degree in chemistry if I work with chemicals every day. At face value that is a true statement. But if my exposure to chemicals is only because I am a custodian mixing cleaning products, then maybe an advanced chemistry degree is a bit much, unless I want to leave custodial work behind and become a chemist. The question was asked by someone who isnt even a student in our industry yet, who knows, she may end up in a totally different industry a year from now, so I feel it is a waste to take medical courses until she has decided that this is her calling. Sorry you misunderstood, toodle-loo. I would agree if you told me that your department had a VERY AGGRESSIVE citizen CPR and PUBLIC AED PLACEMENT initiative. But if you are like most departments and only being reactive (responding to calls) in between naps and TV time, instead of being proactive and preventing calls through education and partnerships with your community, then I dont think you can say you have done everything that is in your control. Is there really anyone in this room who doesnt believe you could improve survival rates if you found a way to place 1000 AEDs throughout your community ?

Dwayne I am sorry I missed your question in the previous post, I was not avoiding it. My answer would be no, the behavior should not change at either location, for you at the gay bar, or for me at work, WITHIN REASON. Obviously there are laws and rules at both that need to be adhered to, but I am claiming the rules are different for me, because I make you uncomfortable. Case in point: this may not apply to every employer, but if you get caught having heterosexual sex at work or while on the clock, you will probably face a write-up or suspension (assuming it is not forced or harassment), I on the other hand would be immediately fired for performing a homosexual sex act. And here is another example; all of you have experienced the "religous freak" who feels the need to bless every meal at the station and lead you in prayer whether you want it or not. Do you tell him to shut up or punch him in the face for that behavior ?

I have frequently read posts regarding the same type of question, "Should we add this "drug", "protocol", or "equipment" to our truck ? It is usually something that is outside or nearly outside our scope of practice, and would have minimal benefit to our industry or our patients. It sounds as if we are bored, and are wanting to stretch our wings. I would suggest that before we spread our wings towards new stuff, maybe we should master what we already have in our scope. Cardiac Arrest Survival statistics have not improved in over 20 years, and the common belief among physicians is that Paramedics can't intubate worth a damn. So before we start something new, maybe we should master what is already in our scope. Toodle-Loo

I would have to vote NO. To administer antibiotics correctly, you should do a "culture", then start the patient on a broad-spectrum antibiotic, that they are not allergic too. Once you get the culture back, you would then confirm that the patient is on the right antibiotic, or needs to be changed. I know you specifically referenced a burn patient, but those would be far fewer than your traditional "sick" patients. You also need to know for a fact that it is a bacterial infection and not a viral infection, before you should administer an antibiotic. As mentioned, antibiotics are sometimes expensive, and we really do not have the needed testing capabilities in the field. I will be doing what I think you guys call a "spinoff" topic on this, so stay tuned.

I do not see much reason for taking an A&P course for EMT school, but I would suggest one prior to Paramedic school. I think you should get into EMT, make sure you like it, then decide what other courses will benefit you.

I agree with the above, first finish EMT B, work a little, make sure you love the job. After you get some experience, you can decide between nurse or medic. I see no benefit to doing both, as it would be similar to being licensed in residential and commercial construction, related fields, but totally different. Do what you love.

Sorry, you got it backwards. The reason for teaching to pass is that the test became harder. In the old days, the test was easy. It is the responsibility of the employer to "orient" new employees, there is no way that any school can teach someone everything they need to know in school.

The problem is a response time greater than 6 minutes and lack of citizen CPR. Fix that and you want need double defibrillation.

Ok, I am the bad guy, great. Let's walk through a little scenario that i think most of you have been through: It is Christmas or Thanksgiving at the station and we all have to work. We decide to have a feast with our families and loved ones, so we all bring a dish and cook a huge feast, and have a grand old time. Now it is over and time for everyone to go home, Dwayne gives his wife or girlfriend a nice kiss on the lips as she leaves the station, no big deal. I give my man a kiss on the lips, still no big deal ? What if your kids are there, still no big deal ?

Yes, that is the price you pay for working for a government agency, and being dumb enough to do something stupid that gets you fired.

So you are claiming that straight people do not bring any drama to the job ? WROOOOONNNNNGGGGG ! You have never worked with a female EMT who just broke up with her soulmate, the fireman/emt that just discovered his wife is doing a guy at another station, arguements over race, religion, politics, abortion, illegal aliens. Straight people are the biggest drama queens around, it is just accepted because it is your kind doing your silliness. This is no different than the situation involving the two muslims that were thrown off the airplane after Osama's death, just because they were "different" and made the other passengers uncomfortable. I can promise you that somewhere on that plane was a criminal, a tax cheat, a cheating spouse, a drug dealer or user, and a child molester --- but they didnt "look" abnormal, so they got to stay on the plane. All that should matter at my job is how well I perform patient care, and other social preconditions shouldn't matter.

Dwayne I would go out of my way to get you that job in a gay bar, but we both know you would never apply for that job out of fear of what your friends and relatives would think. But with that being said there is still discrimination in many jobs: You would have a hard chance gettting a job as a waiter at Hooters, you wont find many american teenagers working in a chinese or mexican restaurant, you will rarely see an obese or ugly woman working as a receptionist or TV anchor, and you will rarely find a gay male emt or medic working for a municipal EMS / Fire/ or Police Department, we are relegated to the 2nd tier services, and have no chance of advancement. And in "right to work" states, we can be fired for just being gay, whether we are flaming or not.

Hey Hey Everyone, lots of Love !!! Thanks to all who have PM'd me with your stories. Hatelilpeepees (love the name) that is exactly what I am talking about. It is shame that only Rock Hudson or Tom Cruise closet gays can get hired in our industry. Dwayne, I appreciate your statements and you are correct, but unfortunately our industry does not live by that standard. Before I came out of the closet, here are some of the behaviors I witnessed at a major metropolitan Fire Department. a) Men continuously talking about their dicks, their sex acts they had recently enjoyed, and they had porn on the TV every night. Men continuously making gay jokes, grabbing each others ass, pretending to be gay in their speech and actions (joking around). c) EMS crews male/female having sex in the station or in the ambulance. d) EMS/Fire crews performing sexual acts in the parking lot with their dates or spouses at the time. e) One station's initiation was to paint the testicles of rookies with hydrant paint, against their will. f) I would say atleast 50% of the married crews were having extra-marital affairs. Not saying this happened every day, but this and similar activities happened fairly routinely. Then after I came out of the closet, my Captain asked me to go outside when I called my lover, because my conversation (that they could hear in the day room) made the men uncomfortable. Mind you I never said anything sexual, but because they knew I was saying I love you or I miss you to a man, it freaked them out. So Dwayne, I have no problem living up to the standard you described, I just ask that you get all of the straight people to observe it first. Thanks.

As mentioned in the other section, I am writing a column for JEMS about discrimination against gays (preferrably men) in our industry. I would really appreciate some of the older gay men in this forum who can contrast the old days versus today to show how much or how little we have progressed. Any private messages will be kept confidential. Thanks in advance.

I think Obama was just doing what he always does, his natural instinct is to paint everything in a liberal's view, but he lives in George Bush world. The conflicting statements were probably more about time and distance, and political spin, I do not think there is a conspiracy here.

New to the site, looking to meet other gay medics, in or out of the closet, who want to share their discrimination stories with me. I am writing an article for JEMS on the subject. Thanks