DFIB

Are you sure about that?

http://www.allcountr...apons_used.html

I don't know about knives being more dangerous than guns, but at close range I would rather defend against a firearm than a knife.

EDIT: I would rather defend against neither.

It's all good DFIB. That is my opinion. I'm not comfortable around guns. I don't like them. I just have a vision of the OK Corral as everyone pulls out their pistol and hits more innocents than perpetrators.

I like guns and enjoy the company of law abiding citizens that enjoy them as well. I like walking into Wal-Mart knowing that 3-4 out of every 10 people in the store are most likely legally carrying a gun under their shirt, or in their purse.

It is probably due to being raised in a culture were guns are common and never seeing an accident or a gun misused before entering EMS or traveling to other countries, most of where guns are illegal or heavily regulated. I know gun violence existed but I never saw it among law abiding citizens.

I am glad to hear your opinion. I celebrate diversity.

@ ERDOC. I find your initial post interesting. I really want to talk with you in this thread, but will have to find the time to do it justice.

Dunno, what if he snaps?

What if he doesn't and is useful in the event of a violet crime perpetrated in the same room? I indeed hold you with respect but this is very subjective don't you think?

I am sorry that I started posting in this thread post because I really don't have a lot of time to chat right now. I will be back. I just don't know when.

But the fact that the guy sitting next to me at a restaurant is carrying a concealed weapon is a little scary.

Why is this scary to you?

Thank you Kaisu, I was being a little facetious, but I like your definition.

Then if my provisional diagnosis was cardiac chest pain I'd do aspirin and GTN. Some might say that if she does have traumatic injuries they could include internal bleeding which aspirin is not going to help, but I'd still go with it unless there was a strong index of suspicion there was an internal bleed. Also if she is compensating, the GTN could push her into decompensating shock. But again I'd have to have a strong suspicion there was a bleed.

I have to assume that the 12 lead ruled out a Right Side MI. Nitro administration is a real risk if you are not sure.

And I am curious, why would you risk hypo-perfusion with your patient?

I think I would explore PTSD and emotional stress as a possible chest pain etiology as well.

If we could only rid ourselves of those pesky cots ....

What is this "big picture" you speak of?

Party?

BTW, regarding "party": y'all missed (the real) Oktoberfest this year...when I find time over the holidays I will write a short report about my shift.

Hello my Bavarian friend!

I am not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this but a friend posted this blog link . It is a snapshot of absolute horror and insanity. I actually gave me the willies.

I cannot help you on the box method. I don't know what that is. I can only assume that it is securing the patient to the board with webbing. We use spider straps to secure the patient to the board.

As far as testing is concerned, it has helped me to learn the skill sheets in a way that I can recite them verbally. This will help you remember to verbalize as you are moving through the testing process.

Relax and enjoy.

I have to respectfully disagree, defib. I won't get into my political beliefs, but now is the best time. As a country we suck at remembering things. As time goes on, this incident, just like Aurora, Virginia Tech and Columbine will fade in our collective memory. Hell, we were singing Kubaya in the streets after 9/11 for about a month and then things went back to normal. These things are happening much more frequently and by the time we even entertain the idea of "talking about it" the next one will be happening. The time to truly discuss it has passed. That time was April 1999, Oct 2006, April 2007, Jan 2011 or when any of the other 20+ mass shooting happened after Columbine. This is becoming an epidemic and needs to be seriously discussed without all of the paranoia of the big brother govt coming for my guns. I would think that emergency responders, the ones that will see the brutality first hand and possibly be a victim of it, we are the ones that should push for a sensible, national discussion before it fades into our memory and we see the next group of funerals being planned.

I also agree that we need to do something about the state of mental health in this country.

@ ER Doc You said that very well

The only way I can describe it was it sounded like when you blow into a dogs mouth/nose. Same tone and volume.

You do this frequently?

I am heartbroken for the families of all of the deceased as well as the children who are traumatized by survival.

I am always dismayed that the conversation most commonly becomes an argument about guns and the discussion about how our mental illness and it's role as a public health issues is for the most part ignored.

How insensitive people are to even consider a weapons discussion before the coroner is even finished identifying the bodies.

I am proud of the people in this forum that demonstrate humanity in showing condolences and sympathy but refrain from personal ideological discussions.

I wouldn't exactly describe these airway sound changes as subtle.

Every tube I have heard leaking was pretty obvious.

Welcome to EMT city EPmedic. Good on you for starting a scenario with your first post!

So tell us about our soldier patient,

When did her chest pain begin?

Has her chest pain been evaluated before?

What was the nature of her back injury and the MOI that caused it?

At what level was her back injury?

Is the Command Sargent Major an overachieving hard charger that may have ignored that might have neglected to report a injury?

Was her back injury evaluated?

Did she have tingling in her arm before the accident?

Did she have difficulty breathing before the accident?

Why did she loose control of her vehicle? Was the loss of control of the vehicle provoked by an existing medical condition?

Spending a morning dressed as Santa is a blast!

AK In a changing world with multiple occupations I understand your post, I also think that you could drop in from time to time and visit without compromising anything. I will never forget your intuitive nature in busting posers, one in particular. I will always thank you for protecting us all from emotional exploitation and terrorism. If you choose to hold firm to going away, you will be missed.

"May the wind be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face ...."

My favorite seatbelt PSA ever.

I remember hearing a grizzled old medic say that one form of extrication was taking one tow truck on one end of a car and another on the other and just yanking. C-spine be damned back then.

I saw that done a couple of months ago.

Well my situation has improved at this point. I saw the surgeon(orthopedic spine specialist) again. I am going back to work tomorrow. This past week has been awesome. No pain or tingling. Apparently that was somewhat normal. They expect the first week after surgery to be good, then the nerve usually has some swelling the second week which calms down weeks 3 & 4. My case is being rushed a little because if I don't go back to work tomorrow I will lose my job. They usually require 6 weeks of no bending, lifting, or twisting but I am going back to work with a lumbar corset. The worst that can happen is I can reherniate the disc which is likely regardless when I go back.

Take care of yourself girl. You can always get another job but your health is priceless.

Best wishes.

I would have to agree with you. At best the psychomotor skills test appears to cover the mechanization of the very basics that would seem necessary to establish a starting point for an entry level paramedic although I have nothing more than empirical evidence to support this statement.

I would be interested to see what others have found.

I tried to maintain intelligent conversations that would usually end up with someone saying They were not that advanced in EMS, but they read a lot, and that allows me to tell you how full of s**t I am.

I was also interested by the people that checked me out when I first applied. It is like they would really like to know who you are. Almost like an intelligent and well thought post was a true oddity that demanded further inspection, not that any of my post were all that great.

I actually posted the same threads in both forums to monitor how the discussions progressed. The conversations over there were much longer but filled with insults and hero worship BS. I decided that I would always loose a discussion with the Bull S**ters because they were so much better at it than me.

I have not visited the other site roe some Some now. Probably will never go back.

Welcome! I checked out that "other " site a while back. Too much of a gooberfest over there for me so I banned them!

Well the story has come full circle. He belongs to the federal government now

http://www.ems1.com/ambulances-emergency-vehicles/articles/1378585-Immigration-agents-arrest-man-accused-of-booting-ambulance/