paramedicmike

Be honest, Ed. These are real life stories you're adapting to joke format, aren't they? Next time I'm in Maine I'm going to have to shop where you shop just to see for myself.

Police agencies in the US are increasingly carrying Narcan. The practice is becoming more widespread. I went to the American College of Emergency Physicians conference last fall and there was a guy there who had a Narcan autoinjector designed for layperson use (family, police etc...) that talked you through use of the device. (I'm not endorsing any particular product but this was the device. One of the guys who developed it is a paramedic turned physician. The other is his mechanical engineer brother. I met the doc half of the brothers. Nice guy.)

While I can't speak for other areas places where I have worked and currently work see the police more interesting in keeping people alive than in arresting them.

It's interesting, too. I've heard the same argument about users not going to the hospital because the people there are assholes. What's funny about that is that I think the users think that everyone who's not falling over themselves to help these poor, downtrodden heroin addicts... "Because I have a DISEASE!"... is an asshole. They aren't treated any differently from other patients. But when people are working to take away your high...

(As an aside I did meet one addict who came in after shooting into her hand. She was actually pretty nice. It was a slow morning. I had no other patients. We talked for an hour. She walked me through how she buys. How she prepares the solution. How she decides where she's going to inject. It was pretty fascinating. I got a better drug education from her than I've gotten in years of lectures.)

There was a NYTimes article on supervised drug injection locations last year. I thought the article talked about a place in Washington but it was really about a place across the border in Vancouver, BC.

So... what's your affiliation with NAEMT that it is featured so prominently in your signature?

Just curious.

Sweet! I might get my doctorates later on. If I actually have money. Maybe I can ask you for advice on that Doc?

Student loans. Find a PhD program that provides a stipend for teaching or research. Win the lottery. Marry for money.

You've got options.

Call and leave a message, they recruit people somehow. Whether or not they will take you, it is impossible for any of us to say. That is entirely up to them. I can't hurt to try. Worse case, you wait until you turn 18.

This. Call the station and see what they say.

Or, if you happen to notice cars in the lot when passing by stop in and talk with them.

Or, if you happen to know when they do their weekly training stop over and talk with them then.

And welcome to the City. Now your real learning begins.

In the sense that a college degree looks good on an application, yes. It shows you have the determination and discipline to stick with something. Will what you learn specifically benefit you if you choose to work in this segment of public service? Possibly.

What's your plan for those particular courses of study?

Interesting from an historical perspective The Great Influenza was a good read. A little dry at times. But still pretty fascinating.

RIP. Condolences to family and friends.

Welcome back.

Not only do I know where Milford is I've been there.

So what kind of medical books are you reading this month? I try to rotate through a new book each month with a new subject thats caught my eye. What are you reading lately?

You first. Why didn't you answer your own question?

Congratulations. Glad to hear you're all doing well.

I think you do the things you do for a patient care benefit. The tech on which you've spent money to enhance your fleet is a patient and crew safety based initiative designed to keep people safe. You aren't doing it for the "Hey! Look at me!" factor that most whackers seem to use as their motivation.

I wouldn't worry about it.

Welcome.

I remember years ago there was a newspaper in Utica that was running a contest for a new tourism slogan for the State of New York. The slogan had to be six words long. The winner? (Or one of the winners... it's been a while and I don't remember if the paper ultimately decided on this one...)

New York: Could be worse. Could be Jersey.

No, it is not my website. Research will be limited as it is a relatively young technology (about 50 years with the last 25 seeing all its potential). Find me research of the advantages of using a stethoscope in the prehospital field from 1970. Why cant you? Because date is limited. Go ahead, debate with me. I've already answered several questions/opposers on here, jump on in.

You're willingness to be so combative in the face of a post you either didn't read or didn't comprehend is telling. A much simpler, and less confrontational, answer existed to the single question I posted to you.

You can do it while on the way to the hospital.

Here is a website that lists several links and studies showing benefits of the devices

http://www.paramedicultrasound.com/

C'mon. You can do better than this.

If that's your website you linked it's pretty poorly done. You have the same study linked at least twice (and I think it's actually linked 3 times) all from different publications. Most of the links are to videos. That doesn't do much to support your argument.

I use ultrasound regularly in the hospital. I don't use it in the field. While I'm not going to disagree that it has potential for field use you really didn't do anything to support your argument. Care to tease out your argument a bit or are you willing to let that blog post of a website stand as your reasoning for prehospital ultrasound use?

I can't participate because I know the answer to this. It's a decent case. Enjoy working through it.

... chalk that up to the centuries (ok probably more like a decade, but Ruff and Mike alone account for a majority of it) of experience on this board.

Are you insinuating I'm old?

Welcome, despite the fact that you have been welcomed by our resident psych cases, we are a pretty normal bunch around here. You did the right thing by going right to medic school and don't let anyone tell you different.

+1000

Welcome.

Mold can be green. So can fungi.

And avocados.

And unripe bananas.

Fried green tomatoes are pretty tasty.

It's not easy being green. It can make you wonder why. But, why wonder?

Why is the sky blue? Because if it were green we wouldn't know where to stop mowing.

I truly believe ultrasound is more beneficial than 12 lead technology for EMS (not saying we should take it away by any means here). If you do your homework and practice a handheld ultrasound can provide a FAST exam within 30 seconds, tell you in minutes why your patient is in shock, assist with IV placement, do cardiac, vessel, and fetal assessments.

Are these things that we should really be taking the time in the field to complete? What does the science and research show?

There's a little bit of a difference between abusing the nitrous and using an onboard US.

I've never used one prehospitally. I remember reading something about Houston, TX (if I recall correctly) EMS field testing portable US devices. There were a couple articles floating around out there in some of the trade magazines (Jems and the like).

Now that i think about it yes but that was the crew chiefs decision I was a ride along that night. I'm not sure how else we would have transported them considering one was having seizures and an obstructed airway.

What an excellent question for you to ponder, research and ask about as you will soon be responsible for making these decisions. Do you really think it's impossible to properly immobilize a pediatric patient and not treat them?

Sooooo... you're transporting an unrestrained child?