paramedicmike

I'm well familiar with the process. That being said, if you're going this route it should be because you can't get a peripheral IV started. If you need access this badly do you really have time, more importantly does your patient have time, to wait the 6-7 minutes for this whole process to take place? In the scenario outlined by the OP you'd be at the hospital faster than it would take to get an IO set up and actually infusing.

Fair enough. I won't read it that way. However, you'd be surprised the reasons people pick the jobs they do or choose the careers they do. There are a lot of people out there, and there seems to be a surprisingly high concentration in EMS circles, who choose their job/career based on the money they think they'll earn and not so much based on subjects about which they're passionate.

I think you overestimate how much the rest of the world thinks, or cares, about NYC.

Probably the same as the other thread you started on this topic just a month ago.

Sleep well, kids.

Narrated by Jack Webb. I kept waiting for the Dragnet references.

Well played. Good point.

I'd argue that these are some of these most important medical skills a provider can have and demonstrate to their patients. The word customer does have a much more casual tone than does patient. This is especially true given the information patients share with us (or that we share with our providers). It is a much more in depth and trusting relationship than a typical customer/vendor type relationship. I've also heard "client" used which, in some cases, I suppose may work. To be fair, health care is a service industry. Customer service skills, in addition to medical skills, are important. Bad customer service will hurt you in the short and long term. Maybe we should call them patient relation skills.

Kate, I've found that my feet do much better if I wear calf compression sleeves (e.g. Zensah, CEP) while at work. My feet are still tired at the end of the day. But they aren't nearly as tired if I've been wearing the sleeves. It might be something to consider trying. Things I would have liked to know or remember? My list encompasses much of what's already been listed. Although, I'm intrigued by the mental floss aspect of the question. It's had me thinking all morning. If I come up with anything insightful I'll share. For now, though, I'll have to be lame and add the con-contributory "ditto".

Fall back to your training. Is the scene safe? If something changes is it still safe? With regards to your patient go back to ABCs. Did something change? Go back to ABCs and start over again if you need to. Some of the answers will be obvious. Others not so much. The more you do this the quicker your evaluation and reevaluation will be. Your training will get you through the incident. It's the aftermath when you're riding back from the hospital or sitting at home that'll get you. Everybody handles that differently. We all have our own coping mechanisms. What bothers you might not bother someone else. What bothers someone else might not bother you. There's no way to predict it until it happens. You'll just need to find what works for you. I do not suggest alcohol. Personally, I've had pretty decent success with exercise. Depends on you. For some people it does. For others... not so much. Congrats on getting the job.

Perhaps if you had made it more clear from the beginning who you were and your reason for posting (i.e. research for state government purposes) you would have gotten more straight forward responses. Your lack of transparency is concerning. In what capacity do you work in state government? Do you work for the representative in question? What representative? What district? What's the purpose of your research? What is the goal of your research? Perhaps you can convince your representative that EMS is a vital community service and that efforts should be made to adequately fund a full time paid EMS service to cover his district. There are no non-traditional training programs I'm aware of regarding initial EMT training. MTA: As has been stated a couple times so far, this is something that is best done in person. Initial EMT training is not something that lends itself to online instruction. Your representative needs to be aware of this.

Wise words, my friend. Wise words, indeed. Yes, RseCty, you came here with questions asked by others before you. Some of the responses you received were, in fact, biased by those who came before you. Some of the responses you received were probably motivated by years of experience dealing with alcohol related incidents. The fairness of those responses to you is debatable. However, given the, shall we say, evolving nature of the stories in your posts it can be argued that they were warranted. You need to understand, too, that in this business we see a lot of alcohol related incidents. None of them are good. Many of them have very negative outcomes. I'd argue all of them were preventable. I'll let the others speak for their own experiences. You're new to us. We don't know you. We have no basis to believe anything about you changing. This will be true in a professional standing, too. The greater the distance between the present day and the incidents in question the better. For now, though, you're still young and too close in time to the events in question. Just so you understand, too, getting defensive, while understandable, doesn't always paint the picture of someone who's learned from their past. You think you're up to the challenge? Good. Prove it. Understand that you put yourself slightly behind the eight ball both in terms of professional standing and hirability. You are going to have to work harder, longer and do more simply because of your past actions. Understand, too, that we hear all the time "...but I've *changed*..." only to see those people blow it. Simply saying that you aren't the same person anymore isn't going to cut it. Prove it. Keep proving it. The longer you prove it the better your standing. Such is the price for some mistakes people make. I'd like to add, too, that I also have a significant bias against alcohol. I do not consume it. I've seen people die from it personally and professionally. I've lost family members to it. I've seen lives destroyed by it. I am not unwilling to help people who are trying to improve themselves. Just understand that you're going to have to work harder. If you're up to the task, despite your lukewarm reception here, this is an excellent place to gain perspective, education and support... even from those who replied to your initial posts in a manner you found offensive (as mentioned, intent is hard to interpret in an online forum). If you're really interested in improving yourself this is one of the best places to do it.

No. Please work on your reading comprehension. I said it was called into question. I find it interesting that you're now admitting fault in the accident. You hit the other car. Regardless of the no fault finding the accident report likely records that you hit the other driver. From a commercial insurance point of view that may be a factor. Again, you asked us for a reason. That you don't like the answers you are getting doesn't make them wrong.

To add to what IslandEMT noted, I've seen 19 year olds get kicked out of services and/or had job offers rescinded for underage drinking without an arrest or conviction. Why? Because it's against the law and, from a professional standpoint, questions their character. If you didn't mean what you wrote (specifically about your accident, having made mistakes but you learned from them, but it's ok because it was no fault) then why did you write it the way you did? We can only go with what you give us. What you're giving us sounds like you were at fault and you're willing to lie and/or hide behind the "no fault" excuse. Don't shoot the messengers here. You asked us because, as you stated, you figured we'd know this kind of thing. That you don't like the answers you're getting doesn't mean those answers are wrong.

It's not your decision if you're good enough to operate an ambulance safely. That's up to the employer to decide if he trusts you enough. Your comment also makes it sounds like you were at fault and would be willing to lie about it with the convenient excuse of "it was a no fault accident". Only you know what really happened. I'm guessing that since you mentioned you made a mistake and learned from it then you really were, to some extent, at fault. That you imply that you could then lie about it hiding behind the "no fault" context of the accident is telling. Whether or not any potential employers would think the same is a different question. It's still an alcohol offense. No, it might not have affected your insurance rates for private insurance. Corporate insurance is different. It may very well play a role in determining if you're insurable or not. My observations from my time in the industry is that yes, it will affect your insurability. It doesn't matter how good a driver you think you are. One accident plus one alcohol offense can, in a corporate insurance setting, demonstrate a pattern of behaviour. Welcome to the big leagues. You're not necessarily screwed. However, your comments here raise a lot of questions about you as an individual. You've mentioned twice that you made a mistake and the offenses won't happen again. With regards to one of the mistakes you're indicating that you would be willing to lie about the incident to cover yourself. EMS providers are asked into people's homes when they're having a really bad day. Our integrity, character and trustworthiness must be impeccable. Your offenses call into question your integrity, character and trustworthiness. It's one thing to say it'll never happen again. It's something else entirely to demonstrate it. You've got a lot of work to do.

Look, I'm not trying to piss off anybody. As has been mentioned by someone else in this thread if we're going to have an intelligent discussion about this we all need to be speaking the same language. I looked, before I asked, for possible explanations of the abbreviations in question. I didn't find anything that really fit. So I asked.

Best guess? You don't know either. What about the COA/COG? That's find you want to keep the scenario moving forward. But it can't really move if people don't know what other people are talking about. And honestly? Right now, I'm more curious what the abbreviations really stand for than I am in the scenario.

You really need a more traditional training program for something like this. There are circumstances when online or distance education work well or are even preferred. Initial EMT training is not one of those circumstances. Again, your focus on the scare tactics associated with either real or imagined drops in volunteers is misguided. It should not be an issue or concern regarding your education.

Or COA/COG.

That lady just needs to shut up.

I didn't even get to SMR. I was still stuck on COG and COA.

You'll forgive me for being confused but just what are you looking for? What kind of information do you want? About other state programs? About programs in NY? About online EMS training? (Bad idea, by the way.) Are you looking for an EMT program but don't feel like driving to get to one? I do not share your concerns about a drop in volunteer EMS.

So when should we start paying attention to Provincial politics?

Welcome.