paramedicmike

Hi JT,

Welcome to the City.

Is it worth it?  That's a good question.  The jobs are, indeed, hard to get.  If a FD job as an EMS provider is your best bet locally for a stable, well paying job then you should probably go for it.  If your local department is anything like departments commonly discussed here and with which many of us have experience you probably won't have much trouble getting plenty of ambulance time.

Should you stick with EMS?  That depends on you and what you want to do.  If you want to be an EMS provider you can make it happen.

If the FD is the best option for an EMS job in your area then you should at least go for it.  The worst they can tell you is that they don't want you as a FF.  The best they can tell you is they want you on the ambulance so all the other guys who really don't want anything to do with EMS can be on the engine.

There is plenty of discussion here about fire based EMS.  If you're looking for some light reading take a look through the forums.

Welcome to the City.

My service used a backpack similar to the Statpacks (although I don't remember if we used that particular brand name).  In the backpacks we had all of our basic needs equipment to include code/RSI meds, airway equipment (tubes, bougies, blades, bvm etc...), IV catheters, tubuing and fluids, IO equipment and bandaging supplies.  One crew member carried narcs/benzos.  The monitor/defibrillator was carried separately (LP12 as of my departure for grad school a few years ago).  We also had a separate on board drug bag for all the other meds we carried.  Pumps were in their own bag and only taken out for interfacility transports or if we needed them with a scene patient on a flight.

We had a goal of 10 minutes on scene and 30 minutes at bedside for interfacilities... very much a "get in and get out" mindset.  It seemed to work well for us.

Hope this helps.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Welcome to the City.  Those are questions for your instructors and NREMT.

Welcome.

It's an electronic medical record software package.  It can be... challenging.

23 minutes ago, ERDoc said:

No, that's because Cerner is acting up again.

If Cerner crashes on us one more time I think I'm pulling out a sledge hammer.

And it's always when we're slammed.

1 hour ago, Wyatt Wakeman said:

What do you mean, ask yourself why you need a watch for BPs?

Think about what he said.  Your thread title asks about a watch to check a blood pressure.  Why do you need a watch to check a blood pressure?

The rest of your post content has been addressed. 

ERDoc's corrected version is more appropriate.  Perhaps, based on your rebuke of ERDoc's pointed correction, your problem is more with those who you perceive to have a less than acceptable level of enthusiasm for their work?

What Doc said.  Trial and error.  Find what works best for you and run with it.

Unless, of course, you're carrying scissors, too.  Never run with scissors.

Welcome, Sheri.  Please join in.

37 minutes ago, ERDoc said:

Curious about your user name.

Thank you.  I was trying to think of a tactful way of asking this same question.

Welcome.

Will you be taking a certification exam at the conclusion of your program?  If so, which one?  Will it be a National Registry paramedic exam?  If it is and you successfully complete the certification requirements you should be able to move to any state requiring NRP as the requirement to work at that certification level.

Welcome.

Rat!  Welcome back.  Looks like you've moved.

It would make sense that a sticker dated 2015 would be expired in 2016.  However, I bet your EMS regional or State office would be able to answer your question definitively.  If you are concerned about the repurcussions of calling it would be advisable to take steps to have another job lined up before you call.

An air medical helicopter crashed near Enterprise, AL early this morning.  The pilot, nurse, medic and patient are all reported dead.

Condolences to family, friends, coworkers of those killed.

Story.

For some reason the formatting in my above reply was corrupted and not correctable.  For the ease of reading I've amended it here.

I have nothing serious on my driving record, I pay 30 bucks a month for car insurance. I have never had a dui or dwi because I don't drink and drive, my cousins uncle was put in a coma and died in my uncle's arms because of some scum bag drunk driver. It left quite an impression on me.

[/quote]

How old are you?

We should have professional drivers and let medical professionals focus on actual medicine. The civilian EMS world is completely backwards.

Are you hung up on the driving aspect of EMS because you were deemed not insurable?

I'm considering joining the military as a medic, where I can be an actual medic not a driver, or working in another field until I am ready for my residency program. Still I may take a hospital job if the pay is worth it.

[/quote]

Please research military MOS responsibilities a little more thoroughly.  You may be surprised.

If there are enough people in EMS who are willing to fight for change we can work with unions and lobby groups to pass new laws that will secure better pay and refine our job description.

Do you honestly think there are no unions involved in EMS?  What if I told you one of the biggest impediments to EMS growth was a union?  Again, please research accordingly.

However browsing on a few EMS forums I see allot of complacency, and suck it up attitudes, and even people who think we should just do this out the goodness of our hearts....

How is complacency allotted?  Are some allotted more complacency than others?  Are you aware that there are volunteer EMS that do, in fact, provide the services out of the goodness of their hearts?  Again, this is another topic altogether.  You will find discussion on this here on this site.

First and foremost we are Medical Professionals, secondly there are allot veterans in EMS who risked their lives for their country, and third we litterally save peoples lives on certain calls.

Points one and two, as well as two and three, are non sequitur.  Also, what, specifically, have veterans been allotted?

EMS deserves respect, pay that reflects our invaluable service to society, and being able to focuse on medicine not being expected to double as a driver.

Respect needs to be earned.  Until we as providers earn that respect, until the industry requires university level entry level requirements to support our place within the field of medicine, EMS will continue to lack the respect that many who demand it have never earned.

How many people agree and are willing to fight for our industry?[/quote]

There is more than one educator on this site who has been active in promoting educational standards.  Please learn your audience before you show up and start lecturing us.

 

Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt.  After your first post you have no where to go but up.  The ball is in your court.  How will you play it?

What the hell?  I'm not entirely sure why the formatting is shot.  I'm not playing with it any more.

Niceties first.

Welcome to the City.  You will meet a wide variety of field and hospital based medical providers here.  We have field providers young and old, new and experienced.  We have hospital based providers with field experience who have decided to take their education and talents to the next level.

Congratulations on completing the first step in what I hope will be a long, productive and fruitful EMS and medical career.

Moving on.

Who is Asclapius?  Do you mean Asclepius?  A typo?  An inattentive error by someone who should probably know better given your stated aspirations?

...and I absolutely hate the state of the civilian EMS Industry. I did thi

s to get experience and make decent money while I go through school to become a doctor, and I regret the decision.

 It's true.  Civilian EMS could use some improvement.  However, if you are unhappy with where you are in terms of pay and experience then perhaps you should have researched the industry a little more thoroughly.  Poor pay, questionable employers and more aren't a secret either within or outside of EMS.  This is not new information and has been widely known and easily researched for years.

Please accept this next comment in the spirit in which it is intended.  Presenting yourself as an interloper, specifically "... I only did this to get to destination <x>..." will not win you friends within the EMS community.  We all have goals and aspirations.  Making disparaging comments about a field you failed to thoroughly research while announcing yourself as little more than a tourist smacks of poor professionalism at best.

The pay is garbage, I make more waiting tables, and the insurance companies have the industry by the balls.

So go wait tables.  EMS pay is not some dirty little secret.  EMTs are a dime a dozen.  One of the most basic free market economic principles is at play here: supply and demand.

If you think insurance companies are a problem now within EMS wait until you are a practicing physician.  It gets even worse.

A private company hired me, put me through orientation, signed me up for benefits and then called me three days later to tell me their insurance company refused to ensure me as a driver. That is not professional behavior for a medical institution, and it is disgraceful that the insurance companies in this country have the power to dictate buisiness relations with any health care institution.

Based on your presentation I'm inclined to think your lack of insurability may be more age related than anything else.  Perhaps they are trying to ensure you are of a reasonable age by industry standards to be entrusted with a vehicle like an ambulance.

Your naivete with regards to insurance companies and their influence on business practices is interesting.  Why, exactly, are you so shocked by this?

I think I posted here about it after it happened.  I'll have to look.

Sleek.

And welcome.

Sometimes it'll depend on what the procedure entailed.  Sometimes it'll depend on patient presentation.  I've seen it go both ways.

Just don't assault any of the staff as I witnessed in one particular incident.

Residents in my ER are not allowed to use video laryngoscopy until PGY3 because of this very idea.  Get practiced with traditional laryngoscopy and then, after you get good at that, start rotating in the video tools.

Welcome.

What are they trying to do in that picture?  Strangle the kid? 

Nexus criteria negative?  Can you walk?  Ok.  Come with me.

Nexus criteria positive?  It will depend on what else is going on.  I have used something similar to the above described horse collar but not without a collar in place to prevent us from strangling a patient.

Got 21 minutes?  Here's some interesting listening.  Of course, follow your local treatment guidelines.

Welcome.