Emergency Laughter

Wages are still that low?! WTF! That's horrible.... I think that's what we made back in the early 80's. I say again, WTF?

Welcome Chef! Glad to see you here!

Welcome Scott, I don't see how someone who's excited about getting into EMS and helping people can be an annoyance? Go for it Scott! Thanks for posting! Mike

Sorry for taking so long to set you straight.... Richard…Negative, repeat negative! It’s not an insult to the Coast Guard, I don’t see it that way at all. The subject of the humor is a mayday call being sent out in English and the response to it, by a German speaking trainee. Having the luxury of attaching humor to that subject, and the Coast Guard community, is, in itself, a statement to the preeminence of The Coast Guard, of any nation, but specifically, for me personally, the United States Coast Guard. You don’t make fun of some poor incompetent schlep of an organization or person. What’s the fun in that? There’s no humor, all you’re being is mean and that makes you a suck-ass person. (I don’t mean YOU personally) No…people poke fun at the best of the best, the organizations who can laugh at themselves because they know they’re bad and they know, nobody takes care of business like they do. It was a Coasty that turned me on to the video. Because it’s funny. Especially if you’ve responded to actual maritime mayday calls. In my mind, there are two things that make this video funny and have meaning-the first is the semantic juxtaposition of the German and English language. The second is the classic use of dichotomy and surprise with one of the most sobering calls for help. Every Sailor, Merchant Marine, Commercial Fisherman, Aviator and now Firefighters, know the chill that runs through the body when a radio crackles, “Mayday, mayday, mayday!” The only word I can think of to describe it is visceral. You change course, make the ship ready, and go! I revere the men and women of the USCG. I might even go as far as saying, “I love those people!” I spent eight years working as one of the only fully equipped, dedicated medic’s in the Bering Sea. Where category 2 hurricane type weather is called, “A really bad storm,” or simply, “Shitty weather.” I lost count of how many times I stood on the forecastle of a ship feeling the deafening rotor wash of a USCG helicopter maintaining position above my head. I don’t know about anybody else’s Coast Guard, but the ones operating up in the Bering Sea kick ass and save lives.

That was funny as hell. Thank you for posting it.

Welcome Jessica, This site is actually one of the best resources out there. Lot's of knowledgeable people here. When do you graduate? Mike

A warm welcome to the city. Thank you for serving in the military.

I'm a little late in welcoming you, but, welcome. Congratulations on passing. Quite an accomplishment. Everyone pretty much said what I was thinking. You're going to want to study three times as much now than you ever did in school. Just get used to it, cause it never stops. The patient comes first. Enjoy the ride! Mike

Captain, Anything you wanna talk about? It sounds like you have some unresolved issues with Al Einstein. How about I give Dwayne a call and we just sit down and talk about anything you want. And if Albert Einstein and the atom bomb comes up, we can talk about that too. Whatever you feel comfortable with, OK?

Hi Cheeky, First of all, welcome to the city. Good people live here. So let me back things up here a minute…you stated, “laying around with my leg elevated, watching tv, browsing the net, chatting on my blackberry and popping pain pills.” OK, so…..WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? I’m kidding, I don’t like watching tv or chatting on blackberries. You’re getting good advice here Cheeky. After just one session with Dwayne and the gang, you’re already seeing the positive instead of the negative. All I have to say is A. You have to focus on practicing the art of positive thinking. Pity pot thinking is a waste of your time and energy. B. Do what your surgeon & PT sadists tell you to do. Don’t screw up your surgeons work or he’ll put you in a body cast. C. Don’t look too far ahead; your job right now is to give your ankle the best environment for healing. Being a patient sucks, it suuuuucks, but it’s also an opportunity (see how I did that…went from sucks-ass to opportunity…negative to positive…neg…pos…cool huh?) Anyway it’s an op to see, I don’t know, how creative and well trained your husband is…wait a minute…standby...I just went back and read your last post and I guess he did pretty good…ok then…nice work detective! I recently had an intramedullary bone tumor taken out of my left femur, it was a doozey! Because of it, I can’t do the job that I loved doing…which was surgery. Did I lie around in bed and cry all day? You bet I did! Was I a cranky bitch? You don’t know the half of it! But I whooped out a can of positive thinking and reinvented myself…now I’m a…now I’m…..ah…it doesn’t matter, we’re talking about you, not me. Hey I got an hour shrink session coming up with Dwayne, you wanna take it? He’s pretty good! I don’t cry nearly as much as I used to. Just remember what Albert Einstein said, "Hidden within every problem lies an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem." That’s right…Albert’s Mom didn’t raise no fool. Chin up Cheeky! You’re getting better every day!

Welcome to the city Dan. Looking forward to reading your contributions here.

Nice to see you here Marcus, your Red Cross experience will serve you well.

You're going to do just fine! ACE it! Welcome to the site!

Welcome Chris, Is it mostly different good or different bad compared to the military?

EMS needs more people with your attitude and vision. Welcome and congrats on your training!

Can you get free pizza? WELCOME my new partner!!

I spent eight years in the Bering Sea. Trauma and hypothermia don't play well together. Just my humble opinion of course. I never saw any benefit for head or spinal injuries either. I had plenty of time to make this observation too. I had some trauma patients for two days before I could get them off the ship. As far as heating patients...we did everything from heating and insulating O2 and fluids to chem packs to hot air and liquid pads and blankets used in surgical units.

A bunch of rah rah bullshit, my ass! Dwayne, don't dilute your statement. Life experience helps a medic understand how and why we see patients in the ups and downs of life. "There but for the grace of God, go I" It's true. Compassion and caring for people...cornerstones of quality patient care. Now I'm not diminishing the fact that we are all some pretty darn macho manly-men and womanly-womens with swaggering courage oozing from our pores. But we are also in touch with our sensitive side and gosh darn it, we're comfortable with that. Right? Darn tootin we are!

I usually don't answer questionnaire's until the third or fourth date. But welcome!

Hi Irish, Welcome to the city. I look forward to reading your post's as you make your move to S.F.. Does Ireland get hit by many earthquakes?

Did I hear correctly? Someone actually stopped compressions etc etc and waited until they pulled up to the ER and then started again? That boggles my mind. (a full five minutes passes while I stare at nothing and experience my mind boggling) I have a pretty strict rule that nobody dies at my kitchen table, but other than that people have pretty much died every imaginable place I can think of, including the back of the rig, and I've never started up a code again just for show??? There had to have been mass paparazzi there or something....I can see maybe giving the BVM a couple squeezes in between signing autographs....but.....wow. WTF?

I know it has saved my own arse quite a few times.

Welcome Picc, Good luck with your classes in the fall. Does this mean you're getting completely out of the firefighting side of things? If so, why?

Welcome OBX, Faugh a Ballaugh???? I'll play along....Who's there?

Welcome Rob, When you get a chance, tell us what it's like to be halfway through your EMT course. It will take some of us back in time and give us a new perspective to think about and appreciate. You can glean a huge amount of information and knowledge from the people here at EMTCity, just take everything with a grain of salt. Good luck with your studies! Keep us informed. Mike