BillKaneEMT

First of all, congratulations!! Secondly, the Emergency Vehicle Operator Course should be a lot of fun from what I've heard. EVOC is generally a company decision, at least in my area. Of the 4 local services, not counting FD and county ambulances, only one of them requires it's employees to take an EVOC. As for your orientation I have no idea but I'm sure you'll be fine. Congrats again!!

I think Dwayne's dead on with his assessment of where we are regarding social media. In my opinion there's nothing wrong with facebook being used to assist family interaction. I watched the video and saw that the father has decided to do his parenting Alec Baldwin style. So be it. I am not a parent and I try not to judge those who are, in this case I thought the dad made himself look a bit foolish though I imagine his daughter was far more embarrassed by it. If he believes that this course of action is necessary to handle his offspring then so be it. His child, his choice of method. Here's where I see a problem. Far, far too many people are using social media as a replacement for social interaction. If it's used a supplement it can be beneficial; as a pure substitute it is a tremendously bad idea (excepting those people who are, by reasons of physical distance, unable to interact with loved ones directly). I had dinner a few weeks ago with my cousins, aunt, uncle and a few of their friends and it was a perfect illustration. My 3 cousins spent the entire meal on their smartphones, responding monosyllabically to conversation or ignoring it entirely. When I got home I saw that they had been posting to each other and friends about the dinner. They had an entire evenings conversation, including greetings and thanks to me, and I couldn't get a word out of them the entire night!! This sort of thing occurs more often than I'm comfortable with, sometimes even in folks of my age group or older. From my (admittedly limited) experience teens/20's are most commonly afflicted with the belief that social media is an adequate substitution for All Forms Of Socializing. I am given hope by the fact that some of my friends who are still in their 20's have expressed irritation and occasionally outright disgust with the way Facebook and Twitter have taken over the social lives of most people they know. They seem to be approaching the "step back a bit" phase. I hit that stage a while ago and now I simply use FB to check messages and keep up with my friends and family who spend 8 hours a day using it. How fortunate that I can learn what sort of blended coffee drink my friend in Arizona purchased at Starbucks this morning, also that she found it slightly watery and bland. Also that her barista was cute. Also that he needs to pluck his eyebrows. Whatever would I do without this ever so important information regarding a barista at a starbucks 2000 miles away?? This came out longer than I anticipated. Not trying to type your ears off here. Here's hoping more folks decide to moderate their social media percentage from 98% to, say, 30%. *crosses fingers*

Thanks for the advice DFIB, I did pay for the check and kept several copies. I'll check on the insurance, I use Allstate and I really like them but asking can't do any harm. Besides, I've never been in accident or gotten a moving violation so they oughtta love me:)

Hi there! I'm Bill and I'm a newly certified EMT-B in Indiana. I've been working security for the past 3 years and decided it was time to look for an actual career so I signed up for the EMT course through the American Red Cross, finished the class, practical, state written, and month long background check. Now I have my cert and I've been looking for work as an EMT. I found this place by chance and I've spent the last few days going through most of the threads here. Great stuff! It's rare these days to find an internet community whose members seem both helpful and friendly. I've put in applications at a few local companies and online as well. I've had 2 tentative offers but both would have required me to relocate and both paid just over 9 dollars an hour, and that simply isn't enough for me to move a hundred or two hundred miles. I was surprised when the companies told me that I'd have to provide my own driving record and my own criminal background check as well. I've never run into that before from an employer. Is that common practice these days? If so I might just go ahead and pay to have them done but it just seemed odd. In any case, I look forward to talking with you all in the near future. I'm on graveyards at the moment so I need to get ready for work shortly but again, it's great to find a place like this. Be safe out there!