THE_DITCH_DOCTOR

By the way how is your "friend" doing with her ETOH abuse issues?

Suspend him, notify the state licensing or certifying board and local prosecutor. If found guilty then fire his sorry butt. I have no sympathy for thieves or addicts. They in no way deserve to be treated with kid gloves or be allowed to be put into a position of responsibility or where they could potentially easily feed their addiction. I don't believe "rehab" works for most people.

You hear "Truckin'" by the Grateful Dead coming over the radio, and the dispatch center breaks in, demands the broadcasting vehicle to ID themselves, and the reply comes back, "Sorry Dispatch, 84-XX with a stuck mike". It's only funny if you happen to realize that the unit in question (not ID'ed for security reasons) is involved in drug interdiction for the county sheriff's department.

Evan Bayh! About damn time we have another president from Indiana.

2. You watched the Pound Puppies. 7. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom 8. Two words: Hammer Pants! 9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock" 11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales" (Woo ooh!) 12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons. 14. You saw the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on the big screen...and still know the turtles names. 15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school. 22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF" 25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted. 26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf. 27. You took plastic lunch boxes to school... and traded Garbage Pail kids in the schoolyard. 28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets. 29. You still get the urge to say “NOT†after every sentence. 36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up" 37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates. 38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide. 41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement. 43. "Don't worry, be happy" 51. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac. 54. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART. 55. You just sang those words to yourself. 56. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird. 66. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you? Dear Christ.....I'm 24 and I feel old.

Yet another reason I'm glad I got away from that jurisdiction.

Here's an interesting point- why is that we are so concerned about the loss of some punk 17 y/o who wrapped his supped up Mazda Miata around a tree while doing 110 mph trying act like he's something out of the fast and the furious and we hear the cries to stop teens from driving, but the loss of a 40 y/o who was driving unsafely (although not necessarily to the same degree, but since when did the small things like degree of the offense ever stop from me from pointing out hypocrisy) doesn't provoke the same outcry to put speed limiters on cars or mandate other safety features that could potentially save lives? I do agree that 18 is a suitable driving age, but I don't view the loss of a teenager or even of a carload of them as being any more of loss than the death of a 35 or 40 y/o who has a family, a job and contributes in some meaningful manner to society.

This has been a topic of discussion in one of my classes at school- whether the elderly (due to normal decline in vision and response times, as well as various pathological processes) should be allowed to continue to drive. The reason behind this is on of the public safety golf carts on campus was struck by an elderly driver (luckily no one was hurt in the low-speed collision), who claimed that he did not see the BRIGHT WHITE golf cart with the FLASHING AMBER LIGHT on top of it in the intersection which is marked with two large "PEDESTRIAN CROSSING" signs, each with a FLASHING CAUTION LIGHT. This happened in the middle of the day, but this elderly gentleman apparently didn't realize they were there until he heard the "THUD" of the collision. I recall reading somewhere that while teenagers are more likely to kill themselves, or people in the same vehicle with them, that the elderly kill nearly as many people, most often pedestrians and persons in other vehicles. I'll try to find the article to back this up. Should people have their licenses restricted or revoked upon reaching a certain age? Should more frequent health checkups (vision tests specifically) be required? Should special exemption to continue to drive past the age of 65 be required? And, yes, I know this type of legislation would never get passed because of the legislative clout of organizations such as the AARP.

As they should.

Actually no, it makes you look like a "Ricky Rescue" who is only out for glory.

Just heard on the radio station here during a football game: "That big ol' boy is good at finding holes and filling them up quick." I damn near puked I was laughing so hard.....

Son of a b--ch, you're definitely total f--king right, a--hat (I don't really thinking you're an a--hat, more of a bastard (KIDDING!))

Maybe MizzouMedic will remember this, but Boone County Missouri Station #1 had a very, uh, effeminate firefighter (he sounded like every stereotype of a gay man you can think of- imagine Big Gay Al from South Park) and he was driving the engine to a fire on Rainbow Trout Drive. He marks on scene with the following, "Dispatch, This is Engine 1, establishing Rainbow Command!"

I was basing it off the requirements to gain entrance to medical school or PA school, because of the greater similarity of paramedicine to work as a PA or MD, than to the work of an RN. I've not seen a nursing school that requires that much chemistry or physics for a BSN, but then again I'm only familiar with the requirements of two schools.

I just think we should hold our students to the same standard that medical students, nursing students, respiratory students, radiology tech students and even medical residents are held to. Either make the grade or find another line of work. Nothing wrong with spirited debate, because we might actually come across ideas that work better than what you or I hold to be correct (see below). I don't have that many credentials for my age- I know a 22 y/o with more credentials than I hold. It's just that I choose to broadly apply what I have learned. When did I ever say I would never be involved with EMS again? I said I would never do it as a paid person again for a career. Big difference. I'm not running as a volunteer at the moment because I don't have the free time to do so between work, school, getting ready for the arrival of my daughter, etc. Trust me, I'm probably more dedicated to EMS than 95% of the people out there, but excuse me for having bigger aspirations and wishing to be in a position where I will have the disposable income to help support whatever volunteer agency I wind up with. It's funny, the only people who "tune out" are those who don't agree with me, and those whom I have taken to task for being wrong, immature or grossly unprofessional. It's funny that someone who just arrived at this site deems himself worthy of trying to tell me how to conduct myself on this site- come see how I am in the chatroom, I'm far from a hardass once you get to know me. Personally if you think what I say on here, or whether I bother most people with my bluntness concerns me in the slightest, you need to step back and seriously reexamine things. Yes, I speak my mind and I don't coddle people, and if you don't like it, then ignore me. I don't buy that argument about not having the money to get the training. Two words: student loans. If you're taking your course through a college, you should not have any problem getting one. Like I said before (and I know how you hate it when I repeat myself, so like I said before), things won't change until we change first. I hate to use nursing as an example, because nursing and EMS are not as similar as most think, but nurses did not start being well paid until after they began increasing their standards through education. Things just don't work the way you apparently believe they do. I wholeheartedly agree with that statement.

I'm not saying that you and others don't have patients' best interest at heart- most do. However, I am looking at the best interests of the patients and our own best interests as a career field. We need to be more than a voc-tech course or a community college learner's permit career. Paramedics should be educated to the minimum (eventually) of a bachelor's degree (an associate's degree is a start for now). I'm all for increasing requirements- more stringent testing, stiffer entrance requirements, higher continuing education requirements, increased numbers of people washed out of programs because they aren't performing satisfactorily, etc. But these need to be combined with increases in education, otherwise all of our efforts will go unrecognized. The only way to raise pay is to increase the demand- until people are willing to refuse to work for peanuts, don't expect filet mignon anytime soon. A unified front is required and that is something that we have yet to present on any large scale. Since you asked for some idea of what I mean when I say increased educational requirements: GENERAL EDUCATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS- ALL TO BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT IN PRECLINICAL OR CLINCAL COURSES -Biology (w/ labs) 8 sem hrs (general biology and microbiology) -General chemistry (w/ lab) 8 sem hrs -Organic chemistry (w/ lab) 8 sem hrs -Biochemistry (lab optional) 3-4 sem hrs -Human A+P (w/ lab) 8 sem hrs -Pathophysiology 2-3 sem hrs -English composition 3 sem hrs -Public speaking 3 sem hrs -General psychology 3 sem hrs -Physics (w/ labs) 8 sem hrs I'll post my ideas on preclinical and clinical education requirements later. I have errands to run at the moment.

I'm just glad to see that the majority of people have some manner of sense about them and see that at least part of the solution lays in increasing the educational standards. The rest of you, I only ask that you stay out of our way while we try to get something positive done.

*CLEARS THROAT* Maintaining the status quo is not going to remedy the "shortage" we are currently experiencing and therefore the argument about compounding a supposed shortage is a moot point because as was said in one of my previous posts is that if you concern is simply to keep warm bodies on the rigs, expect to see a steady number (or God forbid an increase) of cold bodies coming out of them when they get to the hospital.

As I've said before, we don't have a shortage of EMT's and paramedics- we have a shortage of GOOD EMT's and paramedics. When I was a shift supervisor we had no problem finding people who had their certifications and a pulse (all that is required in many places to work as an EMT), but finding people who I was willing to send out in good faith to treat the public and potentially my family and friends was exceedingly difficult. Maintaining the status quo is not going to remedy the "shortage" we are currently experiencing and therefore the argument about compounding a supposed shortage is a moot point because as was said in one of my previous posts is that if you concern is simply to keep warm bodies on the rigs, expect to see a steady number (or God forbid an increase) of cold bodies coming out of them when they get to the hospital.

Personally I'm not advocating for a 2yr associate's program (that's fine in the meantime) but rather for a 4 year broad based education for paramedic similar to what yields a BSN.

This should give you some idea: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/classes/zy/...lute/sld026.htm http://www.auburn.edu/academic/classes/zy/...lute/sld027.htm Basically it effects water and electrolyte balance in the plasma and urine, as well as stimulating other pathways that play a large role in fluid balance and blood chemistry and also in blood pressure regulation.

And you should be rightfully proud of what you have accomplished, but I hope that you would stand with us in an attempt to raise the bar even further. If we don't try to advance, we don't even stay where we are. It's a theory in evolution that is called the Red Queen theory, that you have to run in place as fast as you can just to stay where you are. It applies in biology, it applies in Wonderland, and it certainly applies in medicine.

No, it hasn't. It's always been a thread regarding whether you think we should stay as the voc-tech trained cot jockies everyone thinks we are and with an open door policy to people entering the field just wanting to get their jollies off, or do you think we should require people to be able to have a lot more depth in their education and a little more stringent requirements before allowing any yahoo off the street to earn his credentials. We can't do anything about people who are already certed, but we can do something about those who are coming into the field and that is exactly our intention. Lead, follow or step aside.

SWING AND A MISS! It's not that we want to do away with basic EMT's....it's that we want you to be better educated AS a basic EMT.