scott33

Since this healthcare reform has been pitched, there have been many in the US media making comparisons to "Socialist healthcare systems" Many of the analogies in the press have gone from the inaccurate to the offensive. My reply was in reference to the misconception of those systems from a US standpoint. Just as the US has its rights, so certain other countries have theirs. Believe it or not, many of the comments from Canada, the UK, Australia, and NZ are in support of the US having a better system for their people.

I can see a common misconception here. There is a big difference between those who say health care is a right, and those who perceive that as health insurance being a right. In most countries outside the US, there is a choice of either government run healthcare or private insurance companies, or a combination of both. Here are a couple of example of private health insurers in the UK, if one so wishes to use them. http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-life-cover/health-insurance http://www.bmihealthcare.co.uk/about-bmi http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/healthinsurance/private-medical-insurance/guide/

There are more parts of the world which operate without a MC system - in fact, the US appears to be the exception not the rule. This is possibly why you won't get some foreign system allowing someone with a 120-hour first aid certificate, to act in the role of ambulance clinician / crew chief / etc. Just Google rest of the world

Hi. There are one or two other SJA members here - usually to be found in the UK, Aus, and NZ sections.

Fake! http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2866364/Michael-Jackson-911-tape-revealed.html "Right now he's in a deep sleep....er....coma" And listen to the background noise - or lack of it. ROLFL

Yeah, I had a good old chuckle at all those decrepit vehicles. Cheers for the vids Kiwi.

The pilot program started in 2002 and lasted < 2 years - ECPs have been practicing since then, and are very much an integral part of the ambulance service in England - not so much in the rest of the UK just yet. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564336/ http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/research/hsri/emergencycare/research/ec_practitionerstudy/ecp_exec-sum-2.pdf

Interesting.

Indeed. I like the idea of utilizing alternate referral pathways, but it will never work in the US. Below is one example of how they are used in the UK at ECP (MSc) level. http://www.paramedicpractitioner.com/downloads/WAS-ECP_Guidelines.pdf

Haven't seen the first ones in years, and some things have changed since they were filmed (Including Gareth Davies). HEMS operators are dotted around the UK and have been operating since the early 80s. The typical crew configuration is Doctor / Paramedic and unlike the US, RNs are not seen too often in the role. Much of the funding for the operations for HEMS comes from charitable donations. Note the bilateral needle thoracentesis at 3:30 in the first clip. Standard of care, even for the ground crews for chest trauma.

Most, if not all, of the UK police forces have armed response units. Matt202 who posts here, has been in one for years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i2jxb69nI8 Just a quick overview of some of their weapons.

Now I know where the term "Kangaroo Court" comes from. I have been reading the stories thank you, and contributing to the threads, and the only thing certain is that the details are sketchy at best. There are just as many reports in the media that would exonerate the 2 dispatchers, as there are that would blame them. The details have been changing continuously - first she died from a seizure, now it is an asthma attack. First they flat out refused to get involved, now they called it in to dispatch. Quote: " Ms. Jackson said a woman whose face she recognized emerged from behind the counter and asked, “Do you know Eutisha?” Ms. Jackson said no. “So then she said, ‘Well, can you call an ambulance for her?’ ” Ms. Jackson said. “At that particular time, I took my cellphone out and as I’m dialing my dispatcher, to tell him to place this job in the system, I’m asking her questions.” Mr. Green said she placed the call to the dispatcher at 9:13 a.m. Generally, emergency calls placed through 911 are recorded; if Ms. Jackson called a dispatcher on an internal line, the call may not have been. Ms. Jackson said that she asked enough questions to ascertain that Ms. Rennix was pregnant and had abdominal pain. “So I’m talking to the dispatcher now, telling him the information that she gave to me,” Ms. Jackson said. “Then, as she’s walking away, I said, ‘Is that all? Is there anything else going wrong?’ And she said, ‘And she has asthma.’ So I told the dispatcher. I said, ‘Difficulty breathing; she has asthma.’ ” Mr. Green and Ms. Jackson said there was no sense of urgency at any time inside the store. They said they learned later that the first ambulance, a basic life support unit from Long Island College Hospital, arrived at 9:24 a.m. — 11 minutes after Ms. Jackson said she called. By that time, Ms. Jackson said she was back at her desk; Mr. Green said he was eating his sandwich in a cafeteria inside 1 Metro Tech. A Fire Department ambulance arrived at 9:28 a.m., they said. Mr. Long confirmed the ambulance times". I don't think that any of the above times would be too difficult to confirm for the investigation. What makes you think that the above isn't the true course of events (not that I am saying they were)? Does it not make for a reasoned argument, that perhaps after it was called in, after seeing there was "no sense of urgency", and knowing that an ambulance was minutes away, the 2 dispatchers left the store - which is when things may have started to deteriorate for the patient. This could have looked like they had abandoned the patient to bystanders, in retrospect. Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know any more about this than you do, but I think it is wrong for any of us to put our opinions across as fact.

What on earth makes you think that?

I think you should concentrate your efforts where you are...things have changed recently. From the HPC website: "Action: CU (by 6 July 2009) Item 14.09/61 Ronin Protective and Paramedical Services South Africa (report ref: ETC 41/09) 14.1 The Committee received a paper for discussion/approval from the Executive. 14.2 The Committee noted that the IHCD paramedic award delivered jointly by Ronin Protective and Paramedical Services, South Africa (‘Ronin’) and South West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SWAST) had previously been accredited by the IHCD. The Committee noted that HPC had previously agreed that IHCD should be approved as an education provider. However, in March 2008, the Committee had agreed to regard individual sites of delivery as the education provider for IHCD award and the IHCD as the validating body. The Committee had also agreed in March 2008 that it was not possible to approve programmes or franchised and collaborative programmes which were delivered outside of the UK by a non-UK education provider. However, it was possible for a UK education provider to deliver a programme in whole or in part overseas. 14.3 The Committee noted that, in February 2009, the Executive had sent a form to Ronin Protective and Paramedical Services to gather information about the programme. Following information provided by Ronin and SWAST and legal advice from HPC’s solicitor, the Executive had decided that the paramedic award delivered jointly by Ronin and SWAST should be considered to be a programme or franchised and collaborative programme delivered outside of the UK by a non-UK education provider. Ronin and SWAST had been informed of the decision and had appealed against the decision. 14.4 The Committee noted that, separately to these developments, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) had written to HPC expressing concern about the programme. In particular, HPCSA was concerned that the programme required extensive clinical experiential training which was conducted on South African citizens. In addition, people on the HPCSA Intermediate Life Support register were enrolling for the programme and were practising outside their scope of practice. This constituted a transgression of the South African Health Professions Act 1974 and the Ethical Code. 14.5 The Committee agreed that: • the programme was a franchised and collaborative programme delivered outside of the UK by a non-UK education provider. The Committee felt that there was no guarantee that placements took place in the UK. In addition, the Committee agreed that the appeal by SWAST and Ronin had not fully answered the HPC’s requests for information; • the IHCD paramedic award delivered by Ronin and SWAST should not be regarded as an approved programme, to the extent that it had ever been approved by HPC. The Committee agreed that the evidence did not seem to meet the requirements of a UK education provider delivering the programme in whole or in part outside of the UK and therefore could not be considered as an approved programme, in accordance with the Committee’s decision in March 2008 mentioned at paragraph 14.2 above." http://www.hpc-uk.org/assets/documents/10002A1Beducation_and_training_committee_20090611_minutes.pdf

Is it a fact though? I was under the impression that the only fact is that there are many different versions of what actually occurred.

The photos really don't give you the full picture. They really are a big pair of clod-hoppers. I mean, seriously big boots with those fins sticking out the front of them. However... http://www.ems1.com/ems-products/apparel-accessories/articles/596090-EMS-workers-no-longer-required-to-wear-FDNY-boots/

PD every time.

About 10 - 15 minutes

Epocrates all the way! I have a few others as already mentioned, as well as iMurmur, which still confuses the hell out of me.

Goodbye "Naughties" hello "Teens"

The truth of the matter is a world away from what you are suggesting. There is now talk of bringing in a "new visa" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8417510.stm

And there are probably many more who were born there. Go to somewhere like Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, London, Birmingham etc, and you will see Mosques among those city skylines. It has been that way for decades. Muslims have been in the UK as long as I can remember - just about every corner convenience store is known as "The paki's" nationwide. It has recently changed between the US and UK. They are now exchanging demographic information between nationals before travel commences, so the old white I-94 is no longer being used. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) request must now be approved prior to departure or you don't get on the plane. This "sharing of information" is the same initiative which banned Martha Stuart from entering the UK, and Boy George from entering the US http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html

Depends on how dirty the paramedic's bags are