bandaidpatrol

I hate when people do that.. They don't want their name to go over the air, so they call me directly. I haven't owned the ambulance service in 23 years, and people still ask if the funeral home provided ambulance service. "Not legally".

Why, did you have to change your shorts?

Thanks to Washington officials who don't even know how to apply a Band-Aid.

I've been driving ambulances for over 50 years, and I've never had the EVO course. It was never a requirement. I did have "Defensive Driving for the Ambulance Attendant" in 1969.

I wonder if he's out there somewhere working on an FDNY ambulance right now..? Wondering why he didn't get a pay check et?

I'm not refering to any one ambulance service, I am implying the regulations/equipment list/ect. seem to be far beyond outdated. They don't say anything about KKK compliancy.

Green crosses and rescue squad patches still? Do they still wear white pants, white shirt, white coat and a milkman cap too? I followed the link back to NC EMS page, and it shows the forms for ambulance inspection... Unbelievable. For the year 2006... Even Pennsylvania requires an ambulance meet KKKA1822 Standards.. North Carolina allows ambulances with only 48" of head room? That's like 30" off from the national standard. I haven't seen an Ambulance with only 48" of head room since the Cadillac Superior Volunteer Model came out in 68.

My partner used to say his personal quote to people who stress clean underwear in case of an accident. "If not for the danger of the zipper, underwear should be optional.. And when in an accident, dirty or not, they're comming off either way."

No - F_cking - Way.

I hope you mean a career in EMS, like on a military base. I don't think I could have been an army medic for life. I served a 24 month tour in Vietnam as a Combat Medic... I wouldn't want to do that anymore than necessary. It was great, to gain so much knowledge, but it was war. I don't remember much of it, either because of how horrible it was or that I simply chose not to carry it on. I've gone to air plane crashes as a civilian paramedic, people dismembered, burned, ripped to hundred of pieces, blown up. That's what I compare war to, when people ask, it was like an airplane crashing ever day, for two years straight.

I'd been an ambulance attendant for twenty years before I took the Paramedic class. I'd been an EMT-A for about a year. But you have to remember, the EMT concept was only a year old, and the paramedic concept was just designed. My two-digit certification number should be a sign of that. But I had more training that the next guy anyway, having been a combat medic, I'd been running IV's for years before we started doing it on ambulances. Personally, though, I'd like to see someone have a little street expirence before they even start the Paramedic Program.. and I don't mean ride alongs.

Inflatable? How does that keep them from moving? All I can picture is one of those flat rafts for a swimming pool.

Why pay $2 for 1 when you can get 3 for $1?

It's actually more common than you realize, for EMS not to do any ride along or clinical time. At least on the basic level. The only thing that scares me is the First Responder. In Pennsylvania, they are permitted to do nearly everything the basic does, except administer the BLS meds. While Epi and Oxygen are allowed. Yet, the class is 60 hours shorter than basic, and they have no plans to require them to learn their skills. It's like a first aid class. Read, watch, quick ABC test, here's your card.

All the collar does is keep the Cervical spine from extending. If the provider uses the correct size. Do you measure every patient to make sure the collar you are using is correct for them. Because if you don't do that, it doesn't matter anyway. And it's not immobilization of the Torso & Lumbar spine to worry about, it's the splinting of a pelvis and sacral spine. If the pelvis is allowed to move freely, the rest is useless, as this results in twisting of the spine. As long as the head is kept in a neutral position, and prevented from moving side to side, it's all good. A collar does not prevent the head from moving. I'm not saying don't use a collar, I'm saying "Think".

I searched ebay for "NR" and found several... I have dozens of NREMTP patches in the closet with my old uniforms. However, for the time that I was just an EMT, early 70's, there was no national registry. But I probably have a few EMT-Ambulance patches. Anyway, I did find one auction specifically, with NREMT patches. $1.25 + $4.00 S&H. Good deal, IMO. Ebay Link - Patches

I noticed a pattern over the years... Most common hour to find a DOA in a nursing home? Shift Change. :roll:

I thought there already was a National EMS office? What's the thing in Falls Church, Va?

I always found it difficult to wear my belt in the back of the rig. I can't do an IV, reach the supplies or the radio, or get in sight line of the patient if I'm strapped to the wall. Of course in the cadillac days, they didn't have seat belts in the back at all, unless you requested them. And my employer apparently left that box unchecked.

Back in 47... I'm old remember.. The horse I was riding on stepped in a gopher hole and fell. It had a broken leg, and I had a six inch, give or take an inch, jagged laceration on my right leg. It was washed, with alcohol, yes.. I cried. Bandaged, and my brother carried me to the house to wait for someone to call the doctor. He didn't answer the phone. Blood was starting to run out of the bandage, so we had them blow the fire whistle, Doc was a fireman, he never missed a run. But he didn't come for that.. They had to shoot the horse, and the vet asked if I was next? I didn't find any humor in the matter. My brother wanted to load me in the hearse and start for a hospital. My father decided to do something different. They gave me a shot of something, I don't remember what, and I probably don't want to know, and the vet sutured my leg. 6". I hardly had a scar, he actually did a pretty good job. Thing was, I've had sutures dozens of times, at home and in the army. And that vet was the only one that ever gave something for the pain. The army gave advice "take it like a man".

I was in charge of the family ambulance for 25 of it's 56 years. I had grey hair before I was 30. If it were not for the free equipment through Civil Defense, we would have had to give it up due to operating expenses and insurance.

That is a sin... What happened to cotillion white and omaha orange?

"Drowning from the inside - out"

We pay for the VP to have a medical team... But a large percentage of the population is more than 30 minutes from Advanced Life Support.

Local protocols tell EMS to give water PO to people with heat illness, and orange juice to diabetics who are C/A/O. We used to give water with ipecac, frowned upon now, but compared to modern EMS.. I worked in the dark ages.