mediccjh

I used to be a wacker. Not anymore. I have a pager for the rescue company in the town I'm in. Some T-shirts that I wear under my uniform. I do have a duty belt with stuff on it. I prefer it for work. My boots don't go past my front door.

It's only a save if they walk out of the neurologically intact. It's like deja-vu all over again.

Why volunteer when you can get paid for it?!! There are NO volunteer ALS units in New Jersey. If you still feel the need to be a hoople, join your local BLS "squad," and teach them: 1. How to respond on the not-hot jobs. 2. How NOT to wait on scene for ALS. 3. How NOT to wait on scene for ALS to "just check out the patient."

Most models, normal. Air rides suck.

Dusty, while I usually agree with you on most things, there are things I'm gonna disagree with you here: You are correct; however, if those 2 medics are doing 20 BLS jobs in a shift every night, while ALS jobs are holding, they tend to get burnt out quick. Yes, there is the "luck of the draw" of the EMS Gods, but it does happen and human nature shows that people get pissed when they don't get to use your skills. I, like most medics here, have no problem running non-stop if at least 50% are actual ALS jobs. I do get frustrated when I'm working in my two-tiered system, and I'm getting stuck on nothing but BLS assignments. Trust me, we're trying to fix it. If my patient is an old diabetic woman c/o of a toothache, then maybe I'll consider doing a 12-lead. Not everybody can catch everything. The 99% of idiots who call 911 for a toothache only need a ride to the hospital. Until the time we are all allowed to tell people that they don't need to go to the hospital, they get a ride, and that's where the EMT-B comes in. For the most part, most EMT-Bs can tell when a person needs Paramedic intervention, like the person who is puffing away at 40 times a minute. The GREAT EMT-Bs can tell when that borderline patient requires Paramedic intevention. Agreed. See, I can disagree with someone I respect and not get nasty. Why can't most others?

Go to the New York State DOH-EMS website, and download the application for reciprocity. Fill it out, and it should take about 2 weeks for you to get your card.

Exactly! A two-tiered system is the best. Oversaturation of paramedics does lead to increased mortalities, as well as provider burnout. Look at Philadelphia. There is NO reason a Paramedic needs to be on a stubbed toe, or an arm pain, a toothache, or a leg pain. Even if the leg pain ends up being a DVT, the Saline Lock of Life isn't going to make a difference. This is where the EMT-B comes in. Hospital discharges do not require Paramedics, unless it is an Inter-Hospital ALS Transfer. This is where the EMT-B comes in. Everything boils down to EDUCATION. Increase the EMT-B class hours, instead of the current ARC Emergency Responder on Steroids it is. As someone who has had both EMT-B partners and Paramedic partners, I'd rather have another Paramedic. When I hit a mental block, they are there for me. When I miss an IV, they get it for me. And vice-versa. You can form an EMT-B partner to help you the way you can on an ALS bus; however, that EMT-B still can't intubate or start an IV when it needs to get done and you have a hard time, whether it be poor veins or difficult airway.

As long as there is a seal between mask and face, facial hair is OK, as long as it doesn't interfere. I have a goatee, and it is within the N95 mask seal.

Conservative. I believe that government's only jobs are to: 1. Protect the people. 2. Educate the peole. 3. Promote and protect interstate commerce.

This weekend in Newark was the Portugese Festival. It was busy. I was there Sunday, and we had about 50 patients on Sunday alone. A lot of assaults and I had a stabbing. The 12-year old girl who was killed was not near the festival. She crawled under a horse (the wooden kind) to go into the street to an ice-cream truck on the same block as our drunk-tank hospital. She was hit by a Ford work van, and died at the U.

The study was done in the City of Bethlehem and Bethlehem Townships, PA. From the medics I've talked to, there were MANY flaws in the study, including patients who should've and shouldn'tve been included that were and weren't.

I'm gonna disagree, because I did it, successfully one. My mother was choking on a piece of chicken, thrusted twice, and it shout out.

I have a key clip on my duty belt.

I would need to see a clearer picture of the 12-Lead EKG. It looks like there may be a BBB there; however the quality of the 12-Lead prohibits me from seeing it. Either way, she needs synchronized cardioversion. Start at 100J. And give the nurse a lesson in reading EKGs.

After reading this thread, I feel the need to bash my head against the wall until it becomes no more than a spongy, bloody, pulp of mush.

"Cocaine's a helluva drug." -Rick James

Abraham Quincy. I remember watching that episode. I didn't have to Google it. It was revealed in a flashback episode which shows his 1st wife died, I believe. Lt. Frank Columbo. When it's on TV, I watch it.

It's still the same. Luckily, when I call the Doc-In-the-Box, I usually get what I want. However, I don't do pain management that often, because unfortunately, most of the time it's a seeker. However, I seem to be developing my sense of real vs. seeker.

It's called a Kussmaul device. SIUH and LMC in NYC have them, and we use them in Newark. Prevented 2 skells from breaking into my bus Saturday night.

Laura, First off, don't beat yourself up. From the posts I've read that you've posted here and in other places, you know what the hell you're doing. 1. Was this an asthma or a COPD pt? MgSO4 wouldn't do jack for the COPDer. 2. Sounds like he called way too late. You win some, you lose some. 3. History of cocaine or heroin use? That exacerbates asthma, to the point of intubation. You did what you could, and did your best. People die anyway. As long as you did everything you could within the scope of your protocols, you have nothing to worry about.

You work for the U, Camden Division?

For once, I agree with VS!!! First, we don't know what the scene looked like. Seemed like a cramped place. In that case, secure the airway, extricate, then treat. If I tube, I'm not giving Narcan. And if I'm giving Narcan, I'm tying down arms first to protect myself.

Shoulda stayed away from the farm animals with the clap.

I work on a hospital-based MICU in an urban city in NJ and make $22.65/hr plus 1.75/hr shift diff.