ncmedic309

How about this one...does more meds in your bag equal better patient care? I would like some honest answers here, how many drugs are in your bag/box and how many of those drugs get used on a routine basis?

I think some services have way too many drugs than necessary. You look at some services that have upwards of 40-50 medications in their bag and they might give 15 of them on a routine basis. What's the point in having a large selection of drugs that your never going to use? What's the eduction like for those people, how many of them know the inside and out of each of those medications that never get used compared to the ones used routinely? Too many drugs in the bag can be a bad thing...

Plus 5 to both of the last two posts! :thumbright:

You're an instructor? Your grammar is horrible, your professionalism and tact is lacking severely, do you want me to continue? You seem to think mighty highly of yourself, but I'm willing to bet most medics and EMTs can probably run circles around you.

Sounds like the paramedic is a spastic idiot...that patient needs high-flow oxygen...

I agree with you, when it comes to protecting your career, you have to do what's necessary to take care of business. I think it's wrong that any person should reap the consequences of somebody elses mistake. If your trained and certified, you should know your scope of practice and your limitations, and you should be held to them at all times. If you deviate from them then you should be punished accordingly. You can't prevent the actions of some idiots, but you have to look at it from the stand point of "we have a fucked up government and nothings going to play in your favor when it comes that time..."

It's actually quite common that some EMTs and Paramedics have hearing problems. They make special scopes and some services will even buy them for you if it's a necessity to do the job. I don't have any direct links to companies but if you do a search, you shouldn't have any problems finding a good scope to suit your needs.

There's no reason to fear paramedics, I wouldn't even fear some of the dumbasses out here that call themselves paramedics. There's a lot of idiots in EMS, some of them are right here in this forum, don't let them or anyone else change your views of EMS...

I'm never impressed by anything you have to say, since the majority of it belongs in a nice big smelly pile of shit! Why not just make the attempt to be "open-minded" for just one day?

I actually tend to agree with most of your comments except this one in particular. There are way to many areas of the country that depend on basic EMTs for EMS services in general. There are some areas of the US that you'll be lucky to have anybody skilled pass the EMT level attend to you if you need emergency services. Just take a look at the comparison chart from the JEMS website that somebody posted in the other thread, the comparison of EMTs to advanced prehospital providers. In a perfect world, nothing but ALS ambulances would be ideal, but it will never happen. Instead of eliminating the basic level from 911 ambulances, which would wipe out a lot of fleets, we need to focus on much better education for those EMTs. Let's make them better at the jobs they are supposed to do so they can be utilized more efficiently. That's the answer to our problems unless you can turn all those EMTs into paramedics, that would be a even better solution.

Your not wrong, your right on! As an EMT your play a very important role in assisting your paramedic partner on the truck, just as you stated. Theres tons of things you can do on the truck to help out your partner. When you get done with school, you will see just how much your partner appreciates your efforts as an EMT. A good EMT partner is priceless...

Wow! That's pathetic, your right, you both deserve more for what you do! There's no way I could do this job for that amount of money, there should be a law that sets your pay minimum well above the rates you stated.

There are some people here (and everywhere else) that seem to think others are inferior to them because they don't have as many years of service or don't have the same certifications/licensure/degrees as they do. They disagree with anyone and everyone if it isn't done their way and won't hesitate to bash/attack another member if you disagree or do it differently. Fortunately the number of those people are fairly small and leave little impact on things. Remember, just because a person has more years of experience or a higher certification doesn't mean they know what they are doing and it certainly makes them no better than anyone else.

Where did I mention anything about a badge giving me or anyone else authority? Try reading my post again... Authority - "the power to influence or persuade resulting from knowledge or experience" Take that definition and apply it to the job that we do...You can be hard-headed and only see it from one view or you can look at it for what it is, and attempt to understand the point I'm trying to make. It really makes no difference to me, I know how to do my job, and I know all about the authority I have and where it reaches. I don't use it to make myself feel better about anything, I use it to make the best decisions possible when caring for my patients. Not "everyone in america" has that authority, nor the knowldege or experience to use it properly.

It might have been discussed several times, but I didn't get to put my 2 cents in on it. It's not about "getting way too much of ourselves", it's about doing what it takes to get the job done. Quite simply put, you have the authority to restrain a patient vs. letting them kick your ass in the back of the truck, you have the authority to force a patient that is mentally unfit to make their own decisions seek further medical care. Believe it or not, even us EMS folks have some degree of authority.

That was very well put, agree 200%.

LMAO! That's awesome!

If your right and you can prove it, you can buck a paramedic, a doctor, another EMT, whatever all day long and you have the right to do so! Just because somebody has a higher certification than you or has held a certification longer (even at the same level) doesn't mean they have a clue as to what they are doing!

The badge obviously looks more professional, but it gets you mistaken for law enforcement quite often. I can't tell you how many times I've been called an "officer"... I disagree with the comments about no authority, regardless if you wear a badge or not in EMS, you still have some degree of authority, and people still see you as a authortiy figure. You might not have the same authority as a law enforcement officer, but it's still there...think about it...how often do you use it on a daily basis to get the job done?

Just one of the many problems with the EMS education systems around the country...why can't we just knock it down to a few standard levels...wouldn't this help education in the long run...and provide better standards of care for prehospital care providers around the US?

Give this link a try... EMT - Enhanced

I guess us medics are a little smarter than the cops. We haven't had any accidents in the almost 4 years that we've had them secondary to the driver paying attention to the computer screen. It's actually quite easy and safe to use, your partner sitting next to you navigates as usual, how many times do you look over at the mapbook that your partner is navigating you out of while your driving emergency traffic, I can't recall ever doing it...same thing with the mobile PC. And when your enroute to a hospital, you shouldn't need a map, you should be familiar enough with your county that you can navigate yourself to the destination by recall alone. The mapping system works great, it's the idiots that don't use them properly that run into problems. If your running alone in a vehicle (such as a police officer) you shouldn't have your head turned away from your driving, same principle as driving and talking on a cell phone, pay attention to what your supposed to be doing and you won't end up injured or worse...it's an easy rule to live by...

I think it's an abbreviated form of the EMT-Intermediate course...

We've had them for several years now along with a mobile mapping system. I don't see a downfall to having them, if anything it improves the system. It makes it a lot easier for your dispatch to keep an eye on you, and it's a lot harder to hide, but it works...

You begin treating the patient for reactive airway disease/COPD and realize that it's actually a cardiac issue, you change your course of treatment. I hate the term "treat and trash", but sometimes it happens and there's not much you can do about it. Your patient presents one way, you can't get a better history, you have to treat what you see. Just be sure to reassess for changes. If it starts looking like something else, discontinue your original care and begin your new treatment modality. It seems this patient began presenting like your classic COPD/Asthma case, and then heart failure showed it's nasty face... As far as further treatment, nitrates, diuretic, and CPAP. If the patient has a hx of COPD (more specifically emphysema) make sure you have the ability to lower your cm H2O (pressure range) so you don't "pop" any blebs when using a CPAP machine...