FormerEMSLT297

O.K. thanks for the info... I looked on line for the LA County Paramedic Protocols, and could not find them... That is very interesting... That is the same thing NYC is seeing.. A bunch of 20 somethings who want to be Firefighters, go into EMS, sspend a few years on the Ambulance and then take the "in house test" for FF, if they pass they are pretty much fast tracked into the Fire side. So what do you get when you call an Ambulance in NYC???.... An EMT who tries his/her best but really wants to be a FF and isn't interested for the most part in becoming a medic or learning anything but the basics of their job. Before you all attack me; I'm Not saying ALL EMT's are like that, but there is a large portion of the new FDNY EMS that is. My thoughts are my own and do not represnt my agency or dept.

O.K. I agree, if one more person asks about FDNY or Tactical or flight medic, I think I'm going to scream. Asy,, If you want to get with me in a PM we can work on the FDNY post, and Some of the tac guys/Military medics/SOCOM and Ofc/Trooper/Deputy medic's we can get together on a Tac-medic FAQ site. As far a flight medic, AK, Me, CHPmedic and others can get together on a Flight medic, Flight nurse FAQ. Anyone interested in working on these 3 sites with me,, shoot me a PM... What ever we do we should make sure to put all of the appropriate links on the FAQ site because you know what will happen if we don't. "I can't find it; it's not there, where's the application... blah blah blah..." I'll leave Dust and some of the others to answer the EDU, training, NREMT, which class is best, and assorted other questions..... That's all I'm done.

flight medic checking in .... I agree with what Dr. B. said. When the private operator makes a go/no go decsion, it can be based on the all mighty dollar. Govt and state run operators rely more on safety, weather minimums, etc. Before we axcept any flight our pilots check the weather radar in our hangar. This is especially important during the summer when pop up thunderstorms can reek havoc with an aircraft. I also agree that the bigger airframe's that the State and Govt operators fly can be a difference. As far as maintenence the standards are the same as for Private and Govt. operators so I don't know if that is so much a factor. As far as what ground providers can do. Only fly a patient that will really benefit from arriving within the golden hour. I have a friend whose husband was flown by a Pvt. operator from a local hosp. to a cardiac cath lab. The Dr. strong armed my friend into using a helo. Needs to gat there right away, don't you wnat him to get the best care ,,, blah blah blah... Well they flew him, and after landing at the cardiac Cath hospital, they waited about 30-45 minutes before he was taken into the cath lab. My friend was like ,, why did we rush and fly only to wait?..... later she got the bill for i think 10K and she was like this was a 10 minute flight why was is so expensive????? She was pissed. No to mention the ground transport would have only been 20-30 minutes and only a few hundred not thousand dollars.... My thoughts are my own and do not represent my agency or dept.

I dunno Canadian law enough to speak, but in USA it sounds like the patient was not oriented enough to refuse treatment, as to why the RCMP said no.?? I dunno the laws, but you cant RMA a patient that isn't aware of his surroundings. Maybe calling a supervisor to the scene to asssist in convincing the police to act.

Personally I don't except "Wave off's" or calls to my dispatcher saying your officer is trying to stop me. I stop the car and I.D. the driver. We have had several police impersonators with fake badges, real stolen badges, and loaded guns, so I stop and I.D. the person. So the FF was wrong to not stop and explain the situation. He is also wrong for responding with family. As for the trooper,, I would have followed the van to the scene and then taken appropriate police action. But I would not have cut him off and caused an accident. They were both wrong.... the question is who was wronger.?????? LOL I dunno.

Patches plenty of buffy patches,,, at least 5 on each sleeve, with rockers going down the side... a few front and back too ..... LOL. No seriously the only thing i maight change is the helmets HGU 56 narrower field of view then the old ones .. also maybe add some reflective stripes to either our dark blue helmet or dark blue flight suits. Good tactically not so good visibility wise at night on a highway . Other than that our uniforms are pretty cool... Also when FDNY took over EMS, they changed the uniformed for the better took away white shirts and went with dark blue... a lot more practical

O.K. as promised I will start this one off,,, start with a bio, like where you worked, how long, EMT Medic, dispatcher, etc. What would have made you stay, are you in a better place now, or do you regret the move. I do know of some people who have left and come back, so here it goes. NYC*EMS 1987-1997 EMT @ Sta. 13 Dispatcher in Comm, Paramedic in Sta. 18 and MBC, Lieutenant Sta. 11, 15, and Station 41. Left about 10 months after to FDNY Hostile takeover,,, they called it a merger when I was told that LT's and Capt's going back on the bus (ambulance) EMS ranks would STOP at Capt. top salary was about 45K base. At the time no line of duty disability, and no 25 year retirement, no matter when you were hired you had to work until age 62... that would have been about 41 years for me. FDNY was trying to run things but knew and still know NOTHING about EMS. They replaced an EMS chief with a FDNY career FF to run the "Bureau of EMS" So I saw the writing on the wall. 10 years later,, I'm making about lots more money than I was when I left EMS. I'm in a much more progressive system, with better training and better equipment. They FDNY have back slid on the idea of NO EMS Chief's, but the basic system is still badly broken and sending firetrucks with CFR's doesn't add more transport units to the over taxed system... My co-workers who were LT's with me, 1 is a chief, 1 a Capt, several still Lt's and yet others have left the job. They got a 25 year retirement and Line of Duty 3/4, but the base salary that they are paying, you can't afford to live anywhere near where you work. I return to NYC and speak with friends still on the job on a regular basis and they are all basically miserable. The new hires while some are good, some are scraping to bottom of the barrel. They are recruiting in homeless shelters, NO H.S. Dsiploma, no worry our academy is a BOCES site you can get your G.E.D. So, overall I'm very very happy I left. I miss some of the calls, miss some of the trauma, don't miss the FDNY DRAMA. Go Black Sheep, Go Dinosaurs, NYC*EMS R.I.P 1970- 3/17/1996. My thoughts are my own and do not represent my agency or department.

Ohh really ??????? I dunno where you get your info. from but the combination houses are a subject of great debate in both FF and EMS circles. The FF's do not want their houses invaded by "civilians". And yes they have or did in the past put up walls to keep the EMS personnel out of "their side" of the house. I dunno where you get your information from but I used to work there and speak to many friends who still are there and they say that the combo houses are "stressful and tense" to use some of the less graphic words that ive heard to describe the situation. My thoughts are my own and do not represent my ageny or dept. Former

I couldnt tolerate contacts long term so I just wear glasses..

I used to work with Artie and Joe .. they are both some great guys. Joe was is member of the FDNY team that won the EMS competition last year...i think JEMS? Great job gang

Sounds like some good questions. What do you mean that LA medics "do so little" do you mean they have few standing order? or that they don't carry a lot of medications? or theat they can't do many advanced procedures? or that they don't have a lot of calls ? Please clarify. thanks

The station in rockaway is one also.. Battalion 47. The ff actually put up walls to keep the EMS personnel on their side of the house.

What ever you do,, make sure you register for the civil service test thru the city DCAS web site.. what that will do for you is this. When they certify the list and you pass; HS Diploma, Valid drivers license and NYS-EMT card gets you at least a 70, then the FDNY will be obligated to hire you when they get to your list number. You can be hired provisionally and then get civil service status, or you can get hired directly off the c.s. list.

Great that link appearently does not work even though I just used it so try: www.nyc.gov/dcas then click on monthly exam schedule and scroll down to EMS or EMT

O.K. folks, you can lead a horse to water ....... go to the New york City Dept of Civil Service Web Site @ www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/employment/examschedule/shtml There is the list of EVERY civil service job test in NYC. Under EMS you will see the test for EMT and Paramedic is being opened on June 6, 2007 and closes June 26, 2007. I don't know if the test is still the same but maybe some current NYC people can chime in. Used to be a NYS-EMT card, and a Valid Drivers License got you a 70 (passing score). Then you get like 5 points a year if you worked in the NYC 9-1-1 system, 2 points a year for private ambulance work, and maybe 1 point a year for volunteering. If you want to get hired off as a provisional employee I don't know if FDNY still does that, you can hop the subway to their HQ and pick up an application there. Best of luck happy trails, Stay safe, Former

The point I was trying to make is this: Any training you can get is good, as to what is better, if you are working as a medic for a beach patrol, I would say you want to have good practical course in say performing spinal immobilization in the surf environment, and maybe some stuff about hazardous marine life stings. If you are working in an ICU, CCU, or as a flight medic doing long transports of cardiac patients with ballon pumps, then you might want ccemt-p. Some flight programs want you to be FP-C, others do not. My own for example doesn't care, if you have it great, if you don't no biggie. All of our flight medics get additional critical care trauma training, as well as RSI training in the OR. So that was the point i'm trying to make. For further info you can also go to: www.certifiedflightparamedic.org

I'm sorry Asy, but explain your #2 to me.. How does improved dispatching get you "more medics"???.... maybe you keep them available more often, but but it won't increase the numbers of medic trucks. Your #4 does make sense, that is probably what FDNY really wants paramedic engines and for all the EMT's to just go away. I could see them trying to privatize the BLS transport units, parcel up to city, and give each private company 1 little zone and then the medics remain FDNY. That would slowly faze out the voluntarys as well, which sounds like what FDNY wants to do.

You could also consider taking the ninga tactical medic, ADLS, Haz-Mat, Decon, scuba dive medic, swift water, high angle, low angle every angle rescue course and then get all the patches that go along with it and see if it makes you fell eliter. ohh and let me know i'd be curious to know what it feel like

Another new person wo didn't read the rules ... again i suggest you do a index search as there are many places where this has been discussed before . Check out this web site for further: http://ehs.umbc.edu/CE/CCEMT-P/ and as somedic stated let us know if you feel elite after taking them .

opps that didn't work,,, i'll try again www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-6/1168926469273850.xml&coll=1 Also it was part 91 not 912 sorry.

Web Page Name Appearently the Feds are looking at the link between NJ State Police who actually fly the helos and UMD that provide the medics and it appears that they bill for their service. The Feds claim that they are not operating under part 135 which governs "commercial" air medevac services vs. part 912 which governs public use aircraft. Check out the above link.

Before one of the moderators rip you a new one ... do a browse on this site,, this topic has been discussed numerous times before. To answer you question very briefly, timing is everything. They got lucky. Also did you just call them or did you actually submit an application ? It is a little presumptuous to think that you are the last EMT in NYC and just cause you called them and spoke with some dim wit in personnel that they actually recorded your name let alone plan on calling you back. former FDNY EMS LT, NYC*EMS LT, blah blah

There is actually new research that lasix is not the first line medication for CHF or Pulmonary Edema because the patients are "normovolemic" and that treatment should be geared to reducing preload and after load, instead of diuressing(spell check) the patient and shifting their potassium and sodium levels all out of whack. The new theory is that Nitro is the most safe and effective medication for this. As a second medication they recommend an ACE inhibitor like Captopril because it too will reduce after load on the heart. Our protocols used to have Lasix as a standing order, and they didn't remove it, just made is medical control option, but they increased the dosage of NTG to a total dose of up to 4.0 mg instead of a 1.2 total dose, as well as adding CPAP. Also an assessment for CHF should be made on physical exam findings like rales, wheezes, pedal edema, ascites, JVD, as well as a big part on patient history. Most Pneumonia patients will be febrile, but not all of them, most will have localized lung junk instead of all over wheezes or rales. My thouhgts are my own and don't represent my agency or dept.

I dunno I've never used it. lol