EMS Solutions

Come join me as I hold an open discussion regarding EMS and the current financial climate. Is the EMS industry recession proof? What challenges does the industry face and what can providers at all levels do to help secure their jobs and future? Have you seen any changes in your organization due to the current financial climate? This Thursday March 12, 2009at 2030 (8:30 PM) EST I am having another open forum call in radio show to discuss just this. Come join me and have your voice heard, share your ideas or opinions. You don't need to be some finance wizard. I certainly am not. Just click the link below and bookmark the page. Then on Thursday come visit and join in or even just listen to the discussion. I hope to see you there. http://blogtalkradio.com/emss While you're there take a listen to some past episodes or download them to your computer or Ipod. Jim PS - If you want to be a featured contributor, drop me a PM.

A great way to get the word out is Facebook. You can create a business/organization page thru your main FB page and then people can become fans of the page. Then your freinds freinds will see it and become fans and their freinds and so on and so on. If you do this, let me know and I will be a fan. I like the site BTW. Did you know that the dark background is saving 20% energy from a lighter or white background? So you're being "green" as well. Good luck Jim

Don't laugh, Video resumes are increasing in popularity. Sites like careerbuilder.com and even one soley targeting video resumes resumetube.com are finding that it is a great way to give potential employers a peek of what you are all about before you get that interview. With the job market the way it is, I would put a resume video of my own on youtube or viddler and send that link along with my one page resume and short 1-2 paragraph cover letter to the potential employer. That may be the thing that gets your foot in the door. - Check out a free Job preparation guide. It is for designed for any job market, not just EMS. http://ems-safety.com/emsfiles.htm Maybe it will help you a little more. Good luck Jim

Wow Dust, you may have to start going on a junket soon with all these interviews.

A small learning curve is Frontpage or CoffeeCup. In addition many web hosting accounts also usually have a simple web design feature that would include a template with a WYSIWYG editor.

Most of the commercial field guides are way too big to fit in a pocket and are really just mini textbooks. They can be a good tool to use if kept in a bag or fornt of the truck to refer to. Especially for newer providers and those returning after a leave. I do agree that they should not a be a crutch or replacement for good retention of drugs, dosages, treatments etc. But there are calls like pediatrics that it can be better to look up some things to "refresh" your memory on the way to a call, rather than give an incorrect dosage or med. A quick refresher on certain drugs is all that should be needed. You should not be reading from the little 3x5 book on each call. I get a lot of agencies to create custom guides for that start off wanting to have a 300 page guide with all the nuts and bolts included. I try and suggest that they keep it as a short reference guide and not as a replacement for being a well educated and knowledgable paramedic. These guides can be useful in a regional setting since dosages and medical control options and treatment modalities can change from region to region and some of us work in several regions. So having a specific guide for a region that focuses on that areas protocols can be a very useful tool for not only "refreshing' on a particular protocol but also during chart writing. So while I agree that any guide should not be a go to resource on each call you do. They can be another tool that we use in the field to ensure the best care is given. I would rather someone peek at a drug dosage real quick than give the wrong med. While at the same time, if that same someone is looking up the same med or dosage every time, then there is an issue. Whether it be laziness or just lack of interest in their career. Field guides are a tool in our arsenal and it depends on how you use them.

Sent you a PM - Jim

I've been eating that many calories ever since I saw the Olympics and found out that Phelps was eating that many. I figured if he had a body like a super hero eating like that why not me. so far... it's not working out like I planned.

Just as an FYI - From Uncovering Difficult Airways ems-safety.com

I have worked for several agencies that tracked advanced skills the employee did. IV, cardioversion, IO, Needle Cric, Pacing, ETI etc. We would have to either fill out a short form or record book and document the skill along with noting dates, chart # and any issues we had in peforming the task - 2 attempts at ETI , 2 IV attempts, unsucessful IV attempts. Then sign the form or book. In addition two agencies spent a lot of cash to get the equipment to cover skills not done all that much such as IO or Needle Decompression. The medical director would have a requirement of maintaining skills by perfroming "X" amount of skills each year during patient contact. If you did not fulfill those requirements then you would have to do them in a skill station type of scenario with the Medical Director or his appointed designee - usually a paramedic preceptor or training officer. For those who worked only PT, they would either have to provide documentation from a FT job that they maintained the required # of ETI etc for the year or do a bunch of the skill station scenarios mentioned. They also required that all employees do a clinical assessment annually, which includes a patient assess, mega code, trauma and medical scenarios as well as go over any recent changes in local protocols and new treatments. This was done annually along with a short exam. I am not sure if they did it for JCHAO. It may have been for CAAS requirements though. I know that one reason it was done was also to try and protect the agency from legal questions. Such as if a patient or family complained you didnt do something right, management could always provide some type of documentation that you did the skill "x" amount of times succesfully. As far as JCHAO, I believe that most of what they did was a rush every three years to cover things like RACE, right to know, PASS, hospital operations, HIPPA and employee documenation and not so much the skills and ops of the EMS department.

The link below is for one hour credit and is video based. http://ems.aanet.org/ems1.shtml

Take a look at the Job Interview and Preparation guide I just posted. It can be applied to any market but hey it's free and maybe you can get something out of it. http://ems-safety.com/free.htm Jim

I am surprised that no one has made it the medics fault yet. I mean how dare he fight back, he should just stand there and take it.

I wonder where the 15+ minute video is for paid EMS?

I agree that if you are confident in your knowledge going in cold should not be an issue. The issue may be the exam style since so many people are not used to or have never taken the NREMT CBT/CAT exam type format. I actually did an audio interview Dr Margolis, Associate Director of the NREMT and he gave a bunch of great insight into the exam as well as the upcoming accreditation plans for medic courses. http://ems-safety.com/greggm.htm One of my members took the time and gave a short summary of the interview for me - I have posted the exam section below. Good luck - I took the exam years ago and then again in the CBT format just so I know what it was all about first hand and passed with little to no study. ==== Gregg S. Margolis, PhD, NREMT-P, is Associate Director of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. Re: CBT Exam Process (Computer adaptive Exam) – started in 2007 1. Not the old exam just placed on the computer 2. New Algorithm for presenting and grading the test – more accurate and fair 3. Adaptive – there is no fixed length to the exam. There is a minimum & maximum number of questions but the number will of questions presented to each candidate will be unique. 4. Test starts with medium difficulty items. a. If answered correctly, questions get a little harder b. If answers are incorrect, questions back up to a little easier 5. More failures since the change? – No 6. Most feedback is “pretty challenging” a. every one gets ½ right and ½ wrong – the score depends on WHAT questions are correct. b. Since the questions adapt to the person, most find it quite difficult for THEM c. Anyone who thinks it’s easy – probably missing a nuance and getting things wrong. 7. How does program choose questions? a. NO desire or intent to make the exam SEEM hard b. Test designed to make an attempt to determine the candidates ability. (1) Old method in linear exam environment - score was a straight % of the questions (2 ) New methodology – Item Response Theory (a) Item difficulty adjusts DURING the exam ( Now measuring WHICH items are correct © Therefore, hardest items correct = High performer and mostly easy items correct – low perform 8. Have there been any major “glitches” since the 2007 rollout? a. No major bugs b. Some minor issues (1) CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH THE NEED TO PRESENT PROPER ID DURING SIGN-IN (2) Two forms of ID Required i. One must be photo ii. One must be government issued 9. Summary – designed to be a more accurate and more fair assessment of the candidates’ ability a. It is a timed test, but b. Less than 1% run out of time c. Important to read each item carefully and make sure you understand what is needed before answering. i. Read the entire question and all of the distracters before choosing the BEST response. ii. There may be more than one right answer but only one is BETTER ie. more correct the majority of the time d. Every exam has 10-15 pilot items. i. These are not testing the candidate and won’t count for or against the candidate in the score. ii. These are being included now, prior to inclusion. iii. If you run into something that seems extremely difficult, just assume it is a pilot item and don’t worry about it. ============== Please keep in mind that the above is short summary of the Q&A. Jim

I like this one too. http://ems-safety.com/12-lead-ekg.htm

I did this quick animation. Please keep in mind I am not an actor or voice over talent. Monkey

Buckle up - it's gonna be a bumpy thread

Don't forget the one who will tell you a great place to buy a light bulb or where you can download a light bulb changing guidebook.

Not sure where you are loacted but you may be able to find a wilderness first aid cousre near you. I know of one in Indiana http://www.medtact1.com/index.html Maybe a peek at this site can you give an idea of what to look for. Jim

NYC does not really recognize or employ EMT-I level. So there are not very many courses. Upstate NY does employ and use EMT-I so there are more available. Still, most employers prefer paramedic level. As far as I know the agencies in NYC that have EMT-I courses are St Vincents - in Manhattan LaGuardia Community College Also I think a Hatzolah program teaches it as well. FDNY EMS used to have it but I don't know if they still offer it or if they do to the general public. You can do a more thorough search at http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/ems/training.htm Jim

I am having a live audio session of Authorized Transmissions and want to invite you to come and be a part of it. Leave your political correctness at the door though. All topics are welcome and you may even choose to speak on a subject I haven't thought about. Anything goes , what you hate about EMS, what you love about it or maybe a discussion on current issues pressing within the EMS industry. I know you and your partner have solved all the EMS woes, so why not come and share your solutions to problems facing us? Here are the details Time/date - Tuesday August 19 at 8:00 PM Eastern Time Place - http://blogtalkradio.com/emss Just go to that url at the time noted and look for the listen now navigation. Now it may be a disaster if no one shows up or if topics run wild. So I really hope you can make it so it will be a big success.

So many people just click "agree" during installation of programs they don't read the agreement. I mean you can't blame them, those agreements are like 4-5 pages long and all in 6 point font. But this is where the program will tell you they are going to also install either another program that will have spyware or that they will be adding it themselves. It is so important to read this stuff and you can usually scan the agreement for this type of wording and either opt out of it or agree to it, and like you mentioned - use a set up option after installation to opt out of it or block it. Of course these companies feel they have a right to spy on you since they giving you the software for free. But many of them will collect your info and sell it to the highest bidder. The you get the Viagra, phishing and "my uncle died and I need to send you 5,000,000 emails." I'm still waiting for my five mil. I mean I sent the $1235.00 western union payment over six months ago.

Thanks Ruff, Great info - but could you please put them in alphabetical order separated by bullets and highlight the most popular ones? Oh yeah - if you could maybe put them in categories too, that would be great. But only if you have the time. Thanks

I just put something similar together. Feel free to direct students for a free download of this report. Uncovering Paramedic Clinicals. This free report offers some much needed guidance for paramedic students when it comes to clinical rotations. Find out what to expect and more importantly what your preceptors will expect from you. Don't make those first mistakes that will follow you during your paramedic education. Includes real life tips from experienced field paramedics. http://ems-safety.com/free.htm Jim