BEorP

Might you be able to explain a little bit more about your project and the specific objectives? It sounds interesting, but the evidence to support spinal immobilization is already lacking and I expect that any improvements you make the collar design would be almost impossible to truly validate in the field.

Just in case my claim of paramedics making over $100,000 a year... here is a full list from Ontario that includes medics (among many others): http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/2009/munic09.pdf

Might a small part of your desire to head to CA have to do with not wanting to face potential rejection from employers? You're at a decent school. Finding employment in Ontario will still be a challenge, but it should be do-able as long as you're willing to move a bit within the province if needed. Don't sell yourself short by not trying. Money isn't everything, but as Dust mentioned, you won't be making much of it in CA at all. We are compensated very generously here in Ontario, and this allows me to live a certain lifestyle where I live quite comfortably. If you're thinking long term, consider how well you could do for your future family on $11 an hour. You can do much better in Ontario. I believe I have even seen some Ottawa medics on the Sunshine List (for government employees who made over $100,000... obviously this involved lots and lots of overtime). Aside from the money issues, do you really want to waste your education? Two years is a long time and you'll flush most of it down the toilet by going to work as an EMT-B. Best of luck!

Let's just say that it was a bit of an adjustment for me to go from staying here: http://www.crowneplaza.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/LONKE?hotelCode=LON to the under the Red Roof...

I've just arrived here at the wonderful Red Roof Inn...

That's great news, Dust! So is it really just the five of us who ended up biting the bullet and committing or do people just not like my thread?

For some reason, I can't seem to find the main CAP Lab 2009 thread. Just to keep things simple anyway though, this could probably justify its own thread (and if a mod/admin disagree, please stick this into the main thread if you can find it). I wanted to get a final tally of everyone who will be attending the CAP Lab this year. Please post in this thread with your arrival and departure dates and the day(s) that you will be attending the lab. If at all possible, please only post if you will be attending. I understand that many people would like to mention how they wish they could be there, but the simpler we keep this thread, the easier it will be for those of us who are attending to coordinate. I will be arriving in Dayton on the evening of the 9th (as long as my flight from the UK to Detroit is not delayed) and will be attending the lab on the 10th and departing on the 11th. It will be a great learning opportunity and I'm looking forward to participating again!

I apologize if I sound frustrated, but this type of sentiment in your last three lines here is what is holding back progress in EMS. Taking anecdotal evidence ahead of scientific proof prevents a shift to evidence-based practice. Please read the links that Vent posted. The ITD does not improve cardiac arrest survival to hospital discharge. It doesn't matter if it seems to improve blood flow or you feel it has improved survival or anything else. It does not improve survival to hospital discharge. Failing to recognize this means that we're wasting what we learned from the over 7000 patients who were enrolled in the ITD arm of the ROC PRIMED trial. You are obviously well educated and experienced in the field and I mean no disrespect. Please read about the end of the ROC PRIMED trial and the reason for it though.

Mechanical CPR devices still lack definitive clinical validation from what I've seen. Researchers from Toronto (led by Dr. Steve Brooks) did a review of the literature in 2008 and could not find evidence to support the efficacy of these devices in terms of improving patient outcomes. Was this apparent validation of the ITD published? I'd love to take a read of the study. What do you think of the latest information from ROC PRIMED suggesting that the ITD is not beneficial?

Tell your bosses to save their money. I have some snake oil that will do just as much for cardiac arrest patients.

Ever seen an igloo collapse? That is some crazy stuff. You would be the exception to the rule then. And even in your situation, many people would wonder why (given your education and the availability of RN jobs) you're working for $12 an hour doing a job along side people with a 40 hour course. The fact remains though for the OP's purposes that the patient transfer companies in Ontario are not part of the EMS system and are not where he should be looking for employment.

I would never want to be in the place of making a "personal decision" on this unless I got paid the big bucks and had MD/DO behind my name. That being said, our directive for infants >30 days is to shock up to four times at 20 J with two minutes of CPR between each analysis and transport being initiated on the first non-shockable rhythm analysis.

Registered for the 10th.

Thanks! I'll try there.

Good afternoon, I'm trying to make contact with EMS providers or other first respoders in London. As part of a research project that I am working on for my master's, I may be making a trip to London to conduct site visits and hopefully speak with responders about the 7/7 bombings in the coming weeks. If you might be able to help, please send me a PM. Thanks!

Glad to see we're invited back. I'm definitely looking forward to it! (get your Canada jokes ready!)

Hey everyone, I know that we have had a few members from Israel, but I can't seem to find any of their posts at this point. If anyone can find their info or has contacts in Israeli EMS, could you please PM me? It looks like I will be traveling there in a few weeks as part of a research project. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing!

Hey guys, I'm working on a final paper for school that relates to paramedic stress. I'm looking for any interesting papers that you may have come across on anything relating to this (from the effects of stress on job performance to family life to health... pretty much anything). I am focusing more on critical incident stress, but just general stress is fine as well. And before someone tells me to search, I am quite aware of how to do that but I thought that the EMT City Elite may have some favourites to share. Thanks!

Good idea to be sure not to take something too broad. Five pages is actually quite short. I'm not sure what papers you have written in the past, but you will likely find that once you've done your research and get into writing, five pages will not seem like enough space to say all there is to say on a number of these topics.

Can you offer any more specifics on the assignment? How many words are we looking at? Do you need to have scholarly references? Is this for a college-level class? (sorry, I don't remember where you're doing your paramedic classes) Just to offer another suggestion, you could look at the evidence (or lack of evidence) to support the various drugs you will be administering as an EMT-P.

Ah, I can't keep up with all that. I'm always up for a good discussion but it is frustrating to see those who ignore literature. That'll sure move the occupation/profession forward...

I did not say that. What I did say is backed up in the literature. Take a read of these papers and then we can have a discussion: Levine SD. How well do paramedics predict admission to the hospital? A prospective study. The Journal of emergency medicine 2006;31(1):1-5. Pointer JE. Can paramedics using guidelines accurately triage patients?. Annals of emergency medicine 2001;38(3):0268-0277.

Unfortunately, paramedics are very poor at judging what level of care the patient needs.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/112/24_suppl/IV-19 I don't think I will ever understand the point of doing an assessment that is not meaningful.