Scaramedic

MMMMM. fresh sourdough bread, See's and Ghirardelli chocolate!! My cholesterol would be 900mg/dl if I was there.

To be honest I never encountered this Basic vs Medic crap until I started posting on these boards. I think a lot of the problem here is that some Basics and Medics use the anonymity of the web to say things they wouldn't say in the real world. :wink:

Welcome to the city. I would suggest you practice on family members. Become so comfortable with your assessment skills that when you lock up on scene you will revert to your training.

Well there goes the whole 'nice ALS' debate, once again shot to hell by a noob with a tude.

Amiodarone 150mg over 10 min., repeat x1. If no change, Versed Cardiovert

Oh man I have had so many scenes like that. Especially the naked guy reaching to the sky and the naked cherub carrying a putter.

That's Big Daddy Mars from the movie Ghost's of Mars. I highly suggest it, a great movie from John Carpenter. I was going to post your pic Tniuqs but I didn't want to scare the kiddies. Alas now I must go down and entertain. The annual family get together for Easter. About 100 people will be here soon for food and an egg hunt. I am getting too old for this crap. Takes two weeks to set up for. :evil:

Yes Dust, I agree but this is the first topic in a long while that has given ALS providers something to debate. I love it.

Duckman!

Actually you can go to PubMed and find dozens of studies both ways. From field to OR to ICU. It has been covered pro and con many times. I tend to read EMS magazine and RN magazine since we have subscriptions to both. Oh and just for the record most of the experienced medics working flight in Oregon are not degreed like those newbies coming out of the schools now. The cat comment goes over my head. But yes we are using sux for initial intubation and Vec for long term paralysis. Our Doc is also very aggressive when it comes to airway and gives us a lot of latitude for RSI. Or some of us just hate to fly. Not to mention in little planes or egg beaters with no wings. If we could get Mag Lev trains I would never set foot on a plane again. :wink: It's not different here you have to work your way up. But some people really don't like it when they get there. Personally I'll be happy to finish my BSN and sit in a nice quiet and grounded ICU somewhere.

Oh come on you gotta love... Private Joker: I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill! Or... Door Gunner: Git some! Git some! Git some, yeah, yeah, yeah! Anyone that runs, is a VC. Anyone that stands still, is a well-disciplined VC! You guys oughta do a story about me sometime! Private Joker: Why should we do a story about you? Door Gunner: 'Cuz I'm so f*ckin' good! I done got me 157 dead gooks killed. Plus 50 water buffalo too! Them's all confirmed! Private Joker: Any women or children? Door Gunner: Sometimes! Private Joker: How can you shoot women or children? Door Gunner: Easy! Ya just don't lead 'em so much! Ain't war hell? even... Private Joker: Ya know, half of these gook whores are serving officers in the Viet Cong; the other half have got T.B. Be sure you only f*ck the ones that cough. and finally. Crazy Earl: These are great days we're living, bros. We are jolly green giants, walking the Earth with guns. These people we wasted here today are the finest human beings we will ever know. After we rotate back to the world, we're gonna miss not having anyone around that's worth shooting. Awesome movie.

You could pretty much have your pick of agencies now. What is there now about 6 million Travel Nursing companies. RN mag for example, damn near every other page is a travel agency.

Then you would hate teaching. Now there is a racket that the unions have set up. Tenured and your untouchable. In Oregon they just found out that pedophile teachers are being shuffled around to different districts because the NEA protected their jobs. Sound familiar, yet the story is not receiving as much attention as the Catholic Church situation in Portland. Alas, media bias is alive and well in Oregon. :roll:

I disagree with you. I have only had a handful of patients that were less than 80%. Most dyspnea patients fall in the low 90' to upper to mid 80's and I can identify them when I walk into the room. If your Fly boys can't detect them until their into the 70's I would be concerned. Also I didn't say NOT to use it. I said that you shouldn't use it as to rule out using an NRB. I only use NRB's on patients in obvious distress. Yes I consult my SPO2, but I do not rely on it. There are too many variables that can affect the readings. Unlike, say a BP, if you get a funky reading you take it on the other arm. Too many people including Flight Medics and Flight Nurses tend to take the reading they get as gold and treat that reading. Hell, a partner of mine got a piece of paper to read 87% on a pulse ox. Yeah we were really bored that day. Also like Rid pointed out my system is also is all about the ETCO[sup:0ca48bb131]2[/sup:0ca48bb131] waveform. Our Doc considers a waveform as the only true way to assess a patients respiratory and circulatory status. Even our tubes are not considered verified until we get a waveform. He does not accept auscultation anymore. No waveform and your ass is grass. I'm not a big fan of that idea either. I like listening for my tubes not trusting a damn machine. Maybe I've just seen too many Terminator movies. Also I like your attitude that Flight Medics are better Medics than ground Medics. Please. I've known several mediocre Medics than are Flight Medics. I have also known several excellent Paramedics that went flight and then they came back because once the thrill of flying got old they found the job boring. Let's get on scene pick up a patient who is already packaged and fly him 8 minutes. How exciting. OK now let me work in the ED for two hours and then pick up a NICU. No thanks.

I got to meet Randolph Mantooth. I had my pic taken with him and had him sign a picture and a Washington State Paramedic Patch. He was a really nice guy, he was touring with their rescue on the way to the Smithsonian. They stopped by EMSA in Tulsa, it was really cool. It was neat to see what people brought to have him sign, Station 51 toy helmets and trucks, patches, fire jackets, you name it.

OK, boys and girls everyone play nice because I can see this thread is going to shit real quick. 1. VS. Yes, we all know your superior to us in every way. Sadly no one cares. 2. a. Black Crow welcome to the city. Love the avatar, I am a true Brown coat. b. Long before Pulse Oximetry we didn't need machines to tell how much O2 to apply. We didn't need them because we could look at our patient and gauge their oxygenation status by such things as skin color/pallor, respiratory rate, general appearance and LOC. Please do not rely to highly on the machines they can be wrong. Go with your training and gut instinct. ALL patients do no require a NRB, in my opinion most do not. In fact, a majority of your patients don't even need oxygen. Watch your patient not the snazzy numbers on the box. 3. Dwayne. VS thrives off stirring up shit. Ignore him and he goes away. Now everyone back to their corners and get back on topic.

Considering the cuts in Medicare I think we should become self supporting. I propose we go with a NASCAR type model.

It never ceases to amaze me how these uniform threads always turn into a debate about badges.

Why just May 2-4? Canadian Summer?

Welcome to the chat room.

Anybody who has ever played a Super Mario Bros game or any video game will totally relate to this guy. Funny as hell! Warning: Very Explicit Language Super Mario Frustration

Hyperkalemia pops into my head first. What was her EKG? Did she have weakness, numbness in her extremities? Did she actually get the Dialysis or did they decide to hold off that day for whatever reason? Sometimes for various reasons they do not always get their dialysis. She might have been hyperkalemic because her shunt was bad and they hadn't ran her that day. Though dyspnea is not a common Hyper K presentation it can happen. Look for QRS widening, increased P-R interval, Peaked T's and arrhythmias in a R/O Hyper K, supposed post dialysis patient. Remember just because she went doesn't mean she got it that day.

Not slamming you Anthony but, that's just plain stupid. Especially coming from LA-LA land where their telling us we should all be walking everywhere and cooking over dried turds like they did in the middle ages. Talk about a carbon footprint. Does L.A. county buy carbon credits and plant some trees to make up for this idiocy? It's sad to see L.A. county hasn't changed the system Johnny and Roy worked in. WTF do you need FF's for, is the patient on fire? Bad system. I don't know how you can stand it.