akflightmedic

I did not say DONT chart mechanism...I asked would you report it to the local authorities since it is against the law in most states...I was reaching for a situation which is sarcastic enough to prove my point. In your example, the pt TOLD you he had sex, therefore it is relevant. If it is relevant to the condition of the pt, by all means make mention of it but do it in a way that is non accussatory. Just because he is there in the presence of the drugs does not mean he had anything to do with them, therefore it should not be mentioned or implied in the report. You did not test the stuff so you do not know without a doubt what it is. Yes, it may be painfully obvious but you still can not assume.

The information does NOT belong in your report. It has nothing to do with the patients condition. You want to report it fine, but the point being made is if you were not a public servant, you would not have the trust or ability to enter into their private domain and make this discovery. What if you went to a patient for a rectal bleed and he told you it is because he was having anal sex? Look up your state laws and you will be surprised when you see the number that outlaw sodomy. Sodomy is a crime! Would you report this as well? Your only legal obigations to report are child abuse and elder abuse. You are required to report those. The rest are reportable if you so choose. It is definitely an ethical question and there is no right or wrong, however sometimes you need to step out of the box and look at the whole picture, not just one small narrowminded portion.

Why are you asking us? You are the one who has spent thousands of dollars, had MRIs, CT scans and seen 2 different neurologists. You think a few medics and EMTs on a website are going to give you better answers than all of those professionals you have spent thousands on? According to the website I provided earlier, your diagnosed condition is cause by factors other than epi administration. I think you are reaching here. Ah yes, the "Code of Silence"...I think that was Chapter 2 in EMT school and then reinforced again in Semester 3 of paramedic school. We know it and live by it. To death we carry our secrets. That was sarcasm in case you didnt realize. There is no code of silence. You as an EMT or medic should know this stuff. In fact, you should know everything you have asked us because you stated you are a medic and EMT. Please cut the crap and move on.

Your story is losing ground...enjoy it now, by tomorrow no one will have cared. You got some attention for a few hours at least. Feel better yet?

Well it seems like your lawyer would have answered all the questions for you, which again leads me to call BS based on all the other stories I have heard from you. Seems like he would also advised you not to discuss it with anyone. So you came into an EMS site with a twisted story, using subterfuge to gather information that you can obtain from any ER doc or paramedic textbook. You have not provided nearly enough information for any of us to advise one way or another whether or not the treatment was appropriate. You also admit to trying to get the ER to change the order...this is unethical and illegal. As an EMT/medical assistant and a newly certified medic, you should know all this already. You are employed, do you not have medical insurance. I would not be paying thousands...if you had a legitimate case, a lawyer would be helping you get proper medical treatment, knowing he would be paid off in the end, but alas, your "case" is bogus. It is great to have you back visiting EmtCity, we have not missed you in chat for several months now..I am sad that you have now found out about the forums and how to post. Maybe you will go troll some other sites...

So at first you didn't have a monitor, but now you do. OK. Your area is sooooo rural that icepacks are the recommended treatment for Vtach??? I didn't get that one in ACLS but I am due for renewal so maybe I am not up to date on the latest since you are a new medic that still works as a basic but does ALS procedures.Hmmmm, gets confusing doesn't it? As for small towns, yes I have lived in them. As for getting a life, I do have one, its mine and you can't have it. I am one of the forum moderators, it is my job to keep things in order and call BS when I see it. You asked and I responded. Why the hostility? You have no business being in the field if you make a simple med error as such you described. You deserve all the punishment that can be dealt to you. You could have killed someone, what do you say then. Oops it was a mistake and I am sorry I am not as perfect as you. I don't think so. I poked holes in your story and rattled your cage and you could not handle it. Please heed this notice. If you post frivilous posts again and/or make any personal attacks, you will be dealt with swiftly.

Sara, your stories in the chat room have become old and tired...and now you bring them to the forums. Your story has way too many inconsistencies in it and I am surprised Rid chomped at the bit. In his favor he must have been tired. You screwed up a few weeks ago yet the ambulance company sent the bill to collections after 1 month. HMMMM.....Your pt went into Vtach with no monitor in place, how did you determine this??? You iced your pt down immediately...in the back of the rig???? Did you pull over to the 7/11 and buy a bag of ice??? An ambulance company having insurance will never protect you from gross negligence so that argument is flawed. If a lawsuit were being discussed, I highly doubt you would know about it this early on and you most certainly would be the last to know..usually in the form of a sub poena..so again I call BS on that topic. She was doing fine with benadryl but you went ahead and gave epi...why? In addition to the BS you have spewed thus far, you follow up saying you know the results of the pts medical tests, weeks after the event. This is privileged information and if there were a lawsuit being discussed, you certainly would not be kept in the loop on the day to day medical diagnoses. As for the occipital neuralgia, here is a good website for you to read..focus on the causes please. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/occipit...alneuralgia.htm Finally, why is an EMT pushing benadryl and epi??? If this were true, I hope you lose all certifications, your job and your butt is sued to the point that all future paychecks are docked. However, we know this is yet another futile attempt of yours to post something dramatic and garner attention for yourself. Please refrain from frivilous posts in the future.

The comment said MAYBE one should not be an EMT, did not say YOU. Anyways, while I can appreciate your personal situation, as I have been there before as well as many others here on this forum, it has absolutely nothing to do with the subject at hand. Having money in the bank does not determine whether or not you know the protocols under which you work. Please understand our confusion and frustration with the question you have asked. How is it possible for one to not know their scope of practice? How did you make it through school and become certified without knowing whether or not you can do a simple procedure? In addition to not knowing the answer, you came onto a public forum and asked the question to total strangers. Do any of these people here work in your county, city or system? Protocols vary by service and location. So what would you do if half the people said yes and half the people said no? You still would not have a clear definitive answer. What if we all said yes, but we were wrong? Who would be liable? Not us, only you. This is why it is so important that you ask around locally, hopefully at the service that you are working or volunteering for and find the correct answer. This place is great for many discussions and learning opportunities..it is not a place to find out what your scope of practice is in one particular organization. We welcome you and look forward to hearing froom you again. Good luck with the baby and do not worry..they do not think that kind of stuff until their teenage years, so you got a while.

He never directly called any one person in particular those things. He said he can not believe "someone" would be so lazy at to not check thier own protocols. I stand by me decision. There was no direct attack. The only direct attack was you against me.

You said it yourself...it keeps people from asking GOOD questions....this was a very poor question and the poster deserved some heavy handed guidance for future reference. Xselerate is 100 percent correct.

Myrna, you didnt do anything for him. Did you read the post? He wanted skills checkoff sheets and said nothing about patches. Am I missing something? Unless you were just trying to be funny, you did not address the post at all, but thanks anyways for giving him the wrong link. I am glad no one told him where to go exactly.

Too lazy eh? Five minutes and could not find it. Hmmmm, it took me all of 45 seconds and I was there. I will say again what has been said many times here before.... If you want to know something about National Registry, where would you think to look? Maybe, I dont know, the national registry website? Might be good to start there. www.NREMT.org Google national registry and it gives you the site....now I have pointed you in the right direction, however I will not do all the work for you. The skill sheets are there but it is up to you to discover which tab will reveal them when clicked upon.

May I ask how you avoid the reciprocity route? Do you know the definition of the word? It is taught in every EMT class I have ever taught and is usually found on the NREMT exam as well. Sorry, but you have me confused saying you wish to avoid the process. Why? How is it a backdoor route? That makes absolutely no sense. Every state I have been licensed in, is because I applied for reciprocity. I never viewed it as a backdoor route, only as the correct way to move from one state to another. One entry found for reciprocity. Main Entry: rec·i·proc·i·ty Pronunciation: "re-s&-'prä-s(&-)tE Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -ties 1 : the quality or state of being reciprocal : mutual dependence, action, or influence 2 : a mutual exchange of privileges; specifically : a recognition by one of two countries or institutions of the validity of licenses or privileges granted by the other

Great video! I can not believe they were entering that bdlg at a safety exhibition for the public. What morons...

What is the incentive to the services to hire people from your agency? It would work if all eligbile potential employees signed on with you and agreed not to work for someone without you. What is the incentive for them to do that? I guess one way to pitch it to the services, is that you can reduce their costs by screening all employees for them and doing the ref checks, balh blah blah, but that could also negate a current postion within their company. You assume liability for all the screening and hiring practices. COuld be a good thing. But could also lead to more frivilous complaints and having medics bounce around from service to service till all decide they do not want that particular one anymore. Do they all have the same protocols? Kinda strange if they do. Where is the job security. Would you be offering benefits, retirement,etc? Is there any upward mobility? Sorry for my ramblings, I am tired and just blabbering, hope it made sense.

Those of you that know me, know that I hate pretenders and I hate people that plagarize. When I read that poem, it sounded so familiar. I have an excellent memory. That poem has been around for years! I notice in the title you state it is an original but you do not say to whom...is it original to you? Give credit where it is due but do not take it when it is not deserved. If you are reposting poetry, it is proper eitquette to cite the source or attach a statement that says not yours but you wanted to share. http://www.kirksvillecity.com/Fire/i-wish-you-could.htm

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcejoin/a/parapast.htm http://www.specialtactics.com/iqtgrad.shtml http://www.specialtactics.com/

I think you need to talk to a recruiter if you are seriously planning on entering the military. If you wait till you have completed the bachelors program, why would you want to be a medic? You will be commissioned as an officer in any branch you choose. Why would you want to have an enlisted man's position as an officer? If you are serious about the military and medicine, take advantage of whatever they will give you. Think about delayed entry, let them pay for PA training or even medical school if that interests you. I am sorry but I just can't see you getting a 4 yr degree and then convincing them to let you be a medic as an officer. As far as SF and the 18Ds, they are a great group of guys and it is very competitive. I train with these guys on a regular basis. I also work very closely with the Navy IDC's. If you want to know which one will probably give you the best all around experience and education, then I would recommend being a Navy IDC. I also recommend that you go to www.military.com It is a great site that will list all the different options with the different branches, might give you some i valuable insight. As for your intentions and wanting to help out the guys, you seem to be very noble. But know this, although war is hell and a lot of guys are dying over here..there are plenty of good medics already here. From the way you made that one statement, you made it sound as if there are no readily available medics or good quality care. There are plenty of both. I am one of them and I provide as such. We have so many groups working together, it is truly amazing experience. The military has excellent equipment and is very up to date on skills and treatments. Stay in school, don't lose focus and see how much changes in the next 4 years while you are obtaining your degree. Then make some informed decisions at that time.

NO! Absolutely not! That defeats the whole purpose of the program. We had a turn in at our fire station. Your job is to accept the child, ask the mother if she wants or needs anything and take whatever she volunteers, but do not pressure. This is a last resort effort so these babies don't end up dead, so we make the transition as smooth as possible. This is not the time to make judgements or ask a ton of questions. If she wanted to be hounded with paperwork or signing forms, she could have gone to child services or an adoption agency. This is in my experience a totally anonymous transaction. The girls I have heard about were underage and scared. A few were druggies as well. But all in all, I am glad this program exists without the mother having to face any charges.

Well Rid, it is rare I disagree with you, so I will chalk this one up to my youthfulness and ignorance,lol. Maybe after I put another decade under my belt, I too may change my opinion. Didn't say I was hard core against it, just feel its not for me at this time. Hopefully I will not learn another lesson the hard way as I have many others, but from my personal experience, not having it saved me once already. Anyways, since I have such an open mind usually, I will look into this further and see what stats I can pull up either for or against. In the meantime, should anything happen, feel free to say I told you so, as I will do the same.

Until you provide a more detailed description of the patient, I will make these assumptions based on what you have said thus far. First, Is the patient suffering from orthopnea? If you don't know what that is, please look it up and get back to me and tell me what kind of physical presentation a person suffering from this typically has. Secondly, the pt stated that they "really needed to sit up". Just the way you quoted them makes me think...Did they really? Or is this just a case of the provider failing to recognize that a pt is uneasy, anxious or possibly claustrophobic. This is where experience kicks in. First, you do another assessment of lung sounds and SPO2 if available and check other signs of adequate perfusion. Then you apply O2 via nc and you get close to your pt and you talk in a calm and soothing voice and reassure them until they are able to calm down and the need to sit up subsides. You can also raise the board with towels or equipment, but mostly from your short post it sounds as if it was anxiety and therefore you should provide TLC.

Which brings me to question the statement that two of you have made, "following protocol". The last 3 services I have worked for do not have "protocols", we had GUIDELINES. In the front page of the guidelines. there is the statement signed by the MD and the county that stated as a paramedic we may deviate or provide treatment different from the ones listed or change order of said treatment provided that we can reasonablly justify our treatment with supportive documentation if such occassion should arise later. inda leaves the door wide open for interpretation, I think. We are never held to strict protocols as that would mean we were strictly coookbook medics. Now granted there are not many situations where you need to deviate from the "standard" treatments, however it was nice knowing we had that option and the support of our MD and county if we chose to do so. As for the insurance costs, yes it is afforadable and it is even tax deductible. If it makes you feel better, go for it. Personally, not having it kept me from being in a lawsuit. I would like to see statistics that show how many medics are sued annually and how many of those have insurance. Not saying it doesnt happen, but we certainly dont hear about it very often. Usually it is a quiet settlement with medic's employer and it never makes the headlines.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend wasting the money on insurance. This is one of the few times I will ever say insurance is bad. My reasoning for this as already mentioned by others is the deep pocket syndrome. In previous threads, I talked about how I was named and then dropped in a lawsuit. Why do you think I was dropped? I was dropped because there was nothing to gain except ruining my career.(for the record, this was a frivilous lawsuit) They examined my past and found out that I was living in a rental house with high credit card debt and no assets. There was nothing for them to gain. Now if they had found a huge insurance policy that I carried and paid for every month, do you think they would have dropped me from the suit? Hell no, they would have went for the jugular.

Ok, people have covered most of my arguments already so that only leaves one other aspect I dont think was mentioned yet. Someone said, he was offering to pay for the service but they had no system in place to do on the spot collections. Lets examine this from an employer's business angle. How is he to collect payment?? A check, credit card..how is he to verify these are good?? Time is wasting. What if the homeowner decides to cancel the check, charge or dispute said wages cause he really didn't have it to start with, he just wanted his home saved. While awaiting approval, we have lost several minutes in fighting the blaze, but in an area where there is no tax base for a fire department, I seriously doubt there is instant approval for processing of funds. In addition to this, the FD probably has standard protocols for new subscribers. You sign up and they do a pre planning inspection. They know the layout of your home and most if not all hazards. Now if he collects on the spot and then sends the guys in and someone gets hurt, who is liable? The business owner cause he did not follow his standard practice. Apply this same scenario to the person who said they had a moral obligation since they were already on scene. Who would be responsible for injuries? Not Workman's Comp since they were not on the job and certainly not the homeowner since he obviously could not afford the money for fire protection. I know no where does it say he didn't have the money and no one told him he had to pay, but I call BS on this. In order to get homeowner's insurance, you have to find out certain information from your local FD's. Who would move into an area without investigating what services are available first. It is common practice. If he didnt investiagte it on his own, you have got to be kidding me if you tell me the real estate agent did not tell him or none of his neighbors told him. I think he was trying to be cheap and it caught up to him.

Despite what I say??? You told him exactly what I did only I did not refer to the person as an "investigator". My point I was making is contact someone who is within the system. It kills me how many people I see on multiple different forums asking if I got the job or what the process is. Do people not care enough anymore to research what is involved in obtaining the position for which they applied? I never go for any job without first researching and learning about the position and the service first. Then, from the point I make contact, I am asking questions. I never walk away from any part of the hiring process without asking more questions. Doing these things, presents you as an interested canidate. Instead people choose to know nothing about the process, let time fly by and keep asking people on the internet if they got a job or did something wrong. Go to the source...always. Sorry, I am not picking on you specifically, but I decided to use your post and situation to show as an example to any newbies that may run across this and wonder what to do.