emtannie

In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter if this video is a real or staged event? The OP never said it was a real event, and it is on youtube, the video equivalent to wiki... However, it has generated 5 pages of discussion in this thread, and many who have watched it here have posted it to their FB pages and/or emailed it to others with a reminder to stay safe out there. It has made those who have watched it evaluate their own responses to mvc scenes, and review their own skills and knowledge. So, IMHO, regardless of whether this video was a real event or a staged one, it has done its job, and it has been successful in reminding us all to be more aware of the situations we walk into and the potential dangers surrounding us.

I'm still stumped on the whole distraction thing. I am easily distracted by shiny objects. I am also easily distracted by a man with no shirt who has a great set of washboard abs.... does that mean that I am a menace to society? (I refuse to comment on the troll emtpociet's posts - it would be a waste of my time to expend energy on the garbage that person posts). I am easily distracted by a completely rebuilt 1972 Chev truck, especially if it is red. What is this "distraction" that people are talking about when they talk about gays in the military? Gays are there to do a job, just like straight people. There is no more distraction than having a male soldier check out a female soldier, or vice versa. Soldiers are supposed to be adults and act like adults. This distraction excuse is just that - an excuse. I'm also stumped by the DADT being a complete discrimination issue, and people thinking that is ok to leave it in place, with no evidence to support it. In the workplace, I can't hire or fire someone based on their sexual orientation. If their actions are contrary to the job that the hold, and puts the project or someone's life or limb in jeopardy, that is a completely different thing. Their ACTIONS made the difference, not their orientation. Yes Herbie, there are a lot of things in the US that should be on the top 250 list... the economy, employment figures, the US trade deficit, the instability of the US dollar, education, health care..... the list can go on and on. That being said, those people that the citizens of the US voted into power decided that this was something they wanted to work on. You don't agree, voice your opinion to your elected officials, and use your vote to express your displeasure.

LOL - we are sidetracking this thread, but here goes.... Phil, in reply to your question of have I used my sexuality to manipulate a situation? I am sure I have, eve3n though I can't think of an exact example at the moment.... just as you have probably done so as well. Have you dressed a certain way, or when meeting with a woman, acted a certain way, knowing that those actions were a means to an end? Probably. I am well aware that I am not centerfold material, so I don't tend to think of using sexuality as a means of obtaining what I want. And, having worked in a male-dominated field for many years (being the only female commercial bank manager for many years in my region) I spent more than enough time just fighting for equality in pay for equal responsibilities. I didn't want anyone ever accusing me of getting where I was through sexual means. I think it is unfair of accusing just women of being manipulative and using sex as a means to an end. I do see mobey's point though, of women tending to withhold sex as punishment - I can agree with that, that some women definitely do that. However, I do think that men also use it as a weapon, in other ways, and I am not talking violence against women. We can look at the "I won't give you a promotion unless you give me a blow job," situations, the "I want sex.... oh I'm done but you're not and I don't care" roll over and snore situations, and the boys in the bar betting on which one will get lucky first that night. It is interesting how perception of sexuality differs between men and women. If a woman sleeps with a lot of guys, she is a slut, and that is considered damaging to her reputation... if a guy sleeps with a lot of women, those notches in his headboard are trophies that he and his friends can cheer about, and his reputation doesn't get damaged like hers does. So, if we go back to the original video.... if it was a 21 year old guy who was going to sell his virginity, would we feel differently about it? Would that be ok?

Wendy, I agree wholeheartedly – I don’t care who you are interested in, I care that you can perform the duties required in service to your country. There were some very interesting quotes and statements in the article… Obama said…. "It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed." "As Barry Goldwater said, 'You don't have to be straight to shoot straight,"' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., referring to the late GOP senator from Arizona. “The Pentagon study found that two-thirds of service members didn't think changing the law would have much of an effect. But of those who did predict negative consequences, a majority were assigned to combat arms units. Nearly 60 percent of the Marine Corps and Army combat units, such as infantry and special operations, said in the survey they thought repealing the law would hurt their units' ability to fight. “ With regard to the last paragraph quoted, I know we have a number of members on this site who serve in Marine and Army combat units. I would like to hear their opinions on this. Why and how would having a gay person in the unit hurt the unit’s ability to fight?

Interesting thought process there.... are you implying that all women are whores, and all men are just guided by their penises? I'm not saying that is wrong, or a bad thing.... just wondering if we can dissect all man/woman interactions down to that basic a level. Maybe that is what makes virginity such a commodity- the basic competitiveness of men - the "I got there first" mentality. Just a thought....

Oh Dwayne, you KNEW I had to reply to this one! I have a plan..... http://www.revirgination.net/ For only about $9000 I could become a virgin again..... and then I could sell my virginity for $5 million.... that is a heck of a profit margin! Hmmm...... and maybe in a couple of months, I could "re-invest".... what a retirement plan......

Our friend MedicNorth was on the crew that responded to this mvc... Please pray for him and his team, and the friends and families of those in the crash. I do know the names of the deceased and the other medic, but as my sources are not official sources, I don't think I should name them. Be safe everyone. http://www.emsworld.com/article/article.jsp?id=15507&siteSection=1 An Alberta Health Services paramedic was killed yesterday morning in an ambulance crash near McLennan, according to The Edmonton Sun. An eastbound truck hauling empty propane tanks lost it trailer, which went flying across the highway and into the oncoming ambulance shortly after 11 a.m. The unidentified paramedic -- who was driving the ambulance with a partner, patient and the patient's family member on board -- was killed on impact. The ambulance's passengers suffered non-life threatening injuries. The RCMP is currently investigating the incident. RSS Feeds for EMSWorld.com: Top EMS News Section

Semantics? Yes… I have to agree with Dwayne on this one… we could consider lots of calls we go on “saves” in the broad sense of the word, but to me, a true save is when the person is apneic and pulseless and we have ROSC. I deal with serious trauma calls on a regular basis where my interventions save their lives, but those to me aren’t “saves” in that they were never clinically dead when in my care. When I go to an unconscious hypoglycaemic person, my interventions save them, but I don’t consider that a “save.” I am not saying that a peds call where the child is blue is not a scary call, and that the provider shouldn’t be pleased and proud that they were able to stabilize that child. Most of us have probably had some pretty scary peds calls that had good outcomes. It would have been nice to get more details on the calls in the original post – vitals, past hx – that would have given us more to go on, and made this more of a learning experience for the rest of us. Given the limited information provided, I too think that the calls were respiratory, not cardiac in nature.

I tried to behave, and give a legitimate, logical post... but since now that is done, I can add my other thoughts to this thread... We have had the shoe bomber, and the underwear bomber... did the TSA agent think the passenger was the penis bomber? How much time does it take to go "wow - those piercings must have hurt!" or maybe he is interested in getting some, so he wanted to take a really good look... Or maybe he thought they were a zipper... "what happens when I pull...." OK, I will stop now...

OK..... I vote that the passenger was assaulted, and here are my reasons: As Richard said, the passenger would have to be stimulated before ejaculation - obviously he was touched enough by the TSA agent that he ejaculated. It is possible that the passenger was anticipating the patdown and did not require a great deal of stimulation; however, it is my understanding that a man can't completely control the timing of ejaculation, so if that is true, the passenger was not able to control his response. (guys, please correct me if I am just being incredibly naive and wrong) The physiological response of the passenger is really no different than the physiological response of a patient who has someone look into their mouth using a tongue depressor, and the patient gags and vomits on the other person. Just my thoughts...

Saakatchewan 31 Montreal 17 I am watching TSN with 5 hours to gametime, and Montreal is already whining about how SK got the better dressing room, that none of their fans are there, they have so many injuries, blah blah blah..... it appears they are already coming up with the excuses for losing... GO RIDERS!

And it just gets more and more bizarre.... now Fred Horne went to the Alberta Medical Association president, allegedly claiming that Dr. Raj Sherman has mental health issues... if that is in fact what happened, that is completely out of line! Front page - today's Calgary Sun http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/11/25/16321861.html "EDMONTON — Maverick MLA Raj Sherman defended his state of mind as a marathon debate on the province’s ailing health-care system wrapped up. The punted Tory also accused his former government colleagues of being “corrupt.” “Look, I’ve been up all night tonight,” Sherman told reporters Thursday, after an all-night filibuster. “Do I look crazy to you guys? C’mon. If I stay up another 24 hours I may get a little kooky. My record is about 96 hours I can stay up.” The comments came after Sherman and NDP Leader Brian Mason told reporters Tory Fred Horne had a conversation with Dr. Patrick White, the head of the Alberta Medical Association, on Wednesday about the state of Sherman’s mental health. Horne is parliamentary secretary to Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky, a position Sherman held until being suspended by the Tories. Sherman said he was alerted to the conversation by a colleague. Horne acknowledged he spoke with White, but said it was out of concern for Sherman. He said all three men have been friends for years, and there was nothing malicious meant by the call. “I basically just expressed my concern for my friend and the stress that he’s been dealing with,” said Horne. “He’s been very courageous in coming forward the way he has, but we’ve had a long three days here and I could see … he was under a lot of stress in the house.” Mason called this a serious issue. “It was an attempt to undermine him and prevent him from carrying out his parliamentary duties,” Mason charged. Mason said he plans to bring the matter up next week in the legislature, arguing Horne breached his parliamentary privilege. Meanwhile, Sherman also said he was told by longtime Tories weeks ago that he should watch his back because “they’re going to get you. You made somebody mad.” He called the Tory government “corrupt” and asked them to “come clean.” Cam Hantiuk, spokesman for Premier Ed Stelmach, said he was in “disbelief” after hearing that allegation. Hantiuk said he’s not sure which Tories Sherman was referring to about watching his back. Sherman’s comments came at the end of a long day. The opposition filibustered an amendment Sherman wants to the Alberta Health Act, which would limit emergency department wait times. MLAs spoke on the matter throughout the night Wednesday, ending Thursday afternoon. Bleary-eyed politicians were chugging back energy drinks and coffee as they rallied around Sherman. Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson said he didn’t sleep, adding it was worth it because Sherman’s proposed amendment gives the Alberta Health Act “some teeth.” But the government argues it would open up the government to lawsuits, should legislated wait times not be met."

I can see where you are coming from on this one, crotchety, and from a religious standpoint, you are right. However, morality does not necessarily have to be based on religion, as Dwayne stated when he gave the definitions of morals and ethics in one of his later posts: Morality/ethics can be related to a particular group, not necessarily religious. In this case, I think Dwayne’s intent was to discuss this with regard to EMS staff as a group, without religion being involved. The focus is on the obligations of us as EMS workers to do no harm, and protect life, and the potential conflicts if we had to deal with this situation. Oh, and crotchety, can you please get rid of that “Bed Intruder” video that always shows up on your posts? It slows down loading my screens, and sometimes locks up the page. Thanks.

I read the initial post, and the link to it, and really really wanted to add to this thread, but when I started typing, every sentence I typed was followed with a “yeah but…” So, here goes. We make moral/ethical decisions every day. Some of those may not be what others would deem appropriate, so why should this be any different? For example: today is the fourth shift in a row that you have been called to the same residence for the same person for the same problem which does not need an ambulance. You are abrupt and do not show empathy to the patient. You did your job, but did you do it to the level of compassion you could have, and ethically “should” have? Probably not. So, let's extrapolate that to the case of capital punishment. You make a personal decision whether to be involved in it. Whether others see it as appropriate or ethical is their decision. You and only you have to sleep with the decision you made today. Hmmm…. I don’t consider those two events as equal. The legally sanctioned killing was a product of the legal system, and if you agree with the legal system, you have to support the decisions and the process that got that person there. If someone were to attempt to cause me or mine harm, I would do my best to beat them into a bloody pulp to protect myself and my family/friends. Should someone deliberately attempt to cause harm to me or a member of my family, I would have no qualms about using lethal force if necessary to protect myself or them. Here, I am unclear as to the role of the physician – does the doctor administer the lethal dose, or does someone else? Does the doctor only determine time of death? For the sake of discussion, if the doctor does administer the lethal dose, then they are doing harm to that patient, and violating their code of ethics. If they are only confirming death, they are not. It could be said that the doctor is not standing by the medical code of ethics by allowing the execution; however (see where the “yeah but” stuff comes in here?) the doctor did not make the decision to sentence that person to the death penalty. Does the code of ethics mean that anyone in the medical field should be against the death penalty as a whole? Hmmmmm – I sense a big debate there, and a quagmire of “if I can put a criminal to death for a crime, why can’t I put a terminally ill patient to death to relieve their suffering?”… So, just thinking out loud here (or typing out loud?) if I am tasked with preserving life, could it be seen that I am preserving lives by allowing capital punishment? Follow me here… Criminal Joe has been convicted of doing some very nasty things, and has been sentenced to die by lethal injection. By killing Criminal Joe, the legal system is saving itself hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars since they don’t have to house and feed that person for the next 20, 30 or 40 years, and protecting those who could potentially be victims of Criminal Joe in the future. Those are tax dollars that could go to put a roof over a homeless person’s head, or shelter a battered family, so, using a ripple effect theory, I can say that I am saving others by having this person put to death. Yeah but…. What if Criminal Joe really wasn’t guilty, and the legal system made a mistake? Isn’t it better to pay those hundreds of thousands of dollars so that he is still alive? Hmmmm – a quandary… I am trying very hard to leave my personal views on capital punishment out of this discussion. Dwayne, I hope that I have added discussion and thought to your thread, and haven’t just wandered aimlessly through it….

A late afternoon article from the Edmonton Journal says in part: “EDMONTON — Stephen Duckett will no longer serve as CEO and president of Alberta Health Services, the board announced late Wednesday afternoon. The decision is effective immediately, and at least three board members are expected to resign in protest, chairman Ken Hughes said at a news conference. “The board would like to thank Dr. Duckett for his dedication to improving Alberta’s health system during a challenging time of transition,” Hughes said.” Full article: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Stephen+Duckett+loses/3878209/story.html#ixzz16GBcB9CE At least 3 board members are expected to resign in protest? Protest of what? They didn’t get cookies? And thanking Dr. Duckett for his dedication… well, … ummmm.. And, back to Dr. Sherman being removed from caucus… Liepert says he doesn’t want an apology, but he wants Sherman to retract the statements he made about Liepert being rude. When I look back on Liepert’s term as Health Minister, I remember him blaming nurses for the budget problems because of overtime paid (remember when the PC’s cut how many nursing jobs, and now Alberta is short staffed in nursing positions?) and when several public service doctors resigned at the same time, he put a gag order on their severance packages, so that they couldn’t say why they left? (July 2008) . If I tried hard enough, I could probable google a few things and see what dirt I could come up with. It’s only slander or libel if it’s not true, right?

We have GPS in all our units, and I love it. I work for a regional (well, now it is provincial) service, and I work in 2 different towns, and 2 different cities. I know my way around each of these areas fairly well, but there are some neighborhoods where GPS gets me to and from the scene easily. Our GPS systems are updated regularly as part of a contract with the company who provides it, so they are relatively up to date, even with new neighborhoods. I regularly work with medics who don’t go on rural calls very often, and have no idea how to read a rural county map (for example, they have no idea what the rural legal land description of NE10-21-16-W4 is). I can find it on a paper map or GPS, but being “city folk” they are better at just using the GPS for those calls. One of the areas I really like GPS for is those neighborhoods where all the roads start with the same thing. In one of the cities I work in, there is one area where all of the roads start with “Ross Glen….” That area is a HUGE pain to navigate, and my GPS has saved my a** more than once in finding a residence there. The OP asked if GPS is a waste of money – for me, absolutely not.

I like how Premier Stelmach says he's "tired of theatrics" and removes Dr. Raj from caucus.... but nothing is mentioned about Dr. Cookie Monster's antics... What is truly disappointing is that Dr. Raj Sherman was doing exactly what he is supposed to do - represent his constituents - and since he wasn't being a mindless follower, he gets penalized for it. Pretty darn sad....

And, may I add another proud moment for AHS.... Already dubbed "the Cookie Monster" in print and internet media (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2010/11/20/16235061.html), our fearless leader, Dr. Duckett: I want to hear what Dr. Raj says about the cookie incident. And Squint.... do you think this would be a good time for me to ask why I can't have winter tires for my ambulance??? I am trying very hard not to derail this thread with a rant on that...

Well it's about time that someone WITHIN the government stood up and hollered about this problem! I was aware of the letter that Dr Paul Park sent a few weeks ago (he is the head of the ER in the Hat, and I work with him regularly). The letter he sent was circulated throughout the hospital. He spared no polite words to say how disappointed he was with the current government and AHS' handling of ER wait times. Dr. Raj Sherman is my new hero for being as vocal as he is (and it helps that he is a Russell Peters fan - that guy is hysterical!) Squint - remember the Dr. Oberg era? Now ther is someone who, if at all possible, did less than nothing for health services in Alberta. My favorite quote from him was "I had no idea that Ralph KLein had a drinking problem..." enough said..

How come you are never in one of my classes??? I wish I had more freaks in my classes... I get tired of the staff who come in whining before the class even starts, when it is just a CPR recert which only takes a few hours. I have never understood why it is so painful to get through a few recerts and do some continuing education, to maintain a professional certification. We don't want a doctor who hasn't done any upgrading for 20 years, so why do we think we should be able to get away with it? And like Ruff said - how can people expect to be considered professional, when their actions don't show that they are? A few bad apples....

Wow.... that one certainly gets the point across... Unfortunately, drunk driving is dealt with leniently in this area, and a slap on the wrist seems to be the norm, not the exception. As well, there will always be people who will have one or two or more too many drinks, and still feel that they are competent to drive. Hopefully, this message will get to the frisnds and family of those people, and they will do their best to take the keys away, offer them a ride, or get them a cab, or a place to sleep so they don't end up on the road, and we don't end up responding to the aftermath. This PSA goes a long way to educate, educate, educate... and like docharris, I have posted in on FB for more to see. Thanks croaker for posting this.