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KE5EHI

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Everything posted by KE5EHI

  1. We have the same thing here. They changed the local divert protocols for our service to where the hospitals can request divert and they get one hour. After that, they have to call for any additional hours, at which point a supervisor goes to the hospital and evaluates the situation to see if they will get another hour or not. The other option is they have to wait an hour before they call again to go on divert for another hour. We have a total of six local EDs we use. Two are major trauma centers, two are good all around EDs, two are just about glorified clinics (this one is my opinion of course). The reason the EDs are only allowed an hour (as opposed to up to six hours in the past) is because it was discovered that the divert status was being abused by some of the hospitals. They were using divert just to not have to deal with ambulance traffic. It was also found that the hospitals weren't moving patients as fast as they should be, which during flu season and summer time when it's busy is a must. They were taking their time on things like labs and moving patients upstairs. So this was a large factor. The new protocols solved a lot of the issues that were causing all of the EDs to go on divert, since when one went on divert, the next closest hospital would get overran with ambulance traffic, and within an hour, all hospitals were forced open. Now with the city and suburbs growing and more people abusing EMS and EDs, they hospitals are all about at capacity we we've had to wait in the ER for 30-40 minutes for a bed.
  2. They came to Oklahoma about two years ago and have been expanding rapidly every since. They started as a transfer service and have grown to taking over some of the 911 services in the smaller communities and providing mutual aid to some of the fire-based services that only run a few ambulances in a busy area (from what I've been told, mutual aid consists of late night BS calls and all nursing home calls). I've been told they have filed against some of the services they want to take over with the state health department, but if they have a legit complaint, meh. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out. They seems to have taken over a lot of small town and mom-and-pop operations that really weren't making it, so it brings the question, how will they make it? So far they have been going strong.
  3. Yeah, the problem is the trucks are paid for out of a different pocket than our paychecks, which is where a lot of the issues seem to be derived from.
  4. Sorry it took so long, here's some info and pictures. 2008 Ford Super Duty Type I For EMSA personnel, differences from the other trucks we've found. Pros: Twin Turbo [*]VERY quite, sounds like an unleaded engine [*]Smooth ride [*]Air-ride goes up when truck is put into drive, even if rear doors open [*]New truck smell [*]Slightly different flash pattern on emergency lights [*]Monitor on the front console - Can check O2 level in tank, adjust temp/fan in box from front, check outside and box temp, time/date, time since power on [*]New radios - can change background color [*]Radio speaker in box is always on and the volume knob on rear radio will control volume, even when on remote [*]Front seats confortable [*]Trucks factory equipped - Miles to empty fuel, miles per gallon display (average 6.5mpg!) [*]Two 12VDC outlets on console in addition to factory one Cons: No armrest on front seats [*]Rear jump seats have to be removed to put larger patients on spine board on bench [*]MedUSA dock is mounted backwards (for now). Can't reach it from box [*]No partitioned cup holder area, just all open [*]No cubby hole to put gloves in [*]Very little leg room compared to older trucks [*]Can't fit large books in doors [*]No LED dome lights in box, still those crappy halogens [*]Still no air horns
  5. So far we've had great results with the EZ-IO. That in conjunction with the Res-Q-Pod makes the outcomes from short down time arrests far about what it used to be.
  6. Our local police department is using them now on their traffic units (most don't have a roof-mounted light bar) and said it seems to get more attention. I doubt we'll get them for our ambulances since we don't even have air horns yet. Would be nice to get something to grab more attention of drivers on their cell phone.
  7. We use it and I love it. It has its problems, but for the most part it is very handy. Like was said already, cuts down on radio traffic (with 36 trucks, that really helps). Mapping is decent. We train new employees not to use it, but it can be a nice aid in some cases.
  8. I work for a private service. There's two divisions, one for Oklahoma City and one for Tulsa. I work for the Tulsa side. Our coverage area is around 650,000 people in Tulsa, 3 surrounding larger suburbs (about 20k population), and a few small towns. We work with 5-6 fire departments as first responders on a regular basis and a few others on occasion. We also utilize the surrounding ALS services (both fire-based and private) as mutual aid. We do 911 and transfers. Average call volume (including non-emergent transfers) is about 6-10 per 12 hour shift. We have a good working relation with all other services we encounter on a normal basis (fire, pd, other EMS). We get along pretty well with anyone. We do call on mutual aid and they call on us on a regular basis and we've gotten used to working with their personnel and local fire departments. One of the advantages of a private service is we are open to bid for the city every 5 years, so we have to prove that we provide the highest quality service at an affordable price to stick around. It also makes it so the level of training is above the state required and most of our equipment is tested and proven. One of the draw backs is currently most of the surrounding private services are starting at a better pay and we have to go through a lot of hoops to get a raise.
  9. I am the beginning of eternity, the end of space and time. I am the beginning of every and the end of every place. What am I? Answer: The letter "E"
  10. I saw'em for the first in at the Hale Koa in Honolulu. I figured they were to mark an elevator that either was larger or had an override. Guess I was right (for a change, hehe). Yeah, I wish they had more of those around where I work. Of course after a while you learn which elevators to take in certain buildings.
  11. In a disaster or large-scale event, those personnel from groups like CERT or other local ERTs can be assigned to someone like a paramedic for a medical team. Imagine you have a large tornado hit a populated area (say a smaller town with only a few ambulances on duty). Responding ERT personnel can be assigned to teams with a local EMT/FF/Paramedic and be utilized for more medical manpower. Most people forget that in an event where multiple agencies come together, you can mix personnel (remember ICS?). We had a plane crash drill not too long ago and one of the things we realized was it would be very effective to take some of the responding EMTs/Paras and give them a small team of American Airlines ERT personnel (since they are already at the airport for a given event and trained in first aid and CPR) to maximize the ability to treat and move patients to the transport area.
  12. Something simple and fairly cheap would be some Whelen TIR3s or LIN3s. They are around $50/ea. new, but all you have to do is wire them up to power, as they have a self-contained flasher and sync wire so you can wire multiple ones together. That and they are small. I've always been a fan of hide-away strobes. You should be able to find some decent priced used ones online.
  13. I remember a call a few months ago. It was a 6YOF auto-ped with family around. We were the first on scene by minutes (which seemed a lot longer) and had to control the father from killing the driver at the same time we were trying to help this kiddo. Fire arrived and we got the kid to the nearest pedi trauma center alive (but she was beyond savable). The family told the hospital later that because they saw everything being done and was able to say goodbye to their daughter, it made things easier on them than not knowing what all happened. Mom rode up front with us to the hospital and stayed by her side until the end. I do agree it is a case-by-case decision, but more often than not, it helps the family with closure.
  14. Check to see if your state requires ambulances to meet the KKK standard (no, not the guys dressed like ghosts). I believe those guidelines state (for ambulances): Red lights that flash in tandum on each corner of the box Red lights on the grille and fenders White forward facing light, center of box, flashes opposite of the red Amber rear facing light, center of box, flashes opposite of the red All other lights are optional We have our setup (seen in my avatar) where all of the red LEDs on the box flash at the same time, then all of the blue and white (front), blue (sides), and amber (rear) flash opposite of the red. Not the craziest flash pattern, but we use Whelen double stacked LIN6's (I believe) on the front and rear and holy cow is it bright. When we turn on our secondaries (well, when I turn them on, I think I'm the only one in the company that uses them), it shuts off the front grille lights, center white and center amber, as well as the lights in the middle of the box on the sides and slows the flash pattern down by half. Makes it a whole lot easier on the eyes at night. As far as colors, I recall the report that was mentioned and it basically says that amber is the most visible day or night, red is more visible then blue during the day and blue is more visible at night than red.
  15. YOU ARE 39% WHACKER!!! YOU ARE ENTHUSIASTIC, BUT NOT A WHACKER. YOU ENJOY YOUR JOB. YOU CAN BE CONSIDERED BODERLINE WHACKER BUT THIS DOES NOT BOTHER YOU
  16. If you are close enough to read this, I can hit my breaks and sue you. Eagles may soar, but weasles don't get sucked into jet engines. Beer. It makes you see double and feel single! Beer. It turns bow into wow.
  17. One of my coworkers said you can use Colgate (shaving cream) and something else, and I forgot the other thing. If anyone knows the other, he said that works well too.
  18. I'm trying to find an answer to this question: If a person goes to a hosptial emergency room, and while waiting in the waiting room (either pre- or post-screening), and the person feels that they are having to "wait too long," can they call for an ambulance from the ER? If they do, can the EMS provider legally pick them up from the ER without the hospital filling out transfer paperwork? Or can the ER just try to do a refusal on the person and then let them go by ambulance? Or does the person have to leave hospital property? I've been looking around trying to find an answer. EMTALA seems to imply that if a person is on hosptial property, and has a medical issue, the hospital must screen them to determine the severity of the issue. If that person wants to leave the care of the hospital, they must be informed of the risks and sign a refusal (or the hospital must attempt to get them to sign). At that point is the hospital free of responsibility if the person calls for an ambulance from the ER? I guess what I'm wanting to know is can someone call for an ambulance from hospital property, and the EMS provider take the person without hospital interaction? Note: The EMS service here is a private company and not hospital based.
  19. I understand the need to give crews a break on long shifts, especially when they are running their butts off. But last time I checked, I was in this industry to help people, not complain because I didn't get a lunch break. As with most rules, they are put in place because some/enough people complained about a situation to have it changed. We get 20 minute "breaks" here, but if the system drops, they'll pull you off break. If you are closer to a life-threatening emergency, they'll pull you off of break. I don't have a problem with that. We work 12 hour shifts and don't have stations (we use SSM), so that can make for a long shift. When it's busy all night, we don't get breaks. We're just used to it. Do I think what happened in the article was wrong? Yes. I would think an EMS service has an obligation, especially in the case of a cardiac arrest, to send the closest unit possible, even if they have to interrupt their break. Cheeseburger or a man's life? Not a hard decision in my opinion. Cheeseburger can be re-heated or re-made. I person can't after a short period of time. A human can go about three weeks without food before it dies. A brain can go about three minutes before it begins to die.
  20. Someone had this posted on our memo board this morning. Sorry about the quality, all I had was my cell phone camera and it doesn't do well with close ups. Hot sauce packet from Taco Bell that reads: "Thanks for rescuing me. Fire was getting on my nerves."
  21. Wow, I can't count on both hands how many of those a month we run on. Still haven't figured out how a 1st degree burn from coffee that happened over 18 hours ago rates a 10 on the 1-10 pain scale. For the topic, I recall getting a call for 'chest pain' My partner and I had just finished a cardiac arrest and headed back to the same post we got the arrest from and not 10 minutes later get called for a chest pain not far from where we had the arrest and my partner said "I have a bad feeling about this, it better not be an arrest." As we are walking down the hall of the nursing home, I hear the fire department saying "He's not breathing, get him on the floor." Second cardiac arrest in a row.
  22. 41 sec first try. Wish I would have read bbbrammers post first about not having to click the mouse, hehe.
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