mobey

I have always thought things were ass-backwards. I used to work for a BLS rural service with 2+ hr transport times and many a times I found myself inadequate. My instructor for me intermediate course was a 25+ yr veteran EMT-P from a busy urban service and he wined daily about all the nonsence calls and how he never got to use his "skills". But the problem is again in the closed minded small services who claim they have no money for ALS. The BLS service I was in only did a few hundred calls a year and claimed they had no money for ALS. Simply put I feel we need to cram education down the publics throat about where thier money is being wasted. I know if we could have told our public what they could have out of a service compared to what they do have, they would have been pretty quick to fork over the cash. I have been in the service I am in now for just a few months and I have worked 4 codes we could have used ALS on but other than that with a 5-10 min transport I don't see any other calls they would have benefitted on. (Keep in mind BLS can do a few ALS procedures in AB).

Wow that's not bad at all..... What is rent on an appt in a decent area nowadays?

What about fundraising in you local communities? People are usually pretty good about forkin it over if you tell them a specific piece of equipment you are after!

"Sir if you can hear me do NOT move, my partner is going to hold your head to protect you from hurting yourself further." (Partner grabs manual C-Spine) My name is Mobey, I am with the ambulance is it ok for me to help you?

Okay just like school... "I've got my BSI on... Scene Survey - Police called? Much traffic around? Any suspicious persons or animals I need to be concerned with? How bout fluid leaks from vehicle? is it smoking from under the hood, Any concerning odors.....K enough of that Ill wait till you answer to start Initial assesment.

I cannot tell you for sure if they will licence you or not...But they are the easiest province to get into. There is no Registration exam in Sask. The pay is higher than Alberta by about 3-5 dollars/hr depending on where you work. The urban centers are low but if you go rural the wage increases due to demand for EMT's. (lack of vollies = well paid Professionals) Anyway staying on topic - Try contact Saskatchewan Health Emergency Services. BTW it is WAY cheaper living there too compared to AB. (Hmm I should send a bill to Sask health for recruiting)

Janitor at a hospital pays well...and better benefits! LOL If you want to get into AB, go the back way...Register in Saskatchewan (there is no entrance exam) then take your Intermediate care paramedic through SIAST part time while working full time, then alberta may look at registering you. You will make better coin in Sask anyway! Thats what I did and it reduced some of the non-sence of getting registered. You should probably look at just starting all over in EMT school in AB if you want into this province, it will prove to be the easiest and cheapest way anyways.

I always slice the bite with a bootknife and suck the poison out.... Maybe I'm just old' school though

I had to pull this out and read it twice...I think this will be my new favorite saying. Well said Dust! (I hope I don't have to pay royalties!!)

Called to an intersection in Saskatoon "Medic 1 respond to corner of Rusholme and avenue P" Medic 1: "10-4 Dispatch I've been waiting for the chance to respond to Rusholme and Pee"

Starting as an EMT in AB you are looking at $16-18/hr. I have no Idea what calgary pays maybe it is more considering you could not live there with those wages. I chose to work rural AB due to the lower cost of living. If you are not hung up on high call volumes there are lots of full time jobs available in the rural areas.

Some might say you would make a great politician!!

I think good first responders are very important to EMS Coming from a rural service, I have worked with alot of them. If you make your own scenarios (although you are probably long done judging by the date on this thread) I think it is impotant to make sure they ask alot of questions. I always told our first responders to assume by the time EMS gets there the Pt. will be unconcious. So we will be relying on you for all the history. Also make sure they know 90% of thier job is phycological, bringing calmness to a scene is soooo important. I once went to a anaphylaxis where the first responder was holding a NRB over the face of a pt who was sitting against a wall in a corner. The first thing I did was put her on a chair in the middle of the room and put the freakin NRB strap on properly, made a huge difference in the pt. First responders are a huge part of EMS and they need to be trained that way, even if they have no scope of practice.

OK we are a little off topic,, but I have found the people who say "there is a class way and a street way" are the people who don't know $hit. That's a cop-out for not knowing your protocols, or talking your way out of a screw-up. Thats what I like about having students come and go, they keep you on your toes asking why you are doing things differently than they just learned in school.

I am pretty sure I saw leaches in one of the cabinets.

This site is a good start, follow the scenarios section as much as you can, it will help with assesment and critical thinking. You could also try some online tutorials to find the areas you need to work on. You could also do some ride alongs to get the feel of dealing with patients again. Remember you have only been "out" for 6 mos, if you feel you have lost your core knowledge you may want to retake the course.

No stats I am just shooting from the hip. The services I have been involved with are all using lifepak on first car and zoll or lifepak 10 on the other cars. The Zoll M series is also 12 lead capable.

But the money is already spent. Most services are using a lifepak 12 for monitoring anyway (like the BLS service I work for). The equipment is there...just need the protocol!

So what are your thoughts?? With Lifepak 12 becoming a "standard" monitor on most rigs should BLS services be obtaining 12 leads where indicated? Not necessarily interpreting, just printing one off for the receiving hospital?

I have a palm pilot with our protocols downloaded I used to use when I just started. It was faster than flipping through a book, and looked cooler. Plus old ladies had no idea I was second guessing myself!!

Ahh yes professionalism at it's finest. :roll:

OK so don't work for this one preticular service that commanche and the rest of the "crap staff" work for! There are alot of good services with good level headed quality staff in AB (including the one I work for). Take your time talk to a few of the staff and make your choice based on the "big picture"

Just call the local hose-rollers for a "lift assist"

There will be more in-depth answers than this but for now... I think what she was refering to was a Non-STEMI, or Non-ST elevation MI. You may see inverted T waves or ST-depression in the absence of ST elevation or BBB. The Non-STEMI is detected through elevation in cardiac enzymes like troponin. If this scenario repeates itself reply to your medic "Might be a Non-STEMI, but I can only call it unstable angina till the blood work comes back". I will be interested to see if there is really a delay in 12 lead changes in AMI, it would surprise me since ischemia causes ST depression, by the time an infarct ocurrs I would think you would see some sort of changes. Thanks for the post, lookin forward to the replies. Mobey

Cheap living...sounds like saskatchewan!! I took my PCP and ICP at SIAST in Sask and worked there for a few years. As far as I am concerned SIAST is one of the best EMS colleges in canada. They focus on A&P and always ask the question "why?" and "How?" After moving to Alberta and talking with many students from many schools I an very happy I chose SIAST. I have no idea about BC, but I am sure it is not as cheap as Sask.