Janmarie3

Just curious but how do they determine that the earth is billions of years old? Are they accurate? Because for us bible believing people..the earth should only be maybe 6000 or so years old. And you would think that dinosaur bones from billions or millions of years ago would be nothing but specks of dust. But aside that...yes I believe in God...always have...always will. I have seen to many things and experienced to many things in my life to believe otherwise. I don't think things just happen by chance, we are all here on purpose for a purpose. This is a subject that will always be debated.

I gotta buy me one of those

I have some power but there is 2 others above me that run the service. My supervisor and the boss boss...My supervisor is on my side....the boss boss needs the schedule filled so that is where it stops.

Good advice and this works the majority of the time with people. But it hasn't worked on this person. She took the NREMT yesterday...she may pass it. I dread it if she does. Since I run with her for 2 days I guess its going to be like this....either she listens and improves or I'm out of here. I guess they may have to make a choice. Thanks for all your advice and we'll just have to see what happens.

Good points you guys and I'm currently looking into working for another employer. It will require moving to McCall, Idaho...I'll have to make sure that is what I really want to do. But it wouldn't be till the end of the year. But it's not me that is threatening suspensions...If it was my decision I would have canned her from the time she filled out an application. This has been going on for a couple years now and I have never seen her suspended. Supervisor and the managers all complain about her...have talked to her. But I have not seen anything change. My supervisor tried to hit it home to her during the 24 hour course. But LOL she still says "Central, show ME in route...."show ME onscene"......instead of what she is suppose to be saying. And the damn cell phone...I'm in the back being knocked around and I happen to look up at her....she's driving 10 miles over the speed limit while dialing her cell phone. Argh!!! Ordering food of all things so she can pick it up on the way back!!! What I see that is going on....all of us want her gone...supervisor included...but manager needs her because she fills in the first part of the week...if she's gone...supervisor and manager would have to help pick up the slack....they don't want to have to run anymore. But I did tell them all....if I catch her with that cell phone in her hand while driving one more time....I'll refuse to run with her....I have kids to support and I feel my life is in danger when I put it in the hands of an idiot like that. But you are right...you can't change someone....I guess you just have to make your own decisions whether to stay and put up with it or move on.

Facing a challenge...this one is going to be the hardest I think I've ever had to encounter thus far. We've had this lady for a couple years now driving for us and not to talk bad about her, because she is not on this site to defend herself but I think I need help on this one. We've had a challenge with her already about how she responds on the radio, it took almost 2 years, many threats of suspensions and time outs, to get her to stop waisting air time with useless chatter and thank ya mam's and responding with " Miss so and so...this is Miss so and so" and ugh! its been annoying. Not to mention her cleanliness and hygiene was a problem and it has gotten a little better...but still ewwww. She's had a struggle trying to pass the NREMT...she is going in for her 1st attempt after a 24 hour refresher, because she couldn't pass the test the first time, and a few of us are concerned about her passing...she just might do it. And not that I or any of us are discouraging her....in fact we have been doing all we can to help her...and I know that any other Agency would have canned her a long time ago. But I guess we are so desperate for help its pathetic. My concern is retraining her to be more professional around the patients...she has this language that just is not appropriate when doing pt care. Like calling people dudes and babes, either sex and I'm afraid the patients will be offended by her. Especially our older ones, And has this laugh that makes her sound like a dope and I can't describe it in words lol. She's loud and obnoxious, telling people what she thinks is wrong with them. I think she is going to be a huge liability...we all know it...but we still keep helping her, and its a major struggle, its frustrating and she gets mad when she's told to do things differently. Of course this isn't the half of it but I'm trying to keep it brief. I just wish we had more help so they wouldn't hire people like this. Any suggestions?

I work in a rural area with a private company....and we are still trying to get by with volunteers. I know that has to change at some point. Because even though we pay for the classes, the volunteers get very little to work with us and it's a shame. They come into this thinking they may find a good paying career and within a month or two they are gone. Times have changed I think private companies should pay for full time help. (But that is another thread) I think it averages out to maybe $2.50 an hour to be on shift here. That sucks for our volunteers. Plus they have to put in at least 20 hours of no pay....to pay for their classes. Now who would want to stay? Only those who don't care about the money and just Volly a few hours a day...they have families and real jobs. I'm the only one who gets paid a full time salary, but I'm on shift for 96 hours. So I think that in most rural area's its a volunteer thing. I would say if you go for a municipal company, or a private company in a big city...you would make way more money and your shifts are a lot less hours. As far as spending more time with your family...you may be able to with 24 hour or 72 hour shifts. I don't really know I've never had only that many hours. But make sure your family is prepared for the type of stress that you may have after awhile and being gone over night...or a couple of nights. It sometimes can be hard on the spouse and kids....but if they are fully understandable and stand by you on your decision to take on EMS or Fire as your career choice...then that is an awesome thing I wish you luck on whatever you decide to do

I don't understand why anyone would want to fake that...but I guess some folks get a kick out of it...we are just taught to treat it as it was real.

Did you get a "cutie pie" cop? or an old tow truck driver?

Idaho is an awesome place to work...if its southern Idaho around Boise you have a metropolitan area, if its up in Northern Idaho you have the Couerd'Alane and Sandpoint area which is beautiful country around here, awesome medics to work with that will help you get your feet on the ground....and you may run into me once in awhile Anything goes here...we have some pretty wild calls. Plus you have lakes, mountains and rivers all around you...

That is to funny LOL

I can't imagine doing something like that...how embarressing LOL

Woman Calls 911 Seeking 'Cutie Pie' Deputy Washington County Sheriff’s OfficeLorna Jeanne Dudash got her wish when she called 911 to get a "cutie pie" deputy sent back to her home. He returned -- to arrest her. Listen to the Call: 'Blame It on My Dog' http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mo...;pmmsid=1677512 Talk About It: Post Thoughts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALOHA, Ore. (July 14) - A woman who called 911 to get "the cutest cop I've seen" sent back to her home got a date all right - a court date. The same sheriff's deputy arrested her on charges of misuse of the emergency dispatch system. Washington County Sheriff's Sgt. David Thompson told KGW-TV of Portland it all started with a noise complaint called in last month by neighbors of Lorna Jeanne Dudash. The deputy sent to check on the complaint knocked on her door, then left. Thompson said Dudash then called 911, asking that the "cutie pie" deputy return. "He's the cutest cop I've seen in a long time. I just want to know his name," Dudash told the dispatcher. "Heck, it doesn't come very often a good-looking man comes to your doorstep." After listening to some more, followed by a bit of silence, the dispatcher asked again why Dudash needed the deputy to return. "Honey, I'm just going to be honest with you, OK? I just thought he was cute. I'm 45 years old and I'd just like to meet him again, but I don't know how to go about doing that without calling 911," she said. "I know this is absolutely not in any way, shape or form an emergency, but if you would give the officer my phone number and ask him to come back, would you mind?" The deputy returned, verified that there was no emergency and arrested her for misusing the 911 system, an offense punishable by a fine of up to several thousand dollars and a year in jail. Thompson said Thursday it was the first case he knew of in which someone called the emergency line for such a personal reason. "That's taking up valuable time from dispatchers who could be taking true emergency calls," he said.

We have implimented the new standards , so far I've only had to use it once... so it is to early to tell if it makes a difference or not.

Granted I run on tiredness and burn out often and I have to get myself in a mindset of "Bring it on!!!" before I even start my shift. But from where I come from there is this thing called a "courtesy call" and every medic knows it. If there was no reason for him to be there..he should of at least fully assessed, took a BGL and reassured the patient. He didn't even do that. And like I said before...he let me vent my frustrations on him about that call..(chewing his butt off)...and then he explained that he was tired and it was almost shift change. I'm sorry but that doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me. But we did leave on ok terms. And I had a right to know where his head was on that call....so if I ran into it again...I could make better choices. My question was answered and thanks you guys for giving your input

I hope my name is remembered...because I was the one who actually gave a damn and I won't tolerate a medic belittling an EMT because of lack of skill or knowledge that they do not teach us in the first place...from my understanding we are all in this together and I believe that is correct. I appriciate your comments and I respect what you had to say. But you had to be there Rid to fully understand before you accuse me of being a bitch to the medic.

Thank you that answered my question As for the rest of your comment.......I didn't call for the medic...he was dispatched along with us from central who determined the call to be ALS. My job is to get onscene, assess the patient and determine if I need ALS or not. If I had thought that there was nothing more the medic could do that I could do...I would have canceled him. I don't carry a heart monitor and considering the patients age, hx of heart and an irregular heart beat of which being told that it was NOT normal for this patient. My concerns for him increased and I did not cancel the Medic. I didn't tell him how to do his job, granted I was not tought pharmacy but I asked him why he didn't do the things that I thought he should have from my own experience with running with other medics who would have taken the time to evaluate and check my patient out. I think it was in my own best interest if I was to run into this again if I should chance it and cancel the medic and end up with a full blown heart attack on my hands....or keep him coming. My chewing a medics butt isn't as bad as it sounds...but I did question him and I thought I had a right to know where his head was. As for Diplomacy? I know you don't know me....but here it is. I do and I have assisted many medics and have learned a lot from them...I enjoy them and they enjoy me. In fact they are more then happy to come this way when I'm on shift, because they usually know that if I keep them coming...its something serious. And they know that I have their backs at any given time. This medic I usually don't run with and when I have in the past he has been excellent. I didn't throw any stones at anyone. It was a good conversation...he let me say and ask and vent my frustration about the call... and he listened to me...even though I did not agree with his answers and we left on good terms. I think he realized he should have done things differently. I hope.

No his hr remained the same it was in the 90 to 100 range, but I was concerned because it would stop when there should have been at least 3 to 4 beats and then it would start again. The only thing that improved with 02 was his color, his alertness and able to recall more of what happened to him and what he felt like. His breathing became less labored. He said he would get these fibrillation's now and then and he knew exactly when they were going to happen because the room would start spinning and he'd feel like throwing up, the shakiness...everything he described that happened to him. I don't know...I'd rather be safe then sorry....I know the medics mannerism was way out of line...but what I wanted to know is should the medic have stayed with him and monitored his heart? When someones heart stops beating a few beats and then starts again and it remains that way throughout transport, which was a 30 minute transport...it does concern me. And the medic didn't even follow us in case there was complications. I can totally understand being tired and burned out..I run that way often but I would never compromise pt care.

ooops sorry...his pulse was so irregular that it would skip beats...it was strong enough...but it would stop...and then start again.

He never even checked his BGL and Its not in my scope to do it. And when I did talk to him, I didn't start out chewing him out...I did it in a nice way...like asking him why he didn't do certain things...but when he said that it was because he was on a 14 hours standby the night before and his shift was almost over...I guess I told him that was a poor excuse for not giving my patient his attention or even some patient courtesy.

I'm a BLS provider right now, I have been for 2 years...I should be ALS by now but we don't have that luxury out here. We have our medics come from 30 miles away. Majority of the time I can discern if the patient needs more then what I could do and would cancel the medic before he arrived. I was on an ALS call this morning and I felt concerned enough to keep the medic coming. But when the medic got there I was not pleased with the way he cared for the patient..maybe I'm wrong and if I'am I have learned something and if I'm not wrong then he deserved the butt chewing I gave him later on today. We were called out ALS for a 75 y/o male having possible heart trouble. We arrived onscene and the man looked very pale and just plain sick. His chief complaint was he couldn't catch his breath and he was a little disoriented. BP was 180/100, resp were fast and shallow, he was shaky and dizzy. When I felt his pulse it was very irregular...his brother said that it was not normal for him. Any irregular heart beat is not normal to me. I put him on high 02 and after awhile he became more oriented and remembered more about the incident. He said that he had taken his meds which consisted of BP pills, blood thinners and insulin, then he sat down to eat...the room started spinning, he felt dizzy and faint. He was diagnosed with diabetes a week ago and he had a hx of heart. He also had a heart flutter. So I kept the medic coming because I wanted him on the heart monitor. We met the medic en route...he came in the Ambulance and I gave him an update on the patient. The medic looked put out in the first place and when he asked the patient if he had any pain, and patient denied any...he was just about to turn around and walk out when I asked him to check his heart, he had an irregular heart beat. He finally put him on the monitor. He noticed what I was saying, but still he turned to the patient and said that this is normal for you...we ended up transporting w/o the medic aboard. We had no incident en route except that the patient still felt he couldn't catch his breath. His brother who was riding up front was not pleased with the medic either. Later on today we had another ALS call...in and out of consciousness, pt was alert but not oriented...same medic came out...we actually transported with him aboard but he did not do anything...no IV....no 02. After that call was over I had a little talk with him...I don't think he was pleased with me...but it was my patients and he didn't do anything for them. So was the Medic right in what he did and didn't do? Or was I wrong?

Windsong....I know your heart is in the right place and if my comment sounded harsh I appoligize....my uncle lost his middle child in a car accident..my cousin was in his 20's and not much younger then me. But my uncle has a really hard time when my cousins birthday comes around, or holidays. And he usually deals with it by drinking himself to sleep. As a parent you always believe that you will go before your children do. To loose a child is devistating. And sometimes you just need to be alone to deal with your loss and not want anyone to keep dragging up the dreadful event. I remember at my cousins funural my uncle came up to me and yelled at me...saying to make sure I tell my parents what I wanted them to do when I die. I guess he had a hard time with his own decission of cremating him. But I always felt that my uncle thought it should have been me and not his son. Because us both being the middle child and quit the rowdy kids, getting into trouble alot. I think he wondered why God would take Clint and not me. He had a lot of Blame, Im sure he cursed God and thats why I mentioned that the poem...and its a heart felt poem...but it drags up that old blame of "why god?" Sometimes I try to put myself in someone elses shoes to try and see what they see. I just felt that I would not want a stranger sending me something to remind me I had lost my child because God took him away from me.

As I read the poem... I tried to put myself in the position of the person who had lost a child and then recieved this from a total stranger in the mail box...AFTER THE FACT.... that my child is gone. How ever many days after....I don't think I would have appriciated it at all. Especially knowng that someone had searched the obits to find out and then Id think...how did they get my addy? And then Id think whats next? More crap in the mail to remind me that I lost my child? Its a very delecate situation. Recieving support and comfort from close friends and family members is what they want....not from strangers. Imagine after loosing a child and a total stranger comes up to you and says, "Oh I just heard your kid died, and blah blah blah, and oh by the way....god only gave him to you for a little while and then decided to take him from you!" ....they are already asking the question why, blaming themselves or blaming god. Even though your heart may be in the right place....I don't think its a very cool thing to do.

Rayster....I will be available for autographs after my big debut with Adidas and Gatorade LOL Loonie...I thought about it but it was a sad situation, I don't think a couple of EMT's acting goofy would have help the situation any. But I did think about it

At approx. 0830 we were called out to an explosion at the Couerd'Alane Casino. Not knowing exactly what we were coming into, we arrived on scene just behind the casino where they kept about 10 -12 storage containers. Inside one of them is where they stored thousands of dollars worth of fireworks that was going to be set off during the 4th of july celebration. The Storage container was completely overcome with flames that shot out from inside the contaianer igniting a truck on fire. Two pyro-techs who had just gone inside pryer to the explossion never made it out. Its unknown how the fire started but knowing people on the rez I can only imagine. Some never think about these things when they light a cigarette. Anyway here is the news coverage. I drove my Ambulance in front of the camara hehehe. http://www.spokanetogo.com/index.php?id=1574