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Ditto! Perhaps placing this individual with one that does present themselves professionally is an answer. We all have the ability to learn from each other - this might be the best way to convey positive professional behavior. I have always been a believer that we can't change a person's attitude, but we can change their behavior. Having said that, I also believe we can influence attitude changes, and perhaps through positive reinforment and working with individuals who exhibit professional behavior she will get the message.

I totally agree - never say anything, that you don't want repeated.

DITTO! That's a lot of the reasons I joined this forum a little over a month ago! I'm a medic with 23 years experience and I am not only impressed with the knowledge you youngsters possess, I am actually learning. EMS is a hell of a lot better now than 20 years ago and at the risk of seeming like I am sucking up the credit for that goes to people like you. There is also nothing wrong with a little controversy either. Great job !

Personally, I don't use a stethescope, I can just look at my patient and tell whether they have clear breath sounds or not! Just kidding, I use a Littman Classic II, it works really great for me. I would like to check Whit's out though, nice colors!

That basically what got Brittany Spears to straighten up - remember a few months ago, holding her baby while driving down the road!

It does sound like insufficient training. I did note that there was no mention of EMS personnel stabilizing the victims while rescue was performing the prolonged extrication. I wonder if EMS was present and if the patients were truly in severe pain, why pain management was not considered. Sounds like poor team work all around --IF, the article is accurate.

I don't think that would be any different than calling the PD for a driver who is weaving in front of you potentially drunk. Although, the PD would be more likely show up for a driver that is 10-55 to arrest than a mother/father who is endangering the welfare of a child by not placing them in an appropriate restraint. It's a shame some people - just don't get it!

Anyway, I respect your opinion. Let's just agree that we disagree. WE kind of got off subject!

Keep Safe and God Bless!

I guess the next time it happens we should send (whoever is responsible) flowers and tell them not to do it again. Here is another inane slogan for you, I would rather be known as a country that's an ass kicker than an ass kisser when someone does wrong against us! You are right Iraq had nothing specifically to do with 9/11 but I'm sure history will prove there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Personally I hate the fact that 2500 of our young men and women have died in this war, but I'm sure the majority serving will tell you that they would rather fight the enemy (Terrorists) over there, rather than at home! God bless them all and bring them home soon as possible!

You can debate Iraq vs. WWII all you want. Debate faulty intelligence, landing on an aircraft carrier, and declaring victory while you are at it. But in my opinion the killing of 3000+ inncocent americans deserves somebody getting their ass kicked and I am personally thankful for a president and the men and woman Serving in the armed forces willing to do just that. I would also like to add that relying on the best intelligence we have, even though it was faulty is better than listening to a president that provides FAULTY information about a white spot on a dress.

Most EMTs work for a service as a basic while going to medic school, that's a minimum of a year's experience.

I feel as a medic my primary responsibility is to provide patient care. We are in a rural setting with EMS and Fire separate, although when we are both on scene we work as a team. Their expertise in rescue is much broader than mine and I am not afraid to admit it. I rely very much on that expertise when I need it and they never fail to deliver!

I think this definitely depends on the situation, i.e I get arrested for stealing those drugs, but you really stole them and don't - so I should be placed on administrative leave unless I'm convicted or you get busted for really taking the drugs. On the other hand if two or more reliable witnesses seen me take the drugs and are willing to testify to that, I should be fired on the spot!

Most of the students that I know are going to Memphis, TN. to test. They say it is fairer and not a lot of B.S. involved. The ones that have tested have gotten good results.

In Missouri criminal background checks are required by the state when you apply for a license or every 5 years when you re-license. Criminal background checks are a specific part of the licensing process and are performed by the Missouri Highway Patrol. Having a past conviction does not necessarily keep you from getting a license. It depends on what the conviction was for and how long ago the conviction occurred. Moral turpitude is mentioned as a possible reason for not granting a license.

All medications errors should be reported! Remember we were all taught in paramedic class that with all medication orders we were to repeat that order back to the physician/R.N. to verify to avoid mistakes. Then we got to the real world of standing orders and there was no one to report the order back to for verification - it's called trust and good judgment. In not reporting a medication error we violate that trust with poor judgment. I believe that as EMS Professionals we have to "police" ourselves to ensure we are providing quality patient care. If we don't do it, perhaps someone else will.

Everyone bring up some good points. Nobody likes to deal with non-compliant patients who choose to be non-compliant. That's a big difference than being non-compliant due to financial factors. Yes, there are solutions to the problems - most of which are probably pretty common sense - unfortunately it's the people with the least common sense who we have elected to fix them. We have also a class of people (nothing to do with race) that make it a way of life to sponge off the taxpayer and are teaching their children the same thing. In my opinion perhaps things really got out of hand when the government started using the word "entitlement". They really think that they are entitled to this insane way of life, entitled to receive a check every month and entitled to free health care, including free rides to the hospital for a cough, runny nose or whatever! What we should be doing is going back to calling it charity, which in fact is really what it is. I am not talking about the elderly or truly disabled either - they do in most cases need assistance and we should help. But it is B.S. to have to transport a 25 y/o male because they have a B.S. diagnosis of being bi-polar and are disabled. My father would have told me to get up off my ass and get a job.

If we use the six points of the Star of Life and their meaning - definitive care is obtained when we transfer our patients to the ED. http://www.streetsmartems.com/staroflife.htm Each of the six "points" of the star represents an aspect of the EMS System. They are: Detection Reporting Response On Scene Care Care In Transit Transfer to Definitive Care Author: From Rescue-EMS Magazine, July-August 1992

I agree with everyone - for interpretive purposes in the field it is a NSR. For B.S. purposes - When enlarged there appears to be some abnormalities in the QRS, possibly a RBBB, which occurs in healthy people and probably would not be significant anyway. But to actually know and get a definitive answer you would need a 12 lead EKG.

Sounds like a great idea!

Yes, we are paid our normal hourly wage for both 1st out and 2nd out (call) shifts.

It is not that I don't agree about professional dress, in fact I do. However, we have become to "lax". Where I work and most other services I have come in contact with all wear Polo shirts for work and personally I think that doesn't look professional. When I mentioned wearing a tie as being overkill, I was thinking about the uniforms of services I have worked for and feel we shouldn't expect a person being interviewed to be over dressed, especially when we could could be dressed more professionally ourselves and don't. I am not specifically speaking about all services, but definitely services I have been employed with. There are a lot of very professional looking EMS Professionals out there.

As a former EMS Director who interviewed and hired many EMS Professionals, I would suggest slacks (docker type) and pullover knit shirt (tucked in). No tennis shoes! Shirt and tie is O.K., but I think it is a little overkill!