emt_hound

I know a guy who put cribbing under a coworker's vehicle, tucked in close behind each wheel, which resulted in the vehicle being raised a fraction of an inch off the ground.

When she came off shift at 1700 that evening, the crew all watched her spin her wheels. Funny as hell.

Ingredients: Car Jack, cribbing.

Set up time: about 15 minutes.

Break down time: about 5 minutes.

Harm caused: NONE.

This is a classic prank.

The "Friends" episode regarding Phoebe's disbelief in evolution is on TBS right now...

heehee. :wink:

Rich...you lift weights?!? Them 12oz curls really slam the biceps! :wink:

Just kidding...

I get beat up by ERDoc... :shock:

I dunno, Quagmire, in the 6 years since my Blazer was built, it has developed several adaptive behaviors to cope with the mountainous terrain around here. Additionally, it has learned how to make fire and can communicate using simple primary number sequences.

If that wasn't enough...my Blazer's offspring (what I like to call "Tonkas") show some indications of random mutations including a variety of colors, independant rear suspensions, tinted windows, elongated exhaust systems, and one hybridized gasoline/diesel engine (I call him "Spunky"). And it gets worse! My Blazer is teaching her offspring the same adaptive behavior she learned herself. As soon as their older, I'm going to put the whole litter on ebaymotors.com.

And that's only been one generation! Imagine what will happen in another couple of years. I predict the advent of the Borg.

Hmm...good question.

I don't honestly know...but probably the nature of emergency medicine makes people fear roving, independent EMT's operating outside the scope of a medical director.

4.5 x 5? Freakin' JO's, man...

HIPAA HIPAA HIPAA

Nice pic. That's a photoshop'd pic of Marcus Ruhl. He doesn't really work out, either. Just injects a crap-load of synthol...

If the instructor is flouting the rest of the state protocols regarding teaching and registering students for the course, what makes you think he followed the rule of providing the students with the state rule book?

Dixie,

You've had some tough times. Be proud of your perseverence.

Tibby,

So, when exploring the tenants of the Roman Catholic faith, you'll be relying on Webster's Dictionary for the definitive final word on what is and what isn't a Roman Catholic?

Gosh, how shortsighted.

I don't have a close personal relationship with Deism. I only know what I've read and talked about in my various history and philosopy courses. Feel free to contact the webmaster at deism.com and notify them that they have mislabeled themselves.

Tibby...

"Do Deists believe that God created the creation and the world and then just stepped back from it?

Some Deists do and some believe God may intervene in human affairs. For example, when George Washington was faced with either a very risky evacuation of the American troops from Long Island or surrendering them he chose the more risky evacuation. When questioned about the possibility of having them annihilated he said it was the best he could do and the rest is up to Providence."

From Deism.com...under the FAQ page on defining Deism and its tenants.

"Abandoned" is a harsh word and not one I ever heard before when discussing deism...but you can go the site and see what others have written and make your own conclusion.

UMass...that's a very similar idea as deism. The idea of the "watchmaker" god that set everything in motion at the beginning of time. It's most well-known proponent? Thomas Jefferson.

Me, I'm agnostic. I believe in evolution. We see random mutation on the genetic level all the time in lab studies. Combine that with environmental pressures and you get genetic adaptation. Behavioral adaptation is a completely different animal.

Well, that's my point. Career medics around here are the rarity. The great majority are volunteer EMT-B's and EMT-I's working for small, single-ambulance towns. Most only get paid when they're actually out on a call and some towns simply don't pay at all.

If there was money in it...and God, I wish there was, there would be demand...and if there was demand then there would be insistence on higher education standards.

But the reality for us is there is very little money...so very little demand...and we have trouble recruiting and retaining the volunteers with the certification requirements we have in place, as minimal as they are.

Tibby... I was speaking of land. 80% of the US is rural. Yes, the pop. is smaller and way more spread out....but that's the point.

The system that has developed throughout the majority of the continental US to deal with emergencies relies on volunteers as its backbone. Only urban areas can afford to field full-time, paid paramedics and emergency responders. Getting volunteers that are trained and certified to respond to emergencies is hard enough without requiring a 2 or 4 degree training route.

Let me sample our squad for a second: 8 full time employees. 4 medics, 4 EMT-I's. 6 more per diem medics that work for other services and come in to fill gaps. 25 volunteers, all EMT-B's and EMT-I's. Some are highly educated with degrees in engineering or law. Others have associates degrees in architecture. We've got a high school English teacher, a Concierge for one of the ski resorts, a butcher, an LNA, a fellow that works at the plastic's plant, and another that works at the local ironworks. We've got a softwear programmer, a mechanic, and an electrician. This is just a sample.

Simply requiring a 2 or 4 year degree program removes all of these volunteers from our roster. Do they have the time or money to go through a program like that? No. Do we have the money to pay to replace them with degree'd medics? No. Hell, there isn't a single paramedic program, certification, associate, or bachelor's, in this entire freakin' state.

Am I happy about this? No. Am I endorsing the current status quo? No. I want highly trained EMTs. I want paramedics with B.S.'s in paramedicine...but recruiting for rural medicine is hard enough now without requiring a degree. Make the degree financially attractive and things will change.

Right now, EMT's get paid $8 an hour in our service area. Medics are lucky to be pulling in $12 an hour. How do you entice the sort of highly educated individuals you want, when they can make three times as much money working in just about any other career field?

I don't know how it works in urban services where the need for volunteers is (I'm assuming) less. I have heard that Seattle is paying medics something like $50k...basically, an attractive wage. All my experience is in rural ems. Things are different out here, and unfortunately, out here is the majority of the country.

Canada's EMS certification system is completely different from the U.S. Comparing them is apples and oranges. If becoming an EMT or Medic in the U.S. suddenly required a 2 or 4 year degree, the recruitment pool would evaporate. Remember that 80% of the US is made up of rural communities. Finding volunteers smart enough and willing to sit through the current certification programs is difficult enough.

Is it a noble idea? Sure, and if the salary-incentives were there, this field could begin to demand more education.

The RN field in the US requires a degree. RN's get paid a lot more than medics (on average). Case in point.

It's easy to pound your chest and talk about what "should be." Show me a feasible plan to make it happen.

Honestly, I think it is irrelevant with pay...

So basically you are saying that it doesn't matter that I don't know that because I get paid shitey so sorry if I can't offer a differential diagnoses. Pay me more and I might have decided I want to learn more?.

No, I said something more along the lines of...money motivates performance. Damn few people will invest their time and money into a 4 year program in order to get a crappy-paying job. The more money a job requires, the more people will be interested in pursuing the career...and the more the field can demand a more-educated minimum.

Canada and US have completely different EMS systems. I don't pretend to understand it.

Sure, but it's a chicken and egg argument. Increase in pay comes with increase in education...increase in education comes with increase in pay.

Personally, I think it would be great if services paid EMT-P's more if they had invested their time and money in a 2 or 4 year degree program.

But I also wonder if the perspective candidate pool would shrink too dramatically...

One I just sort of developed over the last few months:

FLFD: Fat Lady Fall Down.

Seems to be about 1/2 my calls in the winter and spring.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.

I'd like to see the variables they used as factors and how they measured performance before I made any conclusions from studies such as this one.

Interesting...

Does anyone know how much CO2 a person gets on 15L O2 via NRB? I'm assuming its a negligible amount (since its a "non-rebreather") but I wonder if a Pt gets any at all.

Thanks Asys...I was thinking it, but didn't want to post it.

Chicks...I do it for the chicks. A Type III is a babe-magnet!!!!

Just Kidding...

Aww, jeez...please don't label Texas as part of the South.

Yeah, I know they fought with the South...but Texas is Texas and the South is the South...it's like saying Miami is part of the South...or Vienna, Virginia...

I mean, Texas's arch-rival is freakin' Oklahoma!