NREMT-Basic

1. Learn and love the power grip and power lift. 2. Never try to move a heavy pt by youself....if you think they are oo heavy, they probably are 3. Ask for help all the time...policemen, ffsm other emts, hell, I have even enlisted bystanders to help life a patient that had to be taken out on the door we took off of her house. The best thing is to get innovative and imaginative. Remember that 15-20 max reach, lift with the legs and work out to gain upper body strength. I have a friend who i very small woman who is also a smoker jumper and the pack she jumps and hikes with literally weighs more than she does, so she spends alot of time with evertyhing from free weights to machines to things like yoga and martial arts. You will do just fine. Dont get scared off and dont hurt yourself because you are afraid that asking for help would make you seem not up to the job. I think with so many women in the field these days, and alot of them being smaller framed like you, there are going to be more and more in the way of power assisted devices for loading patients. Good Luck from one Newbie to another...and stay safe...remember, you dont want to become your own patient. THe LIfe you save may your own. Steven "the Monk" KinCannon, NREMT-B/D please feel to write to me at emt.kincannon@yahoo if you would like to talk about this further. I am always glad to help with what i have learned so far and I have chronic lower extremity neuropathy after an auto accident so if I can do it, you can too. Keep you chin up and dont get discouraged. PS- I hurt my back during an extrication because i had the pt on a board and in a KED and had to drag him out and onto to the board virtully on my own...he weighed in exccess of 400 pounds.

Guess what...no longer your patient, no longer your worry is a load of Ca Ca. They sure as heck will be your patient again when they come back and sue you for negligence or pain and suffering or whatever they can come up with to pry open your wallet. DOCUMENT!!! Your run report should include that doc refused to give MS or whatever he would have chosen to use (or not in this case). The service that I will be working for backs its EMTs and Medics to the hilt especially when it comes to confrontation with doctors. But not all services are like that. Watch you back!

Its a good job the Dust is wearing his flight suit and standing in front of that great big red cross, else we might mistake him for an ego with legs. I happen to be a new EMT who graduated being able to take spot on BP's anywhere, anytime under any circumstances. Sorry that you have worked with those who cant, did you ever take the time to teach, or do you fear that if they have more skills that might take something away from you, like your sense of self-supriority

Leave it to DustDevil to ruin an otherwise encouraging post with the phrase "just another ambulance driver." The service that I am currently PRNing for had a medic that said that one two many times, and the last time happened to be in front of the Ops Manager...who immediately called him into his office and suspended him for two weeks without pay. His exact quote was "I would rather work with a good Basic than a half-ass paramedic any day." And in his opinion which I tend to share, there are more than just a few half-ass medics out there. No, I am not picking on anyone here because I dont know your skill level or experience. But you get the point... But the fact remains, as the Ops Manager also said "You can teach a monkey to hit a vein with a needle." Until attitudes like this fade into the sunset, there will always be partners who are only partners because they happen to work on the same rig rather than working hand in hand to save lives.

I can understand the lack of volunteer services. We only have volly fire in my area and you can only volunteer for them as EMS if you have taken FF 1.

The only time I have seen this done is in films and a few MASH episodes. Is it taught at any EMT level as a viable option to produce a cardiac rhythm compatible with life? I would be interested to know. I have been talking to EMT and Paramedic friends and of course they have all heard of it but no one i know has ever used this method. I know that the measuments etc have been gone over but it just seems so totally random...like walking up and kicking your hard-drive. I would love to hear more from those that have actually used it in the field. Thanks.

Unfortunately, 911 and the ER are the only forms of medicne available to abot 30% of our population here in the States. And most hospitals will get subsidized if a pt fills out a form stating that they are in need of financial assistance. Since the subsidies are from the government, they will eventually find their way into a tax hike. If anyone out there is interested in starting a non-profit, free ambulance service, please let me know. This is my ultimate goal in EMS.

Thank you for that Rid. I think we all know someone who has been lost to believing that their grief or emotions did not need to find a vent. One of my teachers and best friends recently killed himself because no one was watching his emotional back. Remember...the life you save may be your own.

This puzzles me because I have scene o2 administered to animals via tubing attaced to a whole in a styro cup and also just by simple extension tube blow by. I think I will try this before I ask my ops manager for a couple of hundred bucks for vet masks, though I do like the sentiment that we are out there helping all living beings.

Proppers also makes an excellant set of pants. They are what I wear. They are reinforced in everyway possible, have great sized pockets and also a little rubber strip inside the waist band which acts as a stay to keep your shirt in place, especialy good for me because i wear armor under my inform and that tends to make my shirts go all wonky. Proppers area little pricey but absolutely well worth it.

I agree that keeping something to eat and the ability to be properly hydrated in the rig is important. But please remember to have food that has no smell...usually something cold, or a power bar, etc. There is nothing worse than already not feeling well and having the person that is transporting you have a whopper or big mac or whatever and you have to smell that. Really the same reason that we should all not use colognes, perfumes, scented soaps, shave creams, shampoos, etc. Just a thought from an ambulance jockey.

I am not sure what the trouble is here. As MrsRankin said, its not as though she is waiting to used her edged tool to kill someone. As I wrote to her, I used to carry a British Special Services stilletto (about 3.5")in the back of my boot, pimarily so it didnt get in the way and also because a fixed blade weapon tends to make people nervous. I carried it right up until that day it was stolen and will continue to do so when I can find another one. When I need something with a sharp edge I will use whatever seems most valuable at the time...trauma shears, knives, bandage scissors, anything. I have used a knife to cut down a still alive attempted suicide my hanging, to crib tires by punctuing them at MCIs...the list goes on. As with a gun, the problem with knives is never the tool itself, its the person using it. If you think they should be left at home and have no place in a rig, dont carry one. In fact, if they make you that nervous, I would suggest that you are not comfortable using an edged tool of any kind and I would suggest that you throw out all your steak knives...i mean arent you worried that you will freak out and kill the neighborhood with it. The only thing here that makes me nervous is that there are people who assume they know MrsRankins motivations and what she is thinking at each moment. This all harkins back to thte badge postings..if she has found a use for that blade and feels it necessary to carry it, its most likley because it doesnt scare her and she is well versed in handling it.

Well said Cap. Bravo!

Thats a great story and I cant wait to share that with my collegues. I would love to take the time to hear about your experiences as I know I could learn from them. If you have the time, please PM me or email me at emt.kincannon@yahoo.com. Be safe and keep your head down. Steven A. KinCannon, NREMT-B/D (Illinois)

"Be a professional, your service should have a standard or guideline to follow. Keep the gizmo's, knifes, and weapons to the whackers... R/r 911" Because you are set in your ways doesnt mean that what doesnt work or seem necessary follows suit for everyone else. Lets keep the insults to a minimum and realize that there are ways of doing things besides yours.

I dont know if this fits the dumb criteria...its actually something I am more proud of having done. Picked up a pt who was approx 10 mins post-ictal. He was unresponsive to all but pain and vomitted once in the rig en route. When we got him to the ER, we couldnt get anyone to pay attention to us...you know one of those times when docs and nurses just look up at you like "who are these people, we have never seen anyone like them before?" Pt started to vomit again so we rolled him on his side and let him blow chow all over the floor and wall of the ER. Needless to say he was in a room rather quickly.

As far as benzos killing but respiratory failure more often doing the job...that is the benzo killing...absent any respiratory compromise minus the benzo, the benzo is causing the resp failure...a fine hair to split i know but if the benzo is causing the resp sx, then the benzo is killing.

I would also add, use the toilet every 30 minutes while awake whether you need to or not. Its not fun having to wonder off into thte bushes at an MCI. I have also been curious....what do various folks do when you need to answer the call at a scene? I know it sounds stupid and I havent run into the problem yet but I am curious...

Thanks for catching that...that is what i meant and realized that i had spelled it incorrectly only after posting it. Heres my next one: What is a the Dolls Eye response?

Hey Richard- Thanks for being so clear and concise in your analysis of the whole to badge or not to badge thing. Your posts have been some of the only that actually have a point to them other than people arguing whether a badge in a wallet is a sign of ego. As a freelance defense law paralegal and EMT, I have taken a keen interest in this topic and have done some research. As an example, I will offer what the attorney general of the great State of Illinois has to say. I paraphrase: If your agency, public or private, does not issue and/or require a badge shield or other metallic, etc identification, you may still carry one for identification purposes, provided that along with it you carry and can provide when requested to do so a copy of you DOH EMS license. If your agency, public or private, does not issue badges and you are carrying one of your own accord, it may not display the Seal of the State of IL. It may have the Maltese Cross for FFs or the SOL for EMTs. If your agency requires and or furnishes it, it may include the Great Seal of the State. I hate to assume such things but I suspect that other states have similar laws regarding the use of badges and the use of the seal of the state. Thanks again Richard.

I think this topic has been beaten to death. To each his own say I, and for the love of God would someone please lock down this topic. PS- I have never displayed my badge when I was wearing anything else that would identify me...now walk up with no badge and no EMS or Fire shirt and ask people to move..a good number of them will tell you to get bent.

Specifically, we call the ambulances by their call signs. In general here in Illinois though, they are most often referred to as trucks, as they were also when I lived in NM. When I lived in Boston, it was a bus, and wisconsin and alot of midwesterners seems to favor rig, which is what I call them, though sometimes bus does slip out.

I am only a wee Basic, but what I say is true... In my training, not so long ago, we were taught orthostatics too. Mares eat oats and does eat oats...

Not sure if I am following the correct game rules here, but here is one: Liesen's Encephalopathy--- I didnt Taber that one before I spelled it so you may have to be creative in thinking, however the hint is that the first wored is the name of the Doc who discovered it. Also it is a congential condition.

The only thing that is a bigger waste of time than responding to this post is the post itself. Criminy!