Richard B the EMT

I'll speak anecdotally, that I have had too many times,when the call came in as a patient reportedly breathing with difficulty, but because the caller delayed calling because they thought the patient just had a cold, I find a DOA in Rigor. What was scary was, on 2 of them, the call was in a group home, in the room next to the supervisor's desk.

Youtube doesn't have the filmclip. Sorry.

O M G!!!

I would have applied to join the NYC Urban Search and Rescue, but I am attached to electricity for my CPAP, due to my sleep apnea. Kudos to those who have the health, strength, will, and training to do it, under whatever name their country calls the rescue teams.

Just a reminder, here: during World War 2, the Queen, then still the Princess, Elizabeth the second was"One Of Us", as she drove (and mechanically maintained!), an ambulance for the British Army.

First off, welcome to the city. Somewhere, somebody convinced a medical board, or a medical board convinced the health regulatory agency, of what should be carried on an ambulance, as recognized at a county, Parrish, state, Provence, or national level. Therefore, to be a registered, certified, or both, service, that list of items must be on board, with minimum item count on some disposable items like 4x4s. If you don't start the tour with them, here in NY State, you and your partner can be written up and fined, or lose license/certification. The vehicle can be taken out of service, until Department of Health inspectors are satisfied the vehicle has those minimums on board, and the ambulance agency can be also fined. As new protocols are added, and older ones removed, the list will change. NY State used to require both ipecac and activated charcoal, and Medical Anti Shock Trousers. Ipecac is gone, at the state level, and MAST is gone at the NYC level (training still has the protocols for MAST, at state level). "Because I said so" may not b e a good answer, but if required to be carried, carry it, in good working order, if required by regulation. If nothing else, it will keep you, your partner(s), and your service out of trouble.

Perhaps a tad so.

Welcome Aboard! You are at least the second German on the City, but as He hasn't posted in a long time, I don't know what happened. He was an instructor of EMS personnel, but I forget what city he lived in. May I suggest not using any abbreviations, as not everything is universal? Some of us use abbreviations that mean something else to someone from a different county, parrish, state, provence, or as you will see here, country. Some will not make sense outside a particular service. Sorry, just me venting on a pet peeve (14 pounds, with brown fir, LOL). Again, WELCOME ABOARD!

Sorry, but if nobody is restocking after their tour, I'd be writing them up, as I'd expect to be written up if I did that. I always restock to at least what I used, or, if hung up with a late call, if the relief crew hasn't been already put into a spare truck to go available, I at least tell them what should go on their "shopping list". Even off the clock, I have gone to get the stuff from the supply locker, even as they are doing their mandated "Part 800" (NYS DoH and NYS Public Law 30 required supplies and equipment) vehicle check for their tour, although they will put it on the shelves, and not me.

Timmy, I believe the reference is actually IN the ER waiting room, not outside the facility. U S hospitals have policy, required by law, that any patient that is presented, or presents themselves, at an ER will be seen, with no regard if they can pay or not (work that detail out later). That they will be seen in the ER is not in doubt. WHEN they will be seen, however, is the question.

The scenario was created by a VAC associate, coincidentally the same one assisted in creating the one with the school bus I already mentioned. We did the bus one, and only talked through the plane crash one. I am told that on another big-scale scenario, presented to a London, England, "Bobby", the good constable supposedly said he would remove his uniform, and join the onlooking crowd, "just to see what would happen next!"

Run this one as a tabletop exercise, as even an imitation of the real thing is going to be too big. Scenario based on actual locations and conditions in my home area, and, unfortunately, I didn't create it. Including the water tower and elevator stack, we have a 14 story tall public housing apartment building alongside an elevated commuter train line, in the flight path of a major airport. Here we go with the scenario: At 3:15 PM, a 747 jetliner taking off from the airport, with 317 souls aboard, loses power and lift, and strikes the apartment building on the 8th floor. As the building is a city built building, construction is shoddy, and the building pancakes, with debris landing on the "el" tracks, causing partial collapse of the tracks. The building has apartments for 200 families, varying from single persons to families of 5, and an unknown number of the residents are at home at the time. The train driver, with the train rolling at about 50 MPH towards the incident, seeing the debris and track collapse, "dumps" the train into "Emergency Stop", but to no avail, as the train cannot stop in time, hits the debris, and the first 2 cars of the 10 car train runs off the tracks, as the last 2 cars derail, and roll onto the intersection below, landing on 2 school buses full of kids just dismissed for the day from the local Junior High School/Middle School. FYI, the "El" is up about 40 feet above the streets. The train has a light load of passengers, numbering 147, plus the driver and conductor, and both buses carry 36 children, the bus driver and a "matron" each. You're on the first in ambulance, and don't know if PD and FD are yet rolling. After the "Oh, SHIT!" factor sets in, what do you do NOW? Google map 71-15 Beach Channel Drive, Queens County, NY to see the actual site I describe, and pray it doesn't ever happen in reality.

Don't forget to post pictures of the new baby after delivery.

Just as a mention, when the POTUS or other foreign dignitaries visit NYC, it makes the only time, aside from when there's a "ride-along", when there's a 3 person crew on an ambulance: a Secret Service Agent, and 2 "vetted" Paramedics, dedicated to that official.

I'm guessing in the off site bars nearby, after the official competitions are done.

Has anyone noted, as I have, that when we have the first real warming days after the cold of winter, that call-type "Sick" seems to jump up, and cause some backlog in the ERs? Same thing when we get the first cold snap of the fall?

There was a news item on the 5 PM news, a 9 year old saved his drowned 4 year old sister, using now outdated CPR copied from him watching the movie "Black Hawk Down" (outdated, perhaps, but it worked this time).

Point of Order!!! Thomas Jefferson WAS a slave owner, and was, if I recall my readings (which I am unable to document at this time), wanting to extend the Declaration of Independance to include Negro slaves, but was coerced by those from "slave" states, as they viewed it as stealing their farm and house "laborers". Historians and medical scientists have proven Jefferson did have sex with at least one of the slave women, but the attitude of the times was, slaves were property, and owners could do what they wanted with them.

I forgot one detail on my last posting: OLMC has the Medic channels on radio and the telephone lines taped as further documentation.

Could someone explain to me where the "skinheads" and the KKK got the concept that religion is a "race"? I admit being tired of the obvious bigots insulting the "Jewish Race". We're a religion, and there's several so called "branches" of the human race with members who are Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and others I cannot remember at the hour I posted this (If not mentioned, please don't be offended.)

There's probably a lot of movies neither of us have seen. They won't get rich with the amount of money I'd spend on tickets to that series ($0.00)

I had heard of these racing teams. Nothing like jumping off a moving vehicle at 40 MPH, is there? However, the fire fighter Olympics I seem to recall was carrying a 50 foot hose-line "donut" up 5 stories, rappelling down from the 5th floor, and using a sledgehammer to move an "I" beam a distance, all in one timed period.

East 10th Street crosses East 4th Street in lower Manhattan, NY

When I worked EMD, policy was to advise the caller in the ER waiting room to ask the receptionist to page the on duty "Patient Advocate" person. Their job is to, minimally, calm down the patient/family/friends, and also try to get the patient through the logjam. The system is far from perfect, but it sure is better than it was, years ago.

A part of the problem is, many people believe that by arriving at an ER by ambulance means they'll be seen sooner than if arriving by cab, car, sitting on a bicycle's handlebars, or walking. We in EMS know better, but we weren't asked. Another problem I have seen, working as I do in a widely mixed socioeconomic area, the majority of families who do not have a regular doctor use the ER AS their regular doctor. Ask them who their doctor is, for the call report, they will actually say "the 'X' hospital ER".