bigj1130

OK our patches are a bit large... to answer a few questions the ems system covers about 1100 square miles... all of travis county. STARFlight is one paramedic who is certified in rescue and one rn who is also certified in rescue, possibly, but as far as i know is not the one hanging on the hoist system or doing a short haul. The view from the dock at brackenridge on a friday night can't be beat. We have 1 trauma center 3 stroke center the brand new children's hospital 6 STEMI centers and a few other docs in the box. We do emergent transfers out of those hospitals to the big three downtown occasionally. the population of Travis county is about 1.1 million but that is growing. There is talk of adding more units soon so hence more hirings. to prepare for the Hiring process study your national standards and just do some minimal excercise for the physical.

I'm sorry I was getting a call as I typed my last reply. Like Dustdevil said Rock Island is the only program in the state that is a direct associate program. the majority of programs Illinois do affiliate themselves with community colleges so you can use your credits earned from EMT to paramedic toward an associates. I know College of Dupage, who is affiliated with Good Samaritan In Downers Grove offers an associates in EMS. not sure about the other hospitals and community college combos. Hope this helps. IF you have any further questions I obtained my certificate in northern Illinois and worked there for a few years and still have a few contacts up there that I could get more info from.

If you are in northern illinois Edward in Naperville Loyola in Maywood Silver Cross in Joliet Good Samaritan in Downers Grove. Further North St. Joseph in Elgin. A little farther south Ingalls in Harvey all are pretty decent

We are allowed albuterol but personally I think it is better used as a diagnostic tool. if you have that pt. that just sounds tight and full then you can pick up the crackles of rales after a neb then do it but even then I use it with caution because of the possibility of flooding the pt. from there we do the ntg. cpap lasix morphine thing. however morphine and lasix are moving down the algorithm in favor of ntg paste and continous ntg.

The Only "traditions" I know of involve going to the busiest unit until you have the seniority to get off of it. you also work either nights or weekends or just the exact opposite schedule of your significant other. you also get insomnia and eat crappy food at all hours of the day. oh yeah you also get duct taped to a backboard an maybe your bedding gets put up on the roof or in the freezer

Like most people here I think there are pros and cons to both situations. I spent a year working for a private agency that also did "emergent" 911 type calls out of nursing homes. Definite pro there kinda the best of both worlds. I became very confident doing a secondary assessment v/s documentation pt interview etc. I also became pretty good at "big sick vs. little sick" and what I could do to help either. those are all pros. however most skills kinda go by the wayside running transfers all day. BVM ventilation comes to mind. Real good quality spinal immobilization, use of tools like a scoop and a ked are another. the 911 service has lots of pros. there is always the woop woop show running hot all the way across town. but that will get old real quick especially when you realize people don't move listen or even care that you are behind them making all kinds of noise. or when you can't hear yourself talk cuz of hearing loss. You also will get pt. contacts, like the ones that have been sick with the sniffles for 9 days and call at 0200 hrs. But your chance for a "real" sick person is better at the 911 service. My personal opinion is if you think you are comfortable with the skills of being an EMT and the knowledge base you have try for the 911. if you don't feel comfortable with pt. assessment interviews or your brain skills maybe a transfer service wouldn't be a bad starting point. Good Luck in your decision. Whatever you decide just do it the best you can.

I personally have used the Ez-Io in a few situations. Respiratory arrest Cardiac arrest. These were used after more than 4 IV attempts. I personally do not think they are all they are cracked up to be(no pun intended) When i went through my inservice it was explained to me that all drugs would have the desired effects when given IO as IV. I find it hard to believe that a drug like adenosine as an example works just as fast IO as IV especially when it is beaten into your head in school most proximal vein to the heart etc. for adenosine admin. I did however find a study conducted by Ohio university that statesthat adenosine given in a dose of 0.17 mg/kg is just as effective IO on lab rats as IV . google IO adenosine if interested. Personally I think the drill is a last resort tool when nothing is working and in my opinion is cetainly a better med route than ET in cardiac arrest.

the shirt and tie ceremony was my graduation from academy. As of right now those are our dress uniforms. On the topic of academy, it is 13 weeks its broken up into sections where you spend time on the ambulance with a training officer and time in the classroom learning sops policies and procedures and a medical equipment refresher. we did pt every morning, nothing too tough calistenics (Sp.) running weight lifting etc. IF my big hind parts can get through it just about anyone can. the time with the training officer is more familiarization with how the system works and how we work with first responders and other agencies etc. Nothing too hard but coming from a system with a completely different way of doing things that time with the training officer was invaluable to me. 6 month probation, we are a member of CLEAT.(Combined Law Enforcement Agencies of Texas) our employee association. We are non civil service. Our association is trying for things like bargaining rights and the like. If you can think of anything else you would like to know feel free to ask and I will do my best to try to answer for you. Also Student... If you have questions Use the recruiters they were a great help to me especially with coming across the country.

Dust is right in that aspect. we do have a large homeless population and large "artistic" population. The live music is great and if you can't find something to do in this city you really aren't looking hard enough. Large bar district, largest public college campus, Lake travis is a great time. no matter what kind of music you like you can find something in your genre playing almost any night of the week. I am not big on politics but this is one of the most liberal towns I have ever visited. EMS doesn't have a residency requirement, so if liberalism isn't your thing you can live in williamson, hays, bastrop county, hell we even have people commute the 90+ miles from San Antonio. Also if a gender confused cross dressing hippie that wears comboys boots gun belt and runs for mayor isn't your thing you migh not want to live in austin. All in All student I couldn't be happier where I am at and I plan on riding this one out for 25 years.

in that flyer of the Medics in shirts and ties I am the 3rd one from the left. I have worked in the system for a year now. we have a large scope in certain aspects limits in others. If you are used to rsi... we don't do it. Our sops are pretty versatile though in allowing the paramedic to think for themselves. what else... 48hr work weeks.. 2 3 or 4 day work week. 29 ambulances 1 helicopter. 6 of those 29 are special operations(rope rescue trench con space EMS swift water etc.) 1 haz-medic ambulance, 1 tactical ambulance that works and train with austin pd swat. ambulances are yellow wheeled coach on medium duty chassis custom designed. cost of living is expensive from texas standards but coming down here from chicago I definitely notice that it is cheaper. Sales tax is high but as has been mentioned no state income tax. pay is based on experience starting from 41-47k a year topping and 62-68k i think. we have 6 on duty commanders 4 field 2 spec-ops. we have had some turmoil as anyone who reads Jems can see but the system has also gotten accolades like "the best ems system to work for" but the systems has its problems like everywhere else. I haven't met anyone with that elitist attitude but I am sure some people have it. If you have any questions about other things let me know