spenac Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 I tried that with the Big Shears. Works fine if you are standing up all day. Sucks arse if you have to sit down at any point during your shift. Especially if you are driving. I ditched that idea real fast. Dang it dust didn't need that image with my morning coffee. Rid, you and Dust are right, how come does carry little on our person work every where but there? You guys are more experienced give me a real reason. Also why does the originional poster get mad when I give him a real solution to how to better to distribute the weight of all that crap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Well, stepping back I can see how the posts here could easily be interpreted as bashing, and put our new friend on the defensive. I would like to apologise for that, and assure him that it is not really my intent. The way I see it, ntg, you came here asking for help, and help is exactly what I am offering. Sometimes, help comes in the form of "tough love." It's not always pretty or sugar coated. It's not always pleasant to swallow. But the intent is genuine, and I hope that you can see that through all the hyperbole. I know that you are not a rookie, and you don't need anybody telling you the basics. I'm not trying to talk down to you here. I'm just saying that this "need" you have to carry all those things isn't really a need at all. It's just a nasty habit, just like smoking. Breaking that habit can and may cause you anxiety and stress as you wonder if you have the strength to do it. Especially when you are surrounded by 2000 co-workers who have the same habit. But YOU are the one who said it is a problem for you. And admitting the problem is the first big step to recovery. I think you can do it. Remove one item per shift from your belt. If you start having tremours, or hyperventilating, or losing the ability to concentrate on your patients as you fondle your empty belt, then slow down the pace. Remove one item a week instead of each shift. No hurry here. Your goal remains the same. Start with the simple stuff. Ditch the multi-tool first. Heck, you don't even have to ditch it entirely, just leave it in your bag in the truck for those repair jobs you just can't let go. A week later, when you realise you haven't needed that a single time on a scene, you can dump the oxygen wrench next. Have a sudden need for it? Hey, that's what your EMT partner is for. If you have a patient that really needs oxygen, then you as the medic have better things to do than play with the bottle, right? By the end of the month, you should be down to a couple of things that you absolutely just cannot live without, and you cannot count on your EMT or jump kit to provide. Besides your cellphone, that should not be anything that was not issued by your department. And those few items are not enough to even justify a Bat belt, so you can lose the belt too! Voila! Problem solved! No muss. No fuss. Of course, if that fails -- if you're just not strong enough to do it -- we still have wellbutrin, hypnotherapy, accupuncture, and electroshock therapy to try! :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenac Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Welcome to whackerholics. The 12 step Dust program explained in above post. Lets start. Hello my name is ___________, I am a whacker. But seriously is all this equipment carried by choice on your person or could you just make sure your jump bag is properly equipped at the start of each shift or is it really required by your service? All I carry is my cell phone, a knife just because I've carried one since before grade school and all the way through school and the decades since, and a pen. I have actually never had a time when being w/o any of those items would have kept me from doing my job. Everything else is in the bag or on my partner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Plain Ruff Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Spenac, I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WANTYNU Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Welcome to whackerholics. The 12 step Dust program explained in above post. Lets start. Hello my name is ___________, I am a whacker. But seriously is all this equipment carried by choice on your person or could you just make sure your jump bag is properly equipped at the start of each shift or is it really required by your service? All I carry is my cell phone, a knife just because I've carried one since before grade school and all the way through school and the decades since, and a pen. I have actually never had a time when being w/o any of those items would have kept me from doing my job. Everything else is in the bag or on my partner. In the realm of professional posts, this has taken a turn down the wrong path, I read through this thread and we’ve had every suggestion from the plausible to the ridiculous (use the light on the bus it work fine) . Can we possibly agree since we work in different systems our equipment need WILL be different? Don’t call people names because they carry a duty belt, that would be like telling a cop to leave his gun in his car and run back if he found he needed it. I'm sorry but they built the elevators in the projects a little too small to fit my bus in, (and a lot of time my stretcher as well), so in order to treat the patient, you ACTUALLY need stuff… I know this may surprise a few here, but (and I will only speak for myself), but in NYC you could easily find yourself twenty flights up, with a single elevator working, and a hundred people that think their business is more important then you trying to save someone’s life, so every button (in spite of your protests ) gets pushed between you and your patients floor. Now honestly, do you really want to run back down to your bus to get a piece of equipment you might need? Is that fair to the patient. Calling someone a whacker because they wear an equipment belt is narrow minded and a little ignorant. Not everyone has complete access to their bus. We don’t live in a perfect world, stuff breaks, most urban system have a spare bus in case the one you’re in breaks down, it’s usually an old POS thats on its last legs, if you had the choice of making a quick repair on your own and not switching out of the bus you normally use or taking the time to move all your equipment into something that was a temporary Band-Aid, what would you do? Call fleet services that’s funny, how responsive is your own mechanic when you need your personal car fixed? Now you want to call a person who is even more over worked and under paid then you to change a strobe light, or fix a fuse? Good Luck My point is there is no such thing as a “WHACKER” , there are well prepared EMS personal who know their environment and like to be prepared for the unexpected on the 20th floor. If you tried to work in NYC without carrying a variety of personal equipment on each and every job, not only would have an extremely short career , you'd be toast by your third call. WANTYNU. BTW, If you carry a belt, and want to lighten your load by a couple of ounces, I know a place that makes a really good O2 wrench… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Can we possibly agree since we work in different systems our equipment need WILL be different? Unless you are speaking as such things as snow tires and snakebite kits, no. We cannot agree on that. The requirements remain constant in EMS. And we certainly cannot agree on it in the context of this particular thread. This guy is not asking about "equipment." He's asking about his whacker tools. I don't care where you work. You don't need a farking multitool on your belt on the 32nd floor of a high rise when the burned out bulb, that you should not be changing anyhow, is thirty-two floors down on the street in your ambulance. To compound the problem, a great many of these guys aren't just carrying a lot of useless crap on a belt. They are carrying it all on TWO belts, one being a big leather Sam Browne police belt or similar. It's just stupid. It's not even about function. It's all about looking the part of a NYC whacker, which is depressingly popular up there. Don’t call people names because they carry a duty belt, that would be like telling a cop to leave his gun in his car and run back if he found he needed it. You have shown yourself to be too smart to actually believe that is a valid analogy. And I don't think you are being dishonest either. So the best I can figure, you're just caught up in the same monkey see-monkey do whackerism as ninety-seven percent of all NY medics and therefore cannot see how silly it is to the rest of the world. Sorry bro, but when somebody says they have a problem, then refuses to even consider the solution when handed to them on a silver platter, that person is leaving themselves wide open to ridicule, up to and including names. BTW, If you carry a belt, and want to lighten your load by a couple of ounces, I know a place that makes a really good O2 wrench… I would hope that you would take notice of two points that have come to light in this thread that should be of particular interest to you: wrench. 2. EMS agencies in New York can't seem to keep them stocked on their vehicles. wrenches every year, you have a decent shot at convincing them of the benefits of spending a bit more for your fluourescent gay pink wrench with the big "STOLEN FROM THE CITY OF NEW YORK" stamped on it, and subsequently having a lot fewer of them end up in the pockets, whacker bags, and dresser drawers of their employees. The same concept drastically cut the disappearance of scrub suits from hospitals years back. Any whacker who wants his own, but without losing his job, can just buy one of the cool coloured wrenches from you directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMAC Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Ok im officially done with this thread. You do things your way, I do things my way. You dont like it, then dont come to the northeast. Period. :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Make my cigarette lighter! (It was time for someone to say something silly here.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Ok im officially done with this thread. You do things your way, I do things my way. You dont like it, then dont come to the northeast. Period. :roll:LOL! Man, you sure managed to completely misconstrue this thread. This is a real problem with New Yorkers. They all seem to think the rest of the country (and world) actually give a rat's arse about what they think or do. One only need be two states or more from NY to realise that it is not the centre of the universe. Although television may make you believe that you are something special up there, and that the rest of us care, I can assure you that -- especially in the EMS world -- the rest of us are laughing at you. Not as much as we are laughing at New Jersey, but I digress. And don't forget, young rookie, it is the New Yorker who came here saying he had a problem with all of this in the first place. The rest of us are just trying in vain to help him escape the Dark Side. If you have a problem with that, go talk to your homey about it. You have just demonstrated for us what is wrong with so many rookies in EMS. Whatever everybody else is doing around you is automatically assumed to be the way things ought to be. Not a single intelligent thought about the rest of the world or a possible better way. Monkey see-monkey do. I'm glad you're happy up there, because trust me, there aren't many employers down here that want anything to do with your kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WANTYNU Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Unless you are speaking as such things as snow tires and snakebite kits, no. We cannot agree on that. The requirements remain constant in EMS. And we certainly cannot agree on it in the context of this particular thread.... To compound the problem, a great many of these guys aren't just carrying a lot of useless crap on a belt. They are carrying it all on TWO belts, one being a big leather Sam Browne police belt or similar. It's just stupid. It's not even about function. It's all about looking the part of a NYC whacker, which is depressingly popular up there. You have shown yourself to be too smart to actually believe that is a valid analogy. And I don't think you are being dishonest either. So the best I can figure, you're just caught up in the same monkey see-monkey do whackerism as ninety-seven percent of all NY medics and therefore cannot see how silly it is to the rest of the world. Sorry bro, but when somebody says they have a problem, then refuses to even consider the solution when handed to them on a silver platter, that person is leaving themselves wide open to ridicule, up to and including names. I would hope that you would take notice of two points that have come to light in this thread that should be of particular interest to you: wrench. 2. EMS agencies in New York can't seem to keep them stocked on their vehicles. Dust, I guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one; I do like the majority of your posts (with the possible exception that you can be a bit acerbic at times). It’s very apparent you’re passionate about EMS and the problems we face. (So I know we’re on the same side.) But in NYC you have to carry this stuff with you, and as an extra, a multitool has served me too long and in too many instantances for you to ever convince me not to carry mine. Regarding the O2 wrench, like I said, it’s not a choice, it’s part of your required equipment, like a stethoscope, or radio, you can get a reprimand for not having one on your person. Unless you change the SOP’s they’re going to be a part of life here. As far as my wrench, I do like your idea of stamping “Stolen from …” on them a lot; I have to see if it’s doable. Believe it or not PINK is a very requested color (Who would steal a pink wrench?) I can’t get it done at this time but I’m working on it. Oh and thank you for not tearing me a new hole for the shameless plug… Look, I do understand that around the country there are different systems, but for NYC the cop analogy is not that crazy, we go into jobs we know very little about and have to work quickly, a duty belt is a logical answer. I’m not talking about an insane construction belt as some have mentioned, but a few strategically selected items to make life easier. I was on a job the other day, and wasn’t as careful in checking out my “D”bag as I should of have been (my responsibility), we couldn’t get iv access on this acute diabetic (I’m sure you’ve been there), and needed a small gauge catheter, all I had was 20’s and larger, my partner pulled out a 22 from his pocket, and saved the day, now I still don’t carry cath’s on me, but expecting the unexpected is part of the job. Personally, I carry a multifunction radio holder, with a small side pocket in which I keep a small pocket reference, shears, dual purpose flashlight, O2 wrench, sharpie, separate glove pouch, key ring holder, phone, pager, and YES my multitool! Notice I did not say window punch, or pocket knife, as the multitool serves for both. Some here have said its fire’s job to break glass, but what do you do, if you’re first on scene? Wait? I’m sorry, if you think all this makes me a whacker, then call me a Whacker. (btw on the East coast we call it being “Buff”, or “Buffed out”… (Hoagie, hero, sub, it’s all the same sandwich). No apologies needed, I have enough years that my feelings don’t get hurt by name calling. With all due respect, I’ll continue to carry these things, as IMHO, they make MY job a little easier. Best WANTYNU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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