Well hello everyone! As most of you know, it's been over a year since I've blogged. It's not for lack of wanting to, it's just from plain laziness I guess. Well, what's new since last time?? A few things:
I stepped down from Clayton EMS as Operations Chief effective Jan 1, 2010. There were many factors involved in this decision, but overall it was time for me to look after ME! I also have the goal of pursuing higher education by completing a bachelors program. I remained part-time for about a year and ironically the last 2 calls I answered were a pediatric cardiac arrest and a ball-game standby. I say ironically because that is how I began my career as a cadet - ballgame standbys and a pediatric arrest.
I walked away completely this year, closing 20 years of some of the best and worst memories of my life. I had the blessing and privilege to save many lives in this 20 year span. I also helped carry many out of this world as well. I made many, many friends, and quite a few enemies during this time. I contributed to some community milestones:
-Supervising some of our first paid employees
-Hiring many wonderful employees
-Adding the county's first paid second duty crew
-Adding the county's first paid third duty crew
-Building a new station in 2004
-Advancing to the Paramedic level of care from Advanced Intermediate
-Adding a substation
-Purchasing quite a few Ambulances - some good ones and a couple of lemons!
-Seeing the retirement of our first volunteers with 20 years of service
-Seeing 911 implemented in our County
-Being a part of EMD implementation and one of the first EMD certified in our County
I think more than anything, becoming an instructor and seeing so many people that I taught far surpass me in their careers is one of the best feelings in the world! Clayton EMS will always be special in my heart, and I NEVER regret the 20 years of my life that I gave to it or that the organization gave to me. I feel like that chapter in my life has ended for a reason and now I am moving forward into a new chapter.
So what now? Well, I moved back into downtown last year. I moved right next door to my parents on the same block that I grew up on and am thrilled to be back within walking distance of everything again. I continue to serve our County government supervising at the 911 center, only now (with my arm twisted behind my back a little) I work dayshift! Yes guys, you heard it, Jason is working DAYSHIFT. What I have found from this adventure is that I actually have an opportunity to have a LIFE again. I don't get off work and go straight home to sleep anymore. Now I have time to do things that I want to do. So overall, I am happy with dayshift and glad I made that change.
I recently was voted into my third term as Vice President of the Johnston County EMS assocation and look forward to taking the Association in a new direction. We are going to make it less about chiefs and administration and more about the line-level staff and EMT's who make up the front line.
I continue to teach ALL OVER the southeast. I teach in Charleston, SC about once every couple of months which has been very nice. I also teach within the state quite often. I have made many friends and am SO thankful for the happiness given me, and the connections I have made teaching others.
I do continue to work on the ambulance some. I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed working at Four Oaks EMS a lot more lately. They have a GREAT organization and quality leadership. Their volunteers and paid employees are wonderful to work with. I have enjoyed each and every shift. I have also started working in Princeton some as well. I LOVE working in the smaller towns. The call volume isn't too bad, the citizens that call really need you and they are very appreciative of the care you give them. Smaller towns still appreciate their rescue squads and the contribution that is given by their personnel. It seems the bigger towns just expect you to show up and do a "job" whereas smaller communities realize that for many of these young rescuers they have literally given blood, sweat, and many tears to earn that EMT certification and to leave their families alone at night to come serve the citizens.
The last thing I have to add is that I could not keep moving forward if it weren't for having the best friends in the world and a wonderful family. When life seems to knock you down and the Devil tries to pull you under, I can always walk out and sit on the porch with my grandaddy or hop in the car and ride over to Four Oaks and sit with my dearest friend Lisa and things seem to stabilize. Everytime I feel like I'm about at the end, I can get in the back of an ambulance and talk to a war veteran who is a double amputee and provide him a great BLS transport for wound care, or help stabilize a small child whose reactive airway disease and respiratory infection have him lethargic and audibly wheezing when I walk in the room. The patients are the reason I continue serving others.
My hope is that all new EMS providers will keep that same focus. Make it about your patient, not about you. I have held many titles through the years from Sergeant to Captain to Chief, but the title I appeciate and am most proud of is that of EMT!! The paramedic part of my certification is secondary. Above everything else, I am an EMT and am proud to serve each and every patient.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Patients We Cannot Save
I have not blogged in a little while now, so I am going to try to catch you all up with some miscellaneous ramblings.
Yes again, I have I had to pull a lifeless teenager from their motor vehicle. A few nights ago I responded to a multi-vehicle accident and found one of the victims to be deceased. As there were multiple victims and I was there in a supervisory capacity, I sent someone immediately to confirm the DOA and assisted with triage of the other patients until the last was transported. Then I remained on the scene for a while later to ensure the deceased was transported appropriately by our contracted service. If they weren't going to respond timely, I was going to arrange to transport him myself via ambulance, but since we had multiple ambulances tied up alread, I didn't want to go this route unless I had to.
I never saw the deceased until some time later when I was tasked with removing them from the vehicle while awaiting our transport service. I realized quickly that this was another teenager. For the first time in a long time I had to take a second look. This particular person resembled a close friend of mine. I then looked back at the vehicle and at the person's license and knew that this was a stranger to me, yet the resemblance shook me. I could only imagine in my mind the feeling this child's parents would feel when the patrolman delivered the news to the family. I looked into this particular victim's eyes, looked at their hair, their teeth and for the first time quite a while, I felt terrible inside knowing I could not help this child. I guess in recent years as the sheer volume of fatalities has increased, I have become slightly hardened and have not felt that personal "connection" with each one as I did in my early years of EMS. For some odd reason this one was different. I truly felt the loss and wished more than anything that I could have done something to help this poor child. This victim was no longer a number. They had a name, a face, distinct facial features and they stuck in my mind.
Perhaps as I wind down my EMS career each one will become more and more personal. I remember my father saying after 20 years in Fire and EMS "I don't care if I never go to another wreck" recalling how so many times it was someone he knew, or the parents or children of someone he knew. I guess perhaps I am starting to feel what he did.
One thing I did today that I have always done is I read this child's obituary. I read the names of the parents, siblings and the short biography that accompanied the photo of the face that I remember all too well. My advice to new EMTs is to do just that. It helps remind you that each DOA you encounter was a real person. They had a family that loved them and friends who will miss them. For many years I have gone to the funeral visitations of fatal accident victims if they are local. I have a feeling that tonight I will make that trip once again. I generally go alone, and find that the travel time to and from the funeral home or church gives me time to think about my life, my family and the ones that I love. This time helps me to realize just how lucky I am. It also helps me reflect on how priviledged I am to work in the best profession in the world. I realize each time that my job as a paramedic is NOT always about the ones that I save - but about the ones that I couldn't save and the lessons they teach us all.
So many young EMTs and Paramedics focus on saving lives and feel they are a failure when they are unable to save a life or if they are not given the opportunity. I do not feel that way at all. Each patient we encounter, whether dead or alive is a patient to me. Though I may not can physically help them, I can ensure they are treated with dignity and respect. I can also guarantee to them that in their last minutes of life, a paramedic cared very much, treated them with dignity, and assisted their family in dealing with the loss. We cannot and will not save every patient. We must remember that we can impact the lives of the dying and their families.
Thank you for listening - I know I feel better.
Yes again, I have I had to pull a lifeless teenager from their motor vehicle. A few nights ago I responded to a multi-vehicle accident and found one of the victims to be deceased. As there were multiple victims and I was there in a supervisory capacity, I sent someone immediately to confirm the DOA and assisted with triage of the other patients until the last was transported. Then I remained on the scene for a while later to ensure the deceased was transported appropriately by our contracted service. If they weren't going to respond timely, I was going to arrange to transport him myself via ambulance, but since we had multiple ambulances tied up alread, I didn't want to go this route unless I had to.
I never saw the deceased until some time later when I was tasked with removing them from the vehicle while awaiting our transport service. I realized quickly that this was another teenager. For the first time in a long time I had to take a second look. This particular person resembled a close friend of mine. I then looked back at the vehicle and at the person's license and knew that this was a stranger to me, yet the resemblance shook me. I could only imagine in my mind the feeling this child's parents would feel when the patrolman delivered the news to the family. I looked into this particular victim's eyes, looked at their hair, their teeth and for the first time quite a while, I felt terrible inside knowing I could not help this child. I guess in recent years as the sheer volume of fatalities has increased, I have become slightly hardened and have not felt that personal "connection" with each one as I did in my early years of EMS. For some odd reason this one was different. I truly felt the loss and wished more than anything that I could have done something to help this poor child. This victim was no longer a number. They had a name, a face, distinct facial features and they stuck in my mind.
Perhaps as I wind down my EMS career each one will become more and more personal. I remember my father saying after 20 years in Fire and EMS "I don't care if I never go to another wreck" recalling how so many times it was someone he knew, or the parents or children of someone he knew. I guess perhaps I am starting to feel what he did.
One thing I did today that I have always done is I read this child's obituary. I read the names of the parents, siblings and the short biography that accompanied the photo of the face that I remember all too well. My advice to new EMTs is to do just that. It helps remind you that each DOA you encounter was a real person. They had a family that loved them and friends who will miss them. For many years I have gone to the funeral visitations of fatal accident victims if they are local. I have a feeling that tonight I will make that trip once again. I generally go alone, and find that the travel time to and from the funeral home or church gives me time to think about my life, my family and the ones that I love. This time helps me to realize just how lucky I am. It also helps me reflect on how priviledged I am to work in the best profession in the world. I realize each time that my job as a paramedic is NOT always about the ones that I save - but about the ones that I couldn't save and the lessons they teach us all.
So many young EMTs and Paramedics focus on saving lives and feel they are a failure when they are unable to save a life or if they are not given the opportunity. I do not feel that way at all. Each patient we encounter, whether dead or alive is a patient to me. Though I may not can physically help them, I can ensure they are treated with dignity and respect. I can also guarantee to them that in their last minutes of life, a paramedic cared very much, treated them with dignity, and assisted their family in dealing with the loss. We cannot and will not save every patient. We must remember that we can impact the lives of the dying and their families.
Thank you for listening - I know I feel better.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
What Happened to the Patient Assessment?
Ok, I may open a can of worms on this one - but here it goes. What happened to the quality of our patient assessments, and why aren't the students of today being taught the importance of the patient assessment?
The new breed of student that gets on the truck nowadays is VERY skill oriented. They want to do skills and get signed off on certain things - but they don't want to "run the call." They want you to figure out what is wrong and then let them step in and start an IV - or intubate? I have a HUGE problem with this.
I personally feel that we can train monkeys to start IVs and Intubate, so as good preceptors, we should NOT emphasize the skills, but rather should ensure they can accurately assess a patient. The shift should always start by asking the student what they're comfort zone is. When they begin talking about skills and IVs, you should redirect the conversation to go something like this. "So are you comfortable walking into a house and interviewing the patient with no assistance?"
I personally offer to assist them with skills and even do some of the skills for them - if they're willing to concentrate on the patient assessment and work on "getting the big picture."
Another thing - don't allow them to use the pulse oximeter and glucometer until they can tell you what THEY think the satuation level and glucose levels will be based on their physical exam of the patient. I say, "so what do you expect their O2 sat to be?" or "what do you expect their glucose to be - are they alert and mentating appropriately?" The good students will suddenly "get it" and think, "Wow, I figured this out without the machines!"
Also come up with a signal ahead of time that the student can use to ask for your help without having to embarrass themselves by asking. I always say, "you go in the house and begin your assessment. I will be standing off to the side. If you get stumped or need me to help you with your questioning, just look up at me and nod your head." This certainly is better than them saying, in front of the patient, "Can you come help me" or "I don't know what else to ask." You will also gain a lot of respect as a preceptor when you treat the student in this manner.
I do lay a lot of the blame with the instructors of today. My friend DJ (9-echo-1) has blogged about this recently. People fresh out of EMT or Paramedic school are now being allowed to teach and they don't have the assessment skills sharpened themselves. I would like to ask all of my fellow preceptors to consider my approach and take away the machines until the student can perform a quality physical exam and interview. Then allow them to confirm their findings with the machine - not base their treatment path on a machine.
Enough for now - keep reading and commenting! Thanks so much to those of you who follow my blogs!
The new breed of student that gets on the truck nowadays is VERY skill oriented. They want to do skills and get signed off on certain things - but they don't want to "run the call." They want you to figure out what is wrong and then let them step in and start an IV - or intubate? I have a HUGE problem with this.
I personally feel that we can train monkeys to start IVs and Intubate, so as good preceptors, we should NOT emphasize the skills, but rather should ensure they can accurately assess a patient. The shift should always start by asking the student what they're comfort zone is. When they begin talking about skills and IVs, you should redirect the conversation to go something like this. "So are you comfortable walking into a house and interviewing the patient with no assistance?"
I personally offer to assist them with skills and even do some of the skills for them - if they're willing to concentrate on the patient assessment and work on "getting the big picture."
Another thing - don't allow them to use the pulse oximeter and glucometer until they can tell you what THEY think the satuation level and glucose levels will be based on their physical exam of the patient. I say, "so what do you expect their O2 sat to be?" or "what do you expect their glucose to be - are they alert and mentating appropriately?" The good students will suddenly "get it" and think, "Wow, I figured this out without the machines!"
Also come up with a signal ahead of time that the student can use to ask for your help without having to embarrass themselves by asking. I always say, "you go in the house and begin your assessment. I will be standing off to the side. If you get stumped or need me to help you with your questioning, just look up at me and nod your head." This certainly is better than them saying, in front of the patient, "Can you come help me" or "I don't know what else to ask." You will also gain a lot of respect as a preceptor when you treat the student in this manner.
I do lay a lot of the blame with the instructors of today. My friend DJ (9-echo-1) has blogged about this recently. People fresh out of EMT or Paramedic school are now being allowed to teach and they don't have the assessment skills sharpened themselves. I would like to ask all of my fellow preceptors to consider my approach and take away the machines until the student can perform a quality physical exam and interview. Then allow them to confirm their findings with the machine - not base their treatment path on a machine.
Enough for now - keep reading and commenting! Thanks so much to those of you who follow my blogs!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Ambulance Operation Tips
I feel compelled to blog about Emergency Vehicle Operations. I have some friends and co-workers who are just now operating emergency vehicles for the first time, so I offer you some tips:
1. Stop at all red lights and stop signs - and SLOW down for ALL intersections regardless, even if you have the right of way. Some fool will run a light and you'll still hit someone - but if you've slowed down, the impact may can be avoided or not be as severe.
2. Watch your speed and follow your department's policy regarding what is acceptable. In some places it is no more than 10 or 15 mph over the speed limit. Remember, just because your department allows that, doesn't mean you have to drive that fast - operate at a safe speed for existing conditions.
3. Do not park anywhere but on a hard surface when it is raining and/or the ground is wet. This includes grassy yards and dirt driveways - stay on the street if it is wet!
4. ALWAYS pass on the left. The general statute tells motorists to pull to the right and stop. If you start to pass someone on the right, and the person does what the law tells them to do, they'll pull in your path and you will hit them - and it will be your fault.
5. Do not stay so intent on staying in the lane if you are the only person on the road. The wind blows ambulances easily - if no one is beside you, it may be a good time to change lanes if this happens. The "jerky" movements trying to keep a unit in perfect alignment throws your crew around and makes the patient and crew SICK.
6. Drive around curves (and start/stop the unit) as if you had a full glass of water sitting in the action area in the back of the unit and you don't want it to spill. Start and stop slowly - you will make up your speed once you get going.
7. DO NOT use a cell phone when operating an emergency vehicle.
8. DO NOT drive to a call with the AM/FM/CD player blasting. This is a major distraction.
9. ALWAYS drive a clean vehicle. The public and fellow public safety agencies know when your truck is dirty and they also know that it is a reflection of you!
10. You SHOULD get upset if you get lost while transporting a patient to the hospital. You should consult the map book/computer for directions if you need them. Remember, the patient is paying by the mile and I would be HIGHLY pissed if I was following you to the hospital with my loved one and you went around your elbow to get there - or missed all of your turns. Place yourself in that family's shoes.
11. DO NOT leave the back doors open on the scene in the summertime!!! BUGS are attracted to those lights and your attendant does not appreciate having to swat bugs off of the patient the entire way to the hospital.
12. It IS your responsibility to know where you are going if you get in the driver seat.
13. Do NOT speed back from the hospital. You should obey the same traffic laws as anyone else. As a Chief I have instructed our local law enforcement to NOT have leniency on my folks who speed all over town when they're returning from the ER or are not on a call. Don't ask me to try to get you out of a ticket!
1. Stop at all red lights and stop signs - and SLOW down for ALL intersections regardless, even if you have the right of way. Some fool will run a light and you'll still hit someone - but if you've slowed down, the impact may can be avoided or not be as severe.
2. Watch your speed and follow your department's policy regarding what is acceptable. In some places it is no more than 10 or 15 mph over the speed limit. Remember, just because your department allows that, doesn't mean you have to drive that fast - operate at a safe speed for existing conditions.
3. Do not park anywhere but on a hard surface when it is raining and/or the ground is wet. This includes grassy yards and dirt driveways - stay on the street if it is wet!
4. ALWAYS pass on the left. The general statute tells motorists to pull to the right and stop. If you start to pass someone on the right, and the person does what the law tells them to do, they'll pull in your path and you will hit them - and it will be your fault.
5. Do not stay so intent on staying in the lane if you are the only person on the road. The wind blows ambulances easily - if no one is beside you, it may be a good time to change lanes if this happens. The "jerky" movements trying to keep a unit in perfect alignment throws your crew around and makes the patient and crew SICK.
6. Drive around curves (and start/stop the unit) as if you had a full glass of water sitting in the action area in the back of the unit and you don't want it to spill. Start and stop slowly - you will make up your speed once you get going.
7. DO NOT use a cell phone when operating an emergency vehicle.
8. DO NOT drive to a call with the AM/FM/CD player blasting. This is a major distraction.
9. ALWAYS drive a clean vehicle. The public and fellow public safety agencies know when your truck is dirty and they also know that it is a reflection of you!
10. You SHOULD get upset if you get lost while transporting a patient to the hospital. You should consult the map book/computer for directions if you need them. Remember, the patient is paying by the mile and I would be HIGHLY pissed if I was following you to the hospital with my loved one and you went around your elbow to get there - or missed all of your turns. Place yourself in that family's shoes.
11. DO NOT leave the back doors open on the scene in the summertime!!! BUGS are attracted to those lights and your attendant does not appreciate having to swat bugs off of the patient the entire way to the hospital.
12. It IS your responsibility to know where you are going if you get in the driver seat.
13. Do NOT speed back from the hospital. You should obey the same traffic laws as anyone else. As a Chief I have instructed our local law enforcement to NOT have leniency on my folks who speed all over town when they're returning from the ER or are not on a call. Don't ask me to try to get you out of a ticket!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Cancer
So today I got up a little early to go eat at the Pizza Inn at 40/42. Today from 3p to 8p a percentage of earnings were given to Relay for Life. I had a great meal and gave an extra donation for the cause. I also got to have luminaries placed in memory of my grandmother, and in honor of my sister (who is a cancer survivor). I would like to encourage each of you to participate in Relay for Life as the local events in your area are being organized at this time.
Cancer touches each and every one of us in some way and we must do our part to contribute to finding the cure.
Cancer touches each and every one of us in some way and we must do our part to contribute to finding the cure.
Kids in the Creek
I believe the year was 1997 - I will research soon to find out exactly.
While returning from another call, one of our neighboring agencies was dispatched to an MVC, vehicle in the creek, children pinned. Shortly thereafter, our agency was paged mutual aid. We were on the beltline enroute back from RCH (DHR now) and they called and asked us to respond as well. As we approached the scene, the incident commander said, "prepare to intubate upon arrival, we have 4 pediatric trauma codes." At this point, I remember driving down the center yellow line and cars falling off of each side of the road. We arrive and find my dear former preceptor Becky doing mouth-to-mouth on a child and another guy Terry doing chest compressions (there weren't enough BVM's to go around until more units got there).
So you ask, what happened? A lady and her children, along with a child she was babysitting, ran off of a winding country road into a creek. This was either January or February. So, did the 4 children retrieved from the creek suffer cardiac arrest from blount trauma - or was it cold water drowning? To be honest, I think it was a mixture. My patient had an obvious head injury. Some of the others did not have obvious injuries - so we honestly didn't know. We worked all of them until they were at hospitals and were warm and dead - or revived.
Now - what did we do? Well, remember back then, we did not have consistent paramedic coverage county-wide, so the first-in unit was an EMT-I level unit. Our agency was on the 2nd in unit and was Paramedic level, and I was returning from a 2nd duty call and was an EMT-I. Paramedic intercepts were dispatched from all over Johnston County to assist as well. Back then, trauma care and "appropriate facility" weren't nearly what they are today. 3 of the children were transported to a trauma center and one was transported to a community hospital. Guess what the outcome was? The one who went to the community hospital on an EMT-I level ambulance was the lone survivor! That child received warm NG lavages and aggressive warming - and survived. It was also likely that this patient was the victim of cold water drowning and not trauma.
Now - the heroism that day was ever so present! The first arriving EMT-I jumped into the water to begin rescuing kids, and 2 deputy sheriff's were in the water rescuing the kids who were trapped in the vehicle in the water. Several volunteer firefighters also jumped in this freezing water - including one firefighter who was transported for hypothermia.
Everyone on the scene that day pulled together and worked as a team. There were no boundaries, district lines, or arguments. I will never forget pulling up and seeing veteran EMT personnel doing mouth to mouth because there weren't enough BVM's to go around. This is what heroes are made of! I am proud to have been there that day. My patient did not survive, but the lessons learned were paramount.
That was one of the first times as a young ALS professional that I realized that superior BLS and non-paramedic care is what truly saves lives. I also learned that you can have compassion and be in EMS. I saw my heroes crying as they did mouth to mouth on lifeless children - yet they kept their composure and did an outstanding job. It is ok to care, it is ok to cry - but the show must go on. Remember, early rescue squads began as neighbor helping neighbor. My father knew at least 50% of the patients he transported if not 75% yet he did a great job and didn't break down on every call. It seems like today if a provider treats someone they know, it almost incapacitates them and becomes "dramatic." Think of our predecessors and how the principle of neighbor helping neighbor is one of the foundations of rural EMS. Always remember, this could be your next call!
While returning from another call, one of our neighboring agencies was dispatched to an MVC, vehicle in the creek, children pinned. Shortly thereafter, our agency was paged mutual aid. We were on the beltline enroute back from RCH (DHR now) and they called and asked us to respond as well. As we approached the scene, the incident commander said, "prepare to intubate upon arrival, we have 4 pediatric trauma codes." At this point, I remember driving down the center yellow line and cars falling off of each side of the road. We arrive and find my dear former preceptor Becky doing mouth-to-mouth on a child and another guy Terry doing chest compressions (there weren't enough BVM's to go around until more units got there).
So you ask, what happened? A lady and her children, along with a child she was babysitting, ran off of a winding country road into a creek. This was either January or February. So, did the 4 children retrieved from the creek suffer cardiac arrest from blount trauma - or was it cold water drowning? To be honest, I think it was a mixture. My patient had an obvious head injury. Some of the others did not have obvious injuries - so we honestly didn't know. We worked all of them until they were at hospitals and were warm and dead - or revived.
Now - what did we do? Well, remember back then, we did not have consistent paramedic coverage county-wide, so the first-in unit was an EMT-I level unit. Our agency was on the 2nd in unit and was Paramedic level, and I was returning from a 2nd duty call and was an EMT-I. Paramedic intercepts were dispatched from all over Johnston County to assist as well. Back then, trauma care and "appropriate facility" weren't nearly what they are today. 3 of the children were transported to a trauma center and one was transported to a community hospital. Guess what the outcome was? The one who went to the community hospital on an EMT-I level ambulance was the lone survivor! That child received warm NG lavages and aggressive warming - and survived. It was also likely that this patient was the victim of cold water drowning and not trauma.
Now - the heroism that day was ever so present! The first arriving EMT-I jumped into the water to begin rescuing kids, and 2 deputy sheriff's were in the water rescuing the kids who were trapped in the vehicle in the water. Several volunteer firefighters also jumped in this freezing water - including one firefighter who was transported for hypothermia.
Everyone on the scene that day pulled together and worked as a team. There were no boundaries, district lines, or arguments. I will never forget pulling up and seeing veteran EMT personnel doing mouth to mouth because there weren't enough BVM's to go around. This is what heroes are made of! I am proud to have been there that day. My patient did not survive, but the lessons learned were paramount.
That was one of the first times as a young ALS professional that I realized that superior BLS and non-paramedic care is what truly saves lives. I also learned that you can have compassion and be in EMS. I saw my heroes crying as they did mouth to mouth on lifeless children - yet they kept their composure and did an outstanding job. It is ok to care, it is ok to cry - but the show must go on. Remember, early rescue squads began as neighbor helping neighbor. My father knew at least 50% of the patients he transported if not 75% yet he did a great job and didn't break down on every call. It seems like today if a provider treats someone they know, it almost incapacitates them and becomes "dramatic." Think of our predecessors and how the principle of neighbor helping neighbor is one of the foundations of rural EMS. Always remember, this could be your next call!
EMS History and Emergency
So last night after trying lobster for the first time, my friend and I came to the house to watch a movie. He is fairly new to EMS and is currently in EMT school. When I turned on the TV, by habit I looked at my DVR recordings. Daily, I record Emergency!, Adam 12, and Kojak. So my friend had never heard of Emergency! I could not believe it. So I gave him a preview and we watched an episode.
I explained that they used true "online medical control" per the definition in his EMT book. I also explained the role nurses and doctors played in early EMS. I then explained how the treatments rendered in the series were extremely realistic and appropriate for that time period. I then explained what D5W and LR were! I also gave an overview of the EOA and compared it to our modern day KING, combitube and LMA.
He was HOOKED! I explained that I consider these "training films" and that ANYONE who is new in the EMS profession MUST purchase, own and view the series in order to know where we came from. One of the victims in this particular show was in a crop duster crash and had organophosphate poisoning. I explained the importance of the "excessive salivation" that was assessed and why high doses of atropine were ordered. The light bulb came on!
So if you are new to EMS, you really must purchase this series and learn about our heritage. For new EMTs you will actually learn a lot of helpful tips, teaching lessons and see excellent examples of injuries/illnesses. If you are a promising student and are in this line of work for the right reasons, and cannot afford it, I will assist you with the purchase if I can.
So, many of you are requesting war stories. I will start telling them shortly. Stay tuned! Thank you so much to each one of you who reads by blog.
I explained that they used true "online medical control" per the definition in his EMT book. I also explained the role nurses and doctors played in early EMS. I then explained how the treatments rendered in the series were extremely realistic and appropriate for that time period. I then explained what D5W and LR were! I also gave an overview of the EOA and compared it to our modern day KING, combitube and LMA.
He was HOOKED! I explained that I consider these "training films" and that ANYONE who is new in the EMS profession MUST purchase, own and view the series in order to know where we came from. One of the victims in this particular show was in a crop duster crash and had organophosphate poisoning. I explained the importance of the "excessive salivation" that was assessed and why high doses of atropine were ordered. The light bulb came on!
So if you are new to EMS, you really must purchase this series and learn about our heritage. For new EMTs you will actually learn a lot of helpful tips, teaching lessons and see excellent examples of injuries/illnesses. If you are a promising student and are in this line of work for the right reasons, and cannot afford it, I will assist you with the purchase if I can.
So, many of you are requesting war stories. I will start telling them shortly. Stay tuned! Thank you so much to each one of you who reads by blog.
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