Recent content by hogwiley

I agree that EMS education is lacking. Having said that, the education and skill level of Nurses is always massively, almost comically overstated on this forum. Its always been a head scratcher to me. I think some of it is the American mentality of conflating pay with worth. There is an...

I feel the same way, even though I've spent more time working with Nurses in a hospital than I have working the road, so it's not like I'm one of these medics with a Paragod complex or think I'm above wiping butts or whatever. I just find that Nursing seems like it requires a certain mentality...

Yes it's hard, but so is working as a paramedic so it has to be. If you're worried about failing and wasting 6 plus grand, you could try a community college. You pay by the semester and they usually try to weed people out early, so you'd be out less money. You would have pre reqs, but those...

Fair enough, I admit the post just looked mean. It stemmed from frustration over problems we've encountered with a couple of hospitals where crucial information isn't relayed to us and the patients werent managed properly prior to our arrival. There was a mentality to just get these patients...

Well look at the bright side, you got a free practice run on the five you failed. As for doing the exact same thing the second time and passing, if you failed them the first time, why would you do THE EXACT SAME THING the second time? Whats the definition of insanity?

I haven't been a medic one year and there are still 3 calls in particular I dread. Potentially serious peds calls. Woman in labor, and long psych transfers. I had plenty of experience with the last one as a basic and I hated it from day one and it hasn't gotten any more enjoyable over the...

I've never understood not letting bls use a pulse ox. Just educate them that a low spo2 reading can be the result of poor circulation so they don't freak out when a 92 year old gramps initially shows 74. Just try different fingers and toes and see if the reading is the same and if they are...

It's not rocket science, cnas do it all the time, however you should be trained on how to do it, in as sterile a manner as possible. They can have a stubborn mucus plug, so it's good you are cautious, it means you're a conscientious emt. It's the overly confident yet inexperienced emts that...

Would make a good name for some emo vegan alternative indie band.

Doesn't your class have a text book and an ACLS book? The recommended joules you'd use for each type of tachycardia are right there in the ACLS al gore rhythm under tachycardias. Amazing concept I know, reading the book before something is covered in class.

Well there are risks either way. There is a legitimate case to be made for RSI. I think the case for not doing it in this situation is stronger though.

15 minutes out, good ECO2 and spo2? this one is a no brainer to me. I would have done what that crew did. They got her to the ed with adequate ventilation and oxygenation and ed staff were able to rsi her in more favorable circumstances. First rule, do no harm. What if they tried to rsi her to...

I should add that you aren't really going to SEE a fracture, or attempt to feel for a skull fracture, nor is a fracture necessarily going to be at the site of a gash on someones head if they suffered blunt trauma. Which is why I'm puzzled they would tell the Nurse she just has a scalp...

If the nurse asked the paramedics if she should be life flighted and they really did say no its just a scalp laceration, despite clear drainage from the ear, sluggish pupils, aloc and rising bp, then that was sounds pretty stupid to me. How can they say they suspected csf drainage from the ear...

Do I trust the average EMT to be able to use it properly to assess lung sounds or anything else? Not really, but it is sort of essential for manually auscultating BP.