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Still not safe. There is a reason why passenger cars don't have sideways seats in them. They're not safe. And if you have no legitimate participatory reason to be on the ambulance in the first place, it is not possible to justify being in that position. Any organization that allows that is...

Simple kinematics. If you are facing sideways, you are not afforded proper protection. If one of your observers bites the big one riding on the squad bench because you did not afford him the protection of an actual seat, your agency might as well bend over and open their checkbook. I've seen...

Welcome aboard. Our law enforcement partners are always welcome here. It doesn't take much. The military perfected this a long time ago. In fact, the current thinking is that less is more, to the point that each person should have the items for their own care on their person. Start with...

I realize that it isn't your personal choice. I guess I just can't fathom a professional EMS organization that would actually stuff more than one rider of any kind on an EMS ambulance. There aren't even enough seatbelts for that many people. No, the ones on the squad bench don't count. Just...

What logic is involved in stuffing five people into an ambulance? Why would you even question why someone would question that? It would be an option if you weren't stuffing non-essential personnel into your ambulance. It's a medical facility -- just like a hospital -- not a peep show. So...

Think again. Ever actually worked in the hospital for any length of time? Patients are welcome to refuse the observation and participation of "volunteers", "observers", and students. And when given that choice, they sometimes do. I've seen them asked to leave the room on plenty of occasions...

In most systems, yes. Saying that EMS is real medicine is like saying painting by the numbers is real art.

People grow up eventually. Although obviously not all of us.

Have you ever asked them? Do they get a choice?

Of all the career programs at your local community college, the paramedic program is probably among the least likely to get you a job. And it is even less likely to get you a job that will actually amount to a "career" that you can feed a family with. Think about it: two years investment, and...

What do you say to them when, after busting your behind for 120 hours of night school, dad is still umemployed, and unable to find any job that pays as well as the manager at McDonalds? Have you done a serious, in-depth job market survey to find out if you can actually get a "career" with this...

Why are you taking this course?

You should probably start warming up to the nurse idea. Sorry, but you have no career future in EMS. You might get a job. And you might last awhile. But it seems an incredible waste to work for two hard years to get that job, only to eventually lose it and never do it again, and have to...

Where's that "It's not a clown car" graphic when you need it?

I got hired by the larger, better paying department nearby, so I didn't have to stoop that low. But I assume you share my opinion of Irving, since you didn't bother to defend them. I have nothing in particular against Plano. Every FD in Dallas County shares the exact same shortcomings in...

There are many important concepts to be learned in LE Explorers that are valid in EMS. Communicating effectively with the public. Professional demeanour. Scene safety. Crime scene management. Attention to investigative detail and professional report writing. Those are all things that are...

Apparently they did at one point, lol. I spent my second tour on a camp just outside of Fallujah that, between the 1930s and 1950s was a Royal Air Force base. All the buildings were British built, and there was a British cemetery there. It's gotta be difficult to find a corner of the world...

I think that "in demand" may be overstating it a little, but it definitely provides for a relatively steady opportunity for getting hired somewhere. But there are simply too many schools cranking out too many new patches every few months for there to be any true "demand". If that were so, you...

The same non-profit, hospital-based corporation manages all three of them. Interestingly, East Texas EMS is not just in East Texas. They started out there, but you'll find them in South and North Central Texas too. Not a bad outfit. But the Sunstar and EMSA operations are a lot different...

It's pretty much a concept that was outdated about fifty years ago. In fact, the entire concept of "laws" of war is a ludicrous concept. It's okay to blow human beings into unidentifiable bits of hamburger, but you'll be prosecuted as a war criminal if you make them go naked. Give me a break...