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Modern medicine does no good if you can't stabilize a patient to get them to a higher level of care. EMS is to get a patient to the appropriate level of care in the least amount of time, sometimes they get taken to a lower level facility first then transferred to a higher level of care. Ever...

AMR is a great company to work for and I enjoy my job. That said keep in mind that AMR is a national company and each area of operations is going to be different dependent on the management and union. AMR and I am sure R/M do their fair share of Interfacility Transports as well. In fact IFT's...

We have 8 hospitals in the city limits. Every hospital can stabilize. Knowing the hospitals specialty can help make the choice. Also knowing insurance can help. For example Group Health patients will go to Virginia Mason. Part of your job as EMS provider is to get the patient to the right...

Keep in mind that AMR and Rural Metro are completely different than most privates. AMR and R/M go after fire contracts. In some areas they will be respond with the fire department and in others they respond for transportation. Here in Seattle where I work for AMR, Seattle Fire responds to the...

I disagree with taking all your BP's on the same arm. As mentioned by Veneficus there are many pathologies where trending on both arms is necessary. Me personally, I use the left arm for convience sake since its next to the bench seat. Fire normally takes the on scene vitals. However, if I...

You can use adult pads on a child as long as the pads do not touch eachother. Typically one pad placed on chest and one pad posterior.

As mentioned a gag reflex is a contraindication for an OPA. On the contrary a lot of harm can be caused by improper use of an OPA. Children and the elderly often have soft palette which can be damaged by an OPA and cause significant bleeding. An OPA does not create a patent airway. It helps...

What is an OPA going to do in this situation? OPA's are pretty useless. Hence why they don't come in standard First Aid kits and you need to be an EMT to use them.

I am lucky I don't really have to worry about that. Here in Seattle we have 8 hospitals within the city limits. Some of them are Trauma based (i.e. Harborview) and don't really like cardiac arrest. Others are more medically based and specialize in Cardiac (i.e. Swedish - Cherry Hill). That said...

Your supervisor needs to read up on DNR's. A DNR does not mean we don't care for the patient. Comfort care measures still take place. Most DNR's specify what is to be done or not done. The common ones I see are No CPR only. Everything else is a go.

Yeah - patient is unresponsive. Most likely with a score of 3 they are going to need CPR either now or very soon. CPR takes precedence over C-Spine. Life before limb. Your going to intubate so you will need ALS. Facial injuries would most likely prevent you from obtaining a good seal with a...

I don't understand it either. However realistically you can do alot of those steps simultaneously. Realistically speaking, I am calling for ALS as soon as I know my patient is unresponsive and I am calling a Medic 7 Rule as soon as I know patient is pulseless. Personally, I think your...

For the most part the skills sheets don't have to be done in exact order. I would be very shocked if you failed your skills station because you opened the airway sooner than it said on the sheet. That said, lets keep in mind what the skill sheets are intended for. Their sole intent is to...

Wow, thanks for that considering you don't know me. I don't know how I am a jerk for stating the obvious. However the more I read your posts I am beginning to get a better picture of the real issue which seems to be you have the problem. I have been a police officer (hence the LEO in my...

I know where your coming from. I just completed FTO a couple of weeks ago and I was extremely nervous. Now that I have been on my own and successfully managed some pretty sick patients that should have gone ALS I am getting more and more confident. about a week and a half ago I gave an epi-pen...

We have lots of girls working for us. We even have several female - female partnerships and they are treated just as well as the men. Now in my opinion a true professional will recognize their strengths and weaknesses. That includes females who realize they just aren't as strong as their...

Your over reacting. You are part of the EMS team regardless if you have medical training or not. Flying a patient to the hospital is just as important as the RN's in the back providing care. Our dispatchers where our same uniform as us. Our Mechanics wear the company patch on their work...

We routinely go from Seattle, WA to Missoula and Kalispel Montana. Our units also regularly travel to California and Las Vegas.

Well how much "leeway" you get is really up to you and what your willing to risk. Standing orders / protocols have been put in place to guide you through treatment of a patient. They are in no way shape or form an "instruction manual". What is important is your Scope of Practice. Going outside...

Your attitude makes me sick. I for one am glad you chose not to get into EMS. Our profession doesn't need people like you. I am an EMT and I proudly work for AMR. We start out much higher than 10 dollars. I am not naive enough to know I won't save the world. I also know that not everyone...