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At-will employment means that the employer can terminate your employment for any legal reason, or no reason at all. At-will employment does not permit your employer to terminate you for an illegal reason. It's a bit funny actually... They can fire you because they just don't like you, but...

Generally, the risk from Oxygen administration to a COPDer is characterized in terms of the hypoxic drive. Since only a small number of those with COPD have a hypoxic drive, and since the chances of causing respiratory arrest even in them is slight, EMS personnel are taught that there is no...

Apparently not, much to my chagrin!

Upper extremity DVT is reasonably rare. I think we're all thinking along the same lines here, though. Veinous engorgement would be a tick in favor of DVT, but I'd be curious to know if there was redness, swelling, heat, etc. I'm curious to know the answer, whenever it comes up.

Poor lupus. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. I suppose, having now re-read this thread with the answer in mind, that the fat pad to the upper back is the "hump back" of Cushing's that I should have recognized.

A very interesting case. I was in way over my head. :P

*sighs* On House, this is never the answer, but it seems to match many of the physical findings (as one would expect it to)... So... What about lupus? I'm also curious to know whether I've been in the right ballpark, or even the right state, at any time.

FWIW, during the Cowboys-Eagles game tonight, there was a player taken off on a stretcher. Likely LOC after a hit to the head. The only salient observation I wanted to make is that the EMTs, trainers, team doctors, and ballboys who were swarmed around him didn't use a c-collar, and did...

And he's talking about DMV cards and ambulance drivers' licenses, and other such strange and mysterious things that only exist in California. But if we're all barking up the wrong tree, he can feel free to tell us. :)

Are we talking about a proximal femur fracture (i.e. a "broken hip") or are we talking midshaft or distal? Each of these will be treated differently. If you have (ahem, gets ready for EMT-B class regurgitation) a closed, mid-shaft femur fracture with no injury to the ankle, knee, or hip...

I think I'm on sound ground with the national curriculum by giving this advice - if you have a geriatric patient, make sure to pad the voids between them and the board so that they aren't uncomfortable. You should long board under whatever circumstances your protocols require you to...

I was more getting at spinal immobilization being of doubtful use than it being hurtful. But since that's already been mentioned, I'll leave it be. No field clearance protocols here, by the way, even for medics. Though there are certainly times we get to the ER and they're handing us our...

That's in the ballpark, from what I've heard. The range of EMT-B rates that I've heard are anywhere from $10/hr to about $13.50/hr to start.

It is an uncomfortable position to be in, especially for the geriatric patient, who is more likely to be kyphotic or otherwise have a less-than-flat spinal position. Do you pad all the voids after you put the patient on the board? The LBB is possibly one of the basic interventions that has...

Well, since I'm playing doctor... What do his hands look like? Any blunting or rounding of the metacarpals? Hrm... Having been advised that I'm possibly in a right church-wrong pew situation, and having done a little additional light reading (ha!), I'm starting to think maybe the small...

The lack of body hair (alopecia universalis? Everything sounds more profound in Latin.) combined with sudden and unexplained weight gain lead me to suspect a thyroid dysfunction. Hypothyroidism could account for both, as well as his daytime fatigue, if that is what it is. I send the patient...

And to answer your original question - you're a volunteer, still, but the training fund is broke, and so they aren't paying for much anymore. That's why I mentioned a lot of the free courses the state makes available, and others that will get you the best "bang for your buck" vis-a-vis being...

Online courses won't really get you what you need, and if you go paid, it's possible the company or service you work for will provide some or all necessary training. I'd recommend, in no particular order, and if you don't have them already: ICS-100 (free online), NIMS-700 (also free)...

If you're a volunteer, right now none of them are the way to go, since you'll have to pay for them, except for the test in Gold Cross, which I believe is LEOPub. The training fund will only pay for Gold Cross, Core 13, and the CEUs at the NJSFAC convention (which was abyssmal this year). If...