We have knockoffs, they're unwieldy in narrow staircases and extremely difficult to use if there is a mechanical failure. Difficult to store if you are in vanbulances. Essentially used only as a bariatric device with a double crew.
I'd like to add some perspective to the non-clinical portion of the run here. Sometimes the closest ALS is the hospital and a pre-hospital ALS intercept will do nothing but delay definitive care. I had a surprise transport like that (was supposed to be non-emergent BLS dialysis transport, found...
I've been in enclosed areas where mace and pepper spray were discharged. You will be very quickly abandoning an ambulace if either of those go off inside 😆
I've also got all the booster shots and contracted Covid in April 2022. I felt a little under the weather and tested positive on a Friday, had a cough, runny nose, and congestion Saturday, and was recovering by Sunday, and pretty much felt fine on Monday. It wasn't any worse than any other cold...
Vaccines are the closest we've come to creating actual miracle-cures. With wide-spread vaccination we have successfully wiped out deadly, R0>1 diseases. With wide-spread vaccination, healthcare providers aren't gambling with their immunosuppressed patient's health every flu season. If you aren't...
I'm glad you guys have brought this up! There is SOME perception that station time / down time is easy, but honestly that part of my time as a 911 provider was the most stressful... the wait for the unknown. The adrenaline spike when the pager buzzes and you know the tones are about to drop can...
My understanding is that the C-19 Omicron variant is the nearly the most virulent infectious disease we've ever discovered, only being surpassed by measles. Unfortunately, that means that nearly everyone is going to be infected and quickly, so I understand why the return to work protocols are in...
It's also possible for the flu shot to be largely ineffective if the wrong strain is selected when they're prepping for flu season. Mutagenic diseases aren't easy to stay ahead of. A double whammy of flu and covid patients is a nightmare scenario for hospitals this year.
Remember that not long...
I think the wage stagnation is the part that is unsustainable long-term. One of the major municipal 911 services near me (also Central PA) was paying new full-time EMTs $9/hr just a few years ago. I had a long post ready to go, but I think I'd rather summarize it instead.
Folks in EMS work for...
Current CDC data as of Dec 20th 2021:
Infections:
Unvaccinated: 451 cases per 100k
Vaccinated: 134 cases per 100k
Boosted: 48 cases per 100k
Deaths:
Unvaccinated: 6.1 deaths per 100k
Vaccinated: 0.5 deaths per 100k
Boosted: 0.1 deaths per 100k
Looks like they're REALLY good at lowering the...
Sure. Waste not, want not. You know there are medically necessary abortions right? And people actually sign up to be organ donors, or donate their body to science and research for the betterment of humanity. But that's a nice catchy headline to get a certain sect of folks RILED right up.
FYI...
But requiring that a poster actually be willing to comment* on their OWN post is not censorship. I could drop hundreds of single image and single video posts ALL DAY LONG and require that the rest of the forum spend time exhaustively refuting my garbage posts that took about 3 seconds to...
It seems like conspiracy lunacy (my preferred term, as "theory" implies a backing of logical/scientific reasoning) used to be relegated to fairly lone individuals 20+ years ago, but with the widespread adoption and use of social media (that forms groups that reinforces and supports conspiracies...