Search results

Had a patient the other day with a head ache that she claimed got worse with concentration/thinking. So, being the perennial smart a** that I am, I decided to document her pain as, "Non-specific head pain, with exertion (pt. states that her brain hurts her when she thinks too hard.)"

Boots and pants and boots and pants... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BPbjC47GwM&feature=kp

Nope. I enjoy the work in EMS overall, but the pay is pretty terrible and the opportunities for advancement are near non-existent. Combined with high-stress and a heavy call volume, it's just another crappy job that pays the bills right now. In an ideal world, I would have finished my bachelor's...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNUCsUUaevk Looks like somebody needs Old Spice Swagger. :cool:

:rofl: BEST WATCH EVER!!!!!!!!!! :rofl:

Where I am, you don't have to take a pee test for the actual course. However, our contracts with our clinical locations dictate that we have to take a drug test before entering some of the clinical environments. Just continue to stay away from the weed and you should be fine, regardless.

For sure. The silver lining is that she is off this next week on vacation, so I may not have to ride with her again at all!

That's what I'm going to do. I think I just needed to vent, haha.

For the record, I wasn't chattering mindlessly the whole transport, as I know how distracting that is. I just said something like, "Hey, you need to slow it down," a couple times during the 10 minute transport. I guess my issue was that this person was driving without due regard and took a very...

I want to preface this post with a little background on myself. I have been working as an EMT for about a year and a half now doing both high-volume IFT in an urban setting as well as moderate-volume 911 in a rural setting. Recently, I moved to the large urban 911 provider in my city and am...

Not to add confusion, but... In my experience, all three are checked simultaneously by good providers. I can put my ear over the patient's mouth to feel/listen for breath sounds while looking for chest rise and using my hand to palpate a pulse. I was taught (correctly or not) that CAB still...

IV feeding (parenteral nutrition) is one way to do it. However, most comatose patients are fed via some sort of feeding tube (nasogastric, nasoduodenal, etc.) unless there is some sort of GI complication or obstruction that would prevent normal digestion.

OP reminded me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WqoHyG-uIM

I think having folks complete some level of EMT license before medic school is beneficial to everyone involved. The most important function that requiring EMT serves is allowing people to "try out" EMS before getting all the way through medic school and figuring out that this is not the job for...

Visit your state EMS website and see what your state drug protocols say. In practical application, this isn't a drug that you can really mess up. It takes as much as it takes. Glucose usually comes in 15 gram tubes, so that's a good reference. I think the official dosage for peds and adults...

I'm a big fan of ear thermometers, myself. They'll get you in the right ballpark (normal vs. fever) and take all of two seconds to get a reading.

Instituting a degree requirement is a way for our field to move forward and gain increasing recognition as a legitimate profession, instead of being viewed as just another technical vocation for people who couldn't hack it in other degree-requiring fields like nursing. With a degree requirement...

Axe to grind much?

Definitely go clean-shaven. It's not worth jeopardizing a potential job over. Also, a clean shave and nice haircut will make you look more professional to a prospective employer than any goatee ever will. I used to rock a full-on lumberjack beard until I started in EMS. I miss it, but it's a...