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Yes, we can access central lines. "Indications for invasive line access: Cardiac arrest, hemodynamic instability, or currently accessed". So you're sick for a day with nausea? Not going to access your central line for Zofran. Septic with hypotension? Sure.

I'm still alive and active in EMS! Just rarely if ever come to this message board.

Symptom relief for a minor fever is not even in the same category as respiratory arrests and then reversal by an agency with a shorter half-life than the thing it's intended to "fix".

To be fair, most fire agencies do 85% medical, doesn't make many of them any less hose-monkeyish.

I believe I started at $13.91/hr in Dallas back in 2010 while doing transfers. I'm much higher now, but I'm also at a different agency with years of seniority, so there's that.

Welcome to a profession that not only requires, but thrives upon, a certain amount of Type A personality to get the job done. Everything else is a consequence of the requirement.

We had the option of switching to this schedule this year, and I took it, knowing full well I'm losing >$8,000 a year for that extra one day off every 2 weeks. Honestly, my preferred schedule would be WWOWWOO (So, Monday, Tuesday work, Wed off, Thurs, Fri work, and off on Sat, Sun), this way...

Yeah, your schedule kind of sucks. No real ''off-time'' on those days. My current schedule is W/Th/F and every other Sat from noon-midnight. It gives me every other weekend off, and 4 day weekends every other week. Only downside is when I get off work I come home and probably spend an hour...

ALPS is the Amiodarone, Lidocaine, Placebo Study that the ROC is doing in a few locations (one of which is at my location). Basically a double-blinded, placebo controlled study for cardiac arrests, determining Amio vs Lido vs nothing. Believe they are aiming for 1500 enrollments before...

And like I just said: Argue the efficacy, not the proficiency. Proficiency can be increased with minor fixes, thus should not be a bullet-point in the conversation. Further: Studies say it doesn't always help, however we can't actually say that it actually causes harm with any certainty...

You can argue on the efficacy and that'd be a valid argument, but proficiency outside of harm should not be the defining issue. Don't delay compressions, don't delay transport, and recognize if it's in the esophagus quickly and correct it and it's really a non-issue, all else being equal...

DNRs only matter for natural causes. If they're shot, you do CPR. If they arrest because of treatment you did, you do CPR. If they arrest from a STEMI during transport, you honor the DNR.

The thing is, as EMS transitions from emergency medicine to a "Mobile Healthcare" perspective, Paramedics become more of a necessity, and there's less and less space for EMTs. If all you want EMS to do is drive people to the hospital, sweet, get all the EMTs you want. Minimal treatment...

I shouldn't have to explain basic treatment modalities of hyperkalemia or vtach in the pre-hospital setting. Each was treated as appropriate for the given circumstance. Anyhow, sometimes it's realizing that it's best to not do anything.

Not the point, not the intention, not what I said. In fact I can count the number of times I've done 12leads on psych patients that haven't overdosed on 1 finger. Confirmed multiple times via i-stat and actual lab data. But what do I know, I was just there. Shoot a quick 3 second Google...

That's cute. Completly false, but cute.

I used to think the same way, but as experience and education have continued I now think having a medic on most trucks, if feasible, is reasonable. Yes, Paramedics are meant for the actual life threats, but there's something to be said for pain relief, nausea relief, and catching the odd zebra...

EMS, just like police, fire, and the military, tend to have more ''conservative'' minded people; mind you, don't confuse conservative for homophobic like is often done. Having said that, I'd wager 5-10% of my coworkers at any of my EMS agencies have been gay, and I'm in "OMG HOMOPHOBIC GUN...

Let's not confuse required work for competency. Before someone gets angry, I'm not saying they are incompetent, but that's not why they are paid what they are. (Plus, there are FFs who have been grandfathered in, who don't have EMT OR Paramedic certs, yet get paid the same due to the union)...

"Doing lasting damage" is not an issue. Some people don't do sternal rubs because it will garner no response from some people that can otherwise respond to other stimuli such as trap squeezes or eye flicking. I still do them, and do them often as my first physical stimuli. Honestly, some...