Not sure if I'm catching your meaning, but there are several volunteer EMS and Fire departments in and around our major cities. Most communities have at least a VFD with a few EMTs or EMRs, however in some of the smallest ones (read <5 residents/sq mi.) they don't even have that. Part of what...
The changes coming to EMS in MT are the same as everywhere else, it's just the transition to the national standard curriculum. We currently use the NREMT for licensure, but after the first of the year (2014) there will be a state test option. NREMT at all levels will still be accepted as a...
I live an hour south of Billings. Billings AMR starts their medics at 16/hr with benefits. Bozeman should be similar. the 11-12/hr is a B wage. If you have NR, licensing is as easy as mailing the application. The BOME EMS office is great to work with, we have a great EMS coordinator, Excellent...
Study the anatomy. Then, take your time, a few extra seconds to feel out the vein won't hurt most patients, but missing a stick from inadequate assessment will. Don't go jabbing needles into people willy nilly at the first vein you see, like some new people (myself included) do. Spend a...
I've run both, and have no real preference. when I'm with another medic, we work in tandem and switch off teching the transport. When I'm just with basics, I usually (but not always and with several exceptions) let them do the initial contact and assess the patient, and determine if they can...
By which Fire District your main station is in. We are based in Fire District 7, so our units are all A7x. We have 4 ambulances so we have A71 through A75 (We skipped 2, not sure why).
On belt
Department pager
Department radio
In pockets.
Cell phone
keys
pocket knife (2.5" flip knife with no extra "doodads")
Pens
Rite in the Rain EMS pad (department provides them, so why not?)
extra gloves.
ALS field guide and Omnimedix (for double checking math) on cell...
I can usually tell by the fact that the volunteers I work with are more passionate about EMS than many paid people. They're more compassionate, knowledgable, and usually all around better providers than many other paid people I know. They wear their department logo clothing because (a.) they are...
I have an interview/testing session with MWA in September. Any tips from the people who have been through it?
Also, what constitutes a "new medic?" I've been a P for 9 months, and have 3.5 years of volunteer B/I experience.
biggest fear
Peds doesn't actually scare me, what really scares me is administering a med and the patient having that one obscure contraindication that I forgot exists and makes them go into irreversible arrest.
Since I've been doing my research like a good student, does anyone know anything good/bad/indifferent about the paramedic program that TrainingDivision.com out of Texas has?
Almost every ambulance in MT has a bumber guard of some sort, the full brush guards are popular in the areas where its 20-30 miles of dirt roads to get to some pt's and 60+ to the nearest care facility.
As for the emergency lights on a txfr rig, we also don't differentiate between a 911 rig...
This is exactly the problem
A. To say that Fire-based EMS is wrong/bad juju/whatever else you want to say is not helping the major problem in EMS. For one, I ask if any of you have ever been to say...Arcadia, NE, a town of 500 people, where the nearest Ambulance is over 30 minutes away, the...
12 hours in ER, and a minimum of 5 pt contacts on ambulance.
Ambulance time was great, got a good bit of care experience, but imho the hospital time was rather worthless, the core emt-b skills just weren't put to enough use. I got plenty of bed to bed move experience, but none of the other...
when my B instructor was a Fire recruit, his engine was enroute to an MVC and dispatch said someone was "ejaculated" from the vehicle, Engine Captain copied pt "ejaculated", captain got yelled at for it later though...
10. I was looking for something else I could do besides be a chef
9. ~360j of potential energy I get to carry around
8. My Dad's the Deputy Chief at the FD, so the class was free
7. taking the class as a senior in HS meant that I got to carry a pager and leave class if it went off...
Is it a question of who's scene it is, or whose patient? patients belong to the person with the highest training who is able to transport. Scene would still belong to the FD, unless they handed command off to EMS personnel. In most NIMS/ICS stuff however, IC has to be only IC, not an operational...