emt-b meds

[emt/ff71185]

What meds does everyone carry and which ones, if any, do you have to call in to use?

We carry

O2, narcon, gluctagon, oral glucose, abutural, baby asprin, nitro (spray), and epi.

We have to call in prior to ped's epi and after the first dose of just about everything else.

 

[Ridryder911]

I believe if you do a search this topic has been discussed repeated times. As well as the complications associated in allowing Basics administering medications.

R/r 911

 

[akflightmedic]

8 Meds and 3 are mispelled....

I am sure 2 others would have been if spelled out entirely as well as full name of ASA.

Enough said regarding education.

Take Rid's advice and do a search. Have a great day!

 

[emt/ff71185]

if my spelling ever impedes my patient care, i'll let you know

 

[BossyCow]

if my spelling ever impedes my patient care, i'll let you know

So, if you misspell a patients name and the wrong patient record comes up at the hospital?????

 

[medic001918]

It may not impede your care, but it does impede our reputation as providers. This forum is not only read by your fellow healthcare providers, but it is a public forum. Physicians, patients and the general public can and most likely do at least come here to browse. As this is a public forum, your written word here is much like your spoken word in a face to face conversation. Take your time and craft your posts with some forethought. Remember that you're not only representing yourself here, but also OUR profession. Until we can present ourselves as educated, capable provdiers we will not advance any further than we presently are. Our protocols will generally only be as strong as what's viewed as the weakest providers by our medical control authorities. If we bring the overall level up, they can raise the standards on our protocols. This standard includes presentation.

On the spelling issue, it shows attention to detail which is rather important in our chosen profession. This whole concept came about in another thread recently. If someone can't even spell common medications correctly, could it be assumed that they didn't pay attention enough in class to justify administration? Details count. Not only here, but on your run forms and in speaking with other healthcare providers.

As far as basics carrying medications....they shouldn't. A 120 advanced first aid course is not sufficient enough education to be handing out medications. Many paramedics have spent more time sitting through anatomy and physiology then the time spent in the EMT-basic program to learn how the human body functions. Without this understanding, you can't even begin to understand how all of those medications really work and what they're doing. Not to mention that many of those medications have side effects that can't be effectively monitored or controlled by a BLS provider.

Feel free to search and I'm sure you'll come up with countless posts about EMT-Basic's administering medications, as well as education in our field and you'll probably even find some about spelling, punctuation and grammar (which believe it or not is really important).

Please try to give the impression that our profession is an educated group. Not a group just getting by.

Shane
NREMT-P

 

[emt/ff71185]

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that personal attacks are not allowed here and that people do not assume that just because I focused on what the drug does instead of how it's spelled that I must be bringing down the profession. Now I understand that it makes us look bad to have bad spelling and for that I am sorry and will try and do better in the future but to imply that I am a bad emt-b is just not right. You do not even know me and you certainly do not know the level of detail I put into every patient I treat. How I type on a day off sitting at my computer and how I train or act when it comes time to do so is not correlated.

As far as emt-b's being able to administer med's I do not disagree completely with you. I do feel that we get rushed through the course and we only learn a handful of counter-indications and side effects for each drug. That is why many of us who actually care, not unlike you, go on to take further classes and become medics. Remember though, that we all have to start as lowly, stupid, inexperienced B's.

 

[medic001918]

Wait a minute, where did I make a personal attack? Please present the quote where I "attacked" you. I made comments regarding lack of attention to detail in our profession, as well as a lack of education. And spelling of medications is a rather important aspect to the overall scheme of things. It's that same attention to detail that should carry through in everything we do. It was in no way a personal attack, but a common trend in EMS to be content with complacency. People continue to want to be able to do more, to be treated differently and to be viewed as equals yet as a whole profession, we don't tend to make much effort to advance ourselves. We've become complacent to sit around and leave things as they are. If we all put forth a little bit more effort (myself included), collectively the profession would stand a chance at growing. Until that effort is pursued though, we will remain stagnant.

Shane
NREMT-P

 

[BossyCow]

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that personal attacks are not allowed here and that people do not assume that just because I focused on what the drug does instead of how it's spelled that I must be bringing down the profession.

A good piece of advice for getting along here is to take a deep breath before you respond to perceived criticism. The comments made were not about you personally, but were observations about very objective items. Spelling is not subjective, it's either correct or incorrect. It is not a personal reflection on your character, personality or integrity, but is an observation. On the subject of meds, as Rid said, this topic has pretty much been done to death here and you can find all the information you need by doing a search of the forum.

 

[Flight-LP]

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that personal attacks are not allowed here and that people do not assume that just because I focused on what the drug does instead of how it's spelled that I must be bringing down the profession. Now I understand that it makes us look bad to have bad spelling and for that I am sorry and will try and do better in the future but to imply that I am a bad emt-b is just not right. You do not even know me and you certainly do not know the level of detail I put into every patient I treat. How I type on a day off sitting at my computer and how I train or act when it comes time to do so is not correlated.

As far as emt-b's being able to administer med's I do not disagree completely with you. I do feel that we get rushed through the course and we only learn a handful of counter-indications and side effects for each drug. That is why many of us who actually care, not unlike you, go on to take further classes and become medics. Remember though, that we all have to start as lowly, stupid, inexperienced B's.

While on the crusade for better spelling, you may wish to consider grammatical content as well. I have a headache now..................

I do have a question for everyone else though, why is it EVERY time this subject comes up, this horribly false rationalization of "everyone started out as a lowly, stupid, inexperienced basic" comes up? Every single time!

 

[rgnoon]

While on the crusade for better spelling, you may wish to consider grammatical content as well. I have a headache now..................

I do have a question for everyone else though, why is it EVERY time this subject comes up, this horribly false rationalization of "everyone started out as a lowly, stupid, inexperienced basic" comes up? Every single time!

Good question...i'm a "lowly, stupid, inexperienced basic" and spelling is one of my big pet peeves, while grammar is a close second. Go figure. Great point though LP.

 

[Flight-LP]

Good question...i'm a "lowly, stupid, inexperienced basic" and spelling is one of my big pet peeves, while grammar is a close second. Go figure. Great point though LP.

Stupid is as stupid does.............Sorry, I've always wanted to say that!

My friend you are not stupid, inexperienced maybe, I'm not sure as I do not know you. But what you do have is the ability to recognize the importance of character. This is usually the BIGGEST flaw in an EMT. Most want a fire truck or ambulance to ride on with pretty lights and away they go to save the world. They fail to recognize that this is a profession, one that is treading water with a cinder block because people do not see beyond the "coolness" of the job. Firefighters, especially volunteers, seem to have this syndrome the worst. I get so tired of EMT's "comparing" what cool things they could do. This isn't a game of "my brother could beat up your brother". EMT's who complete a 120 hour freakin' first aid course have ZERO business on the giving end of nitrates and beta agonists. To further complicate it, they self admit to not having the basic concepts of pharmacology when giving it. Sorry, but it makes every EMT out there look like a total fool when someone comes across with that topic.

@emt/ff71185-Sit back and do a little reasearch, read old threads. You may learn something along the way........

 

[rgnoon]

Stupid is as stupid does.............Sorry, I've always wanted to say that!

My friend you are not stupid, inexperienced maybe, I'm not sure as I do not know you. But what you do have is the ability to recognize the importance of character. This is usually the BIGGEST flaw in an EMT. Most want a fire truck or ambulance to ride on with pretty lights and away they go to save the world. They fail to recognize that this is a profession, one that is treading water with a cinder block because people do not see beyond the "coolness" of the job. Firefighters, especially volunteers, seem to have this syndrome the worst. I get so tired of EMT's "comparing" what cool things they could do. This isn't a game of "my brother could beat up your brother". EMT's who complete a 120 hour freakin' first aid course have ZERO business on the giving end of nitrates and beta agonists. To further complicate it, they self admit to not having the basic concepts of pharmacology when giving it. Sorry, but it makes every EMT out there look like a total fool when someone comes across with that topic.

@emt/ff71185-Sit back and do a little reasearch, read old threads. You may learn something along the way........

"LP and me is like peas and carrots"...ok perhaps that is an overstatement. But I agree with you 100% and am glad that you simply "said it how it is."

As for the FF comment, I hold nothing against them PERSONALLY, but one of my more recent catch phrases has come to be "F@#@ing Firemen", for precisely the reasons you alluded to. Everywhere and everyone is different, but it seems at times like they are completely overwhelming our field.

 

[emt/ff71185]

I am very sorry that I started this thread. I did not mean to offend everyone here. I was not comparing all of the "cool" things I could do. I was simply curious as to what differences there are around the country.

I am also sorry I did not do a search first to find this topic already discussed. I am new to this forum and did not think to do that.

 

[i5adam8]

Where I work,all we can do is assist the patient in certain meds

 

[Ridryder911]

Because, it is an excuse to get by. Sorry, this is not directed at one particular person. I hear the same thing when asking about pathophysiology questions.. "Hey, I am just a Paramedic"...

Whenever and if ever; we really want to be a profession with professionals, then we will demand such. Sorry, one does not "forget" how to read or write when they are off duty. As others have suggested one is judged by their communication skills, in their profession or common use. This is NOT an EMT/B versus EMT/P thing, all this was taught in elementary grade school!

*Ironically, this forum has finally started endorsing common grammar and spelling. I took a lot of bruising, but it was worth it !

R/r 911

 

[firetender]

I do have a question for everyone else though, why is it EVERY time this subject comes up, this horribly false rationalization of "everyone started out as a lowly, stupid, inexperienced basic" comes up? Every single time!

Because it's true and often, we who have made every mistake in the book, become intolerant of those who make every other mistake in the book. It's something about preserving ego by making others appear less bright than ourselves. Very human.We have no choice but to make mistakes. We can either resist being told, or take in the info and use it to get better. Attacking has as little value as defending. Tolerance of the learning curve is important to everyone here, because if we're not all learning and making mistakes behind it, then we're not getting more proficient.

 

[jrm818]

Rid I'm going to disagree - there is a difference between writing in a professional publication and on a web forum. On a forum like this the standard decorum is a little less strict - how many emoticoions do you see in JEMS? Similarly, no one (myself included, exept that you brought the issue up) would say boo about the multiple sentence fragments, mis-used semicolon, etc. in your last post, because it is still readable despite that. I'm pretty sure i misspelled something in this post, but overall I think it's not unprofessional looking, and thats sufficent for me.


Medication names are a whole different ball of whacks, becasue there are so many that sound alike or are spelled alike, and a lack of precision can, and does, kill patients. This issue is getting a lot of attention at the moment, and some govenrment body just released thier report about medical errors, and found that the impact from errors such as misspelled medications is huge. I'm sure google could reveal the name of the report, for those interested.

 

[bstone]

While on the crusade for better spelling, you may wish to consider grammatical content as well. I have a headache now..................

I do have a question for everyone else though, why is it EVERY time this subject comes up, this horribly false rationalization of "everyone started out as a lowly, stupid, inexperienced basic" comes up? Every single time!

Nod. It's EMT-Bs, not B's.

 

[bstone]

I am very sorry that I started this thread. I did not mean to offend everyone here. I was not comparing all of the "cool" things I could do. I was simply curious as to what differences there are around the country.

I am also sorry I did not do a search first to find this topic already discussed. I am new to this forum and did not think to do that.

I am sorry you were getting pounded on. There are some elements on this forum which are a little rough around the edges. Good people, but a little rough.