is a broken arm an ALS or BLS call?

is a broken arm an ALS or BLS call?

  • ALS (with Paramedics)

    Votes: 33 29.5%

  • BLS (EMT only)

    Votes: 79 70.5%
  • Total voters
    112
MrBrown said:
You could just say the IAFF/IAFC/volunteers/Parathinktheyare's/Medicfighters.

They probably know who they are anyway :D
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I was trying not to point fingers :p Besides, a lot of people here know my thoughts on that :)
 
LonghornMedic said:
Unless your agency or company is handling over 110,000 EMS 911 only calls a year, you have me beat. Considering there isn't even a city remotely the same size as where I work in NJ, I doubt it.
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you got me there. We do between 100,000 and 70,000 responses, depending on how you calculate numbers. But we do between 14 and 20 jobs in a 12 hour shift, and are always in the top 10 for busiest EMS systems (per unit). Can you say the same?

FDNY does 1.1 million EMS calls a year; however in an 8 hour shift, you might do 6 calls on a BLS truck, and 2-4 on an ALS one.

Our units still run more than they do, despite them having a greater overall call volume.
 
I'm going to enjoy these proverbial **** measuring contests based on call volume once I start residency. "Ok...and I'm managing several patients at the same time for periods longer than 15 minutes. Beat that!"
 
MrBrown said:
As if call volume should be an indicator of care quality .....
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In my experience call volume is inversely proportional to care quality.

In fact the busiest system I ever worked for (strangely enuogh it was a 3rd service EMS agency.)had the worst quality of care and worst medics I have seen anywhere.

Though it pains me to say, I have never seen a FD with care that poor either.
 
LonghornMedic said:
And this whole "stubbed toe" scenario is so stupid. No medic is going to medicate that
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Well, you can now officially call me "no medic" because I have done almost exactly this. While that particular pt had no obvious deformity or swelling, there was significant bruising across the top of her foot, and she was unable to bear weight on it. She was crying and was very protective of the foot. ...and it all happened when she stubbed her toe on a filing cabinet.

I am sorry, but the original question isn't "simple". It is all about properly assessing your patient, and treating them according to that assessment. Do all simple fractures require pain management? Of course not! (When I was 10, I broke my arm, but had absolutely no pain until 3 days later, while playing with the dog. It wasn't until then that I was even taken to the family doctor to be evaluated.) However, if your patient is in pain and you can do something about it, use the tools your medical director has given you to improve your patient's condition.

And after re-reading this, I guess it really is simple after all...treat the patient that you have in front of you, not the one that you think should be in front of you based upon their complaint.
 
MrBrown said:
You could just say the IAFF/IAFC/volunteers/Parathinktheyare's/Medicfighters.

They probably know who they are anyway :D
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You forgot to include each and every employer that chooses to hire employees without degrees, and also those that give no hiring preference to degreed medics, either. That's maybe 90% of the employers out there. Along with the FD's you have all those hospitals, privates, and muni third services.

Here's one of the best, according to popular opinion:

http://www.wakegov.com/NR/rdonlyres/7B908EBF-1571-4D37-98FA-B0ACD9EA9817/0/Paramedic.pdf

No degree requirements there, just the typical cert, alphabet cards, and an acceptable driving history.

What have they done to advocate increased educational requirements in EMS, namely making a degree as the minimum requirement to be employed? What about other like systems? Just sayin'. All delivery models share the blame, not just the fire service.
 
MrBrown said:
You could just say the IAFF/IAFC/volunteers/Parathinktheyare's/Medicfighters.

They probably know who they are anyway :D
Click to expand...

You forgot to include each and every employer that chooses to hire employees without degrees, and also those that give no hiring preference to degreed medics, either. That's maybe 90% of the employers out there. Along with the FD's you have all those hospitals, privates, and muni third services.

Here's one of the best, according to popular opinion:

http://www.wakegov.com/NR/rdonlyres/7B908EBF-1571-4D37-98FA-B0ACD9EA9817/0/Paramedic.pdf

No degree requirements there, just the typical cert, alphabet cards, and an acceptable driving history.

What have they done to advocate increased educational requirements in EMS, namely making a degree as the minimum requirement to be employed? What about other like systems? Just sayin'. All delivery models share the blame, not just the fire service.
 
...because minimum requirements are the end-all, be-all of requirements and guarantee getting hired?

The requirement for almost all medical schools is 90 semester units of undergrad, not an undergraduate degree. However, 99+% of accepted students have an undergrad degree and something like 30% (IIRC) have some type of graduate degree upon starting medical school. How can this be considering that the minimum requirement isn't even a bachelors degree?
 
JPINFV said:
...because minimum requirements are the end-all, be-all of requirements and guarantee getting hired?

The requirement for almost all medical schools is 90 semester units of undergrad, not an undergraduate degree. However, 99+% of accepted students have an undergrad degree and something like 30% (IIRC) have some type of graduate degree upon starting medical school. How can this be considering that the minimum requirement isn't even a bachelors degree?
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Like I said, preference isn't really given for advanced education in a majority of places. Although these employers may not be hiring at the bare minimum, they're also not requiring degrees. We're talking about using degree requirements for employment to increase the standard for the profession as a whole. We're not talking about gving hiring preference to those with experience, a degree in a different field, interviewing well, etc. If more employers, at least the ones worth working for were to be uniform in requiring degrees to be hired, then many would get that degree, to be eligible to work for the choice employers. Other depts and agencies, being left with an inferior hiring pool, would follow suit at some point. My point is that no one is doing this, at least outside of Oregon.
 
bls i think. emts can treat and splint fractures. if pt experiences nausea, vomiting, maybe even shock because of the fx, well...they can treat for that too and then do a rapid transport to the hospital. so bls.
 
princessretard said:
bls i think. emts can treat and splint fractures. if pt experiences nausea, vomiting, maybe even shock because of the fx, well...they can treat for that too and then do a rapid transport to the hospital. so bls.
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What can bls do for shock, nausea, pain? Nothing.
 
medic417 said:
What can bls do for shock, nausea, pain? Nothing.
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trendelenberg position, give high flow 02, rapid transport to hospital...that's all a basic can do i guess. not much i know but its a broken bone. there are other traumatic calls where yeah als should definitely be called for intercept. but this one sounds like you can bls it to the ER.
 
princessretard said:
trendelenberg position, give high flow 02, rapid transport to hospital...that's all a basic can do i guess. not much i know but its a broken bone. there are other traumatic calls where yeah als should definitely be called for intercept. but this one sounds like you can bls it to the ER.
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Trend has been shown to basically be useless, but other than that diesel is the only thing BLS can do for a trauma call that is useful.
 
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