The 10 commandments of ems

[Anjel]

Come off the Mountain with a couple tabs of wisdom and what are the damn people doing? Arguing over whose Golden Calf is cooler!

^^^ HA! LOVE IT! SO TRUE. There's no telling which way these forums will go.

 

[certguy]

Come off the Mountain with a couple tabs of wisdom and what are the damn people doing? Arguing over whose Golden Calf is cooler!

Amen brother!! Let's get back to imparting some wisdom on the younger generation.

 

[sir.shocksalot]

Come off the Mountain with a couple tabs of wisdom and what are the damn people doing? Arguing over whose Golden Calf is cooler!

Ha! I enjoyed them, but to be fair you did lose one of the tablets. If you find the other one let us know and maybe we'd appreciate it more

And Bstone, usalfyre and vene are not telling you to not treat patients in acutely life threatening situations. Simply consider the financial costs of not just your treatment, but their admission to the ER. The ambulance is relatively cheap, the hospital is not. When you have a pt that is only kind of sick, talking them into an ambulance ride instead of an urgent care visit or PCP visit may do more damage than good. Also understand that not every pt needs an ambulance ride to the hospital when they or family can give them a ride.

We aren't saying evaluate their insurance before transport, just consider their financial situation before you force massive bills on people that might not need it.

 

[FrostbiteMedic]

You are very, very naive in how medical care is paid for, and how you draw a salary.

Suffice to say, there's a large segment of the population that's one EMS trip away from finical ruin. "But at least your alive" can be little comfort when staring down the barrel of the long-term consequences of this. I'm not advocating withholding care by any means. However it's important to understand the money aspect of our job isn't all rainbows and unicorns either.

Rarely do I chime in on these types of threads, but now I feel that I must. For the most part, I agree with bstone, however, I can see the points posed by both veni and usals. I also think it is important to remember the spirit of what was said by the OP. When we respond out to a scene, it is our responsibility to render the best healthcare that we can, regardless if the person has a bank account or not. That does not mean that we perform ALS interventions on someone with a stubbed toe. This means that we provide the level of care necessary to stabilize the patients condition. Ergo, even if the patient is a 106 y/o white male showing signs and symptoms of an acute MI, if I don't have a DNR or advanced directive in my hand, that patient is going to get the same level of care that a 26 y/o would in that situation. Is it financially feasible? It very well may not be, however, I am not empowered with the ability to withhold care from this patient because my efforts may or may not be futile and may or may not result in a bill to him/his family. Just a thought....

 

[Veneficus]

That, for the sake of Veneficus, is not meant as provocation - merely a wish to understand the system out of interest as an outsider, I hope no offence is taken by ignorance on my part!

no worries