the 100% directionless thread

Fezman92

NJ and PA EMT
497
100
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I will. I know the cert lasts 3 years which is nice.
 

Akulahawk

EMT-P/ED RN
Community Leader
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Oh that reminds me, our box trucks have a tow option. I don’t get why. I’ll have to get a pic when I get the chance. You press a button on the steering column and it shows up on the dash.
The "tow" button basically tells the powertrain module that you're towing or hauling something so change the shift points so that the engine runs in a different part of its powerband so that it is putting out more HP/Torque. What's interesting is that some vehicle manuals suggest that "tow" mode should be used if the vehicle is loaded >50% of available payload. So if your payload is, say 2000 lbs and your vehicle has 1001 lbs of stuff (including you) in it, you should use "tow" mode. This isn't necessarily true in all cases, but the ambulances I used to drive did have this suggestion. Back then, "tow" mode locked out the overdrive gear. We outfitted our vehicles to default to this mode.

My truck also has a "tow/haul" mode. It changes the shift points and tells the transmission to use ALL the gears and may limit use of the top couple of gears. It should result in lower transmission temps when used to tow.
 

Fezman92

NJ and PA EMT
497
100
28
I overslept and missed my second day of TECC. Still got an email saying that I finished the class and got the CEUs for it. I’m still going to register for another TECC next year because I missed an entire day of it.
 

Akulahawk

EMT-P/ED RN
Community Leader
4,923
1,321
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Made a few software mods to my truck. Nothing seriously drastic, but the few that I have done are nice little touches. My F150 now has secure idle mode enabled and also has the actual coolant and trans temps displayed. What's "Secure Idle"??? Basically it locks the gear selector in Park if the engine is on and there's no key in the cab. I also have enabled some software buttons that are also replicated in hardware, and using either reflects in the "other" control. All this is actually present in the onboard software so I'm not actually changing base code stuff. Essentially this is just turning on or off a software switch. Neat stuff but I'm not diving too deeply down that rabbit hole.
 

Jim37F

Forum Deputy Chief
4,300
2,875
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So our EMS has been having staffing issues, not always able to keep all 21 units in service.

But at least their Chief is trying to help out, hopping on an ambulance and running calls, as we went to one earlier today with him, so that's something at least.
 

CALEMT

The Other Guy/ Paramaybe?
4,524
3,348
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I shoveled snow yesterday.
 

GMCmedic

Forum Deputy Chief
1,640
1,056
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The trail is 100% spiderweb free this morning
20211013_093341.jpg
 

NomadicMedic

I know a guy who knows a guy.
12,098
6,845
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Nobody will be happier than me when the national registry finally drops psychomotor exams in 2023. These things are the bane of my existence.
 

Jim37F

Forum Deputy Chief
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So my first in area includes two different military housing areas. One used to have gate guards but doesn't anymore, and the other does have actual uniformed Marine Corps MPs. There's also a Fed Fire station right outside their gate. (our station is only a couple blocks up the road from the entrance to the other one).

Now, what is supposed to happen is a resident needs emergency services Fed Fire should get notified and not us, or at least the housing area with the Fed Fire station would always go to them since they're closer.

Most of the time on the larger main bases the calls get routed correctly, but sometimes at the scattered satellite properties like the housing area that the call routing gets sent to us instead of the Fed dispatch center (Once again, ideally, if we do get a call on the military property our dispatch is still supposed to call the Feds, while building the ticket, and more often then not we end up getting cancelled right away.

So cue this call, no info about Feds being notified, so when our Captain calls in "Responding" over the Tac channel, he also inquires if they've been notified, to which our Dispatch then says "uh, we're calling them now". Cue to us a few minutes later arriving on scene in front of the house, and I can look over and down the road and as we're getting out of ours, see there's just barely pulling out of their station. Even though we literally have to drive in front of it to get to the Marine gate guards (stop, tell them what we're doing). Even our ambulance, which was dispatched from further away was on scene before the station only like two blocks away -_-

Like these two housing areas are literally the sole reason d'etre for that station to exist, yet we're always going to calls there that they never even get alerted to, even when we drive right by their station lights and sirens on (I know it's far from the crews fault, but still lol)
 

Fezman92

NJ and PA EMT
497
100
28
Nobody will be happier than me when the national registry finally drops psychomotor exams in 2023. These things are the bane of my existence.
So they’re just going to do the written one? Nice.
 

StCEMT

Forum Deputy Chief
3,052
1,709
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Well I reckon it's time to link up with my PCP and a physical therapist. That random back pain that started almost 2 months ago still lingers in a different way. The annoying thing is I didn't even have a bad lift with a patient or in the gym that I can knowingly blame it on. Just up and started hurting one day, got better in some ways, and had a little linger ever since. Everyone had been right, this growing old **** sucks.
 

EpiEMS

Forum Deputy Chief
3,815
1,143
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Tom Brady hawking crypto? Now I’ve seen it all.
 
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