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You call in for orders and medical control asks “What’s your ETA?” That’s an interesting question. There are several answers. I am fifteen minutes from the hospital grounds. I am eighteen minutes from my back door opening. I am twenty minutes from arriving at the triage desk. I am anywhere from twenty-five to fifty minutes…

I was watching my preceptee give Zofran the other day and I thought that he gave it a little too fast. I didn’t have the stop watch on him, but I was looking for maybe 30 seconds to a minute for the small 4 mg in 2cc injection, and what I saw was about ten…

When I started working as a precepting medic in 1995, I was making (I believe) $12 an hour, which may have gone up to $14 when I was cut loose six weeks later. I worked three 12’s and was often held after crew change, but never to the point of going over 40 hours for…

You punch in. You check your equipment. You get your calls. You respond. 83-year-old female fell, head lac. 6-year-old boy, history of seizures, had a seizure. 63-year-old man with abdominal pain. 74-year old with fever. 59-year old man with syncope. 23-year-old driver with neck pain from rear-end MVA. You do your assessments, get your histories,…

I recently received the following question in the comment section: At 10:31 PM, DavisEmt said… This is going to sound stupid:But I don’t really have anyone I trust to ask. How do you know when you are a competent medic, because I know every call isn’t going to run perfect, but I’ve been a medic…

When recently (seven weeks ago) we saw certain of our heroes, the trauma team, in the Trauma Room, I had just unveiled an item of interest for them: “I give my report in the trauma room. I feel bad to say so but I feel almost like a celebrity chef unveiling a master dish when…

We’ve been having a big union battle where I work that has pretty evenly divided the company. In the first election, the current union, Local 1199, garnered 81 votes, the challenging union, NEMSA, garnered 71, and 16 people voted no union. Since there was no clear majority, there is a run-off election held today between…

“Why Can’t We All Get Along?” *** There’s a new guy on the sports radio channel I listen to who drives me crazy. He is so annoying. The local radio station decided to preempt the national syndication with a young local guy who could discuss local sports and maybe comes a lot cheaper than the…

It’s punchout time so I can post this: Quiet day. Nothing going on for 12 hours, except a lot of rain. I worked some on the computer, surfed the net for awhile. I spent an hour or so cleaning up the supply closet. I had a bowl of soup for lunch. I watched some TV…

We’re called for a woman unconscious. I recognize the address. We have been there many times before. Two sisters. Extremely co-dependent on each other. The younger sister has chronic pain and is a known drug seeker. The older sister is just plain crazy. On the way we are updated. The woman is conscious and breathing….

“Do you find fat people repulsive?” “Have you ever inappropriately touched a patient?” “Have you ever falsified a report?” *** These are questions that will be asked an EMT on the Fox show Moment of Truth on Tuesday night. A contestant can win $500,000 by answering twenty-one progressively more difficult questions honestly based on the…

There are many things a paramedic(or EMT) has to do on the scene of a trauma (or sometimes even the scene of a bad medical). Among them is to answer the question “What happened?” Sometimes the patient can tell you. “I went over the handlebars on my bike and hit my head. It hurts, but…

After I finally punch out, I drive slowly home through the darkened streets of the town and then out onto a country road. No radio on. After awhile I look at the road and wonder where I am. For a moment I think I am lost, but then I realize it is just misty out….

I wrote recently about screwups with the gear. Equipment(Brain) Malfunction This just proves there is always a new chapter. I checked out my monitor the other day, doing a quick eyeball, BP cuff, monitor leads before checking the battery, doing the user test, and then opening up the back and top compartments for check for…

I want to compliment myself because I took a vow quite awhile back that I would stop whining about all the bad things in this job, and I think I have done a pretty good job of it lately. When you start letting things like lengthy triage waits and pompous health care providers (whether hospital,…

Baby Medic asks in his most recent post Routine about the frustrations of the mundane in EMS: I would like to know how those who have been doing this job for a long time are able to withstand the mundane. Do they no longer live for the exciting calls? Are they content to relax in…

I’ve been bringing quite a number of patients to the trauma room lately. You get hurt in a routine motor vehicle accident, you end up in a regular room in the ED or probably even more likely, a bed in the hallway until they can clear your c-spine, get you off the backboard and send…

The woman heard a pop as (twisting) she tried to help her (stumbling) mother out of her wheelchair and into the church pew. The pop came from the woman’s knee and she crumpled in pain. She screamed again as we tried to pivot her on her good leg onto our stretcher. The entire congregation turned…