Recent content by mcdonl

Done!! And, I got a GREAT job in EMS education and picked up more shifts as a FF/AEMT.... I made the transition.

Paramedics are like guns. When you NEED them... you NEED them FAST!! I should clarify that my comment about how we staff is at a Municiple Fire/EMS service where FF is required regardless of license level.

Thanks guys and gals... I am a FF as well... I have the State certification, and most FFII modules. There are a couple of opennings in my area. I also have a screen printing shop collecting dust in my basement. I am sitting at my desk right now, waiting for the Gustapo to come and take me away :)

That is my goal. I am hoping at 45 I can get in somewhere.

No arguments here DR.... It is just how we staff. We try to staff MEDIC / DRIVER and the Driver is selected in order of AEMT -> EMT -> Non licensed So, on a day with a MEDIC all calls get ALS... on days with no medic, we just go Mutial Aid down the line to the hospital.

At 45... what am I crazy? No... I'm a victim of my own success is what I am. I am the IT Program Manager for the Oncology Department of my local health system. For the past 20 years I have been chasing money. At 40-60K a year my quality of life improved. At 60-80K a year it worstened. At 90+...

It depends on what your protocols say.... In Maine, the EMT-B is directed to call for ALS in the majority of calls. The AEMT is allowed to negotiate with OLMC. The medics are medics. all of that said, the majority of calls we get could be BLS, but with a 35-60 minute transport the patients...

I dont look at Code 1, 2 and 3 as how fast we can drive... it is what all about using lights and sirens. In Maine, there is really only 1 and 2 as you cannot drive with just lights and no sirens. We always respond code 3 because dispatch is not always correct in the information. But, that does...

They call them patients where I work :)

If you mean, during an MCI... No. There are 3 Full time staffed departments in the greater portland area, and to get to my town you go through 5 towns with daytime per-diem crews. We would likley be station coverage/mutual aid for the towns they would call.

It is all relative to the likely hood of having an MCI... In my town... we have done it once in about 6 years, but have not had an MCI in about 15, and none document before that school bus accident. 30 Minutes east, in Portland they have a large drill at the air port/Maine Medical Center...

lol... both... when we go mutual aid to our neighboring service, and take the backroads (windey and hilly) to the hospital in their district I sometimes get queezey if it is a mundane call with nothing to do but chart. But, I will be 30-60 minutes in the ambulance.

I am not a flight medic but I used one for a funny one liner over the weekend.... I was giving my report to the triage nurse, when a life flight medic walked by and acted like he was pushing the button on my LP12 and said "Shock Adviced"... and I said "Hey, I dont go messing around with the...

My truck has a plate but I have the luxury of only needing to use my vehicle for responses to the FD or weekend truck related duties... I have a different vehicle I use the rest of the time.... All either have for stickers are NRA stickers.

Our protocols do not allow that anymore. (Maine) I find that it is not only what you say, but what you do. If the person is so grief stricken they cannot stand... help them safely sit down. If they are agitated and expressing anger...give them space. We are all humans and even though we...