Search results

I hear ya. It sucks when you can't completely bank on having your scheduled days off. It's even harder to plan a vacation, especially where I work. Sure, my paystub might say I have 200 hours, but there's no guarantee I'll get any of them when I request to use them. My workplace uses a...

It's about two medics who buy and do drugs on the job. With all the film and TV depictions of seriously damaged people working in EMS...I wonder how many folks really think of us as a bunch of disturbed, perverted addicts.

Mandated OT is one of the neccessary evils where I work. It sucks, but that's the rules.

Salient points and very educational. Thank you so much for posting this, Vent, and for the added links. I hope that some will come away with an enlightened POV after reading this.

DING DING DING DING! Correct! Incidentally, I got a look at one of the new units we are supposedly getting, and amazingly, the LED's are even brighter than the ones we have now. I didn't think it was possible. The whole thing looks sweet...AND they have the Rumblers!

My service is running LED's on all our units, and let me tell you, they are hella bright. Day or night, people see them a lot better than our old units with the strobes. The light definitely bounces off of everything. I wish I could find a photo with them on, but here are a few that at least...

Dramamine is your friend! I take one before every shift.

Does being swarmed by Formosan termites qualify? I can attest that it's pretty frightening!

I'm gonna echo Medic417 and say that finding blood in the back of the unit REALLY steams me. I've been on the occasional bloodbath and I know it happens, but I'm incredibly anal about not leaving the evidence around for the next crew. It's gross, dangerous, and just plain nasty. If you...

I only dispatch occasionally these days, but I will say that people coming up late really irritates me...for the reason that I have to keep the offgoing crews on the street until the oncoming units go in service. There are the occasional mitigating circumstances, but this sort of thing is most...

I work at an urban service in a city of nearly half a million and I wouldn't trade it. Sure, it can be frustrating dealing with the challenges that go along with working in the urban environment, but I love the range and unpredictable nature of the calls I go on. I did half of my precepting...

Our dispatchers are required to be EMT-B's and, as of last summer, EMD certified. They are trained for both calltaking and dispatching. No higher compensation is given for working comm center than on the street, but I believe one or two of the nearby suburban 911 services pay their dispatchers a...

I don't work for Acadian, but I would echo Venificus' sentiments about Baton Rouge and recommend looking into the North Shore. Acadian has an exclusive 911 contract with Slidell. Quality of life north of the lake is pretty good - suburban with some rural areas. Cost of living is less than in New...

The urban municipal service I work for runs heavy rescue/extrication, swiftwater rescue, boat operations and high angle/rope rescue. I haven't taken the classes, but there are plenty of opportunities for anyone who is interested to get the certs. There are even grants in place that make the...

I use Twitter. I'm surprised more folks on here don't! I'm not posting my Twitter name here, but I will respond to PM's.

My service recently introduced a new protocol for tourniquet use. We are using military-style tactical TK's. Haven't had to use it yet, but I'm sure the opportunity will present itself sooner or later. A few of my coworkers that have had a chance to use it had positive opinions.

Happy birthday, and congrats!:beerchug:

I completely agree with this advice. Take your FTO aside and speak to them one-on-one. I went through this sort of thing at my workplace with a few of the old-timers back when I was new, and I found that all of my issues were resolved by sucking it up and addressing the involved parties...

I've been in EMS for almost eight years, got my gold patch in November. My SO is an RN in the local trauma center ER, which gives us plenty enough common ground to be able to talk shop without feeling like our lives revolve around work.

Read the full story here This is shocking news to the local EMS community here. Mario had many years of EMS experience in the New Orleans metro area and he was a good man. He leaves behind a 13 year old son after this horrendous crime. He will be missed.