First Call by Myself

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NetMatrix

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When we got the call we didn't know exactly what happened. The PT's other half was to upset to tell us exactly what happened. We didn't know if she was standing when she had the seizure or what which is why she was a trauma PT. Did she fall down and injure the neck we didn't know, did she injure the back of her head we didn't know. The boyfriend didn't tell us everything that happened. If someone has a MI they can fall down possibly injuring the head, spinal cord, etc. That is why in those situations they are considered to be trauma. It's actually very easy to understand.

Now with the criticism I don't take it personally. I actually enjoy it and enjoy the arguing over simple things, because it makes a person like me to become better at my duties and better analyze things to argue the points even better. Now yes I'm completely new at this so I can't argue much about it, and no I'm not certified, but with being the only person in my class to pass it with a A and on every clinical evaluation forms to have good knowledge you know that works for me.

Now lets go back to the main part of the argument for this topic. Was I certified EMT at the point of the call...NO. Am I trained and certified to perform CPR...YES. With the response time of rescue 15-20 minutes and the ambulance 25-30 minutes because of road conditions due to snow and ice was it a good idea for me to go over there any try to keep her alive...YES. What I did before anyone else got there is possibly why we were able to get a shock and why the ambulance was able to get the 4 shocks they got. BECAUSE the compressions I did to this PT kept the blood flowing and gave the heart a rhythm. Yes it is upsetting that the PT didn't live it is very upsetting, and it really laid a lot of weight on my shoulders for about a week until I finally decided it was time to talk about it.

Now why don't ya'll put yourself in a actually looking at the position I was put in because of the response time. What would have each one of you done if you lived a block away from a PT that was unresponsive like this PT was, and your officer in command said go over there and you refused to cause you weren't a CERTIFIED EMT, but YOU DID have training to perform CPR. Now after you refused to go to that call to try and keep that PT alive, but the PT had zero chance because you refused to go over there because of one piece of paper that you didn't have just yet even though you had the other piece of paper saying you are certified to perform CPR. So lets start there and tell me how you would have felt cause you lowered the chances of that PT's survival because you refused to go because you weren't a certified EMT, but you were certified to perform CPR.

I hope that last paragraph everyone can understand clearly on what I mean. If you sit there and tell me (well typing it) that you wouldn't have felt bad about it I'm telling you right now your full of chit. I did the right thing, and the chief at my department did the right thing with making the decision to send me over there to try and give this persona better chance at survival.

Now lets just stop fighting over the back board. I don't really give a flying rat's a** if you were trained to use it or not. WE USE IT, and our department will not change the way we do things. The back board is being drawn out way to much. OMG grow up and fight about something better than a piece of hard plastic that helps a lot in doing CPR. And yes if you can tell I'm pretty ticked off right now. Find some positive things to say or delete my account and I'll move on to a better site that won't have fighting over stupid things like this. 3 pages worth of fighting over the damn back board.
 

Veneficus

Forum Chief
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When we got the call we didn't know exactly what happened. The PT's other half was to upset to tell us exactly what happened. We didn't know if she was standing when she had the seizure or what which is why she was a trauma PT. Did she fall down and injure the neck we didn't know, did she injure the back of her head we didn't know. The boyfriend didn't tell us everything that happened. If someone has a MI they can fall down possibly injuring the head, spinal cord, etc. That is why in those situations they are considered to be trauma. It's actually very easy to understand.

Now with the criticism I don't take it personally. I actually enjoy it and enjoy the arguing over simple things, because it makes a person like me to become better at my duties and better analyze things to argue the points even better. Now yes I'm completely new at this so I can't argue much about it, and no I'm not certified, but with being the only person in my class to pass it with a A and on every clinical evaluation forms to have good knowledge you know that works for me.

Now lets go back to the main part of the argument for this topic. Was I certified EMT at the point of the call...NO. Am I trained and certified to perform CPR...YES. With the response time of rescue 15-20 minutes and the ambulance 25-30 minutes because of road conditions due to snow and ice was it a good idea for me to go over there any try to keep her alive...YES. What I did before anyone else got there is possibly why we were able to get a shock and why the ambulance was able to get the 4 shocks they got. BECAUSE the compressions I did to this PT kept the blood flowing and gave the heart a rhythm. Yes it is upsetting that the PT didn't live it is very upsetting, and it really laid a lot of weight on my shoulders for about a week until I finally decided it was time to talk about it.

Now why don't ya'll put yourself in a actually looking at the position I was put in because of the response time. What would have each one of you done if you lived a block away from a PT that was unresponsive like this PT was, and your officer in command said go over there and you refused to cause you weren't a CERTIFIED EMT, but YOU DID have training to perform CPR. Now after you refused to go to that call to try and keep that PT alive, but the PT had zero chance because you refused to go over there because of one piece of paper that you didn't have just yet even though you had the other piece of paper saying you are certified to perform CPR. So lets start there and tell me how you would have felt cause you lowered the chances of that PT's survival because you refused to go because you weren't a certified EMT, but you were certified to perform CPR.

I hope that last paragraph everyone can understand clearly on what I mean. If you sit there and tell me (well typing it) that you wouldn't have felt bad about it I'm telling you right now your full of chit. I did the right thing, and the chief at my department did the right thing with making the decision to send me over there to try and give this persona better chance at survival.

Now lets just stop fighting over the back board. I don't really give a flying rat's a** if you were trained to use it or not. WE USE IT, and our department will not change the way we do things. The back board is being drawn out way to much. OMG grow up and fight about something better than a piece of hard plastic that helps a lot in doing CPR. And yes if you can tell I'm pretty ticked off right now. Find some positive things to say or delete my account and I'll move on to a better site that won't have fighting over stupid things like this. 3 pages worth of fighting over the damn back board.

I am not understanding the issue you are having.

You responded to a scene at the direction of your superior and provided care within the limit of your certification. (CPR as I understand it)

I am not sure how anyone who advocates for early CPR to increase survival can really find any fault in that.

As I stated before, the more you learn, the more you discover there really is no division in medical and trauma. So what is the problem in calling it what you will?

Some people find it helpful to use a spine board to help with CPR. Some don't. There are very few absolutes in medicine. In fact the only one I can think of is: If delta G = 0, patient is dead. It is only by discussing our different approaches that we improve our individual practice.

The use of the long spine board is one of the great debates of our time in EMS. So welcome to the club, put your membership jacket on and join the debate.

No I don't get bothered when patients die, I have been at this a while. Infact unless there was something significant about it, I don't even bother to try and remember them all. I think 2 died on me last week actually, maybe 3. Can't remember. Don't care.

Calm down a little. Even if I don't always agree with their views there are some really smart people here. You will not be able to engage in meaningful conversation as a healthcare provider with absolute ideas or thinking the only thing that matters is what your department does. Life is bigger than that, medicine is bigger than that.

I think you put too much worry into "what if..." for a cardiac arrest. So what if they fell. So what if they have spinal cord damage. If you actually get rosc, we can worry about it then. I never met a dead person who was mad about being paralyzed. The spine board doesn't prevent cord damage. Especially if you are performing CPR.
 

MrBrown

Forum Deputy Chief
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*Brown looks out the helicopter window ....

Think we'll aviod this one Oz ... doesn't look to be anywhere we can land
 
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