Comments for Rescue Monkey

Comment on Difference of Opinion by hsmoose

hsmoose — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 02:48:16 +0000

I was an EMT before I became a nurse and my husband is a paramedic. I believe what it all comes down to is not what you’re called, rather why you do what you do. Does it really matter if the lay person doesn’t know your exact title, or how many letters you have behind your name? What matters is the standard to which you preform your skill set and standard of care. So why do you do what you do? For recognition or for patient outcome? No one questions you about your credentials before you start CPR on them. But once you’ve saved a life is it a pat on the back from those around you or your own satisfaction in knowing you helped do something amazing?

Comment on Submaximal VO2 Prediction Formula by Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:48:00 +0000

We found that step mill tests are usually a lot lower as far as submax vo2 prediction. And also remember submax testing isn’t very accurate.

Has the stepmill been calibrated?

I’d ask to take the treadmill test. It’s more accurate and less taxing on the lower body.

You might try requesting a max vo2 test from a doctor?

With the results from a submax vo2 assessment having so much of wide margin for error, with out research I remember it to be as much as 6 to 10% plus or minus. I don’t know how the chief can use it for justification of your job.

I’ve been a PFT for a few years and have performed a lot of assessments. Some newer treadmills have the WFI protocol pre loaded in them. We also found that using the formula provided by the WFI program gave different results rather then letting the treadmill to automatically calculate it after the assessment.

Not sure how old this article is. Stay safe!!!!

Comment on EMT required for paramedic? by yourtaxishere

yourtaxishere — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:37:44 +0000

I am a paramedic field training officer as well as a skills instructor in a few paramedic schools. I observe that the new paramedics that have EMT experience are the students that transition easier than the ones with no field experience. The ones with no EMT experience either take longer or fail their internship or county accreditation. I feel it is a necessary step in their education. It teaches them how to communicate with patients and members of the team. It gives them experience driving an ambulance and using the radio if they are working on an ambulance. It helps them learn a street sense before being thrown into their internship. The paramedic school, no matter how prestigious, cannot teach these things.

Comment on EMT required for paramedic? by chymiller

chymiller — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:25:50 +0000

As a Program Director and based on program data and anecdotal experiences, the conversation on this issue always seems to miss the mark. For us, EMT is to paramedic as what the MCAT or advanced science courses are to physician education. It’s simply seems to be the most, not precise, but appropriate winnowing process available to hopefully identify who’s prepared and who’s not for a more time consuming, costlier and harder program called paramedic. I’m okay with not requiring EMT, but the question will still be “How do we winnow!”

Comment on Difference of Opinion by jon farrow

jon farrow — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 10:19:11 +0000

Changing the names is a cosmetic thing. Personally I don’t see the benefit, and am a little confused, so in your scheme paramedic = emt, and advanced paramedic = aemt/emt-i, but then what equals paramedic now? Critical care medic is a seperate cert either ccemt-p through UMBC or FPC/CCPC through BCCTP. So there is nothing to current paramedic. But saying that we need a PR fix by changing names doesn’t fix the underlying problems, poor training, poor CE, limited scope, EMS transport abuse, etc. Before you worry about names we should worry about Paramedics that only carry first line ACLS drugs, can’t do a dosage drip calculation, don’t know how to pull a 9 lead ekg from a 3 machine, can’t give pain management because they don’t know how to safely give fentanyl. We need to lobby for higher standards, emts should have to get an associates degree and medics should have to get a four year degree. As for the community paramedic thing there arent enough programs teaching it to even worry about it, how many people on here carry antibiotics on their truck or can drop a vertical mattress? Those are the things that our community paramedic program teaches and we are able to do.

Comment on Difference of Opinion by riffran

riffran — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:46:11 +0000

stumbled onto this looking around for ham radio stuff. I am an ER RN CEN…That being said, as long as “yall” get the patient here to the ER safely and appropriately, I call you by your name..(lol) I refer to everybody collectively as EMS. So even if you drive or start a line or IO or intubate, I don’t really care, it’s a team effort, as long as I get report, and some heads up you are on the way. I respect ALL of you equally, “yall” do an important job, and are a vital part of a multi-jurisdictional effort to take care of people. Kinda hard to drive and do CPR at the same time isn’t it? EMS goes out into the sh** and chaos everyday, to do what they do. I get to hang in the AC working in a “relatively” stable enviroment …except for that random “IVE BEEN STABBED” walking in POV. Me personaly, I don’t get too caught up in the minutia. An EMT or Paramedic, and LVN or RN…we are ALL a gear in the machine. I am aware of the technical practice limitations (more or less) between the different EMS personel, and really don’t get focused on it, or their titles. I have been a nurse aide, the LVN, and now RN in my nursing career. WE ALL have a part. I am a nurse, that happens to also be an RN. So no..I don’t get offended about LVN’s being called nurses. Because they ARE. …p.s. 15liters per nasal cannula? oh my! Talk about clearing out the sinus’s ! …….

Comment on All in by Joel

Joel — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:12:54 +0000

Yes, we need some leaders who are willing to say “yes”. We need more support from health care practitioners. We need a campaign, PR and educational effort to inform everyone. The question is who is willing to step up and lead EMS in to the future?

Comment on All in by Warm Southern Breeze

Warm Southern Breeze — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:56:06 +0000

I perceive that much of the foot-dragging is part and parcel of the general political miasma that infects much of America today. It’s not visionary. It’s not reactive. It’s not proactive. It’s status quo. However, the greatest and most significant problem with that attitude & behavior is that “status quo” is not genuinely static. Stasis leads to greater problems, and eventual death. Even that is not a status quo. Things in life are in a constant state of flux. We must acknowledge that, and become adaptive. We must also become accustomed to the notion & idea that we must continually grow in all areas, or else we know the results will harm ourselves and our posterity. It’s no longer sufficient to “just say no.” We’re long overdue for some “yes we can.”

Comment on Difference of Opinion by Joel

Joel — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:15:22 +0000

She should have nothing to worry about, since she stands by her every word. I had removed the twitter ID, but decided it was easier to read with a twitter handle. I still linked to her blog, left a tag in the post with her twitter ID, and there were half a dozen people involved in the entire conversation. It’s no real mystery who I was talking to on twitter. Since this is my blog, I have the right to change my mind to suite the narrative. If she has issues with this, she can contact me.

Comment on Difference of Opinion by Kristine

Kristine — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:48:44 +0000

So you promised to remove it (as you stated above) and then put it back? That’s not really an honorable thing to do. Seems a bit bitter to me.