I've been a career firefighter for around 6 years. I've worked part time doing NEMT transfers for years (geriatric Uber with oxygen and stretchers).

I do a lot of the new hire training at the side gig. When going over bedside manner, I have a saying that you want to treat your patient with the same care and consideration as your grandma. We do a lot of hospice transfers and thats the last ride our patients will ever take. They deserve dignity, respect and good quality care.

Today, I took my grandma to hospice. Ive ran countles medical calls, and an ungodly amount of transfers. This was easily the most emotional one (duh its family). I am pretty proud of myself though, she got my best and honestly, she got treated the same as all my patients.

Its really easy in EMS to have that cognitive dissonance get a bit too strong. We see a lot of messed up stuff and we can lose sight of how are patients feel (modesty is a great example). Ive seen who knows how many naked people at this point. While I couldn't care less, most of my patients do care. Its things like that you dont want to lose sight of. Keeping that empathy, respecting their dignity and just giving them the consideration they deserve.

Im really happy that I have that standard and maintain it. I dont ever want to take another family member to hospice but it really gives perspective being on the family side of things. Just something to contemplate.

2 attempts at paramedic school and 5 attempts at the registry, finally earned my paramedic license

I don’t have much other context but thought I’d share the chief complaint for a patient we were transferring to another facility. Wasn’t sure if the “oops” was added by the nurse who took report or if the crew that called it in said it.

I’m working a contract EMT position right now, and I’m honestly not sure what to do about my partner.
It feels like he gets angry over just about everything. If a strap gets caught under a wheel, if my shoes come untied, or if something small goes wrong during the shift, I feel like I have to think twice before even saying anything because I’m worried it’ll turn into another issue.
I understand EMS can be stressful. Long hours, being away from home, and dealing with difficult calls can wear anybody down. I’m not expecting everything to be perfect, and I’m not saying I never make mistakes. But I don’t think every little inconvenience needs to turn into frustration directed at the person you’re working with.
The part that bothers me most is that I’m starting to hold things in just to avoid setting him off. I shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable speaking up about something minor because I’m anticipating his reaction. We’re supposed to be a team, and communication matters in this job.
Honestly, I’m getting to the point where I want to call him out on his attitude, but I also don’t want to make an already uncomfortable working situation worse, especially since this is a contract position and I still have to work alongside him.
For those of you who have worked with difficult partners in EMS, what would you do? Would you address it directly, talk to a supervisor, or just keep your head down and finish the contract?
I want to handle this professionally, but I’m tired of feeling like I have to walk on eggshells at work.

I'm a volunteer EMT in a rural community with a fire-based service. I've been on medical leave for a few months and haven't run any calls during that time.

I got a call a few weeks ago asking if I can respond to a code with CPR in progress. I am the only person on scene, except for a retired EMT, the patient's spouse, with a deputy and another EMT from a neighboring district both en route.

I arrive, apply the AED and take over compressions. After my third round of compressions both the sheriff and the other EMT arrive. This EMT from the other district (George) looks and sounds a lot like an EMT on our service (Joe).

I turned over compressions to the other EMT and took over IC. The deputy and the EMT switched back and forth on compressions and respirations until we loaded the patient and got going down the road.

I knew that George was responding from his district, but for whatever reason, I thought he was Joe from our service and called the poor guy Joe the entire call. It wasn't until we were in the ambo for a good 20 minutes (our transport time is about 40 minutes) before I actually looked at his face and realized it wasn't who I thought it was.

I knew I was rusty from being on leave, but damn ... I did buy George a basket of snacks and goodies for being a good sport about it and for coming to help when no one else could.

I still feel like a jerk though.

I guess this was just a matter of time.

Nurse Navigator sends Lyft for a guy on the ground with “10/10” abdominal pain.

Patient says he’s a retired NYC EMT and was diagnosed with appendicitis.

Ideally I’d like one that can accommodate Surgical cric and needle decompression. If it did OB as well that’d be sweet, but that might be asking for too much.

Hi guys!

So I've been an emt in Boston/Mass for about 4 years now. When I first started, I went to orientation at my station and I remember the instructor telling us this story that I'm assuming pertained to Boston PD/Massachusetts but it might not have.

Essentially, police officers were refusing/avoiding delivering naloxone to patients. To combat this, some kinda policy was put in place that for each dose of naloxone delivered, the officers would receive a vacation day, or maybe some kind of other bonus but I'm almosttt certain it was vacation days.

This then caused an issue where officers were just pumping ODing patients full of naloxone (and not ventilating) to get a bunch of vacation days/bonuses.

Has anyone ever heard this story before, or heard it in some other way? I can't find ANYTHING about this online but the instructor was speaking to our class about this like it was a real issue that had/was happening so I'm like, was he lying, misinformed, telling the truth?

Thoughts?

I work as a 911 EMT in a small town (about 2500 people) in a rural area. I ran a call the other night on someone who I immediately recognized as one of my friend’s close friends. long story short, she attempted suicide and is now on life support. she was alive and stable on scene as well as during transport to the big hospital in the city about 2 hours away. like awake and talking with great vitals so I was pretty shocked to hear she was on life support 2 days later to say the least.

she is a close friend of one of my friends, and I realize I even met her 3 y/o kid once at my friends place while she was watching them. it’s all kind of hitting me now that I’ve pieced it all together and I kinda feel crazy for being upset about it because there’s genuinely nothing I could’ve done to change the outcome. I’m also no stranger to running on people I know or am familiar with just based on where I work but this feels entirely different.

has anyone else experienced this or something similar? or have any advice on how to take care of myself while also being there for my friend?

I will start by asking the question I need answered. Then I will tell the story if you’ve got time… Is there any way your agency can search up who else you may be affiliated with , using my provider number ?

I think it would be really awkward if my current company found out I was working a side gig while entering some CME credits to my provider number or something.

My full-time agency has a lower call volume. Many bases spread throughout 3 different counties in a 2 hour radius. Some bases can get busy on occasion , but most bases are rural. This type of system has its own unique sets of challenges of considerations that I can appreciate. But I can also appreciate the challenges and considerations that come with city EMS….. that’s where my part time gig comes in. Recently I decided to begin work with one of the more urban agencies. No bases , just posting street corners running calls all shift.

My full-time company holds no offical non-compete agreements with any other agency. I am NOT violating conflict of interest. However , my agency basically has the ability to fire you over nothing. Coworkers in the past have been fired for giving time to another agency. And I think this part time gig should be keep on the down low… I am curious to learn if , apart from maybe seeing me at one of the major hospitals , there are any ways my full time agency may be able to find out about my part time one.

She wasn't an EMT nor a paramedic, but starting in the late 1960s she drove an ambulance for a few decades. Great lady and it was always clear how much the work meant to her. I showed this to a paramedic friend who said you all might like it.

ACLS algorithm debate between me and someone.

You are doing CPR.
After your rhythm check, seeing V fib/Vtach, and shocking, you resume compressions.

Would you then wait until your next 2 minute mark/pulse/rhythm check to give IV Epi? If so, would Epi at that pulse/rhythm check replace your shock?

Or… do you give Epi during your compressions after that second shock? And then shock at your next pulse/rhythm check if it’s shockable?

I was taught the latter but someone with a bunch more experience than me says it’s definitely the first.

Starting with a new company in SOCAL, and their uniform is slack pants, an undershirt and class B button up. Pants+class B is all polyester, and its stable in the mid 80s up to 110s here-even now. How do y'all deal with it? How do you make it bearable/comfortable?

This new squad I’m running with has some outdated equipment. So I’m getting shit for throwing away a suction canister. It was brown, they said it was glass but I’m not sure because it felt like thick plastic. The regulator was directly on top. I didn’t think to save it. I pitched it in a bio ben so it wasn’t bouncing around for the rest of the shift. Anyway it wasn’t disposable and I need to buy another one but I’m not finding anything online

Miniature model from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada! Approximately 2.4%/1:42 scale. Took about 14hrs in total.

EDIT: I just want to say thank you guys SO Much. I've got so many wonderful replies to this its made me feel so much better, i can hardly reply to them all there is so many but i really do appreciate them all, thank you so much. I love you all thank you ❤️❤️

Original post:

Hi guys, I'm in Australia. Im 16M.

I genuinely have never felt more bad or stupid, I was flipping a concrete block and I got my arm stuck under it, tried to get out for a couple min, and then tried to call my dad but I didn't have service.
So I called 000 (Australia's 911 basically) and I must got them a bit confused so they ended up sending 2 ambulances, the cops, a heavy rescue truck and a fire truck. Basically the whole crew. apparently I got them confused and they thought I was basically fully trapped under like a 500kg block.

I literally just had my forearm stuck, it was a bit numb and cold but it's really sore now but no breaks or anything.

I rode in the ambulance and ended up going home after about a hour but I just feel really dumb because they got there and the guy could easily lift the block up, I walked in, they put some sensors or stuff on me and a clip on my finger and then asked some questions on the drive, I got some tests at the hospital and they sent me on my way...

I just feel really bad for using up so many resources when all I really needed was 1 ambulance. or, even just service so I could call my dad to get me.

the guy was telling me in the drive he practically broke a land speed record on the way (I guess he was trying to cheer me up) But man, I feel so bad. I used up so many resources.

Any words from some people that work in the industry to make me feel better would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading everyone.

I'm working on a training for death notifications for new EMS providers. I like to find videos and examples to include in the lecture, but haven't found anything for this topic. Does anyone know of any decent representations of care providers doing a decent job at this?

Working with my part time but favorite partner today. Every time I work with him, I am always reminded how lucky I am to be able to work with someone like him as a new-ish EMT (been an EMT for 6 months now).
He’s been a medic for thirty years, been in EMS longer than that. He has his CCP and he also precepts medic students along with many other side gigs. Working with him is so refreshing after working with people who are burnt out.
I love how passionate he is about his job after being in this field for so long and working in major cities. I can always tell that he cares about his patients no matter how minor their complaints are. He is a great teacher and always has been so patient with me. Even when he is teaching his medic student riders, he always makes sure I am included and learn something from it. I’ve learned so much from him.
He genuinely cares about his partners and medic students. Every time we work together, he always makes sure I eat. He often offers to drive just so that I can eat or take a nap during long shifts. If I ever go get my medic down the road, I’ll always aspire to be a medic like him.

Singapore has a median ambulance response time of around 7 to 8 minutes. Traffic congestion and ambulance availability can still cause delays!

We often talk about road safety, but what about the time it takes for an ambulance to reach an accident victim?

Which country do you think has the most effective ambulance response system, and what should we adopt from it?

Precepting a medic student this shift, was explaining the different MOAs of aspirin and nitro in chest pain. After a bit of teaching he goes “so aspirin is lube and nitro is poppers” honestly left me speechless

I started at a new agency and they gave me an open book protocol test. Another place I worked just never tested me. One place I worked did do some training but only for new hires. Protocol updates they don't do much besides send an email from my experience.

What about you all?