50-65

I was driving the oil truck and got t-boned by the semi. By the time I stopped sliding, I was at the farthest end of the bridge, maybe 500-600 ft past everyone else. Don't know how I made it through because the accident started in front of me. Pretty stiff this morning, but once I started moving around the stiffness went away, now just aches.

When the tones go out, we respond to the station. The nature of the call determines the first due apparatus. Mostly depends on manpower available. Usually, first qualified driver will drive. However, if another driver who is, shall we say, "older" shows up, then maybe he will drive. Officer up front. If no officer shows, then either an ex-officer or most senior firefighter takes that position. A minimum of one in the back, preferably two. Officer will decide who does what enroute to scene, again, depending on nature of call. If there are enough people in house before responding, then the highest officer or firefighter will assign seats.

In our department, it is pretty much up to individual driving. All drivers must bring their full PPE. All apparatus have a SCBA for the driver. Me personally, I will usually have my bunkers on and put my coat and helmet in the first compartment. But it depends on the call and the amount of time waiting at the station for a crew.

You could add Merchant Marines to that list also.

What have been some of your most interesting or unusual calls? Give as many details as possible and outcome, if known. I'm interested for my own personal knowledge as well as learning possibilities for many. Probably the most unusual case I participated in was as an EMT working for a local commercial, mainly transport, ambulance. We were dispatched to Putnam Hospital for an ALS transport. A 60-ish female had been brought to Putnam Hosp ED after falling down approximately 14 steps. She had a left humerus fracture. Upon work-up at the ED, it was found that the shoulder socket had disintegrated (secondary to advanced osteoporosis) and the head of the humerus had penetrated the left chest wall, fracturing several ribs. The head of the humerus then broke off the shaft and was literally resting on the diaphragm as evidenced by the CT. Pt also had a hemo/pnuemothorax. No chest tube was placed as ED staff were concerned that such would dislodge blood clots that had formed and cause massive internal bleeding. WCMC was on diversion (so we were told) and due to heavy thunderstorm activity, she could not be flown. She was transported to Jacobi. We had a general surgeon on board the ambulance with a chest tube kit, just in case. The pt was conscious and talking throughout the entire transport. As soon as we got her into Jacobi, they immediately took her into a trauma room and inserted a femoral line. They were astounded at her injuries upon looking at the CD from her CT scan. One of the doctors said this was a rare type of injury and to survive it was even rarer. Unfortunately, I never did find out what happened to her.

Date: 12-07-08 Time: ~0830 - ongoing Location: Chester (Orange) Rt 17 Frequency: Units Operating: Chester, OC Haz-Mat, Mult. M/A Description Of Incident: Tractor trailor loaded with hydrocloric (muriatic) acid on fire and leaking. Evacuations IAO Greycourt Rd. Rt 17 Closed IAO X127 both directions. Writer: 50-65

Well, I for one would like to retract my original post. There have been many good, thoroughly thought out posts here and some good in-depth discussion of professional ems. None of which my original post was. All of us, regardless of the profession we are in, have made mistakes and errors in judgement. The true test is whether we learn from them or continue to repeat them. Every medic I personally know, has made errors which either directly caused or contributed to a patients demise. But I also know that they will not make that same mistake again. Even an RN I knew said she figured she'd "kill" a patient about every 10 years based on results in her career and mistakes she has made. My brother, a CCRN, said he may not have directly killed anyone but probably helped some on their way. It's a fact of life. None of us are perfect. Learning. From ours and others errors. Teaching. Don't be afraid to tell a co-worker about some of your errors and what you learned from it. You may be able to save more lives because of it.

If this is the one I saw on the news last night, it was in D.C. They seem to be in the news alot for negative news with their EMS. Anyway, since when does a paramedic make a diagnosis? Someone calls 911 for chest pain and they tell him he has acid reflux? They deserve what ever punishment they get and probably more.

I thought this was a law in NY all ready, but upon searching, it seems that the "Ambrose - Searles Move Over Act" was "stuck" in committee. It passed the senate but apparently has not passed the assembly. It seems that it has taken our impressive state government only about 3 years to get it to committee. At the speed they move, (except for raising their pay and taxes), look for this to be law sometime within the next decade. It's too bad that you have to legislate what should be common sense.

This was a first for me. Last night we had an mva with entrapment. The lady had a dog in the car with her. We cut the door and remove the driver. Now, what do we do with the injured dog? He is a well behaved, somewhat anxious yellow lab. He is bleeding from the mouth and tongue but otherwise appears fine. PD doesn't want him. Animal Control says they won't pick him up. The animal "hospital" doesn't have a way to get him. Someone put him in the chief's truck where he proceeded to sit in the driver's seat and bleed all over the seat, dash, windows, radios, etc. Needless to say the chief was not happy. I was on scene in my crew cab pick-up. I folded down the rear seat and put an old blanket down. We put him in there. I held him while one of the other guys drove and we took him to the vet for treatment. We spent 2+ hours cleaningthe chief's truck last night. Mine didn't fare to bad although I am going to shampoo it today to get a little blood out of it. Does your department have a policy regarding injured pets? How have you handled these before?

The chief was more than a little PO'd that animal control (Town of Newburgh) would not come pick up the dog. Flannery's was called but couldn't come get the dog. He was taken there and they were more than willing to take him in and treat him. Newburgh Vet Hospital will come and pick up during their normal hours (but we didn't have the number at the time). Orange County Emergency Vet Hosp (Middletown?) will treat emergencies after hours but will not pick up. Chief said he was going to address this at the next commissioners meeting and next Town Fire Officer's meeting.

We did contact family from the scene but I'm not sure where they were coming from. Girl went to Saints and I'm sure the dog wasn't the first thing on their mind.

Note the apparent failure of the driver's side airbag. Nice pics.

When I worked there under Empire, they wanted all medics to have both Hudson Valley and Westchester Macs. I know there were some who also had NYC Mac.

I was wondering that myself. Hudson Valley Regional EMS would sound and look better and be more accurate. I know about a year and a half ago they almost lost their ALS. I was there when one of the supervisors was on the phone with DOH. They are apparently either still or again under DOL investigation as well.

A friend of mine did this several years ago on I-84. He parked his car on the side of the road, got out, and walked in front of a tractor trailer.

It appears to me that the car came throught the intersection (note the break in the double yellow line) and was pushed sideways by the ambulance. I imagine that the driver turned left in an attempt to not hit the car, thus ending up in the oncoming traffic lane. However, you MUST slow down at intersections even if you have the clear right of way. You never know what the other driver is going to do. I recently had a small moving van make a left turn from the right lane as I was traveling in the left lane with lights and siren. My brother recently was involved in an MVA (he was not driving) when the car in front of them yeilded and pulled to the right shoulder. Just as they approached the car however, the driver pulled from the shoulder directly in front of them. Best wishes to all involved and be safe everyone.

Don't you have to be affiliated with an organization that participates in the CME program?

It was said lightheartedly. Not to offend any medic. As a former student who ran out of money long before the pharmacology class, I do know how hard that course can be. Seriously, I do know that NTG is a vasodialator. I did not know about the other stuff mentioned by ckroll. Very informative. I look forward to reading more on this subject here. Although I can't do school right now, I still try to learn something everyday.

How does mutual aid work for PFD? City of Newburgh recalls firefighters for second alarms AND starts calling mutual aid from vollies for stand-by either in quarters or at Fire Headquarters (Grand Street station). Vollies more often than not end up working at 2nd alarms or covering additional calls in the city. Also, someone mentioned ISO requiring an initial response of 12 FF. NFD, at one time, I believe, responded with driver, officer, and one firefighter. Lately, I believe, I have seen 2 FFs on apparatus.

Uses: to give someone a really bad headache. Seriously, can't help you but good luck with the paper. Let us know how it goes and share any good info you get. This past summer I worked with a blasting company. Just the vapors from the nitro in the dynamite would give me a headache and that was just from going into the truck to get inventory for the blasters/laborers.

The quote is most often attributed to Lord Woodhouselee, Alexander Tytler, 1747 - 1813.

Don't worry about the American flag. By the time he is done, it will be relegated to museums and we will all be flying the UN flag. Remember, the only difference between O-Bama and O-Sama, is the B S. I just can't make up my mind if he is socialist, communist, marxist, or some combination of them all.

http://www.emsresponder.com/article/articl...n=1&id=8360 I thought this was pretty cool. There also is another story http://www.emsresponder.com/article/articl...p;siteSection=1 on pre-hospital cooling of SCA.

Pharmacology was mentioned several times. When I worked as an EMT for a private provider, we did mostly nursing home transports. Nobody likes these but if you take an interest there is a lot to learn. One, I would read the med list that the NH would usually provide. After a while of comparing the med list to the medical conditions of the patient, you could gain an understanding of what drugs were used to treat what conditions. If I didn't know, I asked. Secondly, NH transports were a great way to learn about disease processes. Most of these patients had multiple medical problems. When I took A&P alot of it started making sense. Actually, A&P should be another area of focus for the EMT-B.