medic25

New Haven, CT eliminated backboards for ambulatory patients within the past year, and we are very close to having this policy adopted state-wide.

Both. New Haven FD has 2 Emergency Units staffed by paramedic first responders. AMR New Haven is the transport service for New Haven, so assuming they send an ALS ambulance both services are providing ALS. Depending on the EMD process, they may sometimes just send an ALS ambulance without the FD (such as a health care facility).

Disgraceful.

Linger longer....

RIP Dr. Lippe. When I was at RPS he was always a great advocate for EMS, and a quality ED doc.

Years ago when I was working upstate, I heard a robbery in one of the worst parts of the city broadcast over the PD frequency "units in the area of XXXXX, armed robbery just occurred, two males, usual description". That probably would result in a firing these days...

Actually as a NY transplant, I've found the home rule in CT to be one of the biggest hindrances to a good EMS system here. 169 towns doing things differently with almost no regionalization, multiple PSAP's working on different frequencies, and each department wanting to operate like its own fiefdom because "that's how we do things in our town". It blew my mind that there was no county system, centralized dispatch, etc. Plus OEMS has been decimated by budget cuts, so they have a hard time accomplishing a lot of their goals in a timely manner due to staffing problems.

From the medics I've spoken to, it sounds like a pretty good position. They are hospital employees, running fly cars for a large, mostly rural region, plus Middletown. They run out of the main hospital, plus their satellite ED's in Essex and Marborough, plus a medic based at Madison Ambulance. The protocols are fairly liberal (including RSI), and most of the medics I've dealt with seemed fairly competent. One thing that may or may not be considered a down side is that the medics work in the ED when not on calls; some people may like this, some may not.

Wow, those A-1 pictures brought back some memories! It was always exciting working there; hoping your bus didn't catch fire, hoping your paycheck cleared each week.....

Well, it does mean that you could graduate from paramedic school, then take a job managing a McDonald's, and twenty years later you can still be a licensed paramedic without ever having picked up a medical book or touched a patient!! Just send in your check each year, and your all set.

When this was discussed at the state Advisory Board, we were told that it would increase to $150, not $250. Has this been published officially anywhere? We were also told that licensing fees were being raised across the board (my PA license will also be doubling). Of course for that price, you get the privilege of being a paramedic in the only state in the union that requires neither CME or a re-cert exam to stay licensed! http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/ems/EMT.../Appendix_A.htm

I love the fact that they show a Maltese Cross with the town's name spelt incorrectly on it ("Jerico" Fire Dept). This place sounds like every Southern stereotype I've ever imagined.

RIP Chris Blackwell, FDNY Rescue 3/ Sloper-Willen EMS

I took the same thing away from this story. The crew gets excited over a fire, and groan when dispatched on a medical call. I've worked medic units as busy as this engine (as have many folks on this board I'm sure); the difference is I actually enjoyed providing patient care, and wasn't complaining about running from call to call. The takeaway point of this for me was that EMS call volume will be increasing as more people lose their health insurance. The fact that it was a fire engine was irrelevant; this could have easily been a 3rd service ambulance in Boston or a medic fly car in Spring Valley, and the point would be the same.

Look in the background on a couple of the PD car pictures and you can see The Parting Glass, one of my all-time favorite bars. Big beer selection, dart hall, live Irish music; what else do you need in life!

They do it in Monroe County. When I worked in Rochester we had one PSAP for fire, police and EMS that served the city of Rochester and the surrounding towns in the county. According to their website they currently serve 84 different agencies and take over 1.2 million calls/year. If it could be done upstate over a decade ago, there is no reason why it can't be done in Westchester today. http://www.cityofrochester.gov/911/

Unfortunately the best steamed cheeseburgers can't be bought in Connecticut; what does it take to get a White Castle open in this state?!?

Some of us are transplanted NY'ers and have to deal with what we've got; at least the New Haven pizza is 100x better than what passed for pizza when I lived in the Rochester area. You had to dip that cardboard stuff in blue cheese to make it edible!!! One of these days I'll bring the kids back to NY and get them some slices from Portofino Pizza in Goldens Bridge; I remember you could feed a family of 4 with two of those slices!!

I've got to throw in a vote here for BAR on Crown St. Bacon and mashed potato pizza with a great microbrew made on premises; what else do you need in the world?!

Most of the literature on "medication-assisted intubation" without a paralytic shows no improvement/worse outcomes for patients. All too often you give the etomidate/versed and snow them, knock out their respiratory drive, but they still have a clenched jaw. Now you've got a patient not breathing who's jaw you still can't open. Most of the literature on prehospital RSI is also not showing patient benefit. Unless you've got a system with a limited number of providers getting frequent intubations and a true CQI and education system, the patients are doing worse. This might be achievable working with a flight service, but doesn't hold true for the majority fo the ground EMS systems in this country.

This is actually nothing to do with Sponsor Hospital. The City of New Haven would have to apply to OEMS to add an additional ALS unit, which they have not expressed any desire to do.

This is correct. The city is has a significant shortage of paramedics for its emergency units, and they are hoping to bring their staffing levels back up to par by recruiting current paramedics.

New Haven FD has a few (sorry, don't recall exact numbers).

Just downloaded the new SiriusXM app for my Iphone; free download, and I can listen to Opie and Anthony anywhere I go!

I switched to the Iphone last year, and will never switch back. The design is fantastic; easy to use, good to look at, and stable. I've used it in the ED, at crash scenes, and in the back of an ambulance, all without any problems. Between the outstanding OS and the huge selection of Apps, it's really more of a pocket-sized computer than a smartphone. The web browsing blows Blackberry out of the water, and despite the complaints I hear, I've never noticed any worse coverage with AT&T than I did with Verizon, which I had before with my Treo. My only regret is that I can't sell my job on upgrading my 3G to the new 3GS that comes out this week. http://www.apple.com/iphone/