firemoose827

I think Baboosky has a great idea in that each level of mebership should have access to special forum topics that only that level can discuss. This should allow for further discussion and constructive criticism without all of the obscenities and name calling that some of the more "immature" members contribute to discussions. Great Idea and as always I support it completely. Moose

Now THAT is a truly amazing idea. Something that should have been thought of a while ago, makes it much safer to use ladders at night now...wonder when the will do this for ground ladders!

May he Rest In Peace, and may his family both at home and the department take comfort in these sad days ahead.

Amen Brother...Im Scottish, Davidson Clan, was a member of the Pipe and Drum band in Long Island, and I Proudly wear a kilt!

Yes, there needs to be a system in place to put paid crews on during the day...but the problem I see doesnt lie in too much pride to switch. My entire squad, except a few, want to get help during daytime hours but the VILLAGE wont agree its justified. They refuse to pay a crew or hire a service to cover the area and it jeopardises lives. Something needs to happen in a local goverrnment level to impliment the change. And if there are still squad members out ther who feel you shouldnt change over, than they forgot why we are here....the PATIENT. And we should do everything we can to provide a FAST, reliable service to them when their lives are in jeopardy. Too many people are thinking stats instead of Helping People. Its a shame that someones pride causes someone else to loose their life.

Happy thanksgiving to everyone, as well as everyone else who is working like me!! Working the holliday bites, but at least I had turkey and pie!! Everyone else enjoy!! Moose

I appreciate all of your input and knowledge. But, let me explain one thing that most of you either are forgetting about or just dont know about with transports and the insurance reimbursement. We fill out a form in our company called a "CMN", Certificate for Medical Necessity. You all have probably heard of these and use them regularly. Now, these forms are used to prove the need for medical transport by ambulance and whether or not the Level of care provided for that PT is appropriate. The doctors are supposed to fill them out and state in their writing why the PT is being transported, IE "Pt severe Hemiplegia and neuro deficit, our facility unable to care for PT appropriately, transfer to Regional Stroke Center for further treatment." If these forms are not filled out correctly, and the need does not exist, the insurance carrier will deny payment. I have seen some filled out as " Pt doesnt feel good, we are full and cant find bed." SERIOUSLY!! I have! And when the doctor was approached they ran from me like a famous actor running from the papparazi! To further the complications, they look at the PCR and determine if the treatment rendered was appropriate for the Chief Complaint and if not they deny payment. BASICALLY, the insurance companies will find an excuse to deny payment in just about everything. To all of you about to rip into me about my PCR Documentation...STOP... I make sure my RX of the patient and documentation of the treatment are complete and appropriate for the pt. A lot of my fellow employees do not, and they repeatedly get called in for their paperwork. It happens everywhere. There are just some people who cant write a PCR and cant learn how to either. A majority of our claims come back denied because the company feels that the ambulance ride was not justified. You can read all the reports you want...they will all tell you that the main income for paid ambulances are transports but they go on what the agency "Bills Out" for, not on what the company actually gets "Reimbursed" for. Everyone, Have a great Thanksgiving!! Dont eat too much Turkey!

I, like so many others here have mentioned already, wear my belt everywhere except the back of the ambulance. Its bad, I know, but in the rig I work in its difficult to work on the pt belted. I have been playing around with a design for a seatbelt for the back of ambulances for years now. Sort of a harness, connected to a retractable belt that clips to the harness in back, and in the event of an accident the belt retracts and locks, holding you to the bench. I think it would work but every time I ask someone to help me test it they all run...cant figure it out. Seriously though, I agree with those that mentioned you should wear it 100% of the time no excuses. But unfortunately I am just as guilty when it comes to forgetfulness and excuses. It should stop. Wear them all the time and stay safe. Moose

As far as tactics are concerned the previous posters covered it. I did not read the previous post but just from what you described to us and from what I see in the pictures, no one goes in. Those "Squatters" could be a trip being manifested from the original druggy, how do we know they exist? Secondly, how do we know they didnt already get out, heard the sirens and bailed for fear of being arrested? I agree with everyone...Set up the quint on the A B Corner, do VES on the fire floor from the ladder, if they see someone than they can try to grab them. The other thing is, this building is boarded up tight. What fire conditions exist behind the plywood? Will it backdraft or flash when we remove the boards? Should we cut an inspection hole first? This is dangerous all around and Im not commiting any personnel interior. Lay in LDH, set up ladder pipes, and try to confine and extinguish. Chances are if there are people in there they will be near an exit anyway, studies show that people loose conciousness from the smoke while trying to reach an exit and most are found near exits. VES will find someone if they are in there, not 100% of the time, but its an effective way to locate someone rapidly. Otherwise, they have already succombed to the smoke and are not a viable rescue to endanger firefighters lives. It may sound cold but we didnt give them the drugs, we didnt make them shoot up and light a fire, we didnt kill them. We can only do what we can, and there comes a time to draw a line and determine who can be saved and who cant. One of the "Perks" of being officer I guess. PS- I added an idea for Seth and Idrco195 to think about as far as these scenarios go on the other thread. Maybe it will help this idea? Let me know If I can help with it. Moose

Article about the Sofa Store fire. Found in Firehouse.com, credit to the original writer. More Issues for CFD, SC

Interesting idea...Hell I would even volunteer to be the guinea pig and let them come to my dept. They would have a field day!! Why not, there are reality shows for EVERYTHING now anyway, why not the fire service too. Besides, Im tired of seeing corny stuff like "worlds next top model" , "Apprentice" , "Top Chef" , "Next Top Interior decorator" (????)

C'mon Merlin, you know these people as well as I do...Its so they can hang out at dunkin donuts without being seen to easily!!!! Cant have that coffee and cigarrette interupted!!!

Thats funny brother!! Good list, I laughed the entire time I read it. Is your sister a dispatcher or did she get that from a cartoon or joke book somewhere? Great Stuff!!

Wow...I dont like it when I come in to a thread this late and have to read so many posts. But I got to tell you...I got sick to my stomache about 1/8 of the way in... Most of you need to either relax, READ what is actually written and attempt to understand it better or both...In no way, shape or form has x635 made any comment or accusation or slander towords any specific person or agency. He, and everyone who supported him, brought up EXCELLENT points that NEED to be addressed. Those of you who cower behind the excuse of "We need to let it calm down, our brother isnt in the ground yet and your bashing this and that..." (read like a 3 year old complaining for a cookie after dinner)...Are actually the ones being disrespectfull to our brother Matt. If it were me that died in an accident, I would WANT all of you to fight for the rights of every other EMS/FIRE/LE brother and sister so that what happened to me didnt happen to anyone else. I did not have the privilege to know Matt, but regardless he was my brother, I mourn for him, I pray for the brother who was driving and offer my courage and strength to him, but I will be DAMMED if I am going to let Matts death be an excuse for me to NOT fight for our rights as EMS workers. The topic Seth brings up and most of you support this far is an EXCELLENT topic, one that should be addressed everywhere. This is not an attack against Empire, this is a justifiable discussion to find solutions to an ongoing problem faced by EMS providers everywhere...and when I say EMS in this topic I mean Fire/EMS/LE in one ball of wax. I apologise to all of you I have lost track of names and points I wanted to elaborate on so I wont be able to give full credit here...sorry. I agree with the opinion of making us CDL drivers...that is an excellent way of tracking how many hours spent on calls and how much sleep/rest is needed. I see that offering some type of small solution to this problem, excellent idea, (whoever you were!!) I dont agree with the cut-back in the hours worked per shift, some agencies dont work as many runs in a 12 or 24 hour shift as others do, and than again some people clock in and never do anything BUT calls untill they clock out. But in my case, I work a ft job, 10 hours a day M-Thurs, leave work thursday at 4pm and go to my PT job as an EMT to do a 24 6p thursday night. In a perfect world this gives me my weekends with my daughter, but those hours STILL do not give me enough money to live, and lately I have been working an additional 24-60 hours a weekend at the ambulance. Sometimes we do 2-3 calls per 12 hour shift, but there were times we ran straight for about 13-16 hours without a break. We do both transports and 911 calls, transports are an average of 2-3 hours per call, depending on the receiving facility and the distance to get there. My company has a policy that states there is a mandatory hold over of no more than 2 hours, so if at the end of your shift you get banged with a trip to the burn unit or trauma center, they can tell you your doing it whether you like it or not. But they take all factors into consideration also, like how many hours have you been going without rest and so on. To whoever said the transport agencies make more money.......HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....LOL-LOL-LOL-LOL-LOL......(tears Dropping)HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......bent over clutching stomache....Thats funny. No. We dont make more money on transfers, we do get more paperwork to fill out, signatures to obtain, and when we cant get the signature or the person doesnt have their insurance info our billing staff have to track it down, and they only have a month to do so or the company eats the bill. I have worked for one paid agency or another since 1996 as PT, FT ALS and BLS and I have seen all aspects of billing and paperwork to deffinately say that Transports do not make more money for the company. Back to the original topic (sorry, I have a whole bunch going through my head after reading so many posts!) I agree with Seth and the entire EMTBravo family when it comes to dealing with these issues sooner, rather than later, in order to correct mistakes, re-write SOP's and make sure it never happens again, to anyone. (sigh...that was a mouthfull!!!) I am going to stop here, before I have an angry mob chasing after me with defibrilators trying to convert my sinus rythm to flatline.!!! Good topic. Excellent points by a lot of you, it definately makes you think...which for some of us is good!!

Congrats!! Good luck at officer school Captain!!! Best of luck to you. Moose

Hey! Happy Birthday EMTBravo!! I am proud of having the chance to be a member of this site and to have discussions with some of the finest people in the emergency service world. I learn a lot, and I hope I have passed on as much if not more than what I actually take from this site. Keep up the great work, I enjoy these forums tremedously, and the help that computer morons like myself get from your staff is amazing so to them, I say thanks also for all the work you do for this site and for seth. Great Job All. Moose

All my prayers to the family of Matthew Lamb, at home, at Empire Ambulance, and in the Carmel Fire Dept. May you rest easy knowing he passed doing what he loved...helping others. Rest In Peace Brother, my best to Jen, may you be strong.

Thank you smwells. My prayers go to the "MOS" and his family. Hopefully he pulls through ok. If anyone needs anything give a shout out. Keep us posted. Thanks

May he pull through and make a full recovery, god be with him and his family. Hows the other crew member? Was there a pt in the rig with them or were they enroute to a call? And for those of us stupid people...what the heck is an MOS???? Let us know as more develops. Thanks

Monty, we keep one on the back step of our supply engine attached to 2500' of 5" hose. For main street calls we drop the hydrant at the attack truck and lay into the center park where there is a dry hydrant. We connect to the truck with a siamese and two shorter lengths of 5" and we are able to get good gpm's to the scene. We use it for larger fires in the town also when there is a water source nearby. Excellent piece to have on your supply truck, I recomend them. Moose

Great video. Thank you for sharing it with us, I was always curious how they were made. And as someone else mentioned, no WONDER they cost so much!

My condolences to his family, friends. RIP Brother. Sorry for your loss Seth, let us know if there is anything we can do.

Interesting. Almost the same concept as Squad 51 from Emergency! but able to transport patients as well. Sort of a light rescue/bls ambulance. Probably will have a hard time staffing them though!! Moose

Hey ALS, I wasnt mad at all, I respect everyones input in everything I do, especially someone like you who is as involved with the Fire/EMS world as you are. I was simply addressing the questions you had about my post, nothing more than adding to the conversation. Thanks for your acknowledgements, they mean a lot to me. Yah, youre right, I used the wrong kind of example for that one answer....cant very well shock asystole, can you? I was using a personal experience of mine when I used to work with a certain Medic from another paid outfit I used to work for. He always treated the monitor....till one day, one of the electrodes fell off and it resembled course V-Fib on the monitor, without looking at the pt he grabs the paddles (Yes, paddles, shows how long ago it was) and yells to me to charge them up...I looked at the pt, who by now was truly HAVING an MI and hiding under the sheets, and said "Too late, shes already converted, Good Job." He didnt like me very much. My last comment was for the other guy, ny10570. Im just terrified of getting sued by some un-gratefull, sue happy relative of a donkey. I guess its all due to the fact that Legal issues were beaten into me from day one, my instructor loved discussing legal stuff, so, like a straight guy in a gay bar, Im always trying to cover my a**. Have a Great day everyone. Moose

Anything could happen and anyone in EMS should know that. I was using it as an example to state that I would rather argue what I "DID" do rather than explain why I "DIDNT" do it. There are peope out there who will call an ambulance just to find a reason to sue you...and there are people who actually think they have been victimized because of any trivial little thing they can think of. It takes very little time to check BG levels. Me, because I treat the patient and not the machine and I do a thorough assessment, and I would have no problem answering basic questions presented to me in court, as I have done so before. At the beginning of every shift at work, and once a month in my vollie squad...its a routine thing. I treat the patient, not the machine....as I stated I use them to confirm things. If a patient shows true signs of hypoglycemia I treat them. Im not one of the morons looking at a flatline ekg yelling "CLEAR" with the patient staring at him with the electrodes in his hands looking shocked. (forgive the pun ) good for you, I was asking a question. But I will still do what I feel is right and let others do what they feel is right. Just about every lawyer alive...You should know that when someone sues their lawyer will try and find fault in just about anything and everything and will pick you apart...regardless of what you think, preach, teach or practice they will try and make you look foolish. I do my job, and I strive to learn more every day. Part of my job is to be aware of the legal issues as well. In the case you mentioned ny10570, the prosecuter was going against the hospital and would naturally use your testimony to prove their point to the courts...had the case been against your agency I doubt it would have had the same results. And coincidentally, I dont use any machines in my assessment. When I am done with my assessment I will use them sparingly if time permits to use an additional tool...like if the patients CC is dyspnea I will grab a quick Room Air SPO2 and than another after O2 therapy has been started. Likewise, in the hypoglycemic pt I will grab the BG levels whilel the medic is attempting a line prior to administering D50. But ultimately the patients signs are what get treated...not the monitors.