RECOVERING GRADY ADDICT

Many of you know that I have recently relocated to a new city. One of the facility contracts we have is a hospital, on the local Army base. Yesterday I was dispatched out to transfer a patient to the other VA Hospital, which from my understanding, is primarily a inpatient psychiatric facility with a few primary care offices. I arrived on the floor to get report from the nurse to find out that our patient was a 24 year old male, who was hospitalized for a suicide attempt. He returned from the Middle East with both his legs amputated, one just above the knee the other nearly to his hip. He "survived" an explosion, I assumed a buried bomb, landmine, or direct heavy fire. I didn't want to ask. The blast not only took his legs, but shattered his pelvis, which took months of surgeries and physical therapy to "recover" from. This last November he was discharged under disability. Since then he has been unable to cope with all the fallout of not only his injuries, his ne...

I was happy to see that they finally enabled the embedding codes for this video. So happy happy happy I can share it. All my Atlanta friends and colleagues will laugh their asses off. It's a great spoof of Atlanta history and landmarks. Check it out.

I am delighted to report that I have been extended a job offer. This includes a significant relocation bonus, competitive pay, and decent benefits. I even have a second part time job in the works. It's a posh one too! Fantastic hourly pay with travel and lodging reimbursement. By my estimates, I will have fully recovered financially from the fall out of this last year within just a couple of months. The downside is that I will be moving to a city where I know absolutely no one. Considering the last year, this may actually be a good thing. But the most wonderful thing is that I accomplished all of this 100% alone. No help from "friends", or ex's. So I start new with a feeling of accomplishment, and no obligations to repay any debts. I will be starting a new blog, yielding the dish on my new journey and of course including all the anecdotes I anticipate to collect providing EMS in a new city. If you guys want the link, just e-mail me your request through the link on my ...

Looks like the embedded player isn't working. Sorry! Yell at the folks over at EMS1.com! Try this link: EMS Blogger Kelly Grayson discusses The Airway Continuum at EMStock 2008. The Airway Continuum is a conceptual tool that provides EMS professionals a template for providing the appropriate level of airway management for a given patient. In this brief video clip, Kelly discusses with EMS1.com Director, Kris Kaull, the current paradigms in EMS airway management, and how current research is driving a shift in the was EMS providers view airway management. ORIGINAL POST LINK: Ambulance Driver: For All You EMS Types...

a post from Ambulance Driver: "Toxic Partners" "...We can talk about what you should expect from me." "And what is that?" "I'm a pretty easy guy to work with," I continued. "I only have a couple of hard and fast rules, and I consider them inviolable. Rule #1 is, what happens on the truck stays on the truck." "Good," she agreed, "I have the same rule." "This isn't some Code of Silence I'm talking about, BP," I explained. "I'm talking about personal stuff. You're going to be spending more time with me than you do with your kids and your boyfriend. Anything going on in your personal life that I happen to overhear, I'm not going to repeat. I expect the same from you. What happens with company business and patient care is another story, which brings me to Rule #2..." "Which is?" "Partners back each other up. I'm not starry-eyed enough to believe that you follo...

Is a 33 year old hemodialysis patient, in respiratory distress failure!!! MUST: *Be overdue for dialysis. *Have missed dialysis for a stupid reason. *Miss dialysis because "transportation" didn't show up today. *Miss dialysis because no one could drive him the 1/2 mile to dialysis. *Not go to the hospital 6 hours ago when he started huffin & puffin. *Refuse to go the the hospital with dialysis capabilities. *Demand to go to the hospital bandaid box across the street from dialysis. *Demand to go to the hospital bandaid box 1/2 mile down the street. *Have a blood pressure of 250/140 and a pulse of 120. (No, seriously!) *Get hypoxic when the ER decreases the 15LPM on the non-rebreather. *Get hypoxic agitation and start coming off the gurney. *Not have any realistic peripheral IV access. *Have scars from all the cut-downs and previous central lines. *GET NASAL INTUBATION BY REALLY HOT ATTENDING - WHILE CONSCIOUS!!! *Finally get a femoral central line. *GET AN IMMEDIAT...

(IS EQUAL RIGHTS!!!) Please pass this along. Saturday Dec 13, from 1pm-5pm - there will be an Equal Rights Demonstration @ Phipps & Lenox Malls, Atlanta (Buckhead), Georgia. This will be a carry over from the Prop 8 Protest at the State Capitol a few weeks back. Here's the link: SOUTHERN VOICE ARTICLE. ATLANTA ACTIVISTS TO PROTEST SATURDAY From Southern Voice: 12-12-08 The same Atlanta organizers who put on the Nov. 15 gay rights rally at the State Capitol hope hundreds turn out again Saturday for their next visibility action, “All I Want for Christmas is Equal Rights.” The protest, designed to build on the momentum from last month’s event, is set for 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the sidewalks around Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza. “There won’t be any speakers like the last rally because it just won’t work because it’s on sidewalks,” organizer Jeff Schade told Southern Voice last week. “We are asking people to bring signs, like they did last time. “We will have bullhorns and be leading cha...

Where have I been? Somehow I missed this news story. Apparently a 20-something with Bi-Polar Disorder recently went ape-shit on an elderly lady on the subway. It was caught on video, and of course it then went viral on YouTube. Once she was arrested, the outcries for sympathy and understanding from the family went out to the local media. And subsequently TONS of vlogs came out in response to her actions, her arrest, her family, etc. All I can say is watch the video and form your own opinion. Be aware that this is FULL of vulgarities if you are going to view it around others. My personal opinion is that this is a disgrace! Bi-Polar or not. It was her responsibility to take her medication. It was a conscious choice not to do so, and therefore she should be held accountable for her actions when she didn't. If you choose to drink and drive, you have to answer for it when you are arrested or when you cause an accident. As far as the brother posting a plea on YouTube for sympathy and und...

Atlanta 911 Chief has final word on recent teen death The autopsy concluded that classroom horseplay caused a fractured clavicle, which severed the teen's subclavian artery. Several factors contribute here: 1. The call was dispatched as "chest pain", with probably NO indication of trauma or injury. 2. Without suspicion of trauma, paramedics might treat treat cardiac arrest based on the presumption of a cardiac etiology, not factoring in occult BLOOD LOSS requiring fluid challenge. 3. Lack of the extra hands makes working the arrest difficult , but NOT impossible . This was a load and go call. Take the school officers to help perform CPR if fireman aren't available. They were trained in CPR. Some help is better than NO help. Clinically and Legally speaking. (From personal experience the police are less big-headed, and will actually listen to your directions and requests, and can perform adequate CPR just as good as a fireman. Too many cooks spoil the soup, same with...

I heard the groans already. Many adept paramedics and EMT's cringe at the word. Stereotypically, when fire department personnel shows up at your scene (and nothing is actually on FIRE), things tend to go to shit quickly. However... IF THEY ALL LOOKED LIKE THIS.... SOMETHING TELLS ME SHE NEEDS TO UPDATE HER CPR CARD... (AND I NEED MOUTH TO MOUTH!!!)

...I miss the witt and humor of EMS and ER staffers. Yeah... that's just damn funny. THE DNR SONG - Sung to "Rockstar" by Nickelback

Oklahoma to debut new sirens you can FEEL... At $400 each, it will cost roughly $40k to outfit this service's entire fleet with a new siren aimed at PREVENTING future collisions by UPGRADING OUTDATED TECHNOLOGY. This new siren is designed to increase ambulance "visibility" by making inattentive drivers FEEL the ambulance that is coming their way, thus reducing the likelihood of a response related crash. When contemplating the expenses of a basic ambulance crash: Repair or replacing an ambulance worth $75k-$125K Repair or replacing a civilian vehicle worth $10k-$50K Injuries and medical expenses - potentially immeasurable. $40K in preventative expenditures! This purchase pays for its self when it prevents the first crash!!! This is a lesson that could be shared with OTHER EMS AGENCIES! Spending a little money here and there for "quality" vehicle maintenance, stretcher servicing and maintenance, NEW STAIR CHAIRS and other new equipment, and YEARLY driver's tra...

CLICK THIS LINK... and see why I REFUSE to ever work Urban EMS ever again!!!

CLICK THIS LINK: Just too great to pass this story up

Firefighter and wife fight off home invasion... And beat the piss out of their attacker! NEWS ARTICLE Click this link to LISTEN TO WIFE'S DESPERATE 911 CALL FOR HELP . They tried to comply with the robber's demands, handing over valuables, all the cash they had on hand ( The 911 call is truly amazing!!! Ole Wifey has a brass pair!!!

My deepest sympathy goes out to this family and the students at Mays High School: STUDENT DIES - ALS RESONDERS CANCELLED EN ROUTE, NEVER RE-DISPATCHED AFTER BLS CREW ON SCENE MADE REQUEST This, like other recent Atlanta and Fulton County dispatching errors only recently brings to light life endangering problems and "errors" that emergency providers in Metro-Atlanta have battled for years. It was not uncommon to be dispatched with misinformation at least ONCE in a shift, often several calls per day. These problems range from wrong addresses, incomplete addresses, mis-triaged calls, wrong responders sent (i.e. EMS sent for police only calls), not enough responders sent (as was this case), EMS being CONSTANTLY sent into unsafe or violent scenes without warning AND without police assistance. Part of the solution Grady EMS offered was to take over dispatching their own ambulances when Fulton County determined EMS was requested or needed. And while that has notably reduced EMS res...

GET A FUCKING LIFE!!! I ACTUALLY THOUGHT MY (CURRENT) LIFE WAS PRETTY PATHETIC, BUT Y'ALL GOT ME BEAT! DO YOU NOT HAVE BETTER SHIT TO DO THAN TO MIND OUR BUSINESS FOR US??? It has been recently brought to my attention that I should watch my P's and Q's. My recent blog post about my mom coming for a visit and taking me and a group of people out for dinner and a cabaret show seems to paint a picture that Lenya and I are having too much fun these days, considering our "conditions". And it seems to be raising a few eyebrows down at the Gradys. Oh, *NOW* y'all give a damn? Sure you do. Maybe you should think about kissing my big fat white ass. For those (few) of you who didn't know... I have been struggling with an ongoing worker's comp case with Grady EMS that stems from an on duty injury that occurred in February of 2005. I was the unfortunate recipient of the typical back injury many EMS providers experience at some point in their career. This has been a...

We checked around for a 9/11 memorial service to attend today, being that we are Paramedics by trade, American by birth, and might I add... HUMAN in SPIRIT by the grace of God. Most were either too far to drive, or started too early to beat rush hour. The AJC listed one in Marietta at the Cobb Civic Center at noon. My first mistake was assuming that it was organized by Cobb Co. leaders or Public Safety Officials. My second mistake was assuming that it would be a service to memorialize those who died on 9/11 - EMS, Police, and Fire... as well as civilian, and also as a tribute to our Military personnel who have served since then to "fight the war on terror" and those who served even before 9/11. Boy howdee, were we wrong. This disgusting service was organized by a right wing religious cooperative, formed from local church groups, who took this day of Honor and Remembrance and degraded it by NOT having a true memorial service, but rather sounding a call to action (in the name o...

As New Orleans (and the rest of Southern Louisiana) prepares to be seriously fucked for the second time in three years... My favorite Louisiana blog buddy, the Paramedic I wanna grow up to be... Kelly, ( aka "Ambulance Driver", aka "A.D." http://www.ambulancedriverfiles.blogspot.com/ ) prepares for a 6am shift tomorrow in New Orleans. He has packed and prepped, as all good public safety folks do, to spend several days stuck at work, possibly unable to leave, most likely his relief unable to get in, and tons of 911 calls awaiting his attention. Please say a little prayer for him, and all his colleagues as Gustav ass rapes Louisiana tomorrow. My only question is this: As we EMS peeps have lovingly referred to Katrina evacuees as Katricians, will Gustav evacuees be Gustavians? Nope, that almost sounds classy.

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