“I went to nursing school due to my desire to move forward and be more productive with my knowledge and skills. I love being a medic, but I also enjoy both ends of the spectrum. Both positions keep me sharper in regards to the other; they are a good mixture for me.”

John chose a bridge program from paramedic to ADN through a local campus, but for his BSN, John is going to school online. Having weighed all of his options against a grueling schedule, John found the convenience of online education too perfect to pass up.

“Online courses have allowed me to continue my education. With the combination of my busy life and lack of time or ability to attend the brick and mortar (conventional) setting, my education would have been stalled.”

Andy Wiegand is another firefighter-paramedic, 31 years young, and considering nursing school. Andy was my paramedic student protégé nine years ago in a Detroit Trauma Center. I shared my best tips and secrets, and Andy’s older sister Tracy, a RN in the same ER, reinforced the value of education. Andy wants to expand his knowledge base and proficiency, but is also concerned about two things we all ponder at one point or another: more money, and better job security. The median nursing salary last year was $62, 450.

“There are budget cuts happening in the township where I work. They are laying-off nine people. I’m not one of the nine, but if they lay off more, I could be in line to be cut.”

Paul Sorrell, a paramedic for 25 years, is preparing for a medic to RN transition program. Working several years for a private ambulance company in Southfield, Michigan, Paul completed 2.5 years of a traditional nursing program 20 years ago before leaving due to professional conflict.

“The clinical coordinator was a lady who felt that men did not have a place in society as nurses, and I was getting sub-par evaluations on clinical rotations. I would do the exact same stuff as other students, the same way, and get much poorer marks.”

A man in emergency medicine does not translate exclusively to either paramedic or doctor anymore; more men these days are nurses. These changes have encouraged those who have served many years as paramedics, like Paul, to continue to do what they love in a related branch of medicine.

“I want to get into an ER and get back to some real patient care, and Online courses have allowed me to continue my education…with the combination of my busy life and lack of ability/time to attend the brick/mortar setting my education would have been stallethen complete my BE (bachelor’s in education).”

Being an educator has been part of Paul’s life for almost as many years as he has been a medic. As we spoke, Paul was conducting a paramedic refresher course. The dual-licensure of paramedic and RN opens up a world of opportunities for educators with a strong background in emergency medicine.

There is a growing trend for paramedics to expand their knowledge and level of licensure. When I completed that path 15 years ago, paramedics whispered among themselves about going to nursing school. Now more paramedics view nursing as a logical next step.

“We have had two other FF go to nursing school after me; seems as though a trend is emerging. Though the online transition from paramedic to RN can certainly present challenges, the rewards of furthering your education can only benefit you as a professional, and those you care for and serve.”

There is never a convenient time to fit school into one’s schedule. Nobody knows what tomorrow may bring, so working toward a better future, and becoming more marketable while enhancing skills and professionalism now as opposed to later, is imperative.

John’s last words to me prove my point. Ending the interview, John said, “Gotta go: CPR in progress.”

From reading the article, it is alleged that an EMT acted not only illegally, but extremely unprofessionally. Thankfully, the driver of the ambulance involved reported the incident, even before the patient did. So, I think the driver deserves recognition for upholding the high standards that represent public servants.

Reading the comments of the article, you can already see how the actions of a single individual can have such a negative impact on the profession. Already, there are people screaming to change ambulance services for the town. It is depressing to know how hard EMS has fought to gain the respect of the community, and how easy it can be torn down by a single act of one person. One commenter claims it places a “black eye” on the profession as a whole. Regrettably, I could not agree more.

Emergency responders need to consider a few things when going out on call. We are there to help those that rely on us. When our car, truck, engine, ambulance, or even helicopter leaves the station, all eyes are on us. You have to not only conduct yourself in a legal manner, but all of us in public service need to act in a manner that brings pride on our profession.

I certainly hope the patient/victim of this incident can move past this and use it to help promote something positive. I also hope that if this EMT is guilty, he pay for his actions in not only the eyes of the law, but also for the hurt and shame he has brought upon the rest of us.

Read the full report by the paper here.

Written by: HemiMedic

Contributing Author Public Safety Blog

We responded to a local convenience store for a person being disruptive. Upon arrival, law enforcement was there, and advised that we needed to check the patient out. After an exam, the only thing we could conclude was the possibility of some sort of brain injury or even more possibly it was some sort of illicit drug reaction.

The patient presentation was:

He was walking and talking at the scene, but was confused. Although the patient could readily say his correct name, address, and d.o.b, he could not tell us the correct year, the city he was currently in, or why he was at the convenience store. His speech was slurred, but he did not show any other signs indicating a possible stroke. He was also somewhat combative, in that he tried numerous times to walk away, and became aggressive when we tried to stop him for further evaluation. The patient’s vitals were normal, given the current circumstances, and the slightly elevated heart rate and blood pressure did not alarm us.

We eventually managed to convince the patient to allow us to transport to the ER, so we placed him on oxygen, started an IV and loaded him up. During transport, the patient had a period of unresponsiveness. The heart monitor was applied showing a sinus rhythm with an occasional pvc. It was only about a 10 minute transport time, so no further treatment was given.

Later at the station

A couple of other Paramedics, EMTs, and me were sitting around station. We had not given a lot of thought about the patient we transported earlier, as it did not seem like anything really out of the ordinary for a Friday evening.

The phone rings, and it is the emergency room. It was the charge nurse giving us an update on the patient we had brought in. Apparently, very soon after we dropped the patient off, he suffered a cardiac arrest. Despite efforts by the emergency room staff, they could not resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead. The diagnosis was Water Intoxication!

I had a hard time comprehending how someone could have died of this, so I did some reading, and a background check on our patient. From the reports of the family, the patient had recently become obsessed with drinking water as part of a diet plan. They claimed he was drinking several gallons daily, but they had never given much thought about it being dangerous. Now, I may not have been taught what water intoxication is, but with my training and some common sense, I did understand how that much water could be harmful. It dilutes just about every electrolyte in the body. Working especially against sodium levels, it causes hyponatremia. While it certainly can be dangerous, it is rarely fatal. However, in the case of our patient, untreated for weeks, this was a fatal mistake.

Along with learning about water intoxication, I also learned another important thing that night. It does not matter how long we have been doing what we do, or how many runs we see, we have NEVER “seen and done it all”.

To summarize, a husband, who is also an emergency medic, noticed his wife displaying stroke like symptoms. Since his wife is a cancer patient, the medic knew the potential seriousness of her symptoms. Deciding that he could be at the hospital 20 minutes before an ambulance could have them there; he loaded the wife into the car and took her in. He used his flashers, but did not heed normal traffic regulations. According to the officer in question, the man ran a couple of stop lights, and nearly caused the officer to crash. Upon arrival at the ER, the husband carried the wife into the ER, and did not stop when the officer requested. In fact, claims the officer tried to physically stop the man, yet the man shrugged him off and went in anyway. So, now several felony charges have been filed by the officer against the husband.

To Call or Not to Call an Ambulance?

I think that it is safe to say that all of us in EMS have asked ourselves, or talked among our crew mates, did that person really need an ambulance and couldn’t they have gotten there quicker on their own?

I myself have been guilty of these same questions. One example is a call I received right across the street from the hospital. It was for a boy who had cut his arm pretty severely. When we arrived, the wife, who was a nurse, had the bleeding contained, and the boy was somewhat calm. We loaded him up and took him for the 30 second ride across the street. Basically, he needed absolutely zero care from us, and all we did was provide the ride. Afterward, my crew and I talked among each other and wondered why. We all know an ambulance is not a cheap ride, and to inflict those cost, take a truck out of service, and waste the time of waiting while the boy could have been receiving care, is something we all debated.

The story in the CNN article raises the question again for me. At which point should it be most wise for a family member to simply take the patient in themselves?

We all know that a family member will almost always perceive an emergency as more severe than a trained professional that has probably seen the injury or illness a hundred times. Should those “panicked” family members be behind the wheel of a car? Should they face criminal charges if they do?

According to the CNN story, the husband was an “emergency medic”. Does that mean he is trained to drive differently in an emergency? Is it ok that he does not yield to traffic laws? How can we expect a panicked family member to remain calm enough and to not disobey those laws?

I wonder what I would do in the same situation. As I sit here now, I feel as though I would keep a level head. However, I also know that if I come to an intersection and it looks clear, I would probably proceed. What happens if I make a mistake during my moment of panic and hurt someone else? Should I be charged criminally?

Should we require that all emergencies be transported by ambulance? Think of the costs that would incur, and how many more ambulances would be needed across the country.
I guess there probably is no clear answer. In my opinion, the safest thing would be for everyone to call an ambulance during a medical emergency. However, does the end justify the means?

We had been running non stop during the 72 hour shift and a little sleep deprivation was creeping into our brains. But true to our calling as EMT’s, we kept going for the sake of “our community” and self preservation! One of the last calls we received that day was a “man down” call on a farm about five miles from where we were at the time. I cinched the seat belt down and my partner hit the gas. We made record time getting to the scene, thank God traffic was light! As we pulled up to the scene, we saw the man lying on the ground with a younger lady holding his head. We marked out on the scene and I jumped from my rig with my O2, kit and defibrillator pack. I checked for pulses and found none, secured and airway, hooked up the defib. The machine showed a “course v-fib”, so I proceeded to deliver a shock to the older, pale lifeless man, and prayed for the best. I had done this so many times in the past, it was like second nature. At this point I thought something had gone wrong with my defibrillator. I checked everything and found nothing wrong. “What is going on”, I asked myself. I have done this many times in the past and never had a “regular” heart rhythm show up on the machine. I checked…wow…”I’ve got a pulse”, I exclaimed to my partner. She checked and just smiled. We continued to deliver oxygen to the man throughout the transport and turned him over to the emergency department staff with no problems.

I went to write my report and got all my information gathered up. My partner walked in with times from the run and looked at me. She said, “one minute”. I asked, “One minute, what”? She told me it was one minute from the time we marked on scene until the time I delivered the first “shock” on my patient. I sat there and thought, man that was quick. I smiled to myself thinking about our “competition “, and had to ask her if she had any quicker ones. She looked at me and told me she didn’t think the defibrillator turned on that quick. “Looks like I win that one, huh”? She smiled and said, “Yup, you won, but the competition wasn’t between you and me”. I asked her what she was talking about. She looked at me and told me. “He is alive”. Wow, I never thought of it like that. We got there, did what we were supposed to do and it worked!

I saw that man later, once he got out of the hospital. It made me thank God that I was able to help him and his family continue on with their lives. He continued to farm and live a productive life for several more years. I read later he passed away at the ripe old age of 88. I have since left the Emergency Medical Technician behind for a career in law enforcement, but I never will forget the time I took on my biggest competition and beat it!

By Richard, EMT

Our trip was to take about an hour, and heading out, it seemed like just another ordinary inter-hospital transport.  About 10 miles on to the interstate, we started to hear some chatter on the radio. Something about an officer needing assistance, but we could not make out a location, and there was no report of what sort of problem had occurred. Suddenly, we noticed a state trooper along the interstate and he had another vehicle pulled over. As we got closer, we noticed another trooper running through the median to flag us down.

We pulled to the side to see what the problem was, and the trooper advised us that another trooper had been hit by a passing car while writing a ticket to a motorist. I contacted the ER and they advised we could hold their and assist, instead of continuing onward to our destination.

I stayed in the ambulance with my patient, and my EMT driver/partner hopped out to assist the officer. A couple of minutes later, my partner returned and asked for me to send more help, and advised the officer was critical. I sent word to dispatch and my partner returned to his patient with supplies. It would be about 5-10 minutes before another ambulance would be able to arrive.

While looking out the rear doors of the ambulance toward my partner to try and get an idea of the patient condition, it becomes apparent to me that my patient is tapping my leg with his foot. I turned to look and noticed my patient struggling to breathe. A quick glance to the heart monitor and I see the patient is in Ventricular Tachycardia. Emotions and desperation suddenly took a while new direction. I am sitting on the edge of the interstate, my patient is about to arrest, and my partner is too busy with the injured officer to be of any assistance.

I began to treat my patient, and he did go into cardiac arrest. About the same time, my partner sent the other officer to my truck to ask for my assistance. I notified the officer of the happenings and he quickly turned away and returned to my partner to deliver the bad news.

Three shocks, and 30 seconds of compressions later, my patient has a pulse return. I hung appropriate meds, and started on the phone to the ER. Meanwhile, a second ambulance arrived and we now have help. I quickly grabbed a new driver, and we returned toward the original hospital. While enroute, I hear a helicopter is arriving to help with the trooper and a second helicopter being called to meet at the ER with myself to pick up my patient.

Later that evening, like all emergency workers, we all sat around to reminisce about what had occurred. A normal inter-hospital transport, something we had done a thousand times a year, suddenly became a life or death manner for my patient and a police officer.

Reports on both patients came back that evening. Both patients would survive, and neither was expected to suffer any long term consequences. It was a run I would not soon forget.

My partner was a female approx 40 years old. She was originally from Minnesota, but had lived and worked in Indiana with me for about 5 years. Certainly long enough for her to know that alligators were not indigenous to the area.

While enroute back to station, we were traveling down a pretty long gravel road. We were both very tired, and the rain was not helping visibility much. I was sort of half sleeping in the passenger seat on our way back, when all the sudden, my partner locks up the breaks. I immediately woke and started to panic, thinking we were in the midst of a MVA ourselves. Just as the tires came to a stop, my partner gasped and with her last bit of air says “Alligator”. I had to just take a second and process what she had just said. So, I told her to back up.

As we pulled backwards, we found the alligator sitting half in and out of the road, soaking up all of the water from the night’s rain. It was a LOG!! I looked at my partner with a sort of condescending look and immediately started to laugh hysterically. Of course she was embarrassed, and starts to try and defend herself. Well…Let’s just say that trying to defend herself was doing no good at all. My evil side and I took over, and my partner was now in for a lifetime of alligator stories.

During our trip back, we encountered many more animals that did not belong in Indiana. I pointed out the herd of black and white hippos grazing in the fields, and I also pointed out all of the giraffes we passed, and how in Indiana we put saddles on them. I also made a few phone calls, and by the time we arrived back on station, my partner now owned a whole collection of alligator stuffed animals, wallets, and whatever else our crews could find lying around their homes.

Later that year, my partner even received an award from our director at the annual banquet. It was a very nice pet alligator on a leash. Actually, it was a tree branch the director found outside, but it did have a leash. It has now been over 10 years since this event, but even today, stories of our little safari circulate around the station.

In a business as stressful as EMS, Fire, or Criminal Justice services, it helps to make light of some situations. The family type bonds that form between co-workers. Along with these bonds come all of the interactions that most close families share. Me and that partner are still close friends to this day, and situations like these only serve to strengthen the lifelong bonds that all of us in public service share.

Thanks to Jenny for the memory, and I wish many great memories to today’s servants in public safety.

By Jamey