As I sit here early on this Monday afternoon, I have realized that I have not posted anything in the past week.  It’s a great example of the fact that this blogging thing?  It ain’t easy! I love writing, and it has really gotten me through a lot over the last year.  It has been an outlet for me to share my ideas, and it has allowed me to vent out a lot of my frustrations both with my job and with the field in general.  My ideas for what I write though come from a lot of different places: 1.  What I see that is going well — I constantly read about other services, and due to my position, I have an insider view into what is going on with the service that I work for.  Best practices are something that we all must understand and embrace if we are going to take EMS to the next level, and their stories need to be told. 2.  What I see that is not going well — I had someone ask me a question about one of my blog posts once.  They thought that based on what I had written, my service had a PIO.  Well, sadly, we do not.  I see a great need for one, as well as a great need to tackle other challenges both locally and nationally.  Not everything is all “puppy dogs and butterflies” in EMS, and just as the good needs to be talked about, so does the bad. 3.  Past experiences — There is always time to reminisce about the good ole days, and there are a lot of reasons to do it.  It lets us learn from our mistakes, and sometimes it’s a great way to put a smile on someone’s face.  Much like the fire service, there is a certain degree of tradition built into the field.  We are much younger than the fire service, but there are still lots of stories to be told. 4.  Moments of inspiration — Take a look at my post entitled Camaraderie.  I wrote that whole thing while sitting in a bar having breakfast.  There were lots of topics in...

A state realizes it is in trouble so they call in a group to do a comprehensive study of their EMS system. After a year long study complete with focus groups lasting 8 hours a piece and evaluations of systems, what kind of group would turn up their noses at the results of the study? One that is blinded by their own ignorance, of course. I am once again firing a shot across the bow of the New Jersey First Aid Council. I took some time over the last couple of days to reread the EMS study done in New Jersey and am once again left shaking my head at what I see. It is no surprise to me that when asked for data about member squads of the NJFAC, they refused to provide any information. When the consulting firm asked the NJSFAC to help facilitate meetings with member sfqeuads to ask their opinions of the direction of EMS in New Jersey, they once again refused to provide any assistance. The goal of the study was to improve EMS in New jersey and an organization that claims to be dedicated to that exact mission refused to participate. So the study went forward, and sound recommendations were made to help improve the system state wide based on established proven best practices and what do they do? They throw a tantrum declaring that the changes could hurt the volunteer EMS system in the state which for the most part is on life support already. . News flash: It’s not 1966 anymore and we are not just talking about turning herses into ambulances and driving them as fast as possible to the closest hospital. Emts and paramedics are now clinicians with decision making ability and interventions potentially at their finger tips that could save lives. None of that matters to the New Jersey State First Aid Council though. Expanding the scope of practice would require more training and training takes time. That is something the NJSFAC doesn’t seem to think it’s members have. They are content with the job they are able to do now and think the general public should be as well because they do...

This has been a big week, and I thought I would share some of it with you. First of all, if you have not seen the movie Firestorm yet, what are you waiting for?  A little over a year ago, I wrote an article reviewing the movie after I attended its premiere in Philadelphia.  It is a terrific no-punches-pulled look at the struggles of urban healthcare systems and the effects of ER overcrowding set on the backdrop of Los Angeles, California.  Most of the documentary is centered around the day to day struggles of the Los Angeles Fire Department. This Saturday, Firestorm is premiering nationwide on The Documentary Channel.  If you have Dish Network, you can find it on channel 197, and on DirectTV, it is channel 267.  You will have to check your local cable provider otherwise to see if they carry it. I got some good news the other day in the mail.  I have officially been selected as the National Association of EMT’s State Advocacy Coordinator for the State of Massachusetts.  I heard about the position when I was in Washington, DC at EMS on the Hill back in May.  The position is one that is expected to know the legislature and be a representative for their state’s EMTs when important EMS issues arise. It is going to be a big, exciting undertaking, and thankfully, I will not be going at it alone.  Some other members of the EMS Social Media community will be joining me.  Late yesterday afternoon I found out that Natalie Quebodeux, better known as Ms. Paramedic, Jon, known on Twitter as @JonEMTP, and Random Ward a fellow FRN Blog Network contributor will be representing Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Maryland respectively.  It is a great chance to share our thoughts with the world, and leave our marks on this brand new position that has been created. Tonight marks my premiere as the guest host of EMS Garage.  I am nervous, but I’m sure it will go well.  My original topic has been postponed to a later date, so we are going to tackle some current events that have come up in the last week or two.  I’ll be sure...

There I was, on scene of a routine motor vehicle crash.  The front end of car number one was damaged, and the airbags had gone off.  The twenty year old woman who was driving that car had been traveling at such a speed that when she struck the other vehicle she pushed their trunk into their back seat.  Her airbags had gone off, and luckily for her she wasn’t hurt. “Were you wearing your seatbelt?” I asked her, as I was collecting the information I needed for my refusal. “No, I don’t believe in them.  They said I would have been killed if I was wearing one in the last accident I was in.” “Well,” I replied, “You’re lucky you weren’t hurt worse today.”  I finished up my paperwork without saying much more to her than my usual refusal talk and “sign here.” In our profession, we encounter many different types of people, but those who make the conscious decision to not buckle up are a breed that I will never understand.  Evidence does not lie: seatbelts save lives.  Anyone who says otherwise is grossly misinformed. Furthermore, who is this “they” that this girl was speaking about?  Friends?  Family?  I could not ever imagine a medical professional or law enforcement officer saying to someone that it was a “good thing she wasn’t buckled up!” And then there are parents who not only neglect to wear seatbelts but don’t buckle their kids in as well.  When I was younger, I remember overhearing a friend of my mother’s comment to her that the reason she didn’t buckle up her five year old who would spend most of his time climbing around his car was that he “cried every time.”  She was one accident away from never hearing that kid cry again. If a person does not want to look out for themselves, well, that’s their decision but when they put their child’s well being on the line that is something that I cannot stand for.  I tried to explain to a mother once that her son could have easily been killed when he was riding in her lap in the passenger seat when they got in...

I’m so angry right now it’s hard to put into words but for the benefit of my readers I am going to try.  I feel like I’ve had salt dumped into a healing wound by some of my fellow EMS providers.  It’s not good. As a Massachusetts paramedic, I’ve been branded with a scarlet letter.  Mine is smaller than some people’s but thanks to the actions of some EMTs and paramedics in the eastern part of the state, all of our reputation and credibility has been damaged.  As I’m sure many of you know, a little over a year ago there were a number of providers that were busted for signing rosters and skipping out on classes that were required for them to recertify.  They lied.  They cheated.  Some of them got off easier than others, but even those who got short suspensions, the equivalent of a slap on the wrist, have to carry the burden of having been involved at some level. The certification scandal has gotten a lot of publicity even in the blogs over the last year and I’ve kept pretty quiet about it since most of the people out there said what I would have said anyway.  I just sat back and shook my head at what was going on out in eastern Massachusetts and hoped that the general public would not lump us all together.  Many of the suspensions have been served, and I thought that we had been able to finally put bad press like that to rest. Imagine how I felt when I got a link from a good friend and saw that the Baltimore City Fire Academy had shut down theirEMStraining center because the instructor was handing out answers to test questions.  Another instructor has done the wrong thing, and EMS as a profession has received another black eye. How can we expect anyone to take us seriously when we can’t even do the most simple of tasks in a legitimate fashion?  How can we be taken seriously when we can’t even take our profession and the training that is required to even do the job?  It makes me sick to my stomach to even think...