Ep 41 Rescue and Big Events

Confessions Of An EMS Newbie Podcast

(45:33) Has it only been a week since our last episode? For Ron it seems like a month. Here everything you wanted to know about spinal immobi….oops I mean spinal motion restriction. Kelly will tell you how he really feels about strapping people to backboards.

We also talk rural medicine. Get a cool tip on Rapid Trauma Assessment.

Ron also spent some time looking for the lost, hanging upside down, and falling down in 6 inches of water last weekend. Learn a little about search and rescue. Then he spent a day dealing with trauma at a big even in Houston on Sunday.

Enough with the teasing, this week we announce the EMS Newbie EMS World Essay contest.

Mentions:

CT staffing company
Joe Paczkowski’s Comment on Spinal immobilization comment with good references.
Paramedicine 101 Correction to Spine Immobilization in Penetrating Trauma: More Harm Than Good
Farm Medic Course
Rescue Training International

Listener Questions

I’m a new fan of your podcast; thanks for this resource! I’m a new EMT-B and looking for a position with an ambulance company, but I can’t seem to find anything open. Do you have any advice for find a job as an EMT?
-Joshua in CT

I was also wondering what your thoughts were on the way billing is done in EMS. Whether it is paid medical transport, paid 911 or volunteer 911. The squad I work for is mainly medical transport, and the insurance company that overlooks medicare medicaid reimbursement refuses to cover the cost of equipment on the call unless three vitals are taken for each patient. Although at first this seems like a good guideline to follow especially for unstable patients, majority of out patients are stable, CAOx3 and have less than a 6 minute transport time between facilities from bed to bed aka dialysis appointment, outpatient appointments etc.
This leads to the case of myself or my partner in the back simply waiting outside the destination facility for a few more minutes just to get a legitimate set of vitals and several other emts go as far as to make up a set and move on, since they feel that delaying care is worse for the patient. What do you feel is the solution to such big brother attitudes shown for insurance companies regulating medical transport or inter facility transports. Thanks again for answering my question, it was great to hear both yours and Rons take on the scenario.
BG

Peter –
I was at an MCI drill the other day helping them manage the parking of emergency vehicles. Their were many EMT’s and firefighters who had no issue listening to my parking instructions but the feds and the bomb squad were giving me lip and disobeyed what I was saying and some of them just ended going around the parking lot looking like morons . long story short, how do you deal with other agency that disobey what you are telling them what to do.

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