The January EMS Roundup
“Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.”
Henry Ward Beecher, US Congregational Minister
Certainly January is a month to face the future. If Minister Beecher would allow us just one transgression, I’d like to look back, for one brief moment, at the month that was.
Clearly, the biggest news here at The EMT Spot was the launch of my first e-book, The Non-Conformists’ guide to EMS Success. The book launch around 1:00PM on the 21st and had been downloaded over a hundred times before my head hit the pillow at 10:00PM (I’m an early riser.) It also received kind praise and coverage from a few major EMS news and blogging sites around the web. I’ll post more on the books status and coverage in the coming month.
The month started off with a bang when FireCritic.com announced that we were a finalist for the top Fire/EMS blog of 2009. Thanks for the nomination and a big thanks to the hundreds of readers who showed up and voted for us. We took a look back at The Best of 2009. I and a few other EMS bloggers talked about when we should and shouldn’t transport the baby. I told you about the latest in CPR techniques, asked you where you should stage and let slip the secret to getting rich in EMS. We also discussed the rise of the EMT, brotherhood and the art of using trauma shears. Finally, I wrapped up with a comparison of EMS and comic books by explaining that medicine happens between the frames.
And that was just here. A ton of great stuff happened on other blogs as well. Like Chris Kaiser’s review of one of the scarier pieces of EMS equipment. (Spoiler: It’s a bedpan) And Medic999′s story about saving a life and the questions it brings. Let’s not forget about Gomerville and the first anniversary edition of The Handover Blog Carnival, or Greg Friese’s ideas about performance evaluations and striving for excellence, or David Konig’s reminder from a patient that “it’s not easy,” Or Jeremiah Bush’s explanation of why good enough is not good enough, or even EpiJunky’s reminder that sometimes, all that’s left is, “I’m sorry.” All crazy good stuff.
In EMS news the usual suspects showed up. Two ex-paramedics made a fake 911 call so they could try to steal drugs from the ambulance. Police charged another paramedic with stealing Oxycontin from a blind patient. AMR settled a wrongful death suit out of court for half a million dollars, and the two New York EMT’s who didn’t respond to the pregnant seizing woman said that they did try to help. Chicago donated ambulances to Haiti. Madison County EMS was accused of padding their time cards and one EMT was attacked with (of all things) a samurai sword. Hiyah!
And then there was the podcasts. The Medicast made some interesting predictions for 2010. The EMS garage guys looked at RSI and the importance of BLS care. The EMS Educast “Funky Bunch” talked about preparing new students to run cardiac arrest scenes and a new podcast made its debut. The GenMed Show got off to a strong start by discussing “The Handoff.” Now if they can only sort out their second offering. Good luck guys, we’d all like to hear some more.
Thanks for coming by and sticking around. I’ll see you right back here in February. Stay safe.
I hadn’t seen the article you linked to about the Rennix incident. “They said that even if someone had led them to her, they didn’t have the medical equipment to treat her.” It was because of a firefighter not apart of an EMS response that an ALS unit was dispatched. Jackson and Green could have avoided this mess simply by assessing Rennix and relaying “better” information to dispatch. See a timeline a created using the New York Post articles
Thanks for mentioning the MedicCast annual predictions episode. We’ll see how we did with our prognostications over the coming year.
Some of the things we had to say were pretty dire and I kind of hope that at least some of them are off the mark. Keep up the good work with theEMTspot.com!
Timothy, They also could have avoided this mess by using the two most important pieces of medical equipment, their hands and brains, to help this woman. These tools are available in the BLS scope of practice. They are not helpless without their equipment. That’s ridiculous.
They also could have avoided this mess by doing the right thing for the patient. But that’s the solution to so many of these problems isn’t it?
Hey, you’re welcome Jamie. Thanks for putting on such a great show for all of us.