Ask A Medic

You need 2 people to run a call. One person will stay with the pt, while your partner is restocking/getting the rig ready. The ambulance should not leave without its entire crew

 

We actually tell the family members and or patients before we leave for the hospital that they are going to the waiting room. They still get angry that it happens. Confuses they heck out of me

 

I would not call nurses my superiors. I am a baby medic, but I feel I can do better medicine then a lot of the nurses we drop people off to

 

I bet im annoying you guys with all the questions, im just extremely curious

On average, do pt's get seen faster brought by ambulance, since arent they tieing a ambulance crew up?

 

Haahaa we don't have diversion any more in Sacramento county.






And it sucks.

 

No you're not.

And hell no. It really depends on the situation. If I come in code 3 (blinkies and woohoo's) I usually have a couple nurses and a MD waiting for me in the room.


If I come in code 1, depending on the hosptial, I will have a nurse waiting for me in the room. In some hosptials in my area I will wait for nurse to see me.

 

Ok, now another golden question that i have;

Do nurses look down on you guys?

 

That's such crap. Our Medical Director (who is also the county Medical Director) just put out a memo that from here on out, we are putting a local hospital on "soft divert" meaning we need to tell out pt's that they could wait up to a couple hours for a room now since they are busy.


I think the diverson system needs to be used more.

 

Depends on the hospital and on the nurse. Some do, and some don't.

 

Or if the ER is full you sit with the patient on the gurney in the hallway till a bed is opened. I sat in the hallway once with a medic treating a guy with active chest pain for nearly 45 mins

 

2 hours? I've been in the hall for 8+hrs with patients before.

 

On my. You're county needs the diverson system again. What happens if someone were to die on the gurney, while in the hospital?

Fuck that. My supervisor would shit a brick

 

Holy crap. That would suck

 

How is the job field for EMT's? Active hiring, not hiring, people gettin laid off? I know its varys on your area but just in general. A local community college has programs, i'm extremely intrigued

 

My area, it's stalled out. Fire Departments are not hiring as often in my area, and a lot of EMT's and Medic's from my company try and get on with a fire department. If they don't hire, then people don't leave.

It really depends on the county

 

Not sure I believe it would be the hospital fault because once we hit the hospital grounds it is their patient, because in that case a doctor came by and said it was ok for the pt to stay on our gurney.

 

Oh ok. I thought they were just waiting for a doc to come check them out.

 

Another one-

While you wait with the PT, if they need care with supplies your ambulance is not equipped with, do you borrow hospital supplies or what?

 

So glad I don't have to transport. I just start IV's and pass the patient off to the meat wagon drivers.

 

If our ambulance isn't stocked with it, it isn't in our scope of practice. But yes we scavenge from the hospital all the time.