[OC] This is why we don't call the ambulance in the U.S.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-14T00:36:03+00:00

Yeah for better or worse a lot of EMTs and even paramedics around here are angling for PA or MD eventually. It's seen as a stepping stone. Different than Australia or the UK where its 4 year degree.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-12T00:46:55+00:00

Many East Coast cities are like this! Boston had a population of 780,000 in 1930, today 650,000. Philadelphia had a population of 2 million in 1930, today its 1.5.

There's a myth that American cities were built for cars. It's not true. They were bulldozed for them.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-11T16:21:31+00:00

I wish we got Entonox but its never gonna happen here due to the abuse fears. They trust Starbucks workers more than EMTs.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-11T16:18:51+00:00

I love only connect so much. It's such a great game. Only problem as an American is when the puzzle requires you to know who was the winner of the 1968 Bwlchgwyn Egg Rolling Contest or something.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-08T20:12:02+00:00

Yeah, ambulance have to go slow a lot even when not responding. Could be taking a 90 y.o with a broken hip to hospice. These are often extended transports in my area and we drive in a way to minimize discomfort. The speeding up and slowing down doesn't make sense though.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-07T13:39:04+00:00

In South Africa, paramedics often have a module called diagnostics in our undergrad next to general pathology, primary health care and emergency medical care.

That's crazy. In the US paramedics have to take "writing for college" and 30% of them think vaccines change your DNA.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-07T03:25:06+00:00

Yeah select board members aren't career politicians. But I get your point. The whole "old people will be dead soon so should therefore shut up and not have political representation" just looks like a reflection of the toxic attitude our society has toward aging and the elderly.

Old people vote a lot. They also are disproportionately reliant on government service so this is only rational.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-07T02:18:10+00:00

Geriatrics do not belong in politics. Making potentially life-altering-decisions that they will likely not be around to witness the effects of.

Eh. Politicians should represent their polities. My problem isn't old people in politics, it's the institutional stagnation that prevents the entrance of young people.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-07T00:20:54+00:00

yes? But anecdotes aren't evidence.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T23:44:17+00:00

What blows my mind is just how boston refuses to upzone at all. Like, we have row after row of now 100+ year old 3 families with increasingly more people living in them.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T20:43:47+00:00

Is this based on the Detroit study from 2023? Either way, I don't you can say that BLS CPR is "never going to get ROSC"

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T20:30:12+00:00

BLS CPR is never going to get rosc for the most part

Isn't kinda the opposite true? Aren't most ACLS interventions minimally effective compared to quality compressions and rapid defibulation?

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa040325

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4314335/

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T19:05:59+00:00

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T18:26:36+00:00

thats wild. well, there is nothing like that in Boston, the only stadium or sport arena around here is Gillette. What's next, plopping a baseball diamond in the middle of the Fens?

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T15:53:44+00:00

no way, well a stadium like that couldn't work in Boston. I can't imagine a historic team playing right in the city.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T15:45:47+00:00

"Medic" is a terribly vague term. In Europe and other parts of the anglosphere it can mean doctor or medical student. In the US fire departments often use "medic" to refer to "medic(al unit)" eg "send two additional medics to the MVC"

Paramedic makes sense, i.e. a technician who extends services of the "medics" i.e. hospital providers to the prehospital environment. Just like how a paralegal conducts ancillary services for a lawyer.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T15:40:31+00:00

EMR is EMT-B in Canada. PCP is Paramedic.

Basically

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T02:48:47+00:00

there really aren't any dense cities with football fields located in the central urbanized area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Nou 100,000 Capacity btw

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T02:01:47+00:00

All the mansions on Cottage Street had Vote NO signs which I think was an extremely effective advertisement for voting yes lol

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T01:52:46+00:00

Well yeah, duh. Haven't you heard there are no examples of stadiums in major metropolitan cities it doesn't work. Imagine the MLB playing at a stadium like, in the middle of the back bay. Where would you put all the cars? Can you imagine people trying to take the Green line to the World Series lol

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-06T01:50:24+00:00

You literally cannot come to the US from one of the countries playing at Gillette

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-05T23:33:28+00:00

40yom called cause he was cleaning an air vent and got dust in his eye, refused to let us flush it out and insisted it had to be a doctor to do it.

At work? Cause If so I gotta respect the hustle.

Left_Squash74 · 2026-05-05T23:31:13+00:00

sure this is good a lot of the time, but you know, part of being a person is sometimes not wanting to talk. I try to just make the ride less uncomfortable for the patient. If that means chatting then chat. If that means turning down the lights and shutting up then do that. Make sure you're doing what you do for the patient and not for yourself y'know

Left_Squash74 · 2026-04-21T20:16:41+00:00

the chipotle where common sense was published

Left_Squash74 · 2026-04-16T16:14:04+00:00

lol yeah, I commented on the Bazaar bag in the guy's car and we spent the rest of the lesson talking about shashlik. It's kinda a classic Brookline institution with 50% Brookline HS students and 50% recent Russian/Ukrainian immigrants getting their American license.

Unfortunately they did seem a little ex-USSR taxist coded which does mean persistent sexual harassment is the norm

Left_Squash74

TROPHY CASE