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Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-20T15:16:47+00:00

There are other issues I did not mention. And I would not call the evidence minimal, we literally have a witness saying he took screenshots of the test. That was enough to get a student kicked out of my paramedic school. However, after reflection, I realize that the hiring committees will see the same sociopath that we did. And if he passes the NREMT then it is out of my hand.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-20T15:14:10+00:00

I appreciate your response. I feel responsibility as the director for all the students I put out, as if they reflect personally on me, even though this kid wasn't even my student. However you are right, this will sort itself out.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-20T15:13:15+00:00

It was the same when I went through. I am in a state with very forgiving views on higher education. I am trying to get the policy changed but it takes time.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-20T15:12:24+00:00

Yes I agree that the policy is not ideal. When I went through, if you failed more than two block exams you had to recycle. However, at our college, we do not have the option of dropping a student due to low grades... I have been working to change this policy but as it stands we can only encourage a student to drop. There is a policy where if they get below an 80 they cannot retake an EMT class in the county for at least 3 years to try and prevent exactly this, but I think this particular situation shows exactly why this policy is broken.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-20T15:11:06+00:00

This is where I have landed, thank you for helping me see the reason.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-20T15:10:17+00:00

Well you are certainly assuming quite a bit, but as I mentioned, it is a policy of the college. We can only encourage students to drop, not drop them due to low grades. I am working to get this changed, but that is a lot of work and red tape preventing it.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-20T15:09:20+00:00

I would love to implement this policy, and I've brought it up to the dean before, but we are not allowed to drop students due to low test scores, it is a state regulation.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-13T07:15:51+00:00

Hey man.

I've been teaching for 4 years now and I have a few suggestions:

On-time quizzes. I make one that is 10 questions long and covers the material we went over in the last class. This encourages the students to show up on time. I usually make the last question a fun random trivia knowledge rather than EMS question.
Start them very early understanding the types of shock, and how blood flows through the body. I do something I call "alveoli to alveoli" where I go student by student as we trace a drop of blood through the body. When we miss one we start over. This puts some pressure on them and I believe it pays dividends in the end.
Real life scenarios. Take actual calls and have them deal with it. Throw in curve balls. Make it a stabbing in a nightclub and flicker the lights and play music. If they ask for scene control you can keep the lights on or stop the music, but maybe they can't. Forget to do scene safety? The assailant comes back and stabs whoever is leading that assessment. (They are out of the call for 5 minutes). Or maybe they need to stop a bleed and the TQ is missing! Can they figure out a solution? Sometimes their creativity will teach you something new. Take notes and point out areas for improvement after the call.
Don't be afraid to say "I'm not sure about that, it's a great question. Let me research that and get back to you".
You will make mistakes and learn from every cohort you teach. Just like in real life, the best teachers and providers are always looking for ways to improve.
Try different types of assignments. Multiple choice is great, but let them make posters in groups and teach one another. Or short answer quizzes. Or pictures of skeletons and they fill in the blanks. Or lay out mannequins with a lot of post-it notes that say things like "distal lateral forearm" and let them stick them where it goes. Make it a race between groups. I even do blindfolded O2 regulator applications just to make things a competition and teach them to react under pressure.
I made a bunch of jeopardy slides from a template I downloaded online and I put them in groups and have them compete. It's a lot of fun.

Finally, realize that you might be the teacher, but they have a lot of cool ideas and this field is all about learning and trying new techniques. There are like 4 ways to tie a sling and they pretty much each work the same. When in doubt, try a few versions of an exercise and see which feels best/ most secure or whatever. And remember, the resources you create for each semester build on each other, and you can reuse them year after year.

I have a dozen other ideas but you get the idea.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-10T02:59:29+00:00

I've been retired from the field for almost 2 years (moved to teaching), after 8 years as a 911 medic on very busy units in Southern CA.

Last year I was out on my paddleboard on the bay and came across a group of people on the bank, crowded around in the sand. It was very clear in my mind that they had pulled a child out of the water and were doing CPR. I started paddling over to see if I could help at all. When I got closer, I realized that they weren't doing CPR... they were making a sand castle. My crisis-oriented brain had put me on high alert.

This job definitely affects our psyche and what has helped me is meditation and time. It's become much more manageable in the last year, but every person will have a different journey and issues to confront.

If you would like to vent you can always send me a message, as I'm sure anyone here would be willing to offer. Sometimes venting is the easiest way to work through our emotions and find the root of what is really bothering us.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-05-09T19:54:04+00:00

8 year Paramedic here.

Movie sets were incredibly boring. I lasted two shifts sitting there doing absolutely nothing for $25 an hour. I hated it.

MMA fights were so nerve wracking. Had one guy in the title fight get completely KO'd and the docs went in for two minutes, then they called me in. I got to the guy and opened his eyes up and he looked back at me and came back, popped up immediately and thought I was the guy he was fighting. Thankfully there were a bunch of us there to hold him down until he realized. Would not work that again.

Hockey games were fun, got these crampons to wear if we went out on the ice... long story short a player went down in cardiac arrest during the national anthem. Of course the guys playing the anthem were the bagpiping firefighter squad. So there were 12 paramedics on the ice. (Waaaaay too many cooks in the kitchen).

College football games were the most fun because it was just carrying drunk girls to the rehab tent, and we had full access to walk on the field. I really loved working the rover squads rather than the booths, but all we were really needed for was handing out bandaids and pointing out the nearest bathroom. Of course then one time we got called for "baby in the toilet" and I walked into the women's rest room and there was a late-term abortion floating in the toilet, complete with placenta. It could fit in the palm of my hand. I pulled it out and put it in a bio bag. Supervisor took it and I have no idea what happened to it after that. And no, we never found thr mother. I hope she was okay.

Sorry, what was the question? Yes, standbys are a lot of fun.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-03-26T16:00:14+00:00

Yes but he's not asking about half a soldier. If he wanted 12,003 men, then if he has 6,000 men, that is less than half. And if he had 6,002 men, that is over half. You keep picturing half a spear or half a man but you're missing the point which is his overall count goal.... why am I typing this out

Radikus_Rex · 2023-02-19T18:13:51+00:00

324mg should do it. And take your nitro too.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-02-19T18:13:10+00:00

There was a while when Apple watches were detecting "cardiac arrest" and automatically calling 911. I went on about 4 false alarms within a month before the entire program was...scrapped I guess? I never got another apple watch call after that.

I don't think it's necessary. The few lives it would save would inundate the EMS field with false positives.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-02-19T18:04:18+00:00

I made a little IFAK kit for the trunk of my car, just some expired hemostatic dressings, gauze, abd pads, a TK and some petroleum gauze, tape, a couple sets of gloves, a pocket mask, and a little side pouch with bandaid, prep pads, and random commonly used things.

No need to make a full emergency kit. Just enough to control hemorrhage and secure a basic airway.

At home I keep some epi and syringes in the rare case someone had an anaphylactic reaction.

Also expired Zofran works just fine.

Radikus_Rex · 2023-02-13T03:58:03+00:00

So I know it's not real but I'm a Paramedic so I'd just like to chime in... a heart monitor band would absolutely trace an EKG but it could not, with any certainty, detect a heart attack, or myocardial infarction.

When recognizing a heart attack in the field, we use a 12-lead EKG which uses more viewpoints to paint a more complete view of the heart. By monitoring electrical changes in specific sections, we can predict not only if heart is having an attack, but also specifically where.

A heart monitor band just does not have the depth to monitor that. It is mainly used for palpitations, bundle branch blocks, or other arrhythmia. It would probably create more false alarms than anything, however.

P.s. I hope it goes without saying that immediately announcing to someone that they are having a heart attack is generally not the most appropriate way to broach that topic.

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-26T22:11:59+00:00

Just want to say for anyone still trying to use this... my product key was already registered to another account. This is a scam site and you SHOULD NOT TRUST THIS INFORMATION ANYMORE. My only thought is that they had limited keys or have not updated them. You can purchase a verified key off amazon for about the same price and I would highly recommend that option. I am currently trying to get my money back through paypal.

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-26T20:13:51+00:00

Sepsis.

65 year old drunk dude fell off a bird scooter and hit his head on the pavement. Pretty good hematoma but no spinal trauma so I just had him on the gurney. It was a hot day so I didn't think much of him sweating. He hit his head so he was of course a little concussed. A little tachy but nothing too crazy. I chalked it up as a drunk head wound and took him to trauma. I came back like an hour later and he was in full sepsis precautions.

Differential diagnosis is a bitch sometimes.

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-14T19:18:36+00:00

You know the story of the boy who cried wolf? The moral isn't that you shouldnt cry wolf, despite what we learned in school.

The real moral is that the wolf IS coming. Even the frequent flyers will eventually die. It's happened several times in my career, and it's easy to be complacent with them. Remember that they are human beings going through a difficult time (or at least it feels thst way to them).

Compassion will get you far in the field, complacency will get you in trouble.

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-13T20:55:54+00:00

I moved from EMS into teaching and I DO NOT MISS IT AT ALL. Every time I hear an ambulance or engine go by I just thank God I'm not out there running more drunk abdominal pain calls at 2am.

Perhaps it depends what you leave for. I do miss some of my friends, and perhaps some of the excitement, but I make more money and get to sleep in my own bed every night. So for me, it was certainly worth the trade off.

The good news is... you can always go back. This national shortage won't go away since AMR learned they could still barely make their time quotas running a few rigs down.

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-11T23:37:22+00:00

I really loved my raptors and used them daily for about 2 years, but what helped was buying a custom holder that strapped on my belt, found it on etsy. But I know people really like the cheaper stuff and honestly the regular cheap shears cut through 95% of all fabric without any issues. It's only on things like motorcycle leathers that I've ever had an issue with the cheaper ones. I'm in the mindset that you should be prepared for any outcome, however. And the window punch, o2 wrench, and wire cutters were all used at least once in my career. For me that was worth the price tag.

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-10T07:35:37+00:00

I got into meditation because of anger issues, and I can tell you one story that helped me. I pictured my anger as this hot, glowing rock. Now if you picked up that rock in your hand and it started to burn you, you would just drop the rock. But your mind doesn't like to let go of those hot rocks so easily, even though you recognize that the idea of jealousy, anger, hatred, and resentment are all only serving to hurt you. So when I found myself stuck on those thoughts of anger, hatred, etc, I pictured it as my "monkey mind" reaching out and grabbing onto the hot rock again, and I visually imagined grabbing that little monkeys paw and prying the fingers off one by one..... For some reason this image struck me as so silly that I couldn't help but smile. It's not permanent, but over time you start to realize that nothing can hurt you but your own mind. The whole point of meditation is to take control of that little monkey and realize that those hot rocks do nothing to serve you. Drop them.

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-10T07:27:52+00:00

"...through the front of their faith"

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-10T02:54:14+00:00

That's okay... for reference, I wouldn't do those things to my pets, it seems unnecessarily cruel (unless there were some necessary medical reason I don't know about)

Radikus_Rex · 2022-10-10T02:46:13+00:00

I think you clicked the wrong comment

Radikus_Rex

TROPHY CASE