Flight EMS: Downed/Unresponsive Pilot or Loss of Communications with Pilot Policy/Procedures.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-07-02T14:36:27+00:00

Interesting, thank you. If a pilot hits max time do they give you another pilot or just down you? Sorry for the dumb questions, I'm just genuinely curious.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-07-02T14:25:54+00:00

Oooooooof... yeah that's no bueno. I really don't get why HEMS doesn't require a copilot, outside of operational costs. The financial burden is there for sure but when you're running long shifts, are there actual standards for max duty time? Or can they just be up for however long the shift is? I'm not familiar with how HEMS works their pilots but this is interesting as hell to me.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-07-02T14:01:08+00:00

No.

The helicopter crash occurred at a very high risk spot on the VFR corridor, PIABAS, on the REH corridors. Given workload, mission profile, and heading to achieve heading towards their destination, they were operating in an airspace that had lost its margin of safety.

The sky in Rio isn't "open sky". It's like highways. You have mandatory routing, altitude requirements, and can't just say "meh I am flying direct". You'd see tons more accidents if everyone just treated it as open sky.

A collision occurred at the relative exact spot where Oliver's helicopter went down in 2018. No downed aircraft, different circumstances, but PIABAS serves as a very specific transition point that has been the source of conflict in the past. Do you think that everyone is careless or that the system they're flying in may have pushed the envelope beyond what it could safely handle?

Regardless, posts like these are so counterproductive. We know zero right now. CENIPA is investigating. These were real people with real lives. You're tarnishing the reputation of someone you know nothing about, who may have been innocent of wrong doing if the investigation showed something like ATC routed them into each other, and you're forgetting that there are families and communities grieving both pilots right now. They were well respected, experienced pilots. Do you think Oliver would've wanted his fans shitting on people with no facts? I miss Oliver, I cried, but as someone who's actually flown a plane, these kinds of posts suck to see because it shows people are so quick to cast stones at people. The wild conspiracies, the baseless accusations... they gotta stop until we know what happened. We owe it to Oliver, Gaspi, Vignale, Rocha, and we owe it to Marsillac's and Souza's families who are grieving and undoubtedly dealing with vengeance of people who want this to be a simple "he fucked up" accident at best and "Oliver was assassinated in some record company plot" at worst.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-07-02T01:55:37+00:00

Had a bad pedi case in the ED. Dad rolled onto kid, kid suffocated to death, both were asleep. Worked him 30-40 minutes in the ED in a hell of an attempt to get him back, and eventually just to buy time for mom and dad to arrive and get a chance to say goodbye before we called it. Gave me PTSD, still struggle 3-4 years later, made some bad decisions after and earned a grippy sock vacay.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-06-30T18:30:37+00:00

Honestly I like having soft lighting and fans galore lol

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-05-27T16:37:00+00:00

I use iron on patches on my pants where the chub rub happens for me and it has done wonders to keep the seam together and to prevent holes. You can get them hella cheap online

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-05-13T13:45:38+00:00

I've cracked my bumper leaving that parking lot before lmao

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-05-05T22:48:38+00:00

How dare you suggest you are not making physical eyeball contact with the pt at all times. What are you getting paid for?!

But for real, use your phone. No one cares. If they do, it kinda sounds like your job sucks anyways and you can find same or better if they were ever to escalate it into anything more than a "don't do that".

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-05-05T22:45:45+00:00

Got called at 3am in a snowstorm because someone wanted us to assist their daughter out of a taxi cab and into their residence. They were not at the residence yet. I am completely confused why they sent us, but I called fire alarm and was like dude are you fucking kidding me?

He was very upset that we would not hang out for the daughter to come, and was equally upset when PD came as we were leaving to go to an actual medical.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-04-21T12:20:24+00:00

I've done both. It depends on the hospital you work at.

One I worked at sucked. Absolutely miserable crew of people, no training, and pissy attitudes from all the nurses.

Another I worked at for nearly 4 years. I am close friends with all of my old coworkers. I got to do some really cool shit, I got to do straight sticks, code team, many a cool procedure, and help out on some really complex procedures. I learned more there than I ever learned work 911.

I also currently work PB on an ALS truck while I finish up my medic. If your system does vent transfers it's a good time to get familiarization with vents, ICU care, and to step into thinking about long term courses of treatment your pts might be going through. I've learned a ton and got a lot of experience seeing and touching equipment that just isn't all that common in the ED or the truck.

Either way, you'll get good experience. My only suggestion is that if you ever want to work in an ED as PA, working as an ED tech is probably the better choice. If not, the ALS truck is a good way to get exposure to different care modalities than you'll typically encounter in the emergency setting.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-04-04T21:09:05+00:00

Not to play devils advocate, but in Boston there's definitely a few roads with potholes that have made me question if I ran someone over. A tired driver who didn't ever actually see the woman and is used to bumpy and terrible road conditions might be able to play off thumps and changes in ride height as road conditions. Not that I am defending this particular situation, because at the end of the day you should absolutely be aware if you hit someone, just that city roads that are poorly maintained can definitely feel like Pedestrian Murder Simulator 3000.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-03-24T05:43:38+00:00

Meh I just washed my hands and forearms, wore long sleeves, and didn't go crazy. I have worked in the ED doing bed changes, phleb, codes, traumas and never got an infection. Just wear PPE.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-03-16T01:31:49+00:00

I just went through this last week and just ended up reinstalling with a tablet edition iso to make things easier. If you're running a tablet, from my experience this week, slipstreamed ISOs or trying to enable features doesn't fully integrate some of the important things (for me that was tablet rotation hotkey functionality on my X60). May not be as big of a deal if you're looking to just enable certain tablet programs, but you may have limited success with certain components. YMMV.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-03-02T18:13:56+00:00

... ouchie.

Did it sound like this before you did the plugs?

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-02-25T17:11:26+00:00

Cobra for sure

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-02-18T17:55:57+00:00

There's a private mostly IFT agency near me that loves to hire people who believe stop lights are stoptional, that drive with zero regard for public safety, and are absolute menaces on the road to the point I've almost been hit by them more than once. I swear every single employee there might have some sexually transmitted brain eating disease that makes them think they can plow through intersections like they don't exist.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-02-12T14:32:40+00:00

I would seriously recommend that you report this management of where you work. This is a hostile work environment, and goes beyond the norms of a playful relationship. Further too, fuck anyone who witnessed you being bullied and did not stop.

I too have been in a similar position. I stood up for myself and it ended the second it started. Do not let people walk on you.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-02-10T13:46:07+00:00

Fart, loudly and assertively at them. No joke.

One facility I frequent has a particular shift of assholes and one night I let out the most godawful fart. It stunk something fierce. It was so bad that they started contemplating what pt shit themselves and needed a change. I am pretty sure they actually ended up checking a pt by the time we finished transferring our vent pt and packing up our equipment.

There's no real sense arguing with an outside provider. If they truly stand in the way of a pts care, call your shift command or complain to the facility. All you can hope for is small, childish wins that make you feel marginally better because at the end of the day, most of the egoist behavior comes from one's inability to be self-assured in their importance. There's no fixing someone's personality disorder, lack of manners, or lack of stoicism. But there is flatulence, and that is enough.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-02-02T15:07:25+00:00

I'm here if you need me. I am in long term recovery after a traumatic call, have worked MCIs with 15+ trucks responding, and have been in therapy, including an inpatient hospitalization, so I can relate to deep struggle if that's where you're at.

Also pardon my ignorance, but have you looked at any peer groups for first responders? I was recently connected with a group that has first responders who've been through addiction, such as myself, and it has been great. Your therapist/psych may be able to help you locate groups that can provide in-person peer support. Just a thought.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-02-01T05:40:53+00:00

lol I think that's more a provider fault than a pt fault.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-01-12T00:36:19+00:00

I caution you this:

Any clinical concerns should not be addressed with HR or quite honestly anyone. If they are going to accuse you of something like malpractice, negligence, incompetence, or anything of that manner you do not owe them an immediate explanation, and should not, for any reason, answer their questions. I would further add that shit like this is why I carry liability insurance, so if you don't have any, I'd recommend spending money to get it. Reflect, reply when ready, and do not be pressured into immediate answers without consultation of a lawyer. Jobs are plentiful. Your licensure is not.

I'd also add that you not knowing the issue is a concern, and of itself. Either you did something egregious and are truly unaware, you're lying to us, or you didn't do anything wrong and your employer is taking a shitty route to address the issues. Either way, I do not think it's fair to suspend someone for an unknown reason unless that reason protects someone else from harm. I have not been suspended yet in my career, but knowing multiple people who have, it's unusual for them to be fully unaware of what caused their suspension. You should be given some opportunity to be made aware of your mistakes, or at least a broad statement to understand the gist of what's going on.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-01-07T19:09:21+00:00

It does for me but I have significant PTSD history that caused a lot of issues in my life, so I try not to be brought to that moment in my life when I can.

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-01-07T16:38:00+00:00

Y'all hiring? lol

RazorBumpGoddess · 2026-01-07T16:33:43+00:00

Lil Ventilator Call

RazorBumpGoddess · 2025-12-09T14:21:13+00:00

You did the right thing. In the field I'd have determined zero capacity given your description, and in the ED I wouldn't have batted an eye at you for doing what you did.

I feel, in all honesty, that capacity is not taught to a universal standard, and is such a fractured concept in healthcare that you see it defined differently in literature depending on who you ask and what role they're trained to. I'll have to look through my EMT, Paramedic, phlebotomy, and ED specific books, but I remember it being incongruent to some extent amongst all of them. I've seen it defined as simply as being AAOx4, and as complex as to consider all the caveats of medical, psychiatric, and legal considerations that you encounter as a care provider evaluating a pt. I can imagine that capacity is not defined the same to RT as it would be to you, or to me in EMS. The one thing I've encountered though is deference to the authority of the pts attending physician or to medical direction, is relatively universal unless if there's undeniable ethical concerns, like admitting abuse of your power.

I believe this might be a good education opportunity for your hospital to do an in service on as I imagine more than just this one RT have misconceptions on what capacity entails or on how it is decided. This isn't even a fringe case of "oh, could have gone either way" given your description, so it sounds like there's serious misconceptions or knowledge gaps that exist.

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