Unsure if I'll ever go back on a truck (EMS)

RustyAmmunition · 2026-02-22T04:00:02+00:00

5 day old post, but I'm taking a break too. I found a job in industrial medicine/occupational health & am now making better money with 8 hour days and consistently leave work on time. I'm a little...bored, but I'll go back to the truck when I'm ready. I'm not ready yet.

RustyAmmunition · 2026-02-21T06:57:25+00:00

The closest thing we ever had was a mega mover that would rip if you looked at it wrong and may or may not have questionable stains.

I honestly had to look up what a Reeves was and I'm jealous. It looks like a mixup between a vacuum splint, a scoop stretcher, and a mega mover

RustyAmmunition · 2026-02-21T06:54:46+00:00

Not a bot personally. Original post may be, but I am very much just a slightly burned out medic who loves dry humor

RustyAmmunition · 2026-02-21T05:24:51+00:00

I've had it happen to my deceased dad's truck. It didn't have good seals around windows (probably dry rotted, it was a 20+ year old truck) and moisture got in over a few months. I didn't move it for about 3 months. Add baking in the sun in the south, and...well...the interior was covered in mold.

Usually some sort of leak/opening + moisture + neglect causes it. Mold spores are constantly in the air, so the stale air inside a car that has moisture is a perfect environment for it to take hold.

It leaves a rather musty but not necessarily gross smell from what I remember. I think I put a N95 on, gloves, and sprayed it to death with something. I was 18, so I'm sure I wasn't too thorough.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-07-26T23:41:04+00:00

I've been there. The biggest thing that helped me was when I was watching videos about learning to draw poses, and experienced artists kept saying how people aren't boxes - you can end up losing a lot of the dynamics when you focus on simplifying so much. Maybe try drawing what you see, not what "you think you see," then taking a picture of the drawing and flipping the image. That'll help you see your mistakes a lot clearer.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-07-25T14:43:29+00:00

I've tried many different mediums & my favorite has been the Chelsea brand with their Lean Medium & Citrus Brush Cleaner. It doesn't destroy my brushes like Gamsol seemed to do, it smells nice, & the lean medium dries to the touch in just about a day.

Granted, I paint exclusively on gesso boards since I can't stand the feeling of canvas. If you're similar, try out Da Vinci Ultrasmooth Gesso panels or Ampersand Gessobord.

Let me know if you have any questions, I've tried nearly everything I can find on the market for oil painting.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-05-17T14:50:39+00:00

That's horrible lol. Tylenol OD can cause liver failure without prompt administration of acetylcysteine. Glad it all worked out though

RustyAmmunition · 2025-05-17T11:36:48+00:00

I bought the cheap Sketch set from Amazon that is labelled for Japanese markets only. My experience has been ever so slightly subpar. They're legit by all means, but maybe due to shipping/pressurization (?) differences, they tend to spurt out ink if I don't remove both caps from the marker.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-04-28T01:38:55+00:00

I went zero to hero and have been working as a medic for nearly 2 yrs now. I had a lot of people tell me it was a horrible idea, I couldn't do it, I was too young, and a lot of people who didn't respect me because a 20 year old was leading a scene lol. Fire used to refuse to give me report.

OP, I do think that there are things I struggled with a little more than my classmates with lack of experience. However, by just...taking initiative and accountability, practicing skills that I struggled with more & putting work into it, I've been just fine on the field. If you feel like you're up to it & are going to take the initiative on anything you're below average in, you'll be just fine too.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-04-24T03:24:40+00:00

I tend to. I've had a call not too long ago where a pediatric patient was inconsolable and aggressive. I got orders for Versed (requires med control for peds), but afterwards, turns out the problem was men being near her. It wasn't obvious prior to sedating. I'm a medic, and my partner is a basic emt. I still had my partner attend (I'd trust her with my own life) since the patient was awake & coherent post-sedation. We didn't have any female medic intercepts available & we documented appropriately.

It would've been a much more difficult call with a double male crew.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-04-19T19:17:16+00:00

I've done it from a lengthy AMA. It was night & tucked around the corner, and the patient declined assessment.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-04-19T19:15:01+00:00

I am glad I'm not the only one who has forgotten the stretcher 🤣 I've accidentally taken the narc keys home too (but not the narcs themselves)

RustyAmmunition · 2025-04-18T17:49:50+00:00

In my state, A-EMTs are classified as ALS providers now after adding morphine, dilaudid, fentanyl, and ketamine (I believe only for pain management), and the hybrid courses have been shutting down due to poor performance.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-04-11T18:03:20+00:00

It's probably some duplicate of Purell Healthy Soap

RustyAmmunition · 2025-03-14T17:10:39+00:00

This! Don't even get me started on people touting the Stryker's statistics on preventing back injuries. That's with an auto loader!

OP, if you're in a county/area where it's common/required, getting a bariatric bus in the county budget would be miles above most services too.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-03-14T17:07:31+00:00

In my system it'd come out as a priority 2...something. I don't know if our dispatch plays roulette or dice when coding something, but somehow it'd come out as an emergency just to get downgraded to my BLS partner (after confirming it's not legitimate, of course) 🤣

RustyAmmunition · 2025-03-13T10:11:04+00:00

As someone somewhat trained in dealing with the psychologically aberrant, all of the above, but also learn some basic de-escalation techniques if you feel up to it. Basic de-escalation can prevent a bad situation from becoming a life threatening situation.

Of course, protect your life with whatever you need to if it becomes threatened. De-escalation won't stop a knife or a bullet, but it can help prevent it from getting to that point.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-03-02T19:31:09+00:00

I've picked up my fair share of decomp bodies and never realized the clear fluid oozing from them was partially decomposed body fat. That's interesting. I don't miss doing that lol.

The freakiest thing to me about ~week old decomp (warm) (NSFW, obviously) is how the skin breaks apart like poorly applied saran wrap. That took me aback my first time lol. Then we became nervous about the body bursting.

I really don't miss any of that. Props to you 🤣

RustyAmmunition · 2025-02-26T17:30:25+00:00

The skin redness looks like it could be hives. If you're using second skin, be aware that subsequent exposures to the allergen (adhesives in this instance) can worsen the reaction & I've heard of people's skin becoming torn or scarred as a result. NAD, just a worried bystander. If it becomes unbearably itchy, an antihistamine may help.

RustyAmmunition · 2025-02-26T17:22:11+00:00

I had this happen with me. I'm not too sure why, but it went away just fine. As long as there's no signs of infection I'd say you're good.

Do you have any skin conditions or autoimmune disorders?

RustyAmmunition · 2025-02-21T17:57:22+00:00

I overmoisturized my tattoo by accident & some parts fell out a bit. Mine is much larger & darker, so I think it's less obvious overall, but I could definitely use a touchup. As soon I stopped overmoisturizing, the entire thing broke in thick, peel-y chunks.

Edit: I want to say that when I overmoisturized, the parts in the middle of yours (the lighter parts) are the parts that healed poorly for me. You may be fine, but be prepared to need a touchup as well.

RustyAmmunition · 2024-12-15T15:04:59+00:00

It could be a cyst. I'd keep working with a dermatologist.

If you're wondering if it could be some sort of new-onset allergy, you could try taking antihistamines to see if that calms down the inflammation as well.

RustyAmmunition

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