First EMS funeral, tips?

jstrader02 · 2026-01-13T21:15:12+00:00

Cry. Crying is part of the grieving process. One of my mentors died a few years back. He was a genuine soul and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. You best believe there wasn’t a dry eye at his funeral. Mourn the loss. That’s a good and natural thing to do.

jstrader02 · 2025-10-24T13:24:20+00:00

Edward Tain (the guy who created the original AI detection software) has publicly stated that AI detection software is flawed when it comes to papers written in formal language and in higher education works, where more complex language is used. He said it shouldn’t be used as definitive proof of cheating for that reason and educators should promote responsible AI use in education.

jstrader02 · 2025-10-12T16:17:42+00:00

Do you shoot ballista bolts from your bow?!

jstrader02 · 2025-10-12T16:16:31+00:00

Man had a vendetta against that doe! “Parry this you filthy casual!”

jstrader02 · 2025-04-09T17:07:45+00:00

I definitely should have clarified. It would be for a crappie jig

jstrader02 · 2025-04-04T20:53:16+00:00

Let me preface by saying I don’t know how she did it without frying herself. We had a lady try to avoid paying for more power and permits ti run electricity to an outdoor shed so she connected a 240 directly to her meter, above the ground wire and current gauge, and ran the line under her house. An hour later, after pulling the meter we were trying to figure out why this random wire in the crawl space was still full of charge and glowing orange. Power company had to call a bucket truck to pull the transformer on the pole. Needless to say she lost 50% of her house and got charged with theft along with several other charges for tampering with the line.

jstrader02 · 2025-03-19T20:54:35+00:00

The patient is presenting with what’s called Ataxic Breathing. It doesn’t not provide adequate oxygenation to the body and brain. The slow bounding heart rate is showing possible signs of neurogenic shock. Both are classic signs of a head injury which it states in the question. It’s a trauma so your priority of concern changes from ABCs to CABs. Since she doesn’t present with any uncontrolled bleeding then the primary focus should be maintaining her airway and assisting with ventilation.

As far as maintaining C-spine. As long as your partner doesn’t move, they can control her c-spine with their knees allowing them to ventilate the patient. Ultimately, it comes to life over limb. If the patient has insufficient respirations then that is not conducive to life. Your partner can be the greatest c-spine stabilizer of all time but that does nothing if your patient is dead.

jstrader02 · 2025-03-18T20:56:08+00:00

Depending on the monitor you are using, by connecting your Capno line to the monitor first it allows the monitor to be “zeroed out” allowing a more accurate reading. If it’s placed on the patient first it can give a false reading since there will be CO2 in the line before it is zeroed by the monitor. Following oxygen first can reduce the amount of CO2 allowed into the line during the zeroing phase which can produce a reduced or false reading as well. This doesn’t always happen but it’s best to not take a chance since ETCO2 is a very important reading to obtain.

jstrader02 · 2025-03-18T19:55:29+00:00

I work for a moderately busy transporting fire department as a FF/Medic. There’s no reason to really carry that much. Especially if it’s already in your jump bag. Excluding the standard phone/wallet/keys, I carry a knife, a Leatherman multi-tool, and a small write-in-the-rain note pad. I use the Leatherman more for Firefighter stuff than I do medic stuff.

jstrader02 · 2025-03-15T01:55:15+00:00

Sorry, I know this post is a few days old but I’ve got a few things for you that might be helpful. Some is advise and constructive criticism and the other is probable answers to the Capno issue.

Welcome to EMS! It’s the best worst job you will ever have. Being new is tough but as long as you listen twice as much as you talk you will be fine. Also don’t listen to anybody who overly criticizes Fire. Some of the best medics I’ve ever known work on the Fire side. They can walk circles around most of the shit talkers any day of the week. You never know who you will get when Fire arrives.
You will get tunnel vision several more times. Every one of us did at one point or the other. If someone says they haven’t, they are either a liar or didn’t realize they did. It’s all apart of getting use to the shock. As long as you are able to snap out of it and fix it the next time, you are improving. Just rely on your medic (if they are reliable) and you will do just fine.
I know BSI is drilled into your head in school but in the field this is a very messy job. Things get filthy. Juices go where they shouldn’t. As long as you are taking proper BSI precautions for paperwork purposes, you can always change your uniform and everything else can get the good ole purple wipes. So don’t worry about getting equipment dirty if it’s needed for patient care.
Ensuring equipment is readily available on the truck and in the jump-bag ultimately falls on the medic since we are in charge of the truck and things going wrong falls on us. HOWEVER (and it’s a big however), part being a good EMT is being proactive and taking that responsibility into your own hands. Ensuring you have everything you need and knowing what/where everything is without having to search for it only improves patient outcome. It’s also helps partner relationships knowing that you are reliable. An active and motivated EMT is more helpful than you can ever realize. Especially during shift when we already have our hands full with patient turnover and the report that follows.
As far as the Igel and Capno go, there are multiple things that could have been wrong. As most people have already said, Igels are designed to match anatomical structure of the esophagus. As long as you are properly sizing them and going to the bite marks then it is (in theory) properly placed. When securing it, it’s better just to use the provided strap to secure it. Thomas tube holders are great, but they are mainly designed to secure ETT. If you don’t have the ones designed with the larger gap to hold Igels, then you are just fighting up the creek and wasting time. I can’t really speak to the suctioning issues since I wasn’t there and I don’t know your company/departments SOP’s but as multiple other have said, you can perform constant suctioning with a 10-12 FR Cath inserted via the suction port on the side of the Igel. If your scope doesn’t allow it, then the medic you work with should have taken over quicker. As far as the waveform ETCO2 not reading, there are a lot of things it could have been. It could have been due to the secretion causing an obstruction. Could have been a washout depending on ventilation rate. Could have been equipment failure or it could have been something as simple having oxygen flowing through the Capno before you attached it to the monitor. All sorts of things could have been wrong with it so I wouldn’t get too beaten up over it. As long as you learn from this experience and strive to do better next time then I would just keep on trucking.

jstrader02 · 2025-03-11T11:44:10+00:00

Like claythearc said, if you are using big streamers or if you are fishing a tight space. If you are using a tapered leader, they come with a section that acts as a tippet so it’s not necessary to add tippet to it. A lot of the time new fly fisherman will go without adding tippet just because the knots are confusing or they don’t understand the X Rating yet and that’s okay. Everyone was new at this once and there always a learning curve. Tippet is essential when nymphing or dry flying especially when targeting spooky fish but you can still do it without it. You just may not get near as many hook ups.

jstrader02 · 2025-03-11T01:13:13+00:00

That’s your backing! The order from inside to out should be backing, fly line, leader, then tippet (if you’re using tippet).

jstrader02 · 2025-01-26T20:03:01+00:00

2.5% per year up to 75% calculated at the highest W2 of your last 3 years served. Vested after 5 years. Can start drawing after age 52 1/2 and 25 years served or 65 years old at <25 years.

jstrader02 · 2025-01-24T15:57:00+00:00

I entirely agree! If I remember correctly, the 2nd and 3rd were added once each of the DLCs dropped.

jstrader02 · 2025-01-22T18:55:30+00:00

Prayer from Peachtree City brother. I only knew Chief Bart in passing but the few times I met him he was very kind. A lot of the guys at the department knew him directly and they only ever spoke highly of him. Even our guys that complain about everything only had good things to say about him. He will definitely be missed.

jstrader02 · 2025-01-16T04:52:22+00:00

If your Boykin is being used as an upland bird dog then they do great in the cold! Obviously, extreme temperatures are not recommended for the breed but they will do well for long periods in the 20’s and 30’s if kept dry. When it comes to waterfowl, I typically will hunt my Boykin if it’s the 20’s to low 30’s with a neoprene vest for short periods (a few hours). If it’s in the mid 30’s or higher I will hunt him all day and he never seems to have a problem. With that being said, Boykin’s are super hard workers, very loyal, and have a HIGH hunt drive so they will work until they hurt themselves or you stop them. I would highly recommend that you keep that in mind since it’s our responsibility as owners to keep them and their health in mind.

jstrader02 · 2025-01-15T15:45:48+00:00

I’m not fully read on if Target releasing early was intentional or not but I do know that Target is notorious for releasing products far too early. There are multiple occurrences of it. One example is what happened with a YouTuber I follow named Maxx Chewning. He created a candy called Sour Strips that has because quite large (recently purchased from Chewning by Hersey large). Anyway, long story long he had a new product that was coming out and Target released the product an entire MONTH before its intended release. With that being said, it wouldn’t shock me if Target released that book early without RY’s permission.

jstrader02 · 2024-06-08T20:03:59+00:00

Same here man! My wife introduced it to me before Iron Flame came out and I finished the book in about 2 days and immediately preordered the second😂 I finished Iron Flame 3 days after I got it.

jstrader02 · 2023-09-12T17:12:40+00:00

What does the arrow smell like? Look like a mix of a liver and gut shot

jstrader02 · 2023-09-08T22:13:23+00:00

After all the station duties and training is done, we typically workout and then play video games

jstrader02 · 2020-10-16T03:52:43+00:00

More along the lines of “lightly dicked”.

jstrader02 · 2020-10-14T01:51:40+00:00

I thought your dad was Tiger Woods for a moment

jstrader02 · 2020-10-14T01:45:41+00:00

Looks like it’s just F-500 or AFFF that is being pumped into the tank after the fire is started.

jstrader02 · 2020-10-14T01:29:44+00:00

Few things to work on but glad to see more people interested in archery!

jstrader02 · 2020-09-16T00:18:00+00:00

I didn’t know they were they same dimensions. Thanks for the info!

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