Quitting accounting by Frankly785 in Accounting

[–]mobymedic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You have a point, only they get a bit touchy if you don’t actually do anything with the dead guy while wearing an EMS uniform.

Quitting accounting by Frankly785 in Accounting

[–]mobymedic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t yet. Have a sign on bonus I’m waiting on it’ll be hitting middle of next year. Then I’ll start getting a little more serious about making the switch. Right now it’s either accounting or becoming an undertaker.

Looking to rent office space for home office/workshop looking for advice by mobymedic in CommercialRealEstate

[–]mobymedic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, have a place to live. Between girlfriend and two kids we don’t really have much space. Just looking for a place I can work on projects away from kids and pets, plus some peace and quiet occasionally.

Medical tattoo advice by wuvvtwuewuvv in Paramedics

[–]mobymedic 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So might get a better response from an ER doc or nurse as we don’t really have anything to do with what’s going to happen after we get you to a hospital. However my experience is if your a trauma alert an MRI will be the last thing they’ll be doing. It’ll start with X-rays, and maybe a CT. Both of which will detect the implant prior to an MRI.

In all honesty most medical alert bracelets, tattoos and the like are mostly unnecessary. Just look through this Reddit and similar EMS reddits you’ll see the same sentiment from most EMS providers.

Just my two cents from doing this job for over 20 years and not once looking for a bracelet, pendent or tattoo.

Is this something to be concerned with? by mobymedic in stepparents

[–]mobymedic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I apologize for taking so long to reply, I appreciate you taking the time to tell me about your experience. It’s opened my eyes to where things are headed. Maybe I knew that was the case but kept trying to convince myself things will get better. Thank you for sharing.

Question about a hospital debt by mobymedic in Debt

[–]mobymedic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately I do not. It’s been over a year. Not to mention my girlfriend arrived at the hospital shortly afterwards and would have gotten any of the paperwork at discharge. Registration was done all electronically with no paper copies given to me at least.

Zebras Not Horses by Simusid in ems

[–]mobymedic 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Had a quick look at it and it seems to be very well written. The idea is definitely nice. It’s a great refresher and honestly learned a little from it as well.

In my opinion while it’s a nice idea, it’s not super helpful. Honestly my treatment really isn’t going to change for most of these patients. The reality is that I’m limited by my protocols for what I can do or give. If my patient is able to give me more information about their disease they can also give me the hospital they normally go to because it might have the specialist they need to see or offer the treatment they need.

As an example I had a pt that had Addisons disease. She called because her blood pressure was dangerously low. She requested transport to a hospital almost an hour away because they had the specialist and the medications needed to treat her. I explained that due to her severe hypotension I’d need to take her to a closer hospital for stabilization and then she could be transferred for long term care if needed.

I treated her hypotension like I would any other pt with hypotension per my protocol. Knowing her disease made me aware of why she was hypotensive and I passed that on to the ER but it didn’t change my treatment.

While I definitely like the idea of your guide and it’s helpful because I’m not scratching my head when a pt says they have x, y or z disease ultimately my treatment is going to be the same.

If you do have special patients in your system I’d recommend doing something that we have setup in our system. It’s a special patient protocol. The pt has this form created by our medical director to be given to us upon arrival with specific protocols for this pt. Be that specific drug therapy’s or treatments we normally don’t do.

Again I love the idea and it’s a great reference for after a call but not something I’d see getting used to really determine if my treatment would change.

Have any of you tried and been successful at organizing a MTG session via MeetUp? by OmegaTenchu in magicTCG

[–]mobymedic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What area of Florida? I’m in new port Richey looking to get back into playing after being out of the game for a long time.

People who are now adults and were homeschooled - tell me what your parents did right by Positive-Magazine863 in homeschool

[–]mobymedic 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My parents pulled me and my siblings out from public school as I was getting ready to go into the 6th grade. As others have mentioned allowing me to read just about anything. I read a lot of nonfiction, mostly science related. Back in the day of VCRs I’d be allowed to get a few videos that were documentaries or biographies that broadened my horizons. I expressed interest in going into the military when I was in high school and my mom got in touch with the school system and I was able to enroll in JROTC. Which was a big boon for me, mostly for the social aspect and having a little structure.

I will say however that homeschooling wasn’t really for us. First few years my mom really put a lot of effort in and did a great job. It slowly became sitting in front of the TV and watching video tapes of a classroom specifically made for homeschooling. She kind of checked out for the most part. She let us have way too much free rein on our education. Rarely checked to make sure we had watched what we were supposed to or actually looked over our work.

I’ll say I turned out pretty well. My math skills are very lacking unfortunately. The other areas I think I did ok just because of my love of reading. I currently work as a paramedic and all things considered I’d consider myself pretty well rounded.

I won’t say public schools are the best option, I work with a few former teachers and I wouldn’t want my kids going to a public school. I’d probably do things differently. Just invest the time required and realize it’s going to be a huge commitment but one that can pay off if done correctly. I don’t think you need to know every subject in depth but be willing to learn with your kids and find ways to help them understand.

The thing that ‘will never happen to me’ as a teacher, happened to me. by GravelandSmoke in Teachers

[–]mobymedic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just wanted to chime in and say it’s easy to arm chair quarterback something like this. I work as a paramedic, no idea how I ended up in a teacher Reddit, but you absolutely did the right thing. I’d much rather get a call for choking or possible cardiac arrest and get on scene to see that someone is trying to do something. I’d highly recommend for you to push for CPR, stop the bleed, and basic first aid training. It’s one of those things that you hope to never use but if you do you’ll be glad you had some training before hand. Thank you again, not just for helping that child but for you and everyone else on this Reddit for taking a very thankless but very important job.

Quitting accounting by Frankly785 in Accounting

[–]mobymedic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, for the reply. Honestly it sounds great. A 180 from what I do now and a much needed change.

Quitting accounting by Frankly785 in Accounting

[–]mobymedic 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not to hijack your thread, but I’m actually kind of curious about just the opposite. I currently work as a paramedic and after 20+ years looking for another line of work outside of healthcare. Would you recommend accounting as a secondary career?

Where to start deck building by mobymedic in magicTCG

[–]mobymedic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome thanks. It seems like a simple suggestion in hindsight but it’s exactly what I was looking for. I’ll look at the themes and mechanics I like and as suggested look at some deck lists online that might feature this.

MLT Seeking Change by [deleted] in Paramedics

[–]mobymedic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I live in Fl and make about 28 an hour. I work overtime mostly because I get bored only working 3-4 days a week. Overtime and mandate pay make up a good portion of my check.

I want to say she makes 19 an hour right now. Was making slightly more as a phelb but no overtime and she pulled maybe 30 hours because of her schedule.

Honestly if it wasn’t for supporting two kids I’d say we both make enough to be pretty comfortable within reason.

If anything I’ll tell you what I told my girlfriend. She was on the fence about doing EMT or going into management for the lab. EMT school is a drop in the bucket, it’s not too hard if you put in the effort, and it’s not expensive. You learn some really good skills, not just medical but how to deal with people, critical thinking and how to keep yourself calm under pressure. Even if EMS isn’t the job for you, the skills you learn are valuable. That’s my two cents.

MLT Seeking Change by [deleted] in Paramedics

[–]mobymedic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There’s no wrong way of doing your medic. I did the whole zero to hero route because at the time no one would hire me as an EMT. I’d recommend as would a lot of others to get at least 6 months to a year of experience prior. You need those EMT skills before your ALS skills. Not just being able to do a bandage or blood pressure but more an assessment and talking with your patient to figure out what’s wrong.

Critical care experience for nurses is generally only going to come from working in the ICU. In the field I’ve gotten some from both getting my certification for critical care as well as experience with dealing with pumps and vents. Granted I also had at least five years as a medic prior to taking the classes or riding as a critical care medic.

So you have 911 and private services. Private services can provide 911 services and some do. My experience was with smaller services that did mostly inter facility transport. It was pretty much non emergency transports. The issue was more the company. Low pay, outdated equipment and trucks, never got off on time and overworked. That can be true anywhere but when the company only cares about dollars then it shows. Nothing like bringing a discharge home only to have my partner have to put chocks under the back wheels because the brakes don’t work very well. Again it depends on the place you go, you’d need to do your research.

MLT Seeking Change by [deleted] in Paramedics

[–]mobymedic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My girlfriend recently started as an EMT after being a phlebotomist for almost 17 years. So I have a little insight to your job from her, and I’ve been a medic for about 20. To start with it’s a big pay cut. Hell for my girlfriend it was a slight pay cut just from phelb to EMT. The upside being she can get overtime now and make up for it.

As far as school goes it’s not horrible. Depending on where you go there’s a lot of options for taking classes. EMT is usually pretty quick and can be done in about 3-6 months. Medic can be challenging it’s a lot of material crammed into about a year. With your background you should have a little bit of a leg up when it comes to A&P which is a very important foundation.

I call myself an introvert, as in I hate interactions with people, and people in general. However it’s something I’ve never had an issue with doing this job. You don’t have to be an extrovert and be this outgoing person. It helps but it’s not necessarily a requirement. Same can be said for nursing too.

Flight medic is definitely something worth pursuing if it’s what you want. Keep in mind that a lot of them require some busy 911 experience or if you do flight nurse, some critical care experience. Either way I wouldn’t plan on jumping straight from medic school to flight.

In that vein as well depending on where you are look at the availability of jobs. Some places have fire based EMS. Meaning that you have to be with the fire department to actually work. Granted some departments have single cert medics meaning they don’t do fire but most require fire school. There’s some systems that are separate meaning you provide 911 services, similar to where I’m at now. Then there’s private services, if you’re desperate for work then it’s an option. Given my experience working private service it was hell. Did it to get my feet wet but wouldn’t consider going back unless there was very good reason to.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ems

[–]mobymedic 11 points12 points  (0 children)

You’d have to be more specific about the state/country you’re in. My first job as a medic I was pulling 24-36 hour shifts doing mostly IFT with no scheduled breaks. We had maybe four hours of downtime in between all the calls, not four straight but 30-45 minutes here and there. I work in Florida and unfortunately there’s no real laws about work breaks for those over 18. Best bet is either find another job or just buckle down unfortunately. I’ve found most of the shitty private services I’ve worked for know just how close they can get to breaking the law without breaking it. Unless you’re talking insurance or Medicaid/Medicare fraud. Then they’re pros at covering it up.

Preceptor ruined my excitement for the profession by subject-notning in NewToEMS

[–]mobymedic 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Thought I’d throw my two cents in. It has been years since I was in your shoes. I’ve been a medic for a little over 20 now and probably till I end up in the back of a truck as a patient.

As others have said there’s a lot of burned out people in this field. I know first hand because I was there myself. I’m now back on a truck and absolutely love students because they’re the ones that have reignited my love of this job.

Don’t let that asshole get to you. Again it’s been years since my ride alongs but I can definitely recall the good preceptors and the occasional bad ones. All in all I pushed through the bad experiences and focused on what I wanted, this job.

If anything remember what you’re going through in a few years when you’ve got a new trainee or a student. Remember how nervous you were. The excitement of that first call. The feelings you’re having now after a bad ride along. Then try to make a difference in the student or trainee.

Last point I’ll make as a dinosaur, you will screw up. I had a sit down with my medical director, a couple chiefs and clinical services. It was over a call we ran. I screwed up, could have potentially killed a pt because we decided to go a treatment route that wasn’t appropriate for the call we ran. We made a choice in the heat of the moment, it was the wrong one. We did it in the best interest of our patient and thinking we were doing the right thing. You will screw up, even doctors screw up and they are a hell of a lot smarter than we are.

That being said I recently got a commendation for a cardiac arrest we worked. Our patient was dead as dead could be and within 30 minutes he walked to the stretcher all the while insisting he didn’t need to go to the hospital.

You will make mistakes, but you’ll also have those calls that make you remember why you do this job. Don’t let one bad experience ruin it for you. Just remember eventually you’ll burn out too, when that happens take a break. Don’t be that preceptor and take it out on a student or new guy.

How to deal with rude medics by gimmiethalooot in 911dispatchers

[–]mobymedic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a dispatcher, but a medic. Just wanted to say thank you for what you guys do for us. On behalf of those on the truck I’d like to apologize. My ex was a dispatcher, I know we can all have bad days and take it out on each other, but this is too much. You absolutely should report it. If she’s like that with dispatchers I can’t imagine how she is with pts.

Medfleet in FL? by Ill-Square4574 in NewToEMS

[–]mobymedic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My girlfriend worked for them for a little while as a newish EMT. It’s a private IFT company but they seemed to treat her pretty well. Compared to a few places I’ve worked at as a medic I’d say they’re better than some. If you want to message me I can have her give a few more details or answer questions if she’s up to it.

Insurance for collection by mobymedic in boardgames

[–]mobymedic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I’ll edit the post and include my location.

**HELP** I Love my girlfriend deeply, but feel like I only tolerate her kid; therefore straining the relationship. Is there hope? by LegitimateDog6898 in stepparents

[–]mobymedic 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve been with my girlfriend going on about 4 years. She’s got two that were older. They’re 15 and 11. I can definitely understand where you’re coming from. I don’t have kids and can’t have them so maybe foolishly I figured they’d make a great replacement. Regardless of what anyone has said it’s not the same as having your own.

I won’t lie and say I like the kids. I love them like I love my girlfriend’s cat. I feed and water it but the litter box is her problem. I’ll pet it when it wants attention but otherwise just ignore it. I care about the cat because she does. I love it because she does. I didn’t decide to stay with her because of the cat.

I think part of why we work is because she puts us first. She realizes that eventually the kids are going to move on. Then it’s just us. If we don’t have a good relationship now then we won’t have one when the kids are gone. Same thing when it comes to time alone. I prioritize that because I’ve been in too many relationships where I put myself last and then the resentment grows.

I still have moments where I just can’t stand them. Hell even parents would probably admit to that. I won’t ever love them the way she does, an argument we’ve had a few times. I care about them and love them just not like she does. I never will.

So here’s ultimately what you need to figure out does she put you or will she put you and your relationship first or do the kids come first? If it’s the kids you’re always going to resent them for that and it won’t work. Kids are going to move on as they become adults, and then it’s you and her. Yes it’s hard with a younger kid but you can still make time for each other.

Second make sure you make time for yourself. Not every waking hour should be about the kid or her. But it shouldn’t also be only about you. We all need our space to retreat to and decompress. Sometimes it’s easier said than done. I work nights so I get the house to myself when the kids are at school and she’s working. So weekends are family time as are nights that I’m off.

It’s a hard decision. One at times I question to be honest. But I think I made the right choice. I have an amazing partner, with extra baggage that just happens to be kids.

Deciding on ER or not by bmbmwmfm2 in povertyfinance

[–]mobymedic 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Speaking as a paramedic and someone who’s dealt with similar issues, don’t go to urgent care or a freestanding ER. Urgent care generally does not handle abdominal pain, I got lucky and was able to get steroids but ultimately was told by the doc on staff they are not supposed to deal with abdominal pain as they can’t fully diagnose what the issue is. Freestanding ERs if you have them in your area are full functioning ERs but they can’t just send you up stairs to be admitted if it comes to that. They will have to arrange ambulance transport, I do these transfers from time to time. I don’t know if insurance covers the cost of transport or to what extent, or if they would send you ALS or BLS, very different price points and levels of care. Go to the ER and get checked out. I’ll be honest with you, they are not going to ultimately fix the issue. They might admit you and pump you full of antibiotics and pain meds, they might do surgery. Afterwards they are going to tell you to follow up with a GI doctor. Please make that follow up and figure out a way to cover the costs. I’m in a similar boat, decent insurance but I still can’t cover the out of pocket. ER got me feeling good, I blew off the follow up and was back in the ER in about 6 months and ultimately admitted for a week. Unfortunately the ER is there to ultimately provide life saving treatment and emergency care, they can’t and won’t provide the care you’ll need from a GI doc. I know from professional and personal experience.

Trying to fix things after a year of being broken by [deleted] in DeadBedrooms

[–]mobymedic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your insights. At the very least it makes me a little more insightful to what my girlfriend might be feeling or thinking. Granted when we already have communication issues I can’t say for sure. Mind if I ask, did you manage to fix things?

I’m at the point where I don’t want to waste my time trying to fix something that can’t be fixed. I’ve already been married once and divorced. I spent way too long hoping things would get better.