For the past eight years, I have held a terrible secret, one that has caused me no small amount of sleepless nights. On at least two occasions during that time, I’ve had the opportunity to level with the authorities, and neither time did I avail myself of the opportunity to cleanse my soul of its terrible burden. But now, as ...

Tagged by Expert Witness, and as it seems, I’m the last person in the blogosphere tagged with this one, so I won’t tag anyone else. The rules of the meme go: 1. Find the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!2. Turn to page 123.3. Find the first five sentences.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five other ...

I scored a Far Out90% on theQuiz by SheGoddess:Probably because I grew up listening to my brother’s music. It was a steady diet of 70s rock bands. Hell, the first song my own daughter ever sang was Drift Away.

…I’d be down a full deck right now. Fifty-two pounds lost since February 4th. My friends have always described me as being a couple cards shy of a full deck. How little they knew…

…are EMTs involved in a serious ambulance accident in West Nyack, NY on April 14th. They need help. I don’t know them. I only heard of their accident through an EMS news feed. I also know that just recently I asked you to donate what you could to the family of another rescuer killed in the line of duty. And ...

…headed to Myrtle Beach for the South Carolina Emergency Care Symposium in the morning, due to return on the 19th. I know I’ve been light on the real posts lately, but I’ll try to put something meaningful up here and on Star of Life in the next couple of days. God knows I’ll have plenty of time between a gazillion ...

The National Association of EMTs is holding elections for Regional Board members. Voting can be done online, and closes at midnight EDT, April 27th. What’s that, you say? You’re not a member of NAEMT?Then today is a perfect time to join. What you may not know is, the recent bylaws changes allow for direct election of board members by the ...

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 I know it’s National Buy A Gun Day, but if you happen to have a bit left over from Uncle Sam’s gracious repayment of the money he extorted from you in 2007, consider the following… The Louisiana EMS Memorial Bike Ride, ...

After KatyBeth was born, and we came to realize that she’d have disabilities, learned all the twenty-five dollar words no parent should have to learn, we set about getting her the help she needed. We applied to all the various governmental programs that she was qualified for, and it didn’t take us long to discover one thing: those programs aren’t ...

…yesterday was Sedate The Head Injured Drunk But Not Control His Airway Day! Yeah, nobody told me either. But Dumbass Paramedic was celebratin’ like a mofo.

Created by OnePlusYou I’d probably go really well with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Just for perspective though, the 48 pounds I’ve lost since since February 4th could feed thirteen cannibals. Hopefully, by November I’ll be little more than a decent appetizer rather than the Family Bucket of Deep-Fried Paramedic(TM) that I am now. Tuesday, I volunteered to ...

911Doc over at M.D.O.D. vents about JCAHO and Press-Ganey: JCAHO and Press-Gainey and ‘core measures’, I submit, are the health care industry’s version of protection rackets. I stand to be corrected so all you fans of JCAHO and Press-Gainey please do comment here and tell me why I’m all wrong, but here’s the essence of my case… …JCAHO and Press-Gainey ...

Had occasion to think of that movie quote after an exchange of e-mails with Babs. The reasons why we broke up are not important, except to say that lack of love for one another was not one of them. A lot of our talking over the past couple of months has been at each other, and not to each other. ...

…is, it depends. If you’re really, really sick..I mean like, need an ambulance sick, you may only have minutes to live. But we EMTs are the ones most qualified to make that determination. We have hours years of training, and we make the determination that a person is really emergent based upon a finely honed assessment process, years of experience, ...

I just entered a request into the computer for a hepatic function test, AP and lateral chest film, and rib views for a kid who had fallen onto a pipe. But the doctor didn’t specify on which side he wanted the rib detail. So I trudged my sore knees all the way down the hall, poked my head in the ...