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Geez Jason I thought your eyeballs were gonna pop out your head with the small elevator cab rant! I'll pass this along to the commercial architects I work with!
Pretty sure I look exactly like that every time after I had another Stamp lift (my nickname for those suckers). So pretty much Daily even worse when it's in a care facility or doctors office. Smallest one I ever had was just big enough to stand up in as a thin person but you still touched almost all walls and guess what that baby took space away from the staircase that was now also barely usable with a carrying chair if you dont consider the blood trail my nuckles left on the roughcast. Also an important law the heaviest patient always lives on the highest floor in the building with the worst lift and stairs, show me the weight and Ill tell you which floor they live on. Sometimes Im really close to believing architects build those kinds of crap to enrage EMS. If you want to make it usable and there isnt much space don't put a lift in and make the staircase even smaller we cant use that tiny thing anyways so just leave us a bigger staircase with no twisted steps (the automatic stairclimber we use for overweight pts cant do twisted steps forcing us to do it by hand and if we have to use a canvas sling bc pt cant sit you have to coordinate at least 3 ppl to not mistep) If there is space please make the lift big enough for a stretcher.
My dad told me a story. There was a guy at work, Marvin, and they all gave him crap all the time. One day they decided they were being too hard on him, and planned a "Be nice to Marv day." By noon, poor Marvin was almost in tears because he thought everybody was angry at him.
Yeah that's why i could never be in EMS. My grandfather was the kind of person who would give you a hard time if he liked you. So he teased and tormented me as a child and I grew up to absolutely hate him. My grandmother asked me about it once. I gave her an hour's long laundry list of stuff i remembered and resented from the time i was five to five minutes before I started. She told me "that's just how he shows he loves you." To which I said "well it had the opposite effect. If he died today I would be happy." Broke her heart but she finally understood how serious i was. He's dead now. Sadly he outlived grandmother by fifteen years. And yes, i was happy when he died.
My dad was a schoolteacher at a remote Native Alaskan village who got roped into the volunteer firefighter crew that was being set up for the first time in the village’s history. He became an Arctic search-and-rescue diver, an EMS first responder, and eventually Fire Chief of the department once it got established. The guy has some WILD stories about responding to calls out on the Arctic tundra and fighting fires in the frigid north.
Fun fact about arctic fires, specifically forest fires up north, if they aren't actually extinguished then the fire doesn't actually go out and just flairs back up after the thaw, they are called zombie fires and the snow actual reduces the burn rate while insulating the fire so it can reduce to embers in trunks till it can rage once more in the spring
Wilderness EMS is the one area that I have no experience in. I've had some pretty rural areas to deal but nothing close to wilderness. Kudos and respect to our folks that have to manage their patients for many hours before arriving at the hospital.
@@kalilak9701 One factoid he pointed out was that the rescue divers in their diving suits were sleek, black and swam a particular way. This was remarkably similar to seals. ORCAS HUNT SEALS. So every time he dove, he and his dive partner would ALWAYS be on the lookout for a hungry Orca that could be prowling around. One story I recall had to do with a training dive my dad did in the Arctic Ocean. He and his dive partner had gotten quite a ways down in the water, when all of a sudden the air regulator that controlled the flow of oxygen from the diving tank to the breathing mask blew open for some reason, which caused my dad's dive mask to blow off his face. My dad had the presence of mind to grab the damaged mask which was now venting out all its oxygen to the surrounding water, get his dive partner's attention, frantically point to the dive mask and his face. It took him a bit for his partner to realize that a malfunction had occurred because he thought that my dad was suffering from The Bends (they had dived far enough where that was possible) and he had to share his own air regulator between him and my dad as both of them slowly swam back up to the surface (you can't ascend fast underwater because the nitrogen boils out of your blood which can kill you, you have to ascend and decompress slowly in order to make it back alive). When the technicians looked over my dad's broken air regulator, they found that the valve that controls the flow of air had been frozen open from the arctic waters, which happened because the equipment had not been designed for water that cold (I think it was the cold of the water that transferred through and caused the material the valve was made of to shrink, which caused the valve to lock up?). The department made sure to be much more careful about their equipment selection from that point forward! Another crazy story happened when he was driving his snow-machine around town on some errands. A car came along and sideswiped him by accident and drove off. He was sent flying from his snow-machine into a snowbank, which thankfully was soft. He picked himself up, righted his snow-machine (which thankfully still worked, a couple dented bits here and there as far as he could tell) and he seemed fine. He was able to drive home, which spooked my mom. Especially because he said he was going to take a nap. My dad at that time NEVER took naps in the early afternoon, he was too busy with fire department stuff. My mom probed a bit, and my dad said something along the lines of "I almost saw Heaven today." He was about to explain the car accident he had just been in when he got an emergency call. Most of the department was out on other duties (some on training, some on firefighting missions, etc.) and my dad and one other person were the only EMTs on call. The other guy went to drive the ambulance from the station, and my dad had no choice but to drive up in his snow-machine so he could get to the call's source as soon as possible. He ended up at the scene of an eerily similar car accident to the one he was just in. A lady had been hit by a car which drove off after hitting her, and she got flung into a soft snowbank similar to what happened to him not a couple hours earlier. He was going through his usual EMT checklist as the ambulance was coming, and he began to realize that the symptoms the lady was experiencing after being hit by the car WAS THE SAME SYMPTOMS HE WAS ALSO FEELING. So what did he do? When the ambulance pulled up a few minutes later, he told the lady that he was going to lay down on the stretcher next to her, because HE TOO WAS FEELING THE SAME PAIN IN THE SAME SPOTS, BECAUSE HE TOO HAD BEEN HIT BY A CAR NOT THAT LONG AGO. I can only IMAGINE how freaked out that poor lady had been upon hearing that the EMT sent to her (who by the way HAD DRIVEN UP IN A SNOWMACHINE, NOT AN AMBULANCE) was also hurting in exactly the same way that she was hurting, and the emergency room almost kicked my dad out because they initially didn't believe him. But eventually they checked on him, and found out he was telling the truth. SOME TIME LATER (this isn't the end of the story) my Dad was trying to figure out how to hunt Caribou. His peers (all seasoned hunters in the Arctic, and my dad being a white guy whose family came from Florida who had moved to Barrow/Utqiagvik only a few years ago) told him "Yeah, they're out there. You just drive out there in a snowmachine and get 'em." My dad interpreted that as chase after the wild Caribou herd on his snowmachine with his gun at the ready, to essentially run down and shoot a caribou through sheer determination. IN THE WINTER DARK. His snowmachine had a decent headlight on it, so he was hoping he could use the headlight to find the Caribou in the dark and hunt them that way. WELP. He found them, and he gave chase. The moment my dad took his hands off the snowmachine handle, grabbed the gun, and lifted to aim, the snowmachine hit a compacted bit of snow and bucked my Dad one way, the gun the other, and the Snowmachine went tearing off into the night. My dad made ANOTHER fatal error: he had wired the throttle open, because some of the damage he didn't see on the snowmachine from when it had gotten hit by the car some time ago was to the throttle, so he had no choice but to wire it open and to use the killswitch to force the snowmachine off when he wasn't using it. The parts to fix it hadn't come, and he wanted that caribou, so... the snowmachine went barreling into the dark at top speed, its headlight the only thing lighting up his surroundings other than the moonlight. My Dad was flabbergasted. He was even more flabbergasted when he noticed something impossible: the headlight looked like it was going straight at first, but then it began to slowly CURVE. TURNS OUT, one of the skis on the snowmachine HAD BEEN BENT WHEN THE SNOWMACHINE GOT HIT BY THAT CAR. So the snowmachine made a large loop because the curved ski forced it to go into a curved pattern, and my Dad was able to time it juuuust right to jump on the Snowmachine as it miraculously looped back around (the gun had disappeared in the dark, there was no way he was finding that thing). He was desperately clinging to the back railing of the snowmachine at first, but he managed to pull himself up and hit the killswitch on the snowmachine. He looked up. And there were the caribou. Staring back at him in the glow of the headlight. Almost as if they understood the threat had somehow neutralized itself. He turned around and drove back home, absolutely lucky to be alive.
I would add “Get used to dark/gallows humor because sometimes it’s the only humor in a situation” my dad once responded to a call that was…extremely messy, Guy had a heart attack in his rig, ran down an embankment and through someone’s garage, which let’s just say, took the top off of his rig like a can opener rendering rescue unnecessary. He came home saying he was starving. My mom, not thinking said, couldn’t you find some food, and my dad said, well, the guy had a Twinky on his seat but I figured it would be in bad taste to eat it. He also worked for the local funeral home in his older years and would go do pickups. One was quite a ways away and he grabbed some takeout…in the hearse. My mom asked him if he was hungry and he said no, he did the drive through. My mom asked if it was pre pickup and my dad responded no. She was horrified and he said, “What should I have asked the lady in the back if she wanted something?” Good times.
Gotta have the dark humor. See so much shit that if there's a chance to crack a joke and take some weight off your shoulders you take that chance and make the most of it.
Jason! I hear ya about the elevator crush, and you'll be pleased to know we architects are doing something about it. The current building code actually has a requirement for elevators, reading in part: "...at least one elevator shall be sized to accommodate an ambulance stretcher that is 24 inches wide by 84 inches long with corners having radii of 5 inches or more." I personally bludgeoned a car dealership owner into increasing the size of the elevator going into his two-story building just for this reason. I'm a 30+ year active member of a huge volunteer EMS system in Virginia Beach, a 20+ year running architect, and a retired Commander in the USN. Every building coming to my drawing board gets the "EMS passageways expansion" protocol applied before going for permit!
Now I just need all architects in my region of the world to do this. We even have care facilities whose lift in the main building only fits a single regular sized wheelchair without foot rests..... A Care Home with sick elderly people .... . We once had a hospital home transfer there with a nonverbal very overweight stroke patient in a not great overall condition, they wanted patient on the 1st floor (American 2nd floor I think?) ... yeah no I'd rather just deal with the hassle of having them readmitted to the hospital then carry them up there.
May we all be blessed with architects that have such foresight. There have been times that we had to put someone UNDER the stretcher if we actually wanted to fit in the elevator. (Even better if the buildings stairs are known for being sketchy/filled with recovering addicts staggering in after a binge ect. Sad but unfortunately, true).
1. Whether there is room or not, ff's will hump eachother in any size elevator. Dont let them fool ya! Collective shift showers every shift at 20:00. FACTS! 2. You forgot all the bald peacocks who are the most sensitive lil girls and blame other shifts for all the problems. FACTS 3. A ff will NEVER miss the opportunity, when making an appointment on their off day, to mention they are available because they aren't at the Fire Station that day. FACT 4. Want to cause a stir next shift? Go into kitchen at shift change and ask the new ff his pay rate compared to the 10 year veteran. Sit back and watch the fireworks! 5. "I'm a happily married, faithful hero of the community". Translation...Hope the ems girl we've been passing around never runs into our wives at the station. One of them will surely leave their family for the young, attractive homewrecking ems girls. 6. This is always a classic. "NO TURNOUT GEAR ALLOWED IN LIVING QUARTERS", posted in every Firestation. BUT, if a citizen calls 911 for medical complaint, they sure as hell will wear the same carcinogen laden gear into YOUR living space. FACT! 7. "Hey, do you have a twin brother that works for your department?" There's a guy who looks just like you, but he's a beast. He's all swolled up. Translation: Same guy, just off his steroid cycle. You can always tell when Spring rolls around, most of 'em put on 20 lbs of muscle then shrink down late Fall/Winter... like clockwork. FACT! 8. Their second job/ small business, will always have a ff reference. Just to make sure you know there is a hero in your presence. THIS HAS BEEN SO FUN!🤣 ...DON'T WORRY FF'S! IF I DIDN'T LIKE YOU I WOULDN'T HAVE POINTED OUT 'SOME' OF YOUR FLAWS. ( Isn't that how it works, you're my brothers!). FACT!
Lemme see if I got this right 1- Murphy's Law is in full effect 2- The Hose over H oes 3- Guarenteed Mandatory Overtime 4- There is a quota on Chaos that WILL be maintained 5- "Locker Room Talk" is the Native Language God Bless our EMS/Fire Responders. Truly the unsung heroes of our Country!
@@QemeH 😹👍🤣 Oh yeah! HONDA & TMB… kids these days don’t know what I’m talking about when I fall into that speech. Around 2003 there was a company around Houston called MadMedic, they had some great T-shirts. The only one that looked better than the acronyms was the picture of the graveyard and the caption “every medic has a learning curve“.
I actually do not engage in "locker room talk" with anyone but am not entirely sure why, most tell me to my face it is because I am "too nice". However, while that would normally cause trust issues it is not with me because my coworkers know I have the capacity for it since while I avoid talking to PEOPLE that way I do so freely to the EQUIPMENT.
@@GhostBear3067 I would simply assign that to Good Manners & Civility... a degree of courtesy that sadly appears to be passe and out of fashion in this Modern Age.
as a college engineer with plans to specialize into civil engineering, i will make sure that all of the elevators and staircases in my buildings will be designed with the advice of EMTS and firefighters
It isn't just for EMT and Firefighters, but you can use larger elevators for moving furniture without needing a separate freight elevator as well as you have people who are using large wheelchairs.
Sadly, many such decisions are then usurped by the general contractor or the site owner, so you're in for a lot of fighting either way. Since it's a guarantee that somebody is going to lose and get mad, the architect has a huge economic incentive to side with the owner's unreasonable corner-cutting demands, over the practical needs of tenants or EMS. The one who writes the checks makes the rules.
Gods, and disabled people please. Building that in from scratch is so much cheaper. And there are days my pain is doubled because I have to literally walk around the building to get in, or I can't use the loos because the stalls are too small. (Seriously, if your knees are under the sink then your disabled stall is badly designed!) Once having to phone the manager to get me off the throne is once time far too many. Thank all holy that cellphones exist...
There also is a whole set of rules for senior citizens. For example: If the patient is a senior citizen, their bedroom must - and I mean MUST - be located in the one room of any house or apartment, that is only accessible through the narroest walkways possible, preferrably with at least four 90 degree turns, put in close succession to one another, to ensure it is absolutely impossible to get a person in or out on a stretcher. Bonus points are awarded for narrow stairways at +45 degree angles and circular stairways that end directly in a door. Also one of my favorites: Should a senior citizen defy the first rule and have a large and easily accessible bedroom, the gods have decreed the patient must slip in the attached bathroom, which can not be larger than the size of an average litterbox. First responders will find the patient wrapped around the toilet seat, with one arm behind the sink, the other arm stuck awkwardly behind the patients back and their feet still tangled in the shower giving you the awesome chance to play the "solve the human gordian knot without manipulating the spine and/or hip" game.
I was a cop and a paramedic. I agree fully with all five of those immutable laws, and then some. Unfortunately, a few months ago, I was that senior citizen with a nice large bedroom, easily accessible by EMS. However, I was apparently sick with Covid and fell in my relatively small bathroom taking a header into the tile lined shower and knocking myself out. While I wasn't all tangled up in the the toilet and other fixtures, I still presented a bit of difficulty for the fire fighters getting me out. Luckily my daughter heard me fall, checked on me, and I remember her calmly saying, "I think I'm going to call 911." She is in an Air Force Reserve medical unit and an Afghan vet, so she doesn't get excited easily and calmly watched the fire guys trying to get me out. So I was provided with an eyewitness account of my adventure. I felt sorry for the fire guys since I had been in their place way more than once. Luckily I had nothing seriously injured. I did text a couple of my old military and police buddies about my adventure. Sympathy? Not a bit. Shit talk city (as I expected). They still love me. 🙂
@@christophertipton2318 yup the universe has a sick sense of humor. glad to hear you got out allright. It just boggles my mind how elderly people tend to end up in the most inaccessible room on the premise every single time. I have been to homes the size of the White House and the relatives still managed to put granny up in the attick so far back I was expecting to pop into Narnia at any moment.
@@StudleyDuderight had a call with an obese patient and no properly sized elevators in the building. To get everything to fit someone had to go under the stretcher and I am 5'4" so...
The greatest thing I have ever seen in my life was when they were building a new high rise by us, they made all 4 elevators the proper length and appropriate width for up to 4 people and a fully loaded stretcher and nothing had to be broken down. The elevators even have a star of life on the outside indicating as such and the developers told us about it before it was finished being built. Gloooooory glory hallelujah!
When you're off duty, or even better, on vacation, do you still check any elevator you enter for whether the stretcher will fit? I've found myself doing this.
I made the mistake once of talking about a particular EMS run that didn't have a happy ending. It was my first as an EMT. I said, in front of a seasoned paramedic, that I sometimes wondered if I should have or could have done something different. He immediately became noticably pissed. He said " Obviously no one has told you the rules. RULE #1. People DIE! Rule #2. There is not a damn thing that you nore I nore anyone else can do about rule number 1." The job got a lot easier after that day.
Seems to me talking in front 0f that paramedic was no mistake at all. He had the courage to tell you the truth you needed to hear. It's a rule we all need to remember.
I’ve been on both sides of putting the nozzle down. The only time I had it taken I thought I was safe because the asst chief was the only one close enough to grab it. Nope! I ended up jumping hose for him. Ugh
This socioculture environment; talking shit also means you feel comfortable enough to let your guard down around that other person, and as such, this is a sign of deep respect.
@@nasty1866 Tenure. If it’s your first six month on the job, they’re busting your chops (this next part is important) BUT they are also testing you to see if you can take it and be “one of them.” If you don’t take offense and figure out how to give it back, you pass.
@@nasty1866 attitude and tone on how they're speaking to you as well. The worst thing that could happen is someone riding your ass for no reason without it being funny or not speaking to you at all.
Sucky thing is these days so many people are soooooo sensitive they complain to hr as soon as you start giving em crap, even when they are laughing with you. We can't even call em probies anymore cause a complaint to hr. Deff not like the old days even 10-15 yrs ago now a days. Fire and EMS as well as PD just ain't no fun if ya can't talk crap and pick.
We had a rookie named Raymond we called him rookie Ray he got so pissed he quit he didn't pass the test of taking a little sh** some people not ment for fire&ems
I just got my first job as an EMT here in illinois, I absolutely love it so far and your videos are one of the many reasons I got my license and got the job. Thank you for being so freaking funny and making this job look amazing for the youngens like us
A lot of good to be had in the field, just get training and improve. And try not to let the company or state not give you raises. I learned most places will make you're salary trash become its a bonus to work in ems/fire which is bs. That's the biggest issue in the field. Dirt poor pay.
I just wanted to say thank you so much to all firefighters, paramedics, and first responders. My husband had an emergency a day ago & couldn’t walk, after falling down and I knew something bad was going on. 5 guys from the Fire Department here came and helped him get down the stairs , calmed him down and then the ambulance came. They were all so caring and took such good care of him. We found out today that he couldn’t walk because an MRI showed that the nerves in his neck were crushed and he is having neck surgery tomorrow. These guys were amazingly kind & gentle. I couldn’t have carried my 6’3” 225lb husband down our stairs without them and get him to the emergency room. But they did it with such kindness & compassion. I’m hoping for a good outcome & I from now on will forever support our local firefighters/ Paramedics and give to whatever charity they ask for . You guys are my hero’s! ❤
I worked military law enforcement in the 80’s. 100% true about talking crap. If a coworker does not insult you at least once per shift, it means they do not trust you.
Greetings from a fellow paramedic from switzerland. Its so great to see and hear that those unspoken laws apply to you guys across the pond aswel... :D
Everywhere everytime. There are regulation in post-soviet republics that 10+ stories high building needs cargo elevator and passenger one. Guess which one is broken 90% of the time?
My grandmother lived in my house during the last year of her life. When she had a heart attack, my mother, who is a nurse, called for an ambulance and told the dispatcher everything the paramedics needed to know. Meanwhile, I made sure to open a path from the entrance of the house to my grandmother's bedroom upstairs. I removed a bunch of shoes in the vestibule, moved the couch in the living room, etc. We did everything to make the paramedics' job easier for my grandmother's sake. I also let them work by staying out of their way, comforting my grandmother from a safe distance. She died a few weeks later. If I was an architect, EMS and firefighters would be worshiping me.
I'm an architect, and I hear you... DOWN with the porta-potty size elevators and UP with EMS-friendly lifts! Also, thanks for the pep talk on the office smack-talk - that really gave me some insight and made me look at the other side of the coin. Family-owned firm, so there's no such thing as "leave your work problems in the office" or "Leave your personal life at home"... 24/7 on the job and 24/7 conflict... Stay safe, and thank you for all your positive attitude, and your service to your community!
Had some firefighters through at my workplace today… they tried to buy some treats. Got a call the second they arrived at the register and they had to take off without their items. I told the paramedics that came through after about it, because we felt bad and they said, and I quote, “Poor babies. They don’t work hard enough.” 😂
Hahahahaha - As an EMT/Fire - we know the places that will hold our food for us. Once, we ordered, got a call, left, came back 3 hours later, and they remade the food for us, since our original was cold. I about cried from gratitude. And yes, that is exactly what medics say about fire - it's part of that "trash talk" lol.
I used to live down the street from a fire station and we had a grocery store there. It was my rule to always let them pay first because I saw that happen enough times. One time as soon as they paid and had their bags, a car just goes rolling by after somehow managing to hit the median perfectly to flip. One of the guys had to run to the truck with all the bags while the others ran to the car.
You're so right about the late calls. I volunteered to work a shift right before Christmas since we had a winter storm here and the chief wanted an extra guy on so I said that I would come in and work 7 to 4 because I had dinner plans at 6 for my son's birthday. Anyway, we had JUST come back from an MVA and it's like 3:58pm and the fire/EMS tones go off, thinking it was another MVA. I am outside the chief's office and I said something to the effect of "Chief, I need to scoot at 4 since we have dinner plans for my son's birthday" and he's like "yeah whatever" as we listen to the reason for dispatch. Yup, it's a structure fire and to make matters worse, the address is one of our department member's house (ended up being the wrong address) and ironically he just had solar panels installed. Well the chief flies out in a blur to jump in his car and I was like FAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWKKKKKKKK... and threw my gear on and rolled with the engine to find a fully involved detached garage with extension to the home and several other exposures. Thankfully we knocked it down pretty which and I caught a ride back to the station when command released one of the ambulances and I made my son's party at 6. Whew... I was texting my family that I might be late and was catching a ration of shite from my wife for it so I felt so nice to have my family be so happy that I made it to dinner on time but then I realized it was because I was paying... lol.
One fun story I have about the never drop the nozzle. We will call him Jack. Jack has the nozzle and they are getting ready to make entree into the house. The backup say hey I’ll hold the nozzle for you while you mask up. And Jack agrees and never saw the nozzle again.
That elevator rant reminds me of a hospital I used to work at. My unit was on the third floor in a separate wing which, for some god-forsaken reason, did not have access to the ICU (aka where we want to take our patients when things go south). So, we would have to pack everyone in an elevator, go down a floor, walk down a hallway, go into another elevator, and then go to the ICU. There were four elevators servicing our floor -- the back elevator, which could fit a bed, and the three front elevators, of which only one can fit a bed. Of course, the back elevator had a habit of breaking down the most. One day I realized that, since the bigger front elevator was the only one that went to the unused penthouse floor, then I could push the up button, get the perfect elevator, and then go down. The hospital was also built on a hill, so the ER ended up being on the second floor, which is kind of weird.
I swear to jellybeans as soon as it turns saturday all the elevators take the weekend off and only the one at the far end by post partum works. "Stop running into them with your beds and carts and these wouldn't break down so much" -every elevator tech everywhere. We don't push beds out into the parking garage!!!! Explain that Carl!!!! Honestly the best part of the elevators breaking down is when you get stuck in them and get to take a break.
could be way way way way worse. Their is a Hospital in Brooklyn called Maimonides. It is a Jewish Hospital. On Friday Nights and all day Saturday you will be screwed because every elevator is set as a sabbath elevator meaning that is stops on every floor no matter what. This allows practicing Jewish people to not have to work on sabbath. Some take it very seriously (Homes have burned down because they couldn't shut off the stoves).
While none of this is going to be relevant to me personally, I genuinely appreciate the last rule being explicitly explained for the sake of other folk like me to whom it will be relevant. The other four rules have already been made evident (at least to me) through other videos on this channel. The last one, though, is definitely something that an Autistic brain like mine could very well not pick up on without it being outright stated, which would only result in misery and confusion for everyone involved. On behalf of anyone looking to go into firefighting and EMS without yet realizing that they're Autistic, many thanks.
Working hospital security, the six words I dreaded most during shift turnover were, "Yeah, it was a quiet shift." Because you just know, sure as Christ made little apples, EMS is gonna drop some combative dude, high out his mind on bathsalts, right in your lap. Usually in the last 30 minutes of your shift. Also, I swear, there's something to that "full moon" thing.
@@medicbabe2ID I feel you. My shit-magnet Doc said the magic words, and not 10 minutes later, the cops come in with this guy. Even though he was clearly high out of his mind on God alone knows what, Doc got a visit from the good idea fairy, and wouldn't let me put him in restraints immediately. So I'm talking to him calmly, trying to help him relax, when all of a sudden, he freaks, launched himself off the gurney, takes a header onto the concrete floor from about 6' up. Short version, it took me, another security officer, 3 cops, 2 nurses, a radiology tech, and Dr. Magnet to get him in restraints. Nurses gave him a heaping helping of "Vitamin A" 😉
We live in the 70-ish years old house, just a first floor and a basement. Our bedroom is on the first floor. Last year my husband got very sick, called EMS several times. Because of the design of the house he had to be carried out on a sheet- you can bend human body; you cannot bend a stretcher. And one more addition to the Murthy law: if patient even slightly big- the EMS crew will be of petite girls, so fire brigade has to be called. Thank you, very much for all that you do!
Australian paramedic of 23 years here. Those rules seem universal. If you're really liked, you get a nickname. The severity of the patient is directionally proportional to their distance from the front entrance. The more important your after work plans, the longer that last call. And one I learnt years ago-if anything weird does happen, it will happen when the brass is watching. I was crewed with an Assistant Commissioner doing his annual skills validation. The one and only time I have ever seen a paediatric NRB was when working with him. The one and only time I couldn't get a seal on a saline vial to draw up was when working with him.
Our community hospital decided to build a medical office building 4 stories high with lots of offices for doctors. They neglected to properly ensure that the elevators would fit an EMS stretcher. Even broken down, you could fit the stretcher just barely in, but alas there was no room for anyone else. Epic fail.
EMT rules I learned: #1-skin tells you everything you need to know about your patient. #2-the more stuff on the belt, the newer the medic. #3- if you drop it, pick it up. That goes for needles, stretchers, and babies.
I love his energy. and his remark about "If we aint talking crap to you we dont like you" isnt just a Fire/EMS thing. I work at an Aircraft service/mod center and we talk shit on each other all the time UNLESS we dont like the person...then we dont say shit about them.
Retired LE that helped out on an ems call with 400+ pound patient that thankfully was only on 2nd floor. Could not get out either entrance or stairway. Ended up taking bay windows out of front of building and loading person onto extended village front end loader bucket to lower to ground. Luckily not critical care transport but numerous bad words uttered by many on scene including the property owner.
I never got used to number 5 there. I'm one that, let's just say, is not much of the social type. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a mothers basement hermit but still, I like to just get my stuff done and go on about my business. So I wind up taking most everything someone tells me as what they are really thinking because that's the only way I've ever really talked to others. Let's just say, my one year of working a construction type job was more than enough for me.
Hey there! I'm spending a year as a videographer for a news station covering wildfires in Butte county California. Working with cal fire is awesome, but I've been a total rookie, no helmet, yellows unzipped, floral shorts to a wildfire. Id love to see you roasting journalists sometime, or tips on how to be a good journalist around fires. Great content!
Just a thought for you, Kevin. There are reasons for the wildland gear they wear and carry. If the wind takes an unpredicted turn, the crews won't be able to share space in their shelters with you. What percentage of your body are you willing to accept third degree burns? Before you answer, look up "escharation" and "debridement", two related medical procedures. For extra credit, see if you can visit a burn center. I'm thinking you will adopt wildland gear.
I had the joy of yelling at a TV news reporter at a car accident scene once! The helicopter had just landed, and he and the camera crew were getting a little too close to the blades. So my husband grabbed him by the shirt collar and yanked him back while I ripped him a new one. Two weeks later I was with the PD helping with a seminar on working with the elderly (I was an advisor on the local Explorer post at the time), and the same TV guy was there. He was looking at me funny for a while, then he finally asked me “Do I know you from somewhere?” I’d already recognized him, so I said “Yeah, you’re the one I yelled at for getting too close to the state police helicopter at that car accident two weeks ago!” He turned red and apologized!
Former wildy here. I don't really have an issue with journalists wearing yellows and greens while they give their report. What I DO have an issue with is that they are SO GODDAMNED CLEAN. It looks completely wrong and out of place. Don't wear brand-new-out-of-the-package PPE, borrow some grubby ones. You'll at least look like you fit in. And yeah, wear your damn helmet. Shit falls, yo.
EMT here for 9 months. Everything he's had says is true in all his videos. Hes 100% correct and they have come true. Especially the elevators. 😂 I've been to the most rundown type of places (apts or retirement facilities) to some really swanky places. The elevators I get are always so gross. It could be a ritzy retirement facility or center. I enter the elevator (always TINY!!!!) it reeks of body odor, urine and cigarettes. 🤢 Why?!?
as you continue to work in EMS and handle more and more calls to retirement homes you will start to notice the Public Side (All clean and pretty for the public) and the real side (Shit Hole that the residents have to live in). I swore after working EMS that I would never put my worst enemy in one of those places.
@@mysterymayhem7020 yeah I've noticed a few. Some more s*** holes from the outside. And then some are just mixed. Where one place is nice but they treat patients like s*** and then where one place is not as fancy but they really care and take good care of the patients. The ones I don't like that I'm worried about are the adult foster homes in like a residence and the staff like doesn't speak English. Especially with medications and emergencies. That's a huge concern. And some people in the adult foster homes are really rude. I met a couple who have an adult foster home in there place. They were born in US. They're just rude as hell
@@mysterymayhem7020 Whoever decided to put CARPET in a nursing home hallway deserves to be shot! One of ours had it, and the smell was always enough to knock you on your ass! The happiest day of our lives was when the replaced that floor with tile or linoleum or whatever they used because it’s SO much easier to keep clean and not so stinky!
@@mmmmmmmm1942 I understand that, and it sucks that there are not enough options. This unfortunately is what happens when healthcare is run like a business for profit. Profit trumps all and budget cuts keep the expenditures to a minimum.
That last rule reminds me of a time I worked in a bakery. Like 5 firefighters came in to get a cake for their chief, who was turning 40 that day. After some lengthy discussion and debate about what they wanted on said cake (a small round one), they decided on: "U SMELL OLD." I was laughing the entire time I was writing it, in great big font just like they asked. They left giggling to themselves and thanked me profusely for the help.
A few shifts ago I had a call to a mobile home park but the address we got only took us to the front of the park not the lot we needed, usually not a problem but it certainly didn't help that the lot numbers WERE NOT IN ORDER so while we were looking for 102 we found 107, 106, 105, and then 133 immediately after. We ended up spending about 20 minutes just looking for the house, fortunately it wasn't something serious like a cardiac arrest but I can only imagine the stress on the first responders who do get a call like that out of that park. Also that call came in right before our off time so we ran long anyways
Our County 9-1-1 Addressing Office includes RV Park maps in the back of the county map book. Just the same, it's great when the call taker can get somebody to turn the four-way flashers on one of the vehicles in the yard. "Caller states there are three cars up on blocks, several engine blocks on the ground in front of the trailer as well as a kid wearing a pamper sitting in the mud puddle." (This should narrow it down... a little.)
My apartment complex is just as janky on the numbering. 100-700 buildings are in the back 40, 800 and 900 are other sides of the main entrance, 1300 is along the middle of that nonsense, 1500-1700 are on the "main street." The "duplex" style buildings run 1-6 on the bottom level and 7-12 on the 2nd floor.
I remember having this level of energy/ passion before 29 yrs soul sucking nursing, Neuromuscular disease, 2 rounds of covid despite doing everthing right...take care out there.
Sir you are absolutely right about talking smack with your brothers and sisters in arms! I spent 22 years in the army and that what we did too, and you are correct it's because we loved each other and it was up to us to depend on each other for our safety and survival, the same for first response people! Stay safe brother and God bless you guys!
We had a girl in our station working my shift. We all got along, she was eager to learn and a great medic. One day at shift change she came in with a new hair style. I took one look and said "Dang Beth, what did you do to your hair? You comb that shit with a wagon wheel??" She actually cried and everybody got real quiet.
Yes the danger to getting comfortable with women in the workplace is that they either start to look good, or they start to feel like just one of the guys. Acting out either perception is almost never a good idea.
I my opinion, the career you chose is the most nobles of the careers. From the bottom of my heart, thanks for sharing all your charm in your videos. Please, never turn that light off.
not an EMS but the part about "if the first shift wasn't busy then your will be" really spoke to me because I work at a coffee shop and our peak hours are usually 7-9am but I guarantee if you're waiting for people to show up at 7 then they will hit full force at 8 or 9. unless something weird is going on like closed roads you'll never not be busy. people gonna get their coffee and people gonna set stuff on fire.
Making up a bed? Lol, I haven't done that in at least a year! As for the elevators, the one that always gets me is purpose built nursing homes. How exactly do they think most of their residents are going to eventually leave? It sure isn't by walking out the front door!
I love the purpose built nursing homes with hallways 3 feet wide. (usually only older ones now, must be in a code somewhere that the new ones have to have a decent width)
As a volunteer firefighter watching the guys who have been together for multiple decades, they certainly take the smack talk to a whole new level. It's certainly a result of endearment and comfort with someone's presence.
That last one... applies for us Military folks too. :-P Thank you for this video my Cousin in Red. :-) The elevator blow up was by far the funniest!!! 😂
I'm ret'd military, and have two brothers. One ret'd LEO, the other ret'd FF/Paramedic. I get a kick out of the trash talk that happens when we're all together.
my dad was a fireman for a long time and I would go stay with them and hangout with the guys, they were fun and hilarious, talking sh*t was one of the best skills I learned from them. Joking but being respectful has helped me meet new people and new friends. It also made me feel like I was a part of the crew. great content, keep it up!
I am a operating theatre nurse in the NHS and number four always hits me very hard. The shift starts at 4pm and as soon as see the emergency list is empty or has one or two cases I know hell will start very soon. It happens to all the time and people guninelly think I am cursed.
Ah, we call someone like that "A Black cloud" - shit always goes south on their shift, and if you are with them, you get caught. But, you can also have "White Clouds", people for whom a shift goes perfectly smooth. Trick is, to pair them together, and they the EMS Gods fight it out....
Maybe a fun way to look at it is that the universe sees you as such a capable nurse that it sends those people to you when you're on shift like that Still, I'd start wearing a good luck charm or two somewhere. You know, just in case lol
My sister was a fire fighting instructor instructor, she trained fire fighting instructors. She is 5 foot nothing with blonde hair and blue eyes, so at first people don't take her seriously, but I have seen her make special forces soldiers cry as she forced them through a wall of flame. When she left the fire service, she was a qualified instructor for every form of fire fighting and even had to test American nuclear aircraft carrier crews in how to fight a nuclear fire when they entered Australian waters. She could out last anyone in the full hasmat suit carrying hoses upstairs test. Under Australian law, fire fighters have full authority at a fire and can even arrest police officers, which is something she did several times to the embarrassment of the police officers. Yes, I am very proud of her and all the years of bossing me around paid off, so I forgive her.
The talking shit is so true. I burnt the hell out of dinner and the LT says you’re living proof anal sex can lead to pregnancy. One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever got. You know you’re in trouble when you get the silent treatment
My friend grew up in an apartment building with emergency only elevators on each side with a quick to tow fire/ rescue parking. Which was constantly being monitored for cars and elevator checked/ maintenanced every 2-3 weeks. She thought it was ridiculous to have two large elevators just for emergency when nothing major happens. Until her visiting grandma had a slight stroke and the EMT/first responders were there to help not even 5 minutes after reporting being at the building. Unfortunately the new manager shut down the emergency only elevators when guests complained about needing them for furniture so it was now all 4 always being used instead of leaving at least one emergency only.
I always believed that if someone is taking their time to think of a way of putting you down, Its their way of showing you that they love you.. or you live rent free in their brain.. either way, your winning.
One of my friend was into real estate and he told me that size of elevator doesn't really influence the customers. If the elevator looks fancy, has touchscreen, and best, made of glass they will consider it a luxury. It's amazing how 'luxury' and real needs are running in opposite directions nowadays
Why does an elevator need a touch screen? Thats just a waste of money. And glass really? I wouldnt put anything weaker then plastic in the public reach.
If I was the customer, no glass, and able to fit four guys with packs and a pair of gurneys. One in each corner of the damn building and I want those corners to mock the controlled demolition team in a hundred years. But hey, what do I know, I'm just a guy that Murphy has on speed dial.
You know… I’m not even emergency response and I feel number 3. I work rotating 12s and if I make plans for after work on a Friday, my relief will call in sick 98% of the time. We’re essential too, so it’s mandatory overtime.
That elevator story, I can see all the tiny, crappy elevators I've ever ridden in and the despair an EMS crew would face trying to use them. Architects, do it right people, who knows it could be your life they save when the up-to-code elevator gets them there a minute earlier.
Until Covid shut the program down, I used to do volunteer work delivering furniture to needy people, and I can sympathize with your comments about the size of elevators. We were known to carry furniture up and down five or six stories because we couldn't get it into the elevator.
an old buddy of mine was EMS, and one day while the whole friend group was at the bar he was parked a street away in the ambulance waiting for a mechanic to come check out the ambulance for engine issues. we went over to chat, some passerby mentioned something about "must be a quite night, you've been parked here for over an hour" and he immediately got a call. so he fired up the anbulance to respond as instructed. The oil seals in the turbo finished burning up and sent the engine into a rapid unplanned disassembly. Now he was parked IN THE STREET and had to wait for a heavy wrecker instead of a mechanic.
Actual piece of advice that works for me. If you are planning something after shift, assume you're going to be on an hour of overrun and make sure it's not time critical...because it might be 2 hours.
As a licensed, practicing Architect, I feel for you Jason. The bulk of my work is healthcare and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve recommended that clients install larger elevators only some bean-counter to come along and say “Our existing elevators aren’t that big!” Which I have to respond, “Well that’s because those only meet Code minimum”. To which they respond, “If it’s good enough for Code minimum, then that’s all we need! Plus it’s cheaper!”. I’ve argued until I was blue in the face, but once a Client hears “cheaper”, you may as well be talking to a brick wall. The only way to really combat this is to have the AHJ’s (Authority Having Jurisdiction) and Code Councils change the code.
As some doing private security as professionally as I can, the elevator comment about how small they are hits me so damn hard. Since I will almost always have to help escort Fire and EMS through the building. Since the only proper elevator for this will be the freight elevator and is either offline or tied up with other BS. It's really just a bad design that I don't even know just who to actually blame sadly.
I bet some people will think you make EMS look like a joke for making these videos but I totally get the reality, the frustration and the humor! Architects should always have these possible outscomes in consideration when designing!
That first one isn't just for Fire and EMT's... I was a security guard at a themed resort, 500+ rooms. We only ever got calls for the 5 furthest ones from the front desk... every single call, from 911 hang up to an injury from a fall to kids being too loud, had us running up 3-8 flights of stairs and then a quarter mile down a hallway. The elevator thing was a constant issue too... Many times I was supposed to be leading EMT's to the call in the resort but I had to hold the elevator for them and then run to the stairwell and up however many flights to meet them on the right floor because there wasn't enough room for me in the elevator. ... ... elevators are surprisingly fast only when you _don't_ want them to be. And yes... if you have a good/easy shift, the group after you is going through hell... especially if someone on your shift says it was "a nice, *_quiet_* shift". Also, the worse your night/day/week/etc has been outside of work and the more pissed you are when you come in... the worse your shift is about to go.
Architect here (well architect in training) tell that to the developers who are trying to cram as many units to a floor. Only projects I’ve worked on with large elevators were senior care facilities.
Tell them that the people occupying their buildings would appreciate bigger elevators when it comes time to move in, move out, buy new furniture, etc. Happier tenants equals out to mo money. Just sayin.
So true. I would like to add one. If you are on a completely dead shift and decide to order Chinese takeout, you will immediately get back to back calls and never, ever be able to pick up your food. Never. No matter how many times you try.
idea: teach first responder lessons like pros for grade school. kids will learn teamwork, more confidence, and yeah it just speaks for itself. also there would probably be less lack of firefighters available for calls that create sleep issues.
I was a firefighter/emt for 48 years, retired since 2017. Just saw this and how freaking true all of it is! I’d like to add one, this came from my last deputy chief. I don’t recall the conversation but I replied to him “ well, that sucks”…..his reply which I never forgot was, “ embrace the suck”! That became our go to phrase anytime someone said “ well, that sucked”.
When I had an ambulance crew take me from my apartment to to the ambulance, there was about 5 steps they need to go down. They asked if I can walk it, I said yes. I could see the sigh of relief they didn't have to take my fat ass body down the stairs on a stretcher.
Roasting each other is a love language cause they watch over your well being kinda like it ngl. Its tough love but the love we need to grow stronger everyday
That last one applies to most jobs. If I'm ignoring you, it's because the only interaction I want with you is putting you in the ER. If I'm talking shit to you, we're probably friends.
The talking crap bit is also very true in the biker world as well. If you and another biker can riff on each other then you are brothers or at least on pretty good terms. Because if you walk up to a random biker and start making fun of his beard and he doesn't know you, you probably aren't about to have a good time.
I was a firefighter paramedic for 37 years and brother you hit the nail on the head. I totally enjoy your videos it brings back memories. You should go over the art of taking a shower and a dump. Ty
