Today is the last day my latest preceptee will be with me. Tomorrow he rides with our chief paramedic, who if all goes well will formally approve his being “cut loose” to be a paramedic on his own. My preceptee has been with me for nine weeks and has been, by all standards, “a shit […]

My paramedic preceptor told me many years ago, “You’re a paramedic, billing isn’t your job. A patient doesn’t want to be asked their social security number when they’re having a heart attack.” Consequently, I didn’t pay too much attention to the back of my run forms. Sometimes I’d turn them in with the backs blank […]

There is a new paramedic book out available as of now only from Amazon.UK, called Paramedic’s Diary by Stuart Gray, a London paramedic and the author of the A Paramedic’s Diary blog. It is a good read. EMS in England is much like it is here. They have a wonderful term — “a suspended” — […]

If you are a football fan, have you noticed lately how many more players sport dreadlocks under their helmets. You watch the player on the team you are rooting against run with the ball and you can’t help but think, someone ought to grab that guy by his hair and tackle him. That would be […]

The call is for a rollover, no injuries. Non-priority dispatch. When we arrive we see the car off the road into the bushes. The officer tells us the driver, who is claiming no injuries, is sitting in the police car. As the officer is talking to us, a bystander approaches and interrupts. “When I got […]