Sometimes I wish pain management were simpler….I wish that for every patient who said they were in pain, we could just turn on pain medicine like oxygen and let it flow.

The ancient Greeks believed this was how their universe operated. They were just pawns at the mercy of the gods who sat up on Mount Olympus and played with them while they drank wine and ate meat dripping with fat. One could only hope to win favor with the gods and protection — to be given gifts of strength and speed and not be sacrificed on a whim. Maybe today, this is how it is for us too.

So there I was in the evening darkness again, standing out at an MVA scene, back boarding a patient and I’m thinking, why am I freezing?

“He’s gone a couple a months now.”

On February 1, 2012, our region (NorthCentral Connecticut EMS) our updates paramedic treatment guidelines will go into effect.

War doesn’t end.

And then you turn and look behind you and see eight family members crowded into the room – every one of them holding a digital camera or video recorder, recording your every move.

I no longer carry a straight razor, nor do I have a gun at my side.

I watch as he slices a pear, an orange, and a banana and sets them next to the red grapes on the plate. He pours me a glass of orange juice and then lays out plates of sausage, low sodium bacon, honey glazed ham, and potatoes. From the oven he takes out French toast. A […]