MY Top 10 of ‘11

1. The people I have met in 2011 This should go without saying. I finally got the privilege to meet the folks behind the keyboards and @ signs that I have spoken to in 140 character blocks. It was worth being called an “ass” when I met Ted Setla, as much as it was worth watching @THEGrinderMedic order someone a drink called “uh…” in Vegas. Hope to meet more next year.

2. EMS Today 2011 Well, yeah, the first real conference I went to would make the #2 spot. It had its own set of adventures (to include a missed flight). When is the pre-party for next year’s at Pratt St.?

3. EMSWorld Expo 2011  Wow…the one thing I bitched the loudest about getting my travel approved for only made #3. The strip and the Las Vegas Convention Center will never be the same after the #CoEMS crew was done with it. Will NOLA be the same?

4. FDIC 2011 The biggest Fire Department conference of the year made the Number 4 spot on this year’s top 10. Finally meeting The Fire Critic, Capt. Willie Wines, and a few others.  Same place in 2012—the week before my 41st celebration of being alive.

5. My unit returning home from Iraq The 801st Combat Support Hospital (Detachment 10) was in Iraq for 10 months providing Detainee Health Care. All but two of my Soldiers are now home.

6. 21 seconds at FDIC The Globe Firefighter Challenge only took me 21 seconds to complete at FDIC in Indianapolis.  It would have been faster if I had known that the “rescue dummy” weighed about three pounds (I was expecting much heavier).

just crawl between the cones to take less time

7. Participating in #KiltedtoKickCancer The idea of a couple of friends not only increased awareness for the male specific cancers, but also ended up with a pretty penny being donated to LiveStrong and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. It also got the biggest reading from this headquarters while trying to make my kilt (which is now hanging in the closet and a 3rd one is being planned on for purchase eventually). I will say, though, that they’re nice in the summer…but one wintertime word:  SHRINKAGE. (Though they make life easier with the TSA)
 

8. Making the “Medic’s Mecca” The only reason this is not higher in the countdown is because 1) the LACoFD Museum was closed and 2) the crew from LACoFD Station 127 were out on a run when I arrived. It was still a nice retirement present from my unit given to me the day before Thanksgiving.
 

9. Attending the 9th Annual US Army EMS Conference I wasn’t expecting to go, but I got my first glimpse of the Alamo and Durty Nelly’s in San Antonio. This trip was much better than phase 2 of my BNCOC.
 

10. My Retirement Orders It took over a year to get them, and that included re-submitting the packet exactly one year after I first put it in. But getting them puts a chapter to a close that I am very thankful to have written in history. It had its high points and low points, and I actually got to see some beautiful parts of the country while I was in the Army Reserve, but now I get to watch the younger Soldiers fill in my place as I sit and watch from my rocking chair.

EMSWorld Expo Day 2 wrap up

And now, the story continues…

Morning started with a class on Unraveling Tachycardia by Kelly Grayson which turned out to be very informative and humorous.

Then the day in the exhibit hall (why do I even bother scheduling myself for classes?).

Started off getting caught by one of the ladies from the Zoll booth who spotted me in my kilt. Picture was taken and tweeted really quick (wow).

Once I got inside, I remembered a shortage of gloves in my Blackhawk bag, so I hit the first glove distributor I found and got myself about six or seven sample packs with various sizes in them.

The Laderal Sim Lab was my next destination. I looked at various items, and met up with some folks that I talked to in San Antonio back in May…visited 4 stations and got a t-shirt.

The fine folks at Rural/Metro Ambulance had a VERY stunning T-shirt on display at their booth. They asked me if I wanted one. Who am I to decline a freebie?

(Score for the week:  5 T-shirts)

I was looking for the National EMS Academy’s booth when one of the folks from VeinLite caught up with me. Evidentally, while they were at the EMS Conference in San Antonio, I referred enough Soldiers to them that they actually GAVE me one of these SWEET lights.

What the VeinLite does is illuminates the area that an IV is going to be stuck so the medic can actually SEE THEIR TARGET. No more poke and hope, as long as the AA batteries don’t go dead during the shift.

After a nice, long recharge in the Physio Control/ProMed Social Media Lounge, the big event of the evening (other than another kilted group picture in front of the Hilton’s Elvis statue)…Hollywood Nights.

The event was at the Planet Hollywood Restaurant on the strip. This party included a LIVE TWITTER FEED the entire time, and yes, I had my share of tweets on there.

Myself, Justin Schorr,and Kelly Grayson. Ain’t we just a PRODIGIOUS group?

The wrap up of the wrap up tomorrow

Take care, Stay Safe.

How long until I get my retirement orders?

“Welcome all to the A co, 801st Combat Support Hospital
keep this professional”

That’s the statement that welcomes the handful of folks that belong to the group for my unit’s Emergency Room EMT section on Facebook.

This statement was made by a nurse that is running the show since “Mom” got mobilized.

It’s a page for a unit, I get that. Normally when it comes to something like this, I’m completely professional—especially since I became the senior medic for the entire company until either some folks come back home or until I retire, whichever comes first.

Don’t worry, kids, my retirement will be AFTER Expo.

Now, being the senior medic (along with the trainer), one of the things I need to know is whether or not the certifications for my folks is up to date. That’s sort of an important thing. Ranks right up there with eating, sleeping, and coffee…just has to be done. I don’t use any spreadsheets or fancy programs to do it, but I make sure it gets done.

That brings us to last night…

Well, I'm asking everyone in the EMT section to bring some documents to drill, including a copy of their certifications relevant to their job, and a copy of their license, and a copy of the MEDPROS

John Broyles DET has documentation c “DAD”

I let the nurse know that my detachment has their documentation with our “Dad” (also known as the full time Training NCO).

Now this brought a reply stating that my Detachment’s information is outdated. I know better because I take care of my 30 medics.

Then this came along…

Bring it or I'll have <”Mom”> take you out on the range

That followed by a “LOL”.

I saw that and just sat in my seat, blood beginning to well up to shoot from my eye sockets. I had (in my opinion) just been threatened by a nurse.

My only reply was: “ o_o “

I ask any of the fine folks on the po-po side of the equation (read @motorcop1 ) was I right to perceive this as a threat or was she “joking”.

Remember what the opening statement of this entry (and the particular facebook page) said…”keep this professional”.

Um, yeah, it’s looking anything but that.

My retirement orders can’t get here fast enough.

USA EMS Conference part i

Here again, one of the many "part 1" posts I've made here...

So far it's been a great conference here in San Antonio.  I officially consider this my "train up" for EMS Expo in August, especially after having to jump few a few hoops just to get orders to go.


Arrived on Monday afternoon and visited the Alamo--hard to believe that I'm in the HOME of COMBAT MEDIC TRAINING and I have never visited the Alamo (or the Riverwalk) until Monday afternoon.  Although Durty Nelly's provided an evening of entertainment.


Tuesday officially started the conference out with some mandatory classes (I think the folks that put this on have never been to a REAL EMS conference). The only time we could go through the exhibit hall was during lunch and the breaks...but the whole sit and listen to blah blah blah was worth 6 CEUs.


Also found out that if we visit ALL the folks in the exhibit hall that we'd get 2 additional CEUs for the conference (that's 8 so far).  Finished that out today.


Today I went to only one class and finished out the exhibit hall.  I basically got a partial restock for my aid bag just by visiting the exhibitors (very jealous of one of my counterparts who got a CRIC kit--but then again I got a free pelican case yesterday).


Tomorrow I have a light class schedule as I am in full conference mode now.  I might make a trip to the "Tower of the Americas" just to scope it out.




This definitely is NOTHING LIKE EMS Today, FDIC, or (I hope) EMS Expo.

Mutual Aid Requested...

Here's what's giving me the headache...

All ya gotta do is click on the link, and read it.

THEN, let me know which scene would be a better opening scene 1 or 2...it's that easy

Leave a comment, or a msg on facebook, or a @reply on the twitter

FDIC 2011—as traveled by me

Ahhhhh….returned home last night from another whirlwind weekend…and had no orders attached to the end of it like my trip to Baltimore.

Me and “the Deer Slayer” (aka “the Green Machine”, “WTF is that?”, and “Rescue 4”) made our way eastward on 74 at a good rate of putter.  The entire time knowing I had a goal of being there around 1400 EDT (Thanks, Boss, for not shoving me out and letting us shoot the wind). By the time I reached and crossed the IL/IN border, I had a few inquisitive tweets and texts as to my whereabouts. One was a Beautiful maiden telling me that she was going to be “living vicariously thru u this weekend”.

After a couple of missed turns (and too late to hit the convention center (especially after I was told it was $45 to get in per day)), I ended at my hotel.

I figured since I had time before the meet up, I figured I’d take care of about 5 days of weeds on my face before I went. I no sooner had my lower jaw covered with shaving cream when another text came in “We’re here…surprise.”

I made my way to the door and had to crane my neck when I opened it and saw gingermedic and the before mentioned beauty.  Needless to say, my jaw hit the concrete.  Here I was, shaving cream on my face, one path of a razor down my neck, and two beautiful women come to my door.

I let the ladies in and return to finish the removal of the beard from my face (Damn, a lot of grey hair shows in my beard when I don’t shave). We then draft some kind of game plan for the night.

While all the thinking was going on (explains the HA I had), @Ckemtp comes a pounding on my door.  Three medics and a basic 28 days out of the month (only a combat medic on reserve weekends) planning to invade a fire party.  This is gonna be fun.

When we finally found a place to park and got there we were greeted by @FireCritic and made our way to get a soda and a glass of water. was actually surprised he could stay out as late as he did

And of course Dave Statter already knew about the blog post before I even composed it.

Was a shock to have the publisher of EMS World sit and talk to us for a little bit.  Was also “very cool” to meet Tiger Schmittendorf, the host of “Firefighter Storytellers” on Firefighter Netcast.

We ended up going back to the room early and becoming pretty much asystolic.  Saturday’s events (to include my 21 second obstacle course time) in the next.

Bad Skip/Crossed wires

BLOG ENTRY

INT. AMBULANCE BOX-DAY

SAM is crossing over from the squad bench of the ambulance to the captain’s chair. There is a patient on the cot breathing oxygen through a mask.

Sam checks over everything and picks up the cell phone on the counter of the ambulance.

SAM

(into phone)

St. Jonah ED, this is 108th Medic 1.

EXT. RAMPART HOSPITAL-DAY

Establishing shot of Rampart

INT. RAMPART EMERGENCY ROOM-DAY

DIXIE MCCALL glances up from her desk and sees the red light come on in the radio room. She gets up from her desk and goes inside.

INT. RADIO ROOM-DAY

Dixie looks up at the wall to see which phone is ringing. She picks up the red phone.

DIXIE

Rampart Emergency.

INT. AMBULANCE BOX-DAY

Sam patiently waits for the phone to come off hold. He hears Dixie answer and starts to give his report.

SAM

Good morning, St. Jonah, 108th Medic 1 is en route to your facility with a 55 year old female patient of Dr. Popp. Patient called EMS this morning with a complaint of difficulty breathing. Initial assessment showed some wetness in the lower right lobes on auscultation and no other major problems. Patient is resting comfortably on our cot with a pulse of 91, respiration rate of 20 no labor, blood pressure of 110/85. Patient relates a history of asthma and is a non-smoker. We currently have her on 15 liters by non rebreather and we are about…

(looks through cab out windshield)

…three minutes away from you right now. What are your questions and or instructions?

INT. RADIO ROOM-DAY

Dixie pulls the phone away from her ear for a second and scratches her head, giving the phone a funny look. She recognizes this as an honest report, but doesn’t recognize the voice on the other end of the phone. She waits a couple seconds and puts the phone back to her ear.

DIXIE

Unit calling in to Rampart, continue monitoring vital signs and transport.

INT. AMBULANCE CAB-DAY

Sam writes a few things on his clipboard while he’s on the phone.

SAM

Copy, monitor and transport, 108th Medic 1 clear at

(looks at watch)

1025 hours.

Sam hangs up the cell phone and sets it on the counter just as the ambulance pulls into St. Jonah Medical Center.

To be continued…

Just some writing…

Blog entry

ACT ONE

EXT. APPARATUS STAGING AREA - DAY
HALLIGAN and DEE DEE leave their engine parked in the staging area of the call and start to make their way to the mess tent, chatting as they go.

HALLIGAN

I honestly don’t see why Hush is crushing so hard on him. Jesus, is he that dense that he’s not even seeing it?

DEE DEE

This is Sam we’re talking about.

HALLIGAN

I know. Hell, when he’s with other medics, he’s talking like they’re all in a garage somewhere kicking back with a beer.

Dee Dee stops just short of being in front of a colored tarp used to triage injured people. Halligan gets to the other side of the tarp and notices that Dee Dee’s not next to her and stops to wait.
At the tarp treating a patient is CHRIS MONTERA and KYLE DAVID BATES. 

Chris and Kyle stop what they’re doing and the four just look at each other, then forward toward the camera. They all shrug their shoulders and continue what they were doing.
 

DEE DEE

You do have a point.

HALLIGAN

I know I do.

DEE DEE

I had to pick him up from St. Jonah a few weeks ago and all he could do was sit in that lounge and talk with AMT’s medics about “reform” and “community model” calling it something like “EMS 2 point 0”

Halligan stops just short of another colored tarp like the one they stopped at before. At the tarp treating a couple of patients are CHRIS KAISER, JUSTIN SHORR, and TED SETLA.
The three medics stop what they’re doing and look at each other, then at Halligan and Dee Dee.  The five look forward toward the camera, shrug their shoulders, and go back to what they were doing.

EXT. CANTEEN DINING AREA - DAY

Halligan and Dee Dee enter the dining area of the mobile canteen. There are a few tables scattered with firefighters and medical folks at each of the tables. The pair stop at the canteen trailer and place their order. They start walking back to the staging area, continuing their conversation.

HALLIGAN
I’ve heard it quite a bit, too. You know what kills me, though?
DEE DEE
What’s that?
HALLIGAN
The time he spends just sitting in front of that computer either in the station or at home just listening.
DEE DEE
Listening?
HALLIGAN
Yeah.
DEE DEE
Listening to what?
HALLIGAN
Various things.
DEE DEE
You know what we should do?
HALLIGAN
What’s that?
DEE DEE
Something like that on our own. Make our own thing to listen to. “By Firefighter for Firefighters”. You know, “This ain’t your daddy’s firefighting radio show.” Think he’ll listen to that?
 

Halligan stops just short of one of the tables as Dee Dee walks past. Sitting at the table are RHETT FLEITZ, ART GOODRICH, TIGER SCHMITTENDORF, CHRISTOPHER NAUM, and JOHN MITCHELL, all in their turnout gear worn down for comfort.

Dee Dee stops just as she gets past the table. The two women and five gentlemen at the table look at each other, then forward toward the camera. They all shrug their shoulders and continue what they were doing, except for John, who briefly interrupts the conversation.

JOHN
I think that’s already been done.

The #HAWTIES calendar

Month	Who	Doing What
January
February
March
April		doing the “Johnny Gage” move with a prefilled syringe of D50 (or epi or atropine… )
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

It’s been joked about for a while now.  Let’s just see who would go where.

I’ve got my 12 picks for the #EMSHawties calendar.  What are yours?  And what would their pose be? 

I got presents...

I was working my day job Friday morning, and stopped at my unit to help one of the full-timers put the flag up. While we were hoisting the colors (after I dropped the state flag--just means we have another governor going to jail) he told me to stop back by after I got done.

0900 rolled around and I went back to my unit. He opened up the MOS Library and basically told me an early "Happy Birthday". There were manuals and textbooks galore all stacked up on the table.

I went through and got me some that I know I'd end up using for training my medics on drill weekends. Got me the 5th edition CIVILIAN PHTLS textbook and instructor's manual, along with the Brady EMT-I instructor manual. I also got the Brady 9th Edition EMT-B Military Edition set--textbook, workbook, and pocket guide.

I came back home with my presents grinning from ear to ear...@shell1972 didn't know what to do with me.

Now that I'm armed with all these reference books, my medics are get some better training.

Anyone know where I can get the powerpoint slides for them?????

A quandry...

Now it's a time where I take off my Combat Medic hat and put on my writer's hat. Needless to say, wearing that hat makes me sit in front of a blank page for hours on end (when I'm not on twitter or facebook, etc) trying to come up with what to write.

I've written 2 books already, and have also started writing adaptations of those books for television/web. There be my quandary...

I've basically run out of ideas.

I'm not asking for ideas, mind you. If it comes down to it, I'll just listen to the scanner and pull calls out of Peoria. The thing is...basically everything else to make my characters tick.

I've got the pilot about 7/8 done. Just have to close that one all up. It'll be the ones after that that will become a headache.

The other reason I'm just about out of APAP is wondering if there's a way to incorporate EMS 2.0 into it. Along with trying to make a 21st century version of Emergency! in a nutshell.

Guess I'll sleep on it and try tomorrow after work...at least while I still have Final Draft open and blinking on a blank page.

Picture this...

0300 hours Friday night

You are awakened by dispatch for a call of shots fired. You and your partner @ckemtp (only using him as an example because he's the first one I could think of at the time of writing) arrive on scene and find it secured by PD and find your pt. a 21 y/o male with a GSW to his upper leg and lower back. You treat according to protocol and transport to the trauma center...hopefully with a large bore or 2 in the arm.

same time...defferent location

You are awakened by someone shouting "DOC" you put your gear together while hearing gunfire. You get over and are pointed to your pt, a 21 y/o male with a GSW to his upper leg and lower back. He's CAOx3 and shouting. You pull back the charging handle of your weapon and attempt to make your way to your pt. His buddy nearby has already put a tourniquet on his upper leg. Your pt. is trying his best to return fire the same as you.

The locations: The first one is at your friendly neighborhood housing project with a gangbanger. The second...downtown Tikrit, Baghdad, or Kabul.

Today, the United States is at war. As a combat medic, it is possible that you will be called on to deploy to a foreign country and provide medical care in a combat zone. You need to understand the differences between trauma management in the homeland and trauma management in a foreign country during wartime.

AAOS, 68W Advanced Field Craft, 2009, p. 5

Trauma management in combat has its own hazards (that goes without saying).

Most of the time, "Doc" only has the equipment that's on his back. He's hoping that "Joe" has the basic first aid stuff on his person...or that his battle buddy has taken care of him the best he can.

Let's look at these two again...

@Ckemtp will be en route to the trauma center much sooner than "Doc" will. In combat, there could be as long as 25 minutes or MORE for some kind of transport to the closest hospital...with only 1000mL total of Hextend and 2000mL total of LR to keep "Joe" alive.

I will have to continue this in another post...

I'm no better...

Earlier today, I got an email from @theHappyMedic asking me to clear something up for him because he was in an "email melee" with someone.

He asked me "Are you better because you're a combat medic?"

My short answer was NO.

That email was one reason I decided to start a text blog today. Of course listening to Firefighter Netcast was another.

In the world of the combat medic, I am trained as an Intermediate, but certifed by the NREMT as a BASIC. That's right, I'm an EMT-B for all intents and purposes.

In combat, though (along with on military installations at the local commander's discretion) I'm allowed to do more than I could on my FD where I engineer and run rescue calls.

In one case I can basically
Intubate
Cannulate
Defibrillate
Medicate
Oxygenate

The "medicate" is limited. Sometimes we have a small O2 cylinder, sometimes we don't. THAT depends on our appropriate medical contol (No ASA for your CP, sir.)

In another case I can basically
Oxygenate
Defibrillate
and wait for ALS to show up...usually about 5 minutes after we put our BP cuff on.

In one case, I can look good in a green suit...in another I can look good responding in my T-shirt, blue jeans, work jacket with vest.

Oh, how I'd love to do a cric stick sometimes when on calls with my FD...Nope...only a State and NREMT-B so I can't.

I'll spell out more differences as time goes on.

Well, it's part way there

I figure I should go ahead and start one of my own. See what EMS 2.0 is doing to me? LOL

I am a Army combat medic, a volunteer firefighter/EMT, bus driver, and dad. I've written 2 books and working on a web/TV series based off those books. That's me in a nutshell.

For some odd ball reason, I decided I wanted to try to start doing a netcast...decided to take babysteps and do this first.

Where in the world did you come up with 1-U-801?

I came up with my blog title by using a combination of my FD Identfier according to IDPH (we're 1-U-52) and my unit (801 CSH) thus the 1-U-801

for those that follow me on twitter, I'm @ssgjbroyles