Archive for May, 2009

Here are the blog posts from EMS bloggers that I found useful, interesting, and inspiring…

• Kelly Grayson made an appeal and highlighted the fundraising efforts of fellow bloggers for legal costs by selling cookbooks.
• Medic Three has an all too true post about the variety of partners we encounter on a daily basis.
• Tom Reynolds offers a high recommendation on an EMS book other than his own, but reminds us that he has a second book
  coming out.

And finally…

• Michael Morse, another EMS author, knows what truly makes this job a priceless experience.

Have a safe weekend.

On Sunday May 24 an Oklahoma State Trooper pulled over an ambulance transporting a patient to an emergency room and reportedly assaulted the Critical Care Paramedic who was charged with the patient’s care.

EMT Paul Franks and Critical Care Paramedic Maurice White from Creek Nation EMS were transporting a patient from Boley along highway 62 to the Prague Hospital Emergency Department. Near Paden the ambulance was pulled over by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Martin (Badge# 606) because of the ambulance’s supposed failure to yield to him further back on the highway.

The incident was caught on video by the patient’s family and posted to YouTube. In the video you can hear EMT Franks request the Trooper to allow them to continue the transport to the Prague Emergency Department and to handle this matter there so as to no longer delay patient care.

Additionally you can clearly see that Paramedic White was in the back of the ambulance caring for the patient when he was pulled out and told that he was “under arrest”. While Paramedic White does in fact appear to resist the arrest, it should be noted that the Trooper Martin attempted to subdue him using a one handed choke hold meant to deny oxygen to his brain while the patient was being left unattended to in the rear of the ambulance. Since Paramedic White was the highest medical authority and charged with the patient’s well being it is understandable why he would in fact resist such an arrest action by the Troopers since there was no equal or higher medical authority for him to transfer care therefore leaving him as the responsible party.

You may think that common sense would dictate that if indeed Paramedic White allowed himself to be taken into custody that he would no longer be held liable for the well being of the patient, but common sense would also dictate that a law enforcement officer should not delay an ambulance crew from delivering a potentially critical patient to the emergency room. Apparently common sense is in very short supply from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and therefore it is safe to assume that it would also be in short supply in their other law enforcement and judicial agencies. Oklahoma is afterall the state that legalized upskirt photography to the delight of perverts and sexual deviants everywhere.

There is also reportedly a dashcam recording of this incident from the Trooper’s car that will reportedly show the ambulance crew assaulting the Trooper first, but surprisingly (or not) that has yet to be released.

Download The Incident Reports From Critical Care Paramedic Maurice White and EMT Paul Franks

Want to make your feelings known? Leave a comment here or leave a comment with the Oklahoma Department Of Public Safety

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This week is National Hurricane Preparedness Week. When NOAA’s 2009 Hurricane Disaster Forecast was publicly announced, it was accompanied with a strong recommendation for preparedness. Disaster Preparedness is an important step that is often overlooked when considering the well being of yourself and your family.

Here are a two steps that you should be sure to take whether you live in a known disaster zone or not:

• Create A Plan – If your area is hit by a disaster that will require your evacuation, whether natural or man made, have a plan of what you are going to do. Make sure that your entire family knows what the plan is
• Create A Supply Kit – A supply kit will help you whether you stay during the disaster or evacuate. Creating one should be a top priority. You can find a list of recommended items here

While landlocked communities generally are not directly affected by a hurricane, they should keep in mind that when the coastal regions are struck by such a disaster there is a chance that they will receive evacuees from the affected areas. It is important for non-hurricane prone states to plan and prepare accordingly as well.

Preparedness. Prepardness. Preparedness.

Preparedness cannot be stressed enough during these times.

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Over the last few months more and more people have been asking me, “What is Twitter?”

While I could easily try and point them to some articles that are filled with both philosophical and tech speak that would probably leave them more befuddled than when they began, I chose instead to make it as simple as I could.

Twitter is a tool to answer the question “What are you doing?” with the power to hold a conversation across huge distances almost anywhere. It is the water cooler of the world.

While I think that this video, Twitter In Plain English, goes pretty far in explaining the very basic function of Twitter, I think it doesn’t touch on why Twitter has literally become a break through sensation that seemingly everyone… including your mom… is using.

But why is it so popular?

Twitter is in fact a very easy service to use. Once you sign up, all that is really required for you to do is to post updates in 140 characters or less via the web or using your cell phone and SMS Messaging. Because it is such a minimalistic service, it can also be integrated with other services, such as Facebook, very easily.

What seems to really have propelled Twitter into the social conscious is its broadcast use by such entities as CNN (CNNbrk) and its conversational power by such celebrities as Ashton Kutcher (aplusk). After Ashton became the first person to get over 1,000,000 people following his stream… then Oprah (oprah) got in on the bandwagon.

While Twitter was once the water cooler of the tech elite and their savvy cohorts, it has quickly become the water cooler to the world.

I’m using it. Will you?

For Different Perspectives On Twitter:
• Twitter Blog – The Official Blog About Twitter
• TwiTip – Twitter Tips In 140 Characters Or More

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