#emts

[thedannyphantomcookbook]

The Ghost Boy (working title)

Hello!

So I have hit some hard financial times and the cookbook is being put on hold because it's hard to afford to buy ingredients. In the mean time, I need something to occupy my mind since I'm not in the kitchen as much anymore to distract me from my intrusive thoughts. So I decided to finally try my hand at writing Danny Phantom Fanfiction. I've had this idea for a long time that what if instead of a human boy becoming part ghost...what if Danny had been a ghost first that became human? It's one part rewrite, and one part AU, this is the prologue chapter to that fic. It's a little rough to read, because it is the first chapter I've written of anything in YEARS. And despite being an English major in college, I was a B average student, I wasn't THAT good haha. So, if I actually manage to complete the fic in it's entirety - because I usually will stop writing if I get to a block that I can't think my way out of - I am hoping to find beta readers or bounce ideas off of someone to help me develop this retelling of Danny Phantom. If you like it, give me a thumbs up, reblog, message me, you know the drill. Enjoy!

As Ryan headed out for his third EMT emergency response call for the night, he thought to himself he’d never feel dry ever again.

It was nearly one a.m. A rainstorm was blowing through Amity Park, bringing torrential downpours. Flash flood warnings had been issued and people were asked to stay off the streets, since the rain and the August heat created thick humidity that made visibility low and driving dangerous. Ryan had been an EMT long enough though to know that despite the weather and warnings, people were still going to be out on the roads. 

As he donned his heavy rain jacket, which wasn’t any drier from the last run, he heard the dispatcher over the intercom. 

“20 year old female driver injured. Possible pedestrian injury, mental health crisis. Assumed juvenile teen male.”

Ryan groaned. His mind started going through all the possibilities. Mental health crisis’ were one thing. But when it was a kid…it’d made these calls much harder to get through. If there were parents involved, they could be hysterical, which would make it harder to give the child treatment. Or if the parents weren’t involved, that added an entire different layer of difficulty to wade through. The parents could be substance abusers, neglecting their child over a needle or a pill. Or instead of abusing drugs, they were abusing the child, which would explain why a child would be out in this kind of weather. Arrests would be made, paperwork would have to be filled out, and CPS would be called. Hopefully the child would have family to care for him, but if not, he’d be entered into the foster care system, moving from one home to another and left alone to process the trauma from that night. The child might even already be in the foster care system, and ran away. Ryan has seen a lot of those cases over the years. Either way, this wasn’t going to be an easy night.  

When they arrived, police had already gone to work setting up a detour. Blue and red emergency lights and bright work lights lit up the scene. A car had veered off to the side of the road and struck a telephone pole which had fallen over the sedan. The driver side door was open, its driver sitting with her legs hanging over the side. There was a large gash in her forehead that was being treated by the Firehouse EMTs who had arrived first. To the left of the car, the Firehouse Ambulance sat with its back doors open. A small figure sitting on the gurney inside, wrapped in a blanket. 

A police officer walked up to him. Ryan recognized him and narrowed his eyes. It was Darrel, his least favorite police officer on the force, who was the least compassionate and cared more about how shiny his badge was than any actual good he could be doing. 

Darrel jabbed a thumb towards the driver and started talking, skipping over basic greetings. “Chick over there is a fucking mess. I gotta get a statement from her but I can’t understand her between the sobs and this fucking rain.” He swiped a hand across his face, wiping rainwater out of his eyes. “Can you try talking to the kid? I doubt we’ll get anything out of him though. He’s a little psycho.” 

Darrel didn’t bother to wait for a response and walked away. Ryan watched him walk away, glaring. Of course, Darrel would sum up a traumatized kid as “psycho.” 

Ryan shook off his frustration and headed to the ambulance. A Firehouse EMT saw him approach and hopped out of the vehicle. Ryan glanced at her badge and read her name was Bethany.

“The kid doesn’t appear to have been hit at all,” the Bethany shouted over the rain. “There are no marks anywhere on his body, no bruises or scratches. We scanned his scalps for bumps. Kid seems to be clean. You should probably still get an MRI scan on him at the hospital.”

Ryan peeked around the EMT’s shoulder. The child was wrapped in a thick gray blanket, shaggy black hair hiding his face. He was shivering, despite the hot, humid night.

“What’s his name?” Ryan asked. “Have parents been notified?” 

Bethany shook her head. “He won’t talk. Possible symptoms of shock, but there’s probably something else going on. He was found naked.” 

Ryan grimaced. Again, that could mean any number of things. For now, he would treat the situation as a psychotic breakdown.

“Let me try talking to him,” Ryan offered. “Just me and the kid.” 

Bethany shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She waved to the other EMT sitting in the truck with the kid. “Let us know if you need help.” They walked off to check in with the driver.

Ryan climbed into the ambulance and sat across from the kid. He took a few moments to study him. He was a pale, skinny kid with long limbs. Wide, electric blue eyes stared back at him, and was definitely scared. Ryan put him at around maybe 14 years old.

“Hey there,” The EMT gave a soft smile. “My name is Ryan. I’m here to help. Can you tell me your name?” 

The kid blinked at him, not answering. He continued to shiver at him, hands tucked underneath his arms. He left it open in the center, exposing his naked frame. 

“Here.” Ryan reached on either side of the kid. He recoiled sharply. 

“It’s okay,” Ryan reassured gently, moving slow. “I just want to get you warm.” He folded the blanket over him more tightly. “You can hold on to it if you like.” 

Hesitantly, the boy untucked one of his hands and grasped at the blanket, his knuckles turning white with effort. 

“Better?” 

The boy looked away, and then jerkily nodded.

Ryan leaned back. “Good. Now how about that name?” 

He remained silent. His hand clenched and unclenched at the blanket. Ryan waited, quiet and patient. Rain pounded on the roof of the ambulance above them. From outside, Ryan could hear the broken sobs from the driver.

“H-he c-came out of n-nowhere, I s-s-swear,” the girl wailed. “I promise I wasn’t s-speeding. Oh, god I h-h-HATE driving in the rain at night, my b-boss wouldn’t let me go home early.”

“Miss, take some deep breaths for me, okay?” Darrel said, without a hint of compassion in his tone. “No one is in trouble yet. We’re just trying to figure out what happened.” 

“D-did I hit him? Is he okay? Everything h-happened so f-f-fast,” she stuttered. “Oh, god I’m s-so s-s-sorry.” 

“He is being looked at now by the medical team,” the police officer answered, then added, “He appears to be awake and alert.” 

More sobbing echoed across the street. 

Ryan watched the boy in front him, who still shivered with his head tucked in, breathing quiet rapid breaths. As the silence stretched on, he wondered if the kid was non verbal. He seemed to at least understand English, so he could rule out any kind of language barrier or deafness. 

“Are you in any pain?” Ryan tried again. “Any discomfort anywhere?”

The boy shook his head. 

“What about family? Anyone we can call for you?” 

The boy remained silent. 

Ryan sighed. “Okay, kid. No worries. We’ll get you taken care of.” The kid may not even remember who his family is, if he was indeed having a psychotic episode.

“I’m going to start taking your vitals now,” Ryan stated, pulling out a pulse oximeter. “Can I see your hand?” 

The boy looked up at him. Looked down at the oximeter and back at Ryan, uncertainty etched across his face.

“It doesn’t hurt, I promise.” Ryan demonstrated on his own hand and wiggled his fingers. “See?” 

Another long moment passed. Then, slowly, the boy let go of the blanket and held out a trembling hand. Ryan felt a quiet relief. He was starting to get through to the kid. As gently as he could, Ryan clamped the oximeter onto the boy’s finger. The boy flinched, but only slightly.

“See? Not so bad.” He pointed to the little digital screen, which was displaying the number 120 beats. “This reads your pulse and tells me how fast your heart is beating.”

“Heart…beat,” The boy whispered, surprising Ryan. The kid stared at the little device, almost wondrous.

“Yeah,” Ryan smiled. “You’re alive, kiddo.” 

______________________________________________________________

He was a John Doe. There were no hospital records of him. No dental or fingerprint records. It’s as if he had never existed until a few days ago. 

Jazz quietly watched the boy through the little window into the hospital room as her parents talked with the CPS agent. The boy sat upright in bed, watching the TV that hung across the room. The hospital gown swallowed his thin frame, making him look smaller than he actually was. It had been three days since he was found at the car accident. His photograph had been shared all over the major news channel, asking the public if anyone recognized him. So far, no one has come forward. 

“Thank you so much again for doing this Jack and Maddie,” Judy, the CPS agent said. “I understand that you stopped fostering years ago, but I’ve called everyone else in the area. No one else had the room.”

“How could we have said no?” Maddie touched a hand to her heart. “The poor child. Someone must be missing him. He looks so sweet.” She looked over at him and frowned, sympathetic. 

Judy shrugged and shook her head.. “I can’t imagine either, but you know how these things can be.” 

Jack clasped a hand on Maddie’s shoulder.”Well until then, we’ll give that kid the best home he’s ever known. He doesn’t know how good my Famous Fenton Fudge is!” He patted his belly. “He’ll never want to leave.” 

As they went over the details and paperwork, Jazz thought about her role as a big foster sister. She had been little when her parents housed the last foster kid. She didn’t have too many memories of that time period. Just older kids using the second bedroom in their house, some of them taking time to play with her, some of them wanting nothing to do with her. She remembered how weird and confusing it was, especially when her friends in kindergarten had siblings that actually stayed and lived at the house with them. 

Before she was born, her parents had a hard time conceiving, and decided to foster kids in hopes that they could nurture young minds into becoming scientists like them. Unfortunately, their specific focus turned heads away more often than inspired them. 

Jazz’s parents were ghost hunters. They believed not only that ghosts existed, but that there was an entirely separate dimension in which these ghosts existed. They also believed ghosts held unique properties that could propel the world decades into the future. It could change medicine, become a different source of electricity, help create new inventions for anything from cars to televisions and more.The opportunities could potentially be endless. 

The only problem is there was no proof ghosts exist. Just a pile of conspiracy theories and hoax videos from online, and some texts theorizing their existence. Technically and literally speaking, ghosts were not real. 

It was always embarrassing having to tell people what her parents did for work. Jazz had learned by now that as long as she changed the subject quick enough after saying her parents were “scientists conducting independent research,” there wouldn’t be any follow up questions. Her parents were also why Jazz wanted to go into neuroscience when she graduated high school. For one, the brain was actually real and for two, there was so much about the brain that was yet to be discovered. How the brain changes its own chemistry overtime due to outside circumstances, circumstances that don’t physically touch the brain at all. How can a single moment alter the way we think, feel, see, and hear? To Jazz, there was no stranger phenomenon.

It’s also why she was so excited to meet her new foster brother. She had eavesdropped on her parents’ conversation with Judy earlier that day. A boy found with no memories of who he is, where he had come from, or who he belonged to. It was sad, of course and scary, not knowing anything about who you are. But what events led to this? Will there be weird behavior patterns that will be linked to the trauma his brain buried deep within his mind? And just maybe, Jazz could help identify what disorder or mental illness he has, get one step closer to treatment, and one step closer to finding himself and his real family. The idea that Jazz could figure out what was wrong with the boy, before the doctors, thrilled her to her core.

“Would you like to meet him?” The voice startled Jazz from her thoughts. She looked around and found Judy beside her.

“I think he might benefit from meeting someone close to his age,” she explained. “Make a friend.”

“Oh.” Of course, that would make sense. He would need someone to connect to, to rely on, and confide in. Jazz could certainly be that person. Her chest rose a bit. “Absolutely.” 

Judy smiled. “Wonderful.” She knocked on the boy’s door and poked her head in. “Hey there, kiddo. Do you remember me? I’m Judy.” 

The boy’s gaze broke away from the TV to look at her. “Yes. Hello, Judy.” His voice sounded young, like it hadn’t hit that drop growing older would bring.

“I want you to meet Jasmine Fenton. You’ll be living with her for a bit.”

Jazz stepped around Judy. She waved. “Hi, I’m Jazz.”

“Hello, Jazz,” he said evenly, neither friendly or aggressive. 

“I thought you two might like to chat, and get to know each other.” Judy suggested. “You’ll also be going to school with her.” 

They decided they were going to enroll him in at Casper High School as a freshmen. The doctors hoped that by giving him a normal environment might help jog some of his memories.

“That’s right,” Jazz jumped in. “I can show you around the school, introduce you to your teachers, help you with homework after,” she rattled off. The boy just blinked at her and Jazz wondered if he understood any of what she was saying. 

“I gotta go finish up some paperwork,” Judy said. “Be back in a few.” She left Jazz and the boy alone. 

They stared at each other for a moment, quietly taking one another in. The boy didn’t fidget. If anything he was eerily calm. 

“So…” Jazz started. “How have they been treating you here?” 

“Fine,” the boy stated simply.

“I’m sure it’s been weird, with all these people visiting you.” She crossed the room to sit in the chair beside his bed. 

“Yes,” the boy agreed. “They bring me food and ask me questions I don’t know the answer to.” He looked down at his lap, as if he were disappointed.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to know them yet.” Jazz told him.

“I don’t?” he asked, as if that had never occurred to him before. Had no one told him it was perfectly okay to not know everything about himself yet?

“Of course not,” Jazz shook her head. “Sometimes things happen and because of those things, we forget stuff. Like who we are.” 

“Oh.” He thought about that for a moment before saying, “Do you forget who you are sometimes?”

Jazz laughed. “Oh no, not quite like that. I mean, I forget to do things like take out the trash, but it’s because I’m focused on doing other things like reading. I just meant more like, sometimes a big event happens, like that girl in the car from the accident. It upset her so much that her brain might make her forget the details of the night to protect her.” 

The boy frowned. “Protect her…how?” 

“Sometimes the things we know and remember cause a lot of emotional stress,” Jazz tried to explain, secretly happy she was getting to describe psychology to him. “It upsets us so we don’t remember it. But eventually, and with help, we can remember it so that it doesn’t upset us anymore.” 

The boy thought about it. “Do you think something upsetting happened to me? Is that why I can’t remember things?”

“It is possible, yeah.” Jazz felt a little guilty just then. This wasn’t how she wanted the conversation to go. They were supposed to be getting to know each other, not play psychologist and patient. She looked around the room to change the subject and noticed he was watching an old Batman movie.

“So…you like superheroes?”

The boy shrugged. “I guess. I like this Batman show.” On the screen, the villain The Penguin was at his mayoral rally and everyone had just heard his own recorded voice saying he played the citizens of Gotham city. The penguin bared his decaying, pointed teeth at the crowd as they all booed at him.

Jazz chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of Danny DeVito in this one.”

“Who?” The boy asked quizzically. 

“Danny DeVito. He’s the actor that plays the Penguin.” 

“Oh. Who plays Batman?”

“Michael Keaton.”

Together they watched the movie. The Penguin was pelted by rotten food before turning his armored umbrella upon the crowd, screaming.

“I feel bad for the Penguin,” the boy suddenly spoke up. 

Jazz looked over at him, curious. “How so?” 

“At the beginning of the movie, he just wanted to find his parents,” The boy fidgeted with the remote in his lap. “He was raised by…penguins.” He wrinkled his nose.

“Yeah.” Jazz shifted in her seat to face him a little more. “It is kind of a silly idea, being raised by penguins.” 

“But it’s not just that, he…” he trailed off, and then said quietly, “he just wanted to know who he was.” 

Jazz understood how he felt connected to The Penguin, at least from that point of view. “It was a part of his villain arc. He was mad that his parents abandoned him, so he blamed the city.” She paused thoughtfully before saying, “do you think your parents did that? Abandoned you?”

“I don’t know.” His shoulders slumped, and he seemed to curl into himself. “They aren’t here.” 

She regretted asking that question, feeling like she was doing a bad job at this, playing psychologist. She thought she’d be better at this. She wanted to be better at this. There was so much unspoken hurt in the boy, and so much not known about him, and no one was coming forward to claim him.

On screen, the Penguin had returned to the sewers and was yelling at his clown like henchmen to not call him Oswald anymore and that he no longer considered himself a human being, but a cold blooded animal. The henchmen stood around him, uncertain of what to do.

“I don’t even know my name,” the boy said, softly. 

Jazz’s heart ached for him. Suddenly an idea popped into her mind. “You could come up with your own name.”

He paused for a moment. “My own name?” 

“Yeah! I mean, why not?” Jazz grew excited with the idea. “You don’t want to go around being called ‘John Doe.’”

“I guess not.” He thought about it, sitting up a little straighter. “Oswald?”

Jazz bursted out laughing. The boy was startled and then flushed with embarrassment. 

“No, I’m sorry,” Jazz giggled, and then immediately felt guilty. “No one actually uses that name. You don’t want people to call you that, trust me. It’s super lame.”

“Oh. Okay.” He was quiet for one more moment. “What about Danny?”

“Danny?” He was thinking of Danny DeVito. Jazz wanted to giggle again, but fought against. No one needed to know he got his name from the comedic actor. “That’s not a bad one. It’s good, actually.” 

“Is it?” he asked, doubt still lingering in his voice.

“It is.” Jazz affirmed. She stuck her hand to shake and smiled. The boy looked at it before extending his own. Jazz grasped it warmly.

“It’s to meet you, Danny Fenton.” 

And for the first time since he had been discovered, Danny smiled back.

[eretzyisrael]

Good News From Israel

In the 1st Dec 24 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

Triple amputee IDF soldier walks out of hospital.

Latest Israeli medical innovations incorporate touch, smell and sound.

An Israeli startup recycles warn-out electric car batteries.

A new Israeli solution that can repair damaged coral reefs.

Two new non-stop Israeli airline services from Tel Aviv to the UK.

Good news for consumers of no-cow milk and no-fish salmon.

An Israeli duo won gold at the European wheelchair dance championships.

An Israeli girl on a hike unearthed a 3,500-year-old Egyptian amulet.

Read More: Good News from Israel

Following Thanksgiving Day in the USA (and Brazil), this edition of Israel's positive news takes the opportunity to thank all those highlighted in this newsletter and in previous ones. Especially: - The brave IDF soldiers, reservists, and their families - Volunteers, donors, spokespeople, and our friends overseas - Doctors, nurses, EMTs, trauma specialists, social workers, etc.  - Israelis who persist with tasks and innovations to benefit all of humanity - Those who tirelessly strive to strengthen the Jewish State, and its ultimate protector.

To all the above, and all who support Israel, especially in its time of need - Thank You!

The photo is of the departures wall at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport. It shows an exhibition of photos in gratitude to the resilience of the Gaza Envelope communities.

[lesbianforlottie]

my EMT teacher implied that covid was man made in class today 😭

earlier this month he said that doctors were performing abortions on babies after they were born and i had to pull up a bunch of sources to make him realize he was wrong and even then he didn't admit to being wrong he was just like oh

dude i love you but you GOTTA stop i can't keep defending you

[longliveblackness]

In the 1960s, if you had a medical emergency, a police van would respond, not the paramedics.

There weren't any government-run emergency services in the U.S. at the time. In Pittsburgh, the police and firemen who answered these calls didn't have proper medical training and "had little, no, or outdated equipment," according to the University of Pittsburgh.

These police emergency vehicles refused to go to some poor Black areas, like the Hill District in Pittsburgh. It was there that the precursor of modern EMT service was born-partly as an employment-generating initiative, partly as a way to provide emergency health care to an underserved minority neighborhood.

Black men organized and founded the country's first emergency medical service (EMS). The Pittsburgh-based group, called Freedom House, wrote a training book that still serves as the basis for EMS training even to this day and pioneered life-saving practices in the field. By the mid-1970s, the success made the city government take notice, and it soon took over the program.

��••

En la década de los 60, si había una emergencia m��dica, una camioneta de la policía respondía, no los paramédicos.

En ese momento, en Estados Unidos no había ningún servicio de emergencia administrado por el gobierno. En Pittsburgh, la policía y los bomberos que respondían a las llamados no tenían la formación médica adecuada y "tenían poco, ningún equipo o equipo obsoleto", según la Universidad de Pittsburgh.

Estos vehículos policiales de emergencia se negaban a ir a algunas zonas negras pobres, como Distrito Hill en Pittsburgh. Fue allí donde nació el precursor del servicio moderno de Paramédicos Técnicos de Emergencias Médicas, en parte como una iniciativa generadora de empleo y en parte como una forma de brindar atención médica de emergencia a los vecindarios desatendidos.

Un grupo de hombres negros organizaron y fundaron el primer servicio médico de emergencia del país. El grupo con sede en Pittsburgh, llamado Freedom House (Casa de la Libertad), escribió un libro de capacitación que, incluso hoy en día, sirve como base para la capacitación de servicios médicos de emergencia y fue pionero en prácticas que salvan vidas en el campo. A mediados de la década de los 70, el éxito hizo que el gobierno de la ciudad se diera cuenta y pronto se hizo cargo del programa.

[oatmilk-vampire]

I'm always gonna think EMTs and paramedics are the hottest professions. That mf can learn to save my life in two years or less and they're strong af. They're gonna see me on my worst days and still see me as me.

Crack my ribs with your chest compressions idc

[jadematters]

Tumblr is getting a late night rant from me cause im still in such disbelief that this happened

The EMTs and cops in my hometown wanted to have my dad sit on the hood of a police SVU to take him down my parents long steep driveway to the ambulance at the bottom that couldn’t get up the driveway (steep driveway and thick ice) ya you read that right they were just gonna have my 6’8” father sit on the hood and “drive really carefully down the driveway” this was their first plan and if we hadn’t been there to stop it they wouldn’t of hesitated

My mother laughed thinking they were joking my dad literally couldn’t walk at the time there were 10 emts and cops that came up with this plan collectively and thought it was a good idea why they thought to put him on the car before they thought to put him in the car I will never understand

For a funny note to this ridiculous story my dad was very out of it at the time of the story but when we filled him in later what they said his respond was “put me on the hood of the car? What am I? A dead moose?” 🫎

[krissiefox]

Fire Safety Tips!

Photo of the recent fire my family members were rescued from! Thank you Fire Fighters! Due to my families recent scary brush with an apartment building fire, I have been looking up general fire safety tips and as well as tips specific to electrical outlet fires. I wanted to write and share what I found as well - this list is a mix of stuff I found online, stuff my parents taught me, and things I learned through safety videos in my various workplaces - so please spread this around! It could help save lives!

Note: This list is made by a USA resident so some things may be different in other countries. A good example is your emergency number to call in case of fire, make sure you know the right one for your country! In the USA it's 911.

Also, if I goofed up and any electricians or firefighters are here reading this, please let me know so I can fix any errors. Last thing I want is to spreading misinformation about safety, there's enough of that crap going around on the internet.

The list is below the divider!

If your house has gutters outside, clean them so flying embers can't get in and ignite the clutter.

Have an emergency bag ready for if you need to quickly leave your home. Important items often include computers or hard drives with personal work or data stored on them, identification documents like passports and birth certificates, deeds, titles, and ownership paperwork, valuable art or collections, and anything of personal value like family photo albums. Invest in an external hard drive to backup your computer, and keep the hard drive with the rest of your valuable. Also consider archiving your important files online in case you lose your computer/hard drives. Likewise, consider making copies of family photos.

Shut off your air conditioning when you're not home.

Regularly cut your grass and clean up debris in the yard.

always have some water ready to put of small fires. But be careful! Throwing water on certain kinds of fires can make it WORSE, such as with a grease fire, which can cause hot grease to spatter at you.

Buy a fire extinguisher! Be attentive to type of fire extinguisher you use. Different lettered extinguishers are designed for different kinds of fires. ABC fire extinguishers are a good general type to get.

Don't leave a stove unattended!

Don't leave your dryer unattended while it's running. Clean the lint filter regularly.

Power strips and extension cords are handy, but if you go too overboard with them they can present a fire hazard, so take it easy on them. Try to unplug whatever gadgets you aren't using at the time.

Don't leave a lit candle unattended!

Keep your kitchen tidy.

Keep space heaters away from cloth and clothing. Turn them off before leaving a room.

Test your smoke alarms monthly. Replace smoke detectors every 10 years.

Keep the area around the dryer free of flammable items.

Check all your cords and wires for damage.

Avoid blocking the air vents on a laptop. These are located on the back and sides. put the laptop on a hard surface, not cloth.

Don't place anything on top of a radiator.

Keep large newspaper stacks away from any flammable materials

If you smoke, do so outside, make sure your ash trays are sturdy, and soak your cigarette butts in water before disposing of them

Also soak matches in water before throwing them away!

Dust your home regularly.

Don't put glassware near a window, the light passing through it could have "magnifying glass" laser effect.

If you get home and smell gas, DO NOT TURN ON ANY LIGHTS. If there is a gas leak this could be enough to spark an explosion.

If you can, get an electric stove instead of a gas stove, they're generally safer.

Keep aerosols such as spray paint bottles away from heat sources.

DON'T PUT GASOLINE IN A GARBAGE BAG! This one should be obvious, but people have done it….sighs

Keep a pan lid or baking sheet nearby while cooking, if a fire starts, covering the pan might help smother the fire.

Try to use LED lighting where you can, they don't get as hot as other types of light bulbs can.

If an electrical fire starts, flip your circuit breakers and turn off the power in your home.

Don't throw water on an electrical fire!

When you unplug things, pull on the plug and not the chord. Tugging the chord itself can damage it over time and become a fire hazard. Also be mindful of this when picking up items (don't pick a laptops power brick up by it's chord, for example). Doing this can not only help prevent fires but can also decrease wear and tear on your gadgets.

Check for flickering lights or scorch marks on power outlets. if you find any, it may be a good idea to get a professional electrician to take a look at your home.

Never use an extension cord with a major appliance like a dryer.

Be careful about putting nails or tacks in your walls, if you hit a wire, that could become a future fire hazard!

On your dryer, Make sure the air exhaust vent pipe is not restricted or crushed against the wall.

Clean your pans regularly, to prevent the buildup of grease that could potentially catch fire.

Plan an outside meeting spot with your family or roommates so in the event of a fire you can all quickly gather and make sure everyone got out safely.

If a doorknob feels hot during a fire, don't open it, as it could mean a fire is on the other side. Opening it could cause an air vacuum, throwing the flames right at you!

If there is a fire, stay low to the ground to avoid breathing smoke.

Many fire departments in the USA will install a smoke detector for free! After acquiring one, if you feel unsure about your ability to install it properly, give them a call!

if your home has more than 1 floor, put escape ladders in the upstairs rooms.

some sources: https://www.wikihow.life/Protect-Your-Home-from-a-Wildfire https://www.thezebra.com/resources/home/fire-hazards-at-home/ https://fixitinthehome.com/wall-outlet-caught-fire-what-to-do_ny/ https://www.bobvila.com/articles/prevent-electrical-fires/ https://youtu.be/fhKD1CS8pcM https://youtu.be/VyS18ksk8D8

[ficmylife4]

Queen Saves Lives

Today I Learned Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" has been used for decades in CPR training because of its steady 110 beats per minute, when recommended rate of compression is 100 to 120 bpm.

[like-it-or-not-i-am-alive]

Please keep these in mind if you ever need to drive someone having a medical emergency.

This article is old now... But I just wanted to take a second after seeing a video about it to write some advice. Being someone who works in an ER, these are things I have seen and have learned the ways to go about.

Something I feel very passionately for, especially being in the USA, is bringing awareness to your rights as a patient. 'Patient rights' is a severely lacking book of knowledge in the USA for one reason or another. Typically, due to fear and misunderstanding of mandated processes.

The man in this article was arrested for multiple valid road violations. Contrary to popular belief, it is still a crime even in times of medical emergency. His arrest was valid in the eyes of the law... but it was avoidable. I don't know if he ever had to pay a fine or serve time, but I believe it would be a dismissable case. I hope you, your partner, and your daughter are doing well, Darius. You did right by your daughter, and that is recognized by the nurses and us readers.

My purpose in this post is NOT to shame or correct his behaviour but rather to provide alternative options and advice to improve everyone's safety involved.

Of course, there's a lot of nuance here. We don't know the full story. We don't have a video of the chase (or if you do, I'd love to see it!) or a public police report on what happened. Ultimately, no one is at fault for how it went down. The father prioritized his daughter's health over his record (absolutely correct), and the officers couldn't have known that was what was happening. You might argue that they shouldn't have arrested him after they found out why he was speeding. However, driving recklessly could still have endangered others, AND his daughter if something had gone wrong. As well as it is against the law to refuse to pull over for an officer EVEN in a medical emergency.

Darius was aware of this and continued on in an effort to save his daughter. Which is noble, and I do not blame him. Especially as most courts will understand and take this into account at the hearing. However, it is still important to remember that in moments of high emotional strain, it is easy to act out in pursuit of justice and can make the situation far worse. Remembering the laws can help you through the situation at hand.

I will write this post assuming the basics in the situation are all that happened (speeding/reckless driving, high-speed chase, nothing more). As well as its very important to remember that both the father, Darius, and the mother, Donecia, were more than likely in a panic. Which obscures your judgment.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you must rush someone to the hospital, the first thing you NEED to do is call 911. Call them and STAY on the line with them.

I know there are a lot of stigmas about doing so, as well as quite a few people who believe the ambulance would take too long. However, most ER nurses and trauma nurses will tell you that refusing to call 911 and driving someone yourself is a good way to almost guarantee you won't save their life.

Ambulances are equipped to handle codes, as well as the lights and permission to drive quickly through traffic. They will be able to reach the emergency room much quicker than you will be able to in most scenarios.

Obviously, if you live next door to the hospital, just bolt, but that's not the reality for most people.

911 operators will have a better idea of road closures, the ability to communicate directly with first responders and ERs, and the knowledge of if any hospitals are on bypass. As well as, not all hospitals treat patients for the same things. Some hospitals do not take traumas and can only stabalize. This is still helpful, but if you can get to the trauma hospital first, that is so much better. As they would have to transfer the patient to it anyway.

In Darius's case, I don't know if he was aware of that hospitals' pediatric policies, but it worked out for him. If you have a child, always, always, always be aware of what hospitals take pediatric codes and emergencies.

If you are going to drive a child to the hospital instead of calling for help, where you bring them could result in delaying care for your child as the staff scramble to accommodate their needs. It's not so bad for a teenager, but especially bad for toddlers. It also depends on the kind of emergency. Stitches won't be a problem, but choking, unconsciousness, post drowning, SIDS, might be a massive issue. Whereas anaphylaxis might not matter.

This is one of the many reasons why it is so important to stay on the line with 911. Whether you wait for the ambulance or not.

Now, there are times where the first responders are swamped and short on hands. Sometimes they will come from other areas to supplement these situations. I once checked in a patient that was picked up by EMTs stationed over forty minutes away because our local EMTs were all handling codes and life threatening emergencies.

That's fairly uncommon, though. As well as that patient was not having a medical emergency but still required an ambulance for transport.

So what do you do if 911 says, "Sorry, I understand its an emergency, and we'll come right away, but it may be 30 minutes or so before they can get to you!" And you can't wait?

Well, hop in your car and drive! When you get in your car, turn on your hazards. Stay on the phone with 911.

I imagine this situation could have been majorly improved if Darius had turned on his hazards (assuming he didn't). Hazards do more than indicate you are having car trouble. Typically, it will be understood that something is very wrong if you are driving wildly and sporting hazards. This would also very much help your case if it escalates, like how it did for Darius. Having your hazards on is an indication that something is wrong and is hard to dismiss in court.

That being said, an officer will still likely try to pull you over. This ISN'T a bad thing necessarily. If it is safe to do so and you are not yet close to the hospital, you should consider pulling over. I know it seems counterintuitive, and you hear a lot of horror stories get passed around, but they have the same privileges as an ambulance in that they can get you to the hospital faster. Especially in Darius's case, where it was his very young daughter choking. More than likely, they would have taken the mother and the baby into a unit and drove them separately while the father followed behind. Or they could have potentially done a police escort. Some police officers are trained with basic first aid and may have been able to perform a successful heimlich maneuver.

If you choose to pull over and are NOT on the phone with 911, get out with your hands up and clearly state what the medical emergency is. Even saying something as simple as "My daughter is choking!" Or "My daughter needs a hospital!" Is enough to get the message across. Do not run or approach the officer.

Before it gets to that, however... Staying on the phone with 911 while driving to the hospital could potentially prevent the high-speed chase altogether. The 911 operator can speak directly to the officers on duty over the radio to inform them of the emergency. The 911 operator can also keep you informed of what the officers are doing if you do get pulled over or are in pursuit. If you are not on the phone with 911 when an officer tries to pull you over, CALL THEM.

Darius did a good thing to help save his daughter in a situation that could have become deadly. However, the actions taken could have inadvertently resulted in loss of life. Whether that be the daughter, them, or a pedestrian. There are so many things that could have gone wrong or delayed his daughter's care.

If the officers' pursuing had done a PIT maneuver (a tactic in which an officer purposefully makes contact with a fleeing vehicle in order to cause them to spin out and stop) it could have seriously injured or further delayed his daughter.

If the reckless driving resulted in a car accident, it could have killed everyone involved at the speeds they were going.

If traffic came to a dead stop in an area where they were boxed in by other cars, his daughter could have lost her life while they were trapped in traffic.

These are just some of the scenarios that could have happened if they hadn't gotten lucky.

Knowing what to do in a situation like this could be the difference between life and death. It can be so hard not to panic during something like this. I do not blame the parents at all, but I also understand why the police became involved. Though I wish they had not arrested him immediately. I agree that it was unfair, but unfortunately, it was legally obligated.

I hope everyone stays safe out there! Remember that no one knows how to handle an emergency until an emergency happens. Give yourself some grace.

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: A Healing Touch

Synopsis: Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus is the kind of doctor who still believes in house calls, addressing not just her patients’ physical needs but their emotional ones too. When newly widowed Bee faces a breast cancer diagnosis, Dok connects her with Fern Lapp for support. When her painfully shy assistant Annie finds herself drawn to a new calling, Dok goes to great lengths to help her achieve her…

[bachiles]

Life Interrupted

Sometimes things roll along just as planned and then other times — poof—life takes a turn and you have to adjust. I had to make a few adjustments this past week and while it was unexpected, all is well. If anyone noticed I took an unplanned vacation from the blog last week. It’s all good. Sometimes being a “recreational blogger” is the best way to be as there are no expectations except the ones…

[ambulancenearme]

Emergency Medical services

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provide vital pre-hospital care and medical transportation in critical situations. Our dedicated teams of paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and dispatchers are committed to delivering swift and professional assistance during emergencies.

[broadcastingdutchman]

Published by colleagues of mine:

The Female Emergency Medical Services Experience: A Mixed Methods Study (2024).

Molly McCann-Pineo, Meghan Keating, Tara McEvoy, Mikayla Schwartz, Rebecca M. Schwartz, Jonathan Washko, Elizabeth Wuestman & Jonathan Berkowitz

If this is interesting to you, I encourage you to read the entirely study, but here are some quotes:

“Women are still pushing to make a presence in the EMS world like we still have a hard time struggling to prove that we’re just as qualified or just as equal as the men that work.”

“I'll walk in with a male [EMT] partner…the people think that he’s in charge and also, I'm a critical care medic. So, I have like the patch on and everything and the doctor will just immediately start talking to my male partner.”

“It’s kind of sad to look back and remember, you know, that I used to feel like I had all this room for growth and now feel like maybe I'm limited and maybe I need to choose a different career path where I don’t need to lay on my stomach to intubate while I'm pregnant or I don’t need to carry somebody into their chair. Umm, you know or where I can actually ask for help and not be judged because I'm a female….I don’t think I really had a doubt whether or not I was continuing with EMS for the rest of my life. And now I do.”

Approximately 70.0% met the criteria for probable anxiety, 53.9% probable depression and 40.9% elevated symptoms of burnout. Almost 73.0% reported workplace harassment, with most experiences being perpetrated by patients and coworkers. Over 61.0% reported reconsideration of their career in EMS. Overall, survey data indicated interactions with peers and leadership, and social support were positive.

[runningoutofbooks]

Things I’ve learned today:

Ambulance drivers rely on GPS directions.

Which is fine and dandy except when some GPS systems direct you to the backend of my mother’s property which is a dirt road that dead ends in the middle of nowhere a good 1/2 mile from her house.

They got very lost and very confused.

[teaboot]

Sorry if I'm mixing you up with someone else, but you've worked security before, right?

If you're willing, I'd be really interested on your thoughts on the murderbot diaries or murderbot as a character with that in mind?

Like did you recognise aspects of your job in murderbots descriptions of security work? Or did they like throw you out of immersion in the story?

Anyway thanks and hope you're having a good day/evening wherever you are!

As a security guard who has read the first two Murderbot books, Murderbot has been the number one most realistic security specialist character I have ever seen in media so far 😭

The third most annoying thing in security in my experience is handling threats. The second most annoying thing is having no threats to handle and being bored. The number one most annoying thing is the client being an idiot

Ihave social anxiety which I am medicated for. When I am in uniform with clear instructions, that anxiety is zero. I have a script and a set of rules and that makes life easy. I’m super good at performing tasks with clear expectations and that’s kinda how I keep getting good offers, it’s super straightforward

Bad clients are clients who give stupid, inefficient, counterproductive, cruel, or flat-out illegal orders. There are ways of shutting that shit down without them losing heir shit, but it’s still a pain in the ass every time

I’m a security specialist. I specialize in security. This is what I am trained for- handling crisis situations and minimizing harm. If you, an off-shift cashier at pet smart, see me deescalating a situation and decide you’re gonna drop your untrained uninformed ass in there with zero context or skills and “help” because I look small and helpless, then all you’re doing is increasing my likelihood of getting hurt while increasing my paperwork load by like two hours, and I’m gonna hate you the entire time. What you have essentially done is promoted me to meat shield while giving the aggressor I’m calming down an obnoxious and aggravating hostage. Good god please do not

Yes, I am sometimes asked to stand perfectly still in a corner for several hours like a mannequin. What do I do to avoid going insane? Think about Star Trek and the very good fanfiction I’ll be reading on my break, mostly

Yes I can assist in evacuating tw location in the event of an environmental disaster. No I cannot tell my waiter that they put cilantro on the wrong order. Yes this makes perfect sense

I love Murderbot. I love how realistic it is. Like obviously I can’t speak for everyone in the industry but yeah I’ve worked for absolute dogshit security companies in the past and yeah a lot of the books so far are super accurate to that experience so A+ so far, honestly