MERGINET.News: October 18th Issue Online Now!

["Richard Bilger" <rbilger@merginet.com>]

We're pleased to bring you the latest additions to
MERGINET.News (October 2001 Vol. 6, No. 10).
You can view this issue online at:

http://www.merginet.com/index-news.htm
Select "MERGINET.News" or "Current Issue" from
the navigation menu's.

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FROM THE EDITORS:
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Welcome to mid-October — that delightful autumnal interlude before winter
and the holidays hit! At your "worldwide website for emergency responders,"
you'll find several interesting new items. Frank Poliafico offers his new
vision of the benefits of AEDs in an interesting about-face from his
previous convictions. Tonya Schafer reports on a controversy in Washington
D.C., where female Fire Department recruits allegedly have had to choose
between pregnancy and their jobs. We wrap up Alan Eade's adventures in East
Timor with one last interesting case. And two old friends, Dick Clinchy and
Lou Jordan, eulogize an icon of EMS, Rick Vomacka, who succumbed to cancer
on October 12.

In our relatively new feature, "Helpline," Mike Giannini wants to know if
anyone with a LP 500 has any experience with collecting data by connecting
the unit directly to an Epson printer. A volunteer department in his area
wants the LP 500 but will use it only a few times each year, and they cannot
afford the more-expensive code stat software. If you have answers for him,
click on "Reader Helpline" in MERGINET's left-hand column, and answer
questions from him and other emergency colleagues worldwide.

Our regular columnists — John Becknell, Don Hunjadi, John Mateus, Katherine
West, and the folks from National Academy of Emergency Dispatch — have
weighed in with great material for you. (Don't fret; the popular column, Law
Bytes, will reappear next month.) Our categories of Medic Life, Educator's
Corner, and Management Matters are always there to serve you, as are the
general columns — take a look!

As always, please don't be shy about sending us your Reader Feedback. We
always appreciate your thoughts and ideas. We also enjoy your compliments!
We write back to everyone as promptly as possible.

Welcome!
Kate Dernocoeur, Editor
Laura Bennett-Kimble, Managing Editor

New in this issue!

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Feature Articles
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>> Remembering Rick
by Richard A. Clinchy, III, Ph.D., EMT-P and Lou Jordan
At this year's EMS Expo, Ray Bias, of Acadian Ambulance, was ambling down
one of the aisles in the exhibit area and came to a sudden stop in front of
the ACPM exhibit. Lou Jordan, Rick Vomacka, and I were standing there doing
what we do so well, shooting the breeze, and Ray commented that he "had to
get a picture of the three of us together." I hope he has that photograph
around somewhere, since it's the last time I saw Rick face-to-face.

>> Pregnancy and EMS
by Tonya Schafer
It's a situation that every woman should be concerned about. What happens to
her job when and if she becomes pregnant? In most progressive EMS and fire
services, the answer is, nothing. Women are assigned other tasks when their
burgeoning stomachs make the rigors of active duty too much to handle. They
perform clerical work, participate in public outreach events, and take calls
in dispatch centers. These temporary tasks may not hold the same degree of
urgency that field positions do, but they allow pregnant women to remain
both on the job and financially afloat until their little bundles of joy
enter the world.

>> Alan's Adventures in East Timor, Report #8
by Alan Eade
Alan's work in East Timor was not always lights and sirens with immediate
life threats. Expatriate staff expected a level of health care generally
unavailable within the country. Add to this that health insurers based in
Australia couldn't always grasp the huge differences between the two health
systems, and you have an interesting situation.

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Medic Life
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>> In His Own Words: AED and PAD and the Rest of the Story
by Frank J. Poliafico, RN
Recently several esteemed EMS colleagues raised some very valid points
regarding the necessity of AED and PAD programs. As little as three years
ago, I would have loudly applauded their concerns regarding the value of
AEDs and the need for Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs. As late
as 1996-1997, I was still advising several of my airline clients to hold up
on "this AED fad." But I now stand corrected.

>> Rapid HIV Testing — Cost Effective and an Employee Benefit
by Katherine West, BSN, MSEd, CIC Infection Control Consultant
The CDC guidelines for post-exposure prophylaxis that were published on May
15, 1998 were the first to state that rapid HIV testing needed to play a
primary role in post-exposure medical follow-up. This document appears to
have been overlooked by many medical facilities across the country. The
purpose of rapid testing is to eliminate the need to place exposed health
care personnel on very toxic drugs for even a short period of time.


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Educators Corner
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>> Instructor Rewards
by John Mateus
I sometimes ponder the fates of the people I've trained. I take great pride
when one of the multitude of faces in my classes goes on to become more
skilled, more respected, and ultimately, more "heroic" in the industry. I'm
a relatively young instructor compared to some of my colleagues with decades
in the business, but I've had the pleasure of seeing some of my students and
orientees go on to some interesting feats and positions.


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Columns
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>> Looking for Lemonade
by Don Hunjadi
The events of September 11 will go down in history as among the worst and
most devastating known. There is nothing good about the senseless deaths and
the overwhelming distraction of this day.

>> Answering the 9-1-1 Call
by Bill Kinch, EMT-P, EMD Instructor
Helping people and preventing harm — that's the goal of 9-1-1 call takers
who work in emergency communication centers worldwide. To accomplish this,
it's critical that call takers and dispatchers be properly trained in how to
gather appropriate information from emergency callers.


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Management Matters
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>> For Operations: Resuscitation: Can We Make It Better?
by John Becknell
Along with response times and customer satisfaction, resuscitation outcome
expectations are a significant driver of EMS policies and protocols. Is the
current practice of resuscitation the best that it can be? From the
standpoint of technology, research, resources, and public awareness,
resuscitation seems stronger than ever.

>> Crucial versus Not Crucial
by Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
We all have "too much to do." True for you? Sure 'nuf. And that says a lot
of good things about you. That you have "too much to do" suggests that a lot
of people have entrusted much confidence in you. I mean, people who are
drifting about early each afternoon begging coworkers for something to do
may not have earned that confidence from others. And this applies not only
in our work lives but in our personal lives as well.

More online!

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fun to the all in EMS, Fire, Rescue and Emergency Medicine. Updated daily.
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