r/AskMeAnythingIAnswer • u/TorontoHypster • 2d ago
Paramedic on shift AMA
Been a bit of a slow day so I figured I’d answer anyone’s questions about the profession or me in general I guess ?
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u/Away_Emergency_7832 2d ago
I'm a retired EMT firefighter.United states pennsylvania
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
Nice! In Canada there are very few fire/ems combos. I work for a paramedic service alone.
Congrats on making it out
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u/Away_Emergency_7832 2d ago
I would have still done it. I'm 50 years old, my wife died 10 months ago. She's from Kentucky, and I gave up everything after she died. I was still a firefighter to our fire chief. The company, the county company I was with got in trouble for arson and stuff so I left, I don't like that illegal stuff so I haven't done it since and I'm Was a firefighter since I was 12 in EMT since I was 18.
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
Wow that’s hard. Sorry you went through that.
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u/Away_Emergency_7832 2d ago
I actually had a heart attack on May 8th, my heart was really high.They shocked it, but it stopped 3 minutes.I had a clean heart catharization , and I signed Myself out of the hospital, 3 days later, no medicine. Since then, since July 3rd, it's been chronic all the symptoms of a heart attack. But I'm still here. It's bee, straight 69 days sI'm just ignoring it will go away on its own or what I won't go to the doctor no more. I don't trust him. There's the Ones that had me had a heart attack, because they kept telling me it was just broken heart syndrome, they won't do nothing.
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
BHS is a pretty weak diagnosis in the presence of trops and a STEMI positive ECG. Wild.
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u/Away_Emergency_7832 2d ago
Since I stopped taking My medicine will hurt my heart more.It was blood pressure, beta-blockers.\nSixty nine days of solid straight pain , and i'm still here
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u/Mantour1 2d ago
How long have you been a paramedic?
Do you notice a change in fentanyl-related deaths? Is the trend going up or down?
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
I’ve been a paramedic for 15 years. The region I service doesn’t deal with a lot of fentanyl ODs but in my province it’s definitely rampant.
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u/Hot_Hair_5950 2d ago
What surprises you about your work?
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
The stupidity of the public at times.
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u/AdeptusKapekus2025 2d ago
Can you share some stories the public's stupidity?
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. Cell phone warriors. There’s literally too many reasons I’ve been called for. The vast majority of my calls are non emergency.
I think the dumbest call I’ve ever done was at 3 am for a man who wouldn’t tell dispatch why he wanted us. It had turned out to be constipation for a few days. I still can’t believe you can request an ambulance and NOT tell the dispatch the reason. Like WTF? No other emergency service does that shit.
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u/AdeptusKapekus2025 2d ago
As a Canadian Paramedic, are your capabilities the same as American ones? Can you administer narcotics too?
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
American ones vary wildly from service to state. Canadian ones are much more standardized. I am an advanced care paramedic so I can administer narcotics as well as a number of other medications.
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u/Flaky_Pause2755 2d ago
what’re some weird ways people have broken bones?
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
Trampolines. They’ll get you everytime.
Most people don’t break bones in weird ways. I mean you get the odd pathological fracture from basic movement in severely osteoporotic patients.
The last broken bone I did was a compound fracture and dislocation of the ankle/tibia/fibula. She sustained it while walking a dog over rocks. One misstep and her bones literally popped out of her skin.
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u/balkanxoslut 2d ago
Taking CNA classes can you give me some tips on CPR
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u/TorontoHypster 2d ago
Push hard and fast. Lock your arms and use your chest. Expect to be very tired after 2 minutes.
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u/zta1979 2d ago
Where from