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Bryan Bledsoe

Publications and source records attributed to Bryan Bledsoe.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

We don't pay them like heroes.

To put this all in perspective: My 20-year-old daughter is a college student. She works in the Stockyards area of Fort Worth operating a mechanical bull for tourists who fancy themselves bull riders. Her job is fairly simple: Take their money, tell them how to get on the bull and then operate the single switch and two levers that control it. For this, she is paid $11 an hour. Contrast this to the paramedic in the MedStar ambulance who provides emergency care for the tourists in the Stockyards. The paramedic staffing that ambulance is earning approximately $13 per hour and receives no benefits whatsoever. Am I the only one who sees the irony here? Consider this: My $3.45 an hour salary as a paramedic in Fort Worth in 1977 is equivalent to $11.48 in 2003 dollars. Sadly, EMS pay in my hometown is not much better nearly 30 years later. And that, my friends, is an embarrassment and a shame.

Awards and Prizes↗
PubMed2004

The missing drugs.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Emergency Medical Technicians↗
PubMed2004

Traction splint. An EMS relic?

Traction splints have been used in EMS for more than 40 years. However, they were originally designed for the treatment of femoral fractures -- not temporary stabilization. Multisystem trauma and other injuries contraindicate traction splint usage for many femoral fractures. Thus, with the relatively low usage of the traction splint, it may be time to revisit guidelines that require traction splints on every ambulance and rescue vehicle. They may be, in essence, an EMS relic we may want to part with.

Ambulances↗