If I were inclined to think that God sends natural disasters to punish people, that might give me pause. Or not, because denial ain't just a river in Egypt. (â¤ï¸ Mark Twain) Wasn't it the old Church Lady skit on SNL with the tag line, "Things that make you go hmmm."?

Well, bless his little heart. <huge eyeroll>

You would be mistaken. There are high scholl football coaches in TX that make close to $100,000/yr.

For several of my pregnancies the only thing I could reliably eat and not throw up was instant mashed potatoes. I went through boxes of those things. My dh made me mashed potatoes from scratch and I nearly shot him. 😬 I wanted my boxed mashed potatoes.

I grew up in Houston and lived through several tropical storms and hurricanes. I remember my parents filling the bathtub with tap water and also filling barious coolers with ice and/or tap water. Came in very handy during and after Alicia when we were without power for two or three weeks.

Good riddance to bad garbage!!! Now for the PD to do the same thing.

Ayup. On my third tween and her sullen attitude is awful! Did you know that a 12 yo can simultaneously give you a death glare while *at the same time* rolling her eyes so hard they may fall out? Ugh! I wish she'd start her period.

In most places, the ambulance drivers *are* the EMS personnel whether EMTs or paramedics. Most transporting EMS systems run a two-man crew and you switch off after each call. My system does not require CDLs because of the type of ambulances we use (the stereotypical box on a pick-up chassis). Some types of ambulances might require the personnel to hold a CDL. It just varies.

Daria, thinking more about this - do the ERs in your area hire EMTs as ER techs? MedicMom and, I believe, another poster mentioned this. This may be the best way for your son to get some practical experience in medicine that is more related to the hospital side of things, even if he's not interested in emergency medicine. This would completely eliminate the driving question, assuming he can get to the hospitals without a car. Many paramedic students in my area work as ER techs while attending paramedic school (i.e., they're already EMTs).

Daria, has your ds had a chance to talk to the FD yet? That really needs to be the first step.

There are myriad ways an EMS system can be set up, for example: (1) tiered - where some ambulances are staffed with two EMTs or an EMT & AEMT and other ambulances are staffed with paramedics (what type of ambulance is sent on a call is dependent on the dispatch info); (2) some combination of EMT/AEMT with a medic; (3) dual paramedic - this is the model my system uses; (4) various other random combinations. If an EMT is hired for EMS response, almost certainly they will be expected to drive emergent to calls and/or the hospital if the situation warrants it. Many systems, including mine, employ priority dispatching whereby the response to a scene is either emergent (lights & sirens {RLS}) or non-emergent (no lights or sirens) depending on the information the call-taker gets from the person calling 911. Driving emergent doesn't always mean at a high rate of speed. In fact, in urban and densely populated suburban areas, I dare say there could be a significant amount of time that the ambulance is NOT going fast even with RLS on. I would hope that the EMS system would train volunteers & employees how to safely drive emergent and what the various statutes and laws are regarding driving with RLS. [ETA: These are very state and even city specific.] There have been many times where I've driven emergent to a call or hospital and really never got much above 35-40 mph due to traffic.

Hmmm...it seems that your area is in transition from volunteer to paid. The first big thing I noticed is the distance from the station. Two blocks isn't that far away; however, there are time standards that even volunteer FFs and medical personnel try to meet. I assume he would stay at the station during his shift? If not, be aware that even volunteer units try to adhere to certain time standards (shoot time [time from dispatch to response] & response time are two big ones. I happen to think they're mostly bunk due to every meta study out there, but that's a different issue.) If your ds isn't staying at the station where there is a crew already present, they may not be willing/able to wait for him. The second big thing that I notice is that the ambulance has both EMTs and paramedics. In the event the patient requires anything other than BLS care (basic life support - generally no IVs, no ECG monitoring, no or only basic medications, etc), he will be expected to take his turn driving the ambulance to the hospital as the medic will be in the back with the patient. Generally speaking each EMS unit will respond to a defined area unless they are providing back-up coverage or your area participates in something like FATPOT where the closest appropriate unit is sent on a call regardless of system/district. This very well might include responding to fires to provide med monitoring and rehab to the firefighters, especially if the FFs are from his response district. Again, every area is different and he really needs to talk to the department he wants to work for to find out the specific answers to these questions. What I've described is how every single volunteer FD/FRO works in my area. Other areas have great differences.

I agree with Jean; I'd call APS or the equivalent elder abuse hot line. Remember, you don't have to be sure and you don't need to investigate to prove one way or another. That's not the reporter's job.

20 year medic here. 1) Functionally, probably not. Sitting for the state/national exam isn't the issue. Depending on how the VFD is organized/run he may have to take his turn driving the squad or, if his department also transports patients in an ambulance, drive the ambulance. He probably won't drive the fire truck right off as "driver" is actually a specific position. 2) Again, this may depend on how the VFD is run. Most EMTs in volunteer FDs are both medical and fire certified due to lack of manpower. As an EMT only, he'll certainly be called out to fires in order to treat any patients and provide medical monitoring and rehab to the firefighters. Generally speaking patients are brought to the medical people and rehab is established upwind and away from the active fire scene. Both of the above answers are based on how the smaller VFDs are organized in the area where I work. These things tend to be state/area specific, though, so he should get info from the organization itself.

There is a reason that the ceiling fans in my house on *always* on.... ...and it ain't just for the air circulation.

I think SLCPD probably has illegally obtained some patients' blood samples in the past. More than likely from patients in the ED where the staff either was too busy to really notice (it appears the certain LEOs in that department can draw the blood themselves) or "acquiesced" under duress. This is an issue that could affect not just nurses, but also paramedics in my area. The two major EMS systems (one of which I work for) developed policies dealing with this issue. There are some differences; however, the medical directors for the two EMS systems basically said we (EMS) will not draw blood for LE without some fairly onerous (for LE) conditions being met. Most medical directors in my state have said the same thing and have similar policies.

That officer now has nurses out to get him for his illegal actions, EMS on his tail for bringing us into his little power play, and ER docs on him for messing with the first two groups. Ambulance driver, indeed. What a dumb f---!!

You can talk to his doctor; his doctor just can't talk to you due to HIPAA, unless your dad signed a release allowing his doctor to speak with you. Really, any one of a number of things could be going on: general cognitive decline; latent infection (esp a UTI with atypical symptoms); dementia related anger - it isn't unusual for people with dementia, even early dementia, to express anger even if they weren't normally angry people; worsening hearing loss; adverse medication interaction. Of course, he could have more than one of the above going on, too.

I'd contact the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston directly and ask them.

They're very lucky.

As someone who works in EMS, let me assure you that I do *NOT* get to leave. When my boss, the county judge, the governor, or whomever calls me to duty, I have to show up. And if I physically can't drive to my appointed place, more than likely a fire truck or other heavy duty vehicle will pick me up. As a paramedic I'm considered Essential Personnel - I don't get to choose my response. This isn't theoretical. In the last big multi-day ice/winter storm my area experienced, I had to stay at my station for 3 days. Normal operations and hours-worked restrictions were suspended.

I really agree with KFP. None of my kids - healthy kids without underlying issues - ever starved because they were made to wait a bit to eat. Although we have a pretty liberal eating/snacking policy, dh and I will also put the kibosh on eating anything within an hour or so of the next meal. We've also experienced the "I'm starving due to boredom" bit. Generally, a big glass of water + a suggested activity cures that. We've also had vats of soup either in the fridge or simmering on the stove for the family to eat, again, though, not within an hour or so of the next meal.

Well, there you go. MercyA cursed. You should rest easy knowing that the answer is no. And just in case you need another vote - Oh, Hell No!!!!!! ---imagine that bolded and 64 pt font

We will be traveling out to the backyard as we're in the path of totality.

Call. Don't worry about trying to plan tactics or strategy. That's well beyond your ken.