*Hacker Voice* I'm In.

writing style: author from the 1800s with a severe love of commas whose sentences last half a page 

Could somebody be a paramedic if they were missing a forearm?

Y’know, sometimes a question comes along that exposes your biases. I’m really, really glad you asked me this.

My initial instinct was to say no. There are a lot of tasks as a paramedic that require very specific motions that are sensitive to pressure: drawing medications, spreading the skin to start IVs. There’s strength required–we do a LOT of lifting, and you need to be able to “feel” that lift.

So my first thought was, “not in the field”. There are admin tasks (working in an EMS pharmacy, equipment coordinator, supervisor, dispatcher) that came to mind as being a good fit for someone with the disability you describe, but field work….?

(By the way, I know a number of medics with leg prostheses; these are relatively common and very easy to work with. I’m all in favor of disabled medics. I just didn’t think the job was physically doable with this kind of disability.)

Then I asked. I went into an EMS group and asked some people from all across the country. And the answers I got surprised me.

They were mostly along the lines of “oh totally, there’s one in Pittsburgh, she kicks ass” or “my old partner had a prosthetic forearm and hand, she could medic circles around the rest of her class”. One instructor said they had a student with just such a prosthesis, and wasn’t sure how to teach; the student said “just let me figure it out”, and by the end of the night they were doing very sensitive skills better than their classmates.

Because of that group I know of at least a half-dozen medics here in the US with forearm and hand prostheses.

So yes. You can totally have a character with one forearm, who works as a paramedic for a living.

Thanks again for sending this in. It broadened my worldview.

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

disclaimer    

The Script Medic is supported bygenerous donations on Patreon. Have you considered donating?

Fancy afree eBook?  

Izuku and Ochako for the palette swap?

OH BUT THIS WORKS SO WELL...

Do you think the rest of the Marauders made Sirius put a sickle into a jar every time one of them said ‘werewolf’ and he responded by pointing at Remus and saying ‘There wolf!’

I’ve had this post saved up for days, waiting to release it when I ran out of other posts, because this is easily the greatest thing I have ever voiced, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to top it

but people keep sending me stuff, and I keep finding stuff on my own, so here it is! based on this hilarious comic by @liberlibelulaart

please do keep sending me stuff! I’ve really enjoyed doing this the last couple of months, and even though there’s still more to come, it’s mostly down to dumb luck, and the well is going to dry up real soon

my three favorite things are the oxford comma, irony, and missed opportunities

So IDK if people will understand this concept but I made "corner pins"

Basically they are tiny pins with TWO posts on them, and you use them to hold up mementos like instax/photos/tickets etc without having to puncture them, and without having to pinch them with the metal or the push pin edge etc. You can simply rest the corner of the item between the posts gently!

These are the cute ribbon/bow ones, I also made some others that i think would be really cool on your mementos ToT

Let me know what you think about this concept?? I don't know how to market it but i really thought it was a nice idea T_T. You can find them in my store here

Everything movies taught me about archery is wrong. This is a complete mind-blower. 8D

If you are even remotely interested in archery or medieval combat, check this out, it’s just great!

In Case You Missed It...

…my free eBook dropped like a baked potato this morning!

http://www.scriptmedicblog.com/free-ebook

GO FORTH AND DOWNLOADICATE!

xoxo, Aunt Scripty