As you know, there is a vast amount of information on the internet. Here are just a few sites in the area of emergency medicine that you might find to be interesting:
St. Louis Community College has an EMS Programs site with information about their programs, how to apply, what is needed to relicense, Instructor's pages for their classes, and more.
http://www.stlcc.edu/internetedu/freestlouis.html is a site that lists all the libraries in the St. Louis area that have free internet service.
"Employment should grow rapidly as paid emergency medical technician positions replace unpaid volunteers" says the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Working conditions, Earnings, Related Occupations, and other related information.
Two sites especially relevant to Missouri EMTs is the MEMSA (Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association) site at http://www.memsa.org, and the National Registry site at http://www.nremt.org
On the title page of http://www.LessStress.com/index.htm - click on the spot marked "Links", and it will take you to about a dozen other sites developed by firefighters and EMT's. One of them is an interesting site from the Ambulance Services of Ireland.
Less Stress at http://www.LessStress.com/simulator/sim.htm is a fun and educational, interactive program that takes you through a "typical" ambulance call and lets you make the decisions. Even if you always know the right decisions, choose some of the wrong ones once in a while just to see what they come back with!
Another very interesting one, http://www.med.uiuc.edu/PathAtlasf/titlePage.html is an atlas of pathology, with Quicktime movies showing how the larynx, etc. work. There is also a link to a very well done site that describes the heart and how it works.
Speaking of the heart, want to review your CPR? Check out http://www.amherst.edu/~jaloduca/cpr.html
For a cybertour of the brain, take a look at http://suhep.phy.syr.edu/courses/modules/mm/biology/biology.html
Back to Less Stress for another interesting interactive simulation, this time of CPR. http://www.LessStress.com/cprintro.htm
The National Fire Acadamy is located in Maryland. It's a school dedicated to fire/ems/hazmat training run by FEMA. It is open to anyone in the emergency response field. Training is free, but you need to apply.
Stanford University runs a web site that is a very respected source of medical and health information. It contains links to an excellent source of on-line medical information. There is a "Health Library", excerpts on eating your way to a healthy heart, and the "Stanford Life Plan." Check it out at http://healthlink.stanford.edu/
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg covers almost any emergency problem you can imagine. It's a textbook for emergency room doctors, but makes a great reference source for prehospital also.
The University of Missouri Respiratory Therapy program has a website that will play lung sounds for you as well as a great list of links to other sites about respiratory issues.
Washington University Medical School has an interesting site called the Mad Scientist Network at http://www.madsci.org, which presents "A Guided Tour of the Visible Human", and has an "Ask a Scientist" page.
http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Infoguides/Alphabetical_List_of_InfoGuides. Just a great site to find out information about almost anything. There are good descriptions of various medical problems and diseases.
An interesting website that explains all kinds of stuff. http://health.howstuffworks.com/aids.htm This page discusses how AIDS works,
the unique features of HIV, how HIV enters the body, the life-cycle of HIV, world impact, and lots more information
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say type-2 diabetes is turning up with alarming frequency in children, teens, and young adults. The increase parallels the growing girth and sedentary habits of American children. First aiders will need to become better acquainted and prepared for diabetic emergencies. For more information about diabetes here are some web sites:
Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Diabetes Program at http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes
Visit the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at http://www.niddk.nih.gov
Visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at http://www.hhs.gov/topics/diabetes.html
Visit the American Association of Diabetes Educators at http://www.aadenet.org
And of course, the various search engines on the net are a great source of information. Try altavista, excite, yahoo, google, or many others, type in a keyword, like "emt", "paramedic", "prehospital", emergency medicine, or others, and see where it takes you.
