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Hi. Although politics are not for everyone, this area was designed for those that want to discuss politics and other items not EMS related. Many of the members here have other interests besides EMS and what better place to discuss them than with people you already know from other discussions. I welcome you to join in or perhaps find a different topics that you enjoy and post.

Hey everyone! Glad I found you all, from what I've gathered from some brief browsing, this seems like a good place to get advice on the world of EMS! So, I'd thought I'd just directly ask this community some on my questions, as I'm a little on the fence about pursuing EMT and Paramedic Should I become an EMS student and eventually an EMT? Also, will my age hinder me greatly? What are the challenges of studying to be an EMT that I should be aware of? If you're concerned about the emotional and mental strain of the job, but know it is a challenge you want to try and overcome, should you think twice? Sorry for all the big questions, any answers or advice you could give me would really be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Should I become an EMS student and eventually an EMT? As many discussed, what are your intentions? If you have to ask.. probably not. This is really tying to be a profession. My advice is to go to academic studies and obtain your general education. You will need them no matter what you decide to do. Also, will my age hinder me greatly? Yes!.. Most professional services require minimum of 21 years of age for insurance (unless self insured) .. I have seen many of requiring up to the age of 23. Again, this is a profession. What are the challenges of studying to be an EMT that I should be aware of? It is nothing like you see on television. Usually, there are several hours of boredom with few minutes of terror! Studying basic EMT is simple, it is set at at a 10-12'th grade reading level. Repetitive practice will allow you to master the basic skills. Again, as you master other academic courses such as anatomy, chemistry, English, Psychology, EMT course will be a breeze. If you're concerned about the emotional and mental strain of the job, but know it is a challenge you want to try and overcome, should you think twice? There is an emotional factor that we are now seeing more than ever. Not everyone is emotionally stable enough to handle the hum-drum of EMS and the abuse calls. If your looking for a high adrenaline job, chances are EMS is not what your looking for. I used to say age is not a factor, but I regret saying that. I believe the nature of our business is being able to understand the whole business of EMS. That we are there for patients (not vice/versa) and the 3' o-clock for grandma being lonely is just as important as that truama call... grieving parents or the new widow of the spouse of 65 years.... and yes, it's also a business. To provide care but also make money.... It's not that younger members can't but research has proven that many do not mature until early twentys. I ask you... What's the hurry? Really.... EMS will be there for you, if you do make a rational and educated answer. It's much better than entering only to never really enter it or leave it in 3-4 years, before one has obtained true experience Good luck, R/r 911

Welcome. Direct questions are some of the best questions to ask. Why beat around the bush? I don't know. Should you? What do you think? Are you up for it? Do you want it? As Clutzy said the only person who can answer this is you. How old are you? The challenges are different for everybody. They largely depend on you, who you are, your background and your motivations. Do you second guess other decisions in your life based on similar concerns? EMT class and being an EMT or paramedic isn't the only challenge people face that brings with it emotional or mental strain. How do you face these other challenges? Your answer to how you face those challenges will help you decide if you're up to this challenge. You're welcome.

It is nice to see all the old faces. Perhaps now is the time for the students to become the teachers. There are plenty of new providers that need the wisdom that you all have gained over the years. Stick around. Make this your home again. Post something interesting and welcome the rebuttals and questions. Engage in others and make them think, and let them return the favor. EMT City has been around for a long time and it is because of the members like you that we are still here. I thank you for that and I look forward to seeing your posts.

Should I become an EMS student and eventually an EMT? This is totally up to you. I took my EMT-Basic class when I was a senior in High School (not part of school but rather a class through the fire department). It was tough. I started the class at 17 and graduated at 18. Was it tough for a 17 year old kid? Yes. I enjoyed the class but you better make sure that EMS is what you want to do. I knew I wanted to eventually be a medic. It took me 12 years to eventually hit that goal. Was it worth it? Yes. I was grateful that I had the experience I did when I was in medic school. I think it helped me alot. I suggest taking a basic class and then getting your feet wet. This way you can decide if EMS is truly what you want to do. I have seen students come and go and I have seen many of them brand new EMTs with no experience that quit because they realized it isn't all daiseys and roses. Just being honest. Also, will my age hinder me greatly? It can. I was 18, but as stated before, more and more services are requiring you to be 21 because of insurance purposes. You should look into your area. What are the challenges of studying to be an EMT that I should be aware of? You learn really fast that this is real life. What you see in the Hollywood is not what EMS is. Many times you run a code, the person dies. I have had one save in my career. The rest have died. Thats how life is. Diseases are VERY real. HIV, Hep-c, Hep-B, all of that.....yes it is real and yes you could be exposed. Get an accidental needle poke and you suddenly realize how scary it can be waiting test results. Class is serious. Yes, we all goof and have fun but you are learning how to save someone or help them when they are in need. If you use improper skills you that can be the difference between life or death. Don't think you can just breeze through it. You need to study and you need to know your stuff. Do NOT get cocky!!! You may think you know it all but there is a difference between book smarts and street smarts. It is my personal pet peeve to have students come in that think they know it all. You are there to LEARN, not to prove how much you know. Sorry if it sounds harsh but I don't sugar coat it. EMS is not a sugar coated profession. If you're concerned about the emotional and mental strain of the job, but know it is a challenge you want to try and overcome, should you think twice? If you question your personal abilities you need to really put thought into this profession. Yes, there have been calls that have gotten to me. It happens. As I said above it is not all roses and daiseys. But also know that there are services that are available to help you deal with some of the stress. I have found that talking with the person on the call with me helps me if I doubt something I did. If I am with a basic, we discuss the call or even go talk to the doctor to get some input. You need to be able to have positive coping skills. Going to the bar and getting drunk it not healthy. Make sure to have a hobby that you enjoy. I found that my photography is a great way of coping with the stress of work at times. If you find that you can't handle the consistant stress then you should get out. I am not trying to be mean so don't take what is above personally. I had someone tell me pretty much what I told you when I was wondering about getting into EMS. I am glad she did. I walked into this profession knowing that it was going to be tough. I love what I do and I am very happy in EMS. There are some lessons that you have to learn the hard way but they can make you a good EMT or medic if you learn from your mistakes. Ash

I'm an EMT Student trying to decide what path to follow. I know for a fact that I want to do EMS, and nothing else, but the best paying jobs in my area are for FF/EMT-P. There are ambulance districts around me, but pretty much all but one pays less than $15 an hour. I really don't have any desire to go putting on turnout gear and climbing up ladders, but I have heard that many firefighters are on the ambulance majority, if not all the time. I wouldn't even mind doing medical calls on the fire truck and extrications. The FD jobs are very hard to get, but is it worth it? I don't want to be stuck on a fire truck all of the time.. Should I just stick to EMS? Thanks, JT

So Tyler and I met about 5 years ago at the hotel restaurant that he was staying at in the D.C. Area. I was living in Baltimore and he was travelling in for a National red cross training gig. So we meet up for a marathon chat session. He walks over and I'm thinking Man what a presence. He tells me "I hope I can fit in there" meaning the booth. I said "if I can so can you brother" and he did fit. We had a great laugh at our girth's expense.(I do know that 3 years ago he sent me a picture of him in a train car in a booth where he was fitting with room to spare and he said "remember the booth at the hotel?") We had drinks, a great steak, laughs at the cities most reverent members expense(Dust, Ace, Dwayne, Mike, Eydawn, some others I cannot remember), he told me that he was going to marry that lovely woman in his life, I talked to him about my SUCK's donkey balls job where he told me to quit if I didn't like it and stop bitching(I quit 6 weeks later) and everything in between. He told me something that I remember well, he said that Life only happens once, it happens to the best of us and you just have to grab it and hope that it treats you kindly. Tyler was always available to me, I could call him and he would answer, he called me a couple of times with personal and job related issues and we always had each others backs. Tyler, you will be missed - you were a true friend, if I was able I'd be at your funeral but trust me when I say, I'll be there in spirit to ride that supply logistics train one last time with you to heaven because heaven doesn't get resupplied by just any silly amateur, they need a pro and they picked you my friend. Stay the course, we got it down here, your job is done on Earth, it's only beginning upstairs. Ruff

I believe he was 28, and the wedding was to be next year. I'll check with Jennifer (his fiancé) to see if I can get an address to send cards and such to. She is trying to put together a memorial for him. When I know more, I'll pass it on....

So, I am now in EMT class, again. I took it once before many years ago and really enjoyed it. However I was never able to work EMS. At the time I took the class, I was also in backgrounds for the Sheriffs Dept in my home county. So when I was hired as a Deputy, I was asked to let my EMT certification expire, as they did not want any liability and did not want to provide me with any materials. I left law enforcement for many reasons, after 5 years of service to them, considered going back, but the timing just wasnt right for me personally. I began driving a Semi truck hauling hay, and later hazmat, and hazmat took me to Los Angeles. Recently the wife and I wanted to move back closer to our families, and I was tired of driving a truck and dealing with hazwaste and bio-hazard medical research waste. So we moved up here. I worked for a short time as a propane install specialist, but left when I took my paid family leave for when my daughter was born. After that I had to get onto disability, as a hand injury I didn't take proper care of when I broke my hand, really came back and bit me. getting ready for my second surgery now. So, here I am, back in EMT school for a second time. This time to stay.

Brother/Sister, I have done that. It's liberating but was terrifying at the time I did it. I left EMS for IT consulting and I was scared whitless. I remained at my EMS job part time but in the end, I mostly retired and have not been happier. Have you thought about finding work with a smaller rural service that is less busy yet provides patient care/transport/benefits of a small service? Sometimes a break is all you need. 6 months to do something different. Do you have the means just to travel the country? Trust me, EMS will not die without you working in it for a year or so!!!

why are you asking? There has to be a reason. There are really only a couple of reasons why people with 0 posts come here and ask this question 1. you had it happen to you 2. You had it happen to you 3. you had it happen to a friend or a loved one 4. 1 or 2 or 3 happened and something bad happened as an outcome and you are here to get our expert opinion so you can now call an attorney and sue the hell out of that ambulance service 5. None of the above and you are just curious or starting out in EMS and you have an enquiring mind. My bet is on #4 so I'm not saying anything that will help you until you tell us more about why you are asking.

At least he used his turn signal...

Lets solve a problem. What does a pediatric patient need, to be safe in our ambulances? For arguments sake... lets call a pediatric patient a child between 5 and 99 pounds. Parts to discuss: 1. Ambulance environment (e.g. the equipment we carry, how we carry and secure it, our own bodies not restrained while we transport) 2. What do we do, or not do to make sure that a kid is as safe as possible in our ambulances (what if we wreck while transporting them?) 3. What does the kid expect from us? Do they consider their own safety or is that our job? 4. How can we meet their safety needs better?

1. ive only dropped one patient 2. oops wrong drug 3. its okay your my first patient 4. ive never done this before, lets give it a try 5. *starting a 14 ga IV* little poke on 3 6. hmmm that doesnt look right 7. what the f*ck 8. oh Sh*t 9. oops anyone care to add

Try Activity - Unread Content. The latest update changed the button to a menu item I think.

In 15 years, I've only had one pt not respond to a dose or two of benzos and we ended up RSI'ing him. Just remember when you RSI status that just because the body movement has stopped, doesn't mean the brain activity has stopped.

Thank you all for responding! To answer your questions, I'm turning 18 next month, and graduating high school this June. I really appreciate all the advice! Thank you by the way, Clutzy, for mentioning the human aspect. It's reassuring to hear that what makes the most difference to the patients is being able to connect with them Few more questions if you all could answer them, What's the Brady Book? What can I get a head start on that will help me through tough classes like A&P? Thanks again everyone!!

It depends on the services in your area. Are they welcome to your age? My 19 year old daughter got her certification last Tuesday.

I just finished my EMT course after graduating HS. As far as learning the information, the tests were a piece of cake( at least the ones my teacher gave us) but I still studied my butt off because I knew that all the information will count at some point. I don't know how long your course will be but they cram in a lot if info in a short amount of time and most of the people there would just study what they needed to pass the test, we didn't even go through the whole book. I made sure that I read the whole book and researched EVERY thing that was discussed in class. I was one of the youngest in the class but by the end of the semester people were asking me to run their scenarios and quiz them (teaching someone else something is the best way to learn and remember it!) I still have to take the written exam but I have a good bit experience on an ambulance and I don't find that my age hinders me much. As long as you are willing to learn and ask question no one really cares how old you are. If you decide to go for it, make some connections with the older more experienced people in the class. Demonstrate to your instructors that you really want to learn and always volunteer to do things and they will see that and help you more than the kids playing on their phone in the corner. I was lucky enough to know someone that has been in EMS for a while so I keep in touch with him discuss everything I am confused with. Hope that helps

We rolled on a drunk in public. Basically a "you go with the police or to the hospital case". When I tried to put a n/c on this guy, he swung at me so we restrained him for transport. When we got to the hospital, I was waiting with him, while my partner found out which bed he was going to and then he realized that I was a girl and decided to flirt with me by saying that he was so strong that he could get free from the restraints. He pulled and pulled on the wrist restraints until his dislodged the IV that the fire medics had placed and his blood went everywhere and of course he did not get himself free from the restraints! hahaha Patients can be really hilarious and I am looking forward to any really funny stories that anyone has.

I miss my time on the bus (yeah, I said bus). Maybe we make the past seem much better than it was but I would love to go back to those days. I don't miss some of the shit that management pulled, like the guy in the Durango they hired whose only job was to sneak up on crews and find some way to bust them. If I could talk to the young me I would tell him, "DON'T DO IT!!! DON'T GO INTO MEDICINE!!!" The enjoyment of medicine is being beaten out of the field by people who have no medical knowledge and have never taken care of a pt.

This may very by state, as the state is the licensing body...I work in Texas, so I'll speak to that. I assume the process will be similar, but won't swear to it. A misdemeanor on your record shouldn't prohibit you from becoming licensed, the problem would be an agency hiring you because of insurance concerns related to the reckless driving. If this gets expunged, I would think it's no longer an issue. Question for you-Why do you want to be an EMT? If you have a degree in microbiology it seems like you could use that for a much better career with advancement opportunities. No judgment, I'm interested in your answer.

Welcome. There are a lot of seasoned providers who contribute to these forums. This should be made clear up front so as to avoid any misunderstanding: Just because you don't like what you're reading/hearing doesn't make that information wrong or incorrect. Please seriously consider the posts above and the questions posed. While there is certainly excitement to be had working in EMS there is also a lot of physical and emotional stress involved in the job. The job is physically demanding. It is emotionally draining. Some self reflection and having a good idea of your motivation for becoming involved is going to be a good idea. That being said please consider this in addition to the above: It's ok to not know what your motivations are at the moment. It's ok to not be sure if this is really something you want to do. It's ok to get excited about the prospect of everything in which you're thinking of becoming involved. That excitement, however, should not be your sole or even your primary motivation. It should be an added benefit. It's ok to get involved in your local rescue squad to see if this is something you'd like to further pursue. It's ok to decide you like it and want to continue. It's also ok to decide you don't like it and walk away from it. This is a professional endeavor. Your patients, their families and other medical staff with whom you'll interact will expect a level of professionalism that you may not have yet experienced. This won't be high school (although station antics may have you questioning that from time to time). Be ready to be an adult. Be ready to see and experience things that will shake you more deeply than you could have ever considered. Education is important. The biggest problem facing EMS in the US today is education or inadequate education. Learn as much as you can. Never stop learning. No matter what people will tell you taking college level coursework (anatomy, math, history, writing, bio, chem and more) will help you become a better provider and a better person. There is nothing wrong with being educated. So where do you start? Find an EMT course. Register. Getting into an EMT class and successfully completing the course is your first step. Start your college coursework. In the meantime if you can become involved in your local rescue squad start the process. Keep an open mind. Learn when to ask questions then ask them. Or ask us. Someone here will have an answer for you. Lastly, don't stress about this. You're young. You're excited. You're motivated. You'll get there. Just take a deep breath and take that first step.

If Turd watch or Rescue 911 or even Emergency showed what we really did on a day to day basis, then they would have only lasted one episode. If those reality shows on right now showed what we really did on a day to day basis they would be on for 1 episode People don't want to see that we may spend the entire day taking dialysis patients and nursing home patients back and forth to the hospital and their houses on one day and then spend one day taking care of a heart attack victim and a couple of sick kids and then the rest of the shift we sat on our butts waiting for a call. People want to see that we are out saving lives, fighting the big 5 alarm fire, saving kids, doing field amputations and delivering babies. Throw in a water rescue and a lady completely covered in Ice in her basement with just her mouth and nose protruding out of the ice and saving her life and then top it all off by going down into the sewers and doing a hand stand defibrillation on a guy in a flooded sewer all the while your partners are holding on to the pipes on the cieling of the sewer. Damnit that's what the public wants to see. And what's really cool to top it all off, everyone of those people, wouldn't you know, we save em. Nobody ever died on Rescue 911. But to be completely honest, the last couple of shifts that I worked prior to pulling my arms and legs into my turtle shell and moving on to my IT career where I don't have to do hand stands, I sat on my rear end and binge watched the walking dead until the last call I got was a transfer from the ER to KU medical center for a post MI patient who honestly was healthier than I was and really could have walked to KU.

I haven't posted in awhile and I am hesitant to jump back in...but here goes my thoughts. Take them with a grain of salt but realize they come directly from my heart~~ First off, ask yourself "why". Why do you want to be in EMS? If it's because you rode with an ambulance crew one night and got to see some cool things like dramatic car accidents and maybe a real rescue of one sort or another where the person 'almost died' but they saved him/her then that reason isn't good enough... The majority of EMS calls are not the high adrenaline, high stress calls that we see on TV. Sure, those type of calls are mixed in there and occasionally we do get the one person that maybe wouldn't have lived had we not done what we did....but the majority of our calls roll into a ball of the same call presenting in various degree's over and over again~~the drug addicts, the alcoholics, the chronically ill who can't or won't take their medications (diabetics, psych patients, liver failure, etc.), the nursing home that refuses to let a resident die in privacy in their own room and calls for them to be transferred out hours before death, the chronically ill patient on multiple medications with multiple doctors whose history is more like a rubik's cube or a puzzle.... If it's because you love medicine and enjoy a rubik's cube or puzzle now and then... Great!! We need more people like you!! People who will realize that everything they are taught in their certification classes is the least amount of information they will ever need to hopefully not kill someone and that from the moment they step outside that door with that shiny patch in their hand, their responsibility is to keep learning, seeking and even asking the 'dumb' questions from time to time. Another thing I always talk to my new students about now is their mental health. Are they ready to possibly see some of the worst things that mankind can do to one another and are they willing to accept that 'those' stories may or may not become a permanent part of their life? I make it clear to my students that reading about something in a book and looking at 'gory' pictures is nothing like they will face in the streets where they are going to get the full blown 3D effect. Is that something they are mentally prepared for and do they have the proper safety net set up in advance? Do they have the resiliency and coping mechanisms they are going to need if they want to be a part of this world for any amount of time without becoming a zombie needing assistance themselves? Do they want to put the time in to building a strong foundation for themselves before they become a safety net for John Q Public? If they still do at that point then I stand behind and beside them every step of the way from there on out....if they don't, I still stand beside them and support whatever decision they make~~I just want them to know ahead of time some of the things that I never knew.....whether it would have kept me out of EMS or not, I doubt it, but I may have been more prepared had someone sat down with me and explained some of those things....

It's good that you want to become an EMT but you shouldn't be stressing over this. Why are you stressing over this? You should get an anatomy and physiology course over the summer, that would give you a good understanding of the human body and why it does what it does. A good english composition course would be a good idea, if you are tasked with writing reports you will need good grammar and spelling skills, not what you have been taught in college unless you've been through college level composition courses. Next I would think about working your upper body and lower back strength. You will need to be able to lift very heavy patients and sometimes you may just be with your partner. Conflict resolution skills and basic self defense skills are a must in this line of work as well. That's what I would do during your summer break. See, nothing to stress about.

Sorry for the smart assed answer Ruff, but the best thing a family member did for a sick/injured love one was stay out of our way and don't ask questions until the end.

Julia's post count seems to be picking up as well.

There definitely seems to be some increased activity now. I'll admit, I haven't been here in a while but it's good to see things picking up. Admin, is there any way to add a button just to see the new content in the forums? There used to be a button like that previously.

Backboards are great for getting the ambulance out of the sand that is up to the rear bumper when you are at the beach, so I hear. Otherwise they aren't too useful.

I've been away for years from this site. Stopped following because I lost interest and there were always someone arguing about a post. Just lost interest and began other hobbies. Came back to site today to see if anything had changed. Who knows? Maybe I'll visit more often again.

i don't believe german licenses are accepted anywhere in the US but since most of the US is National Registry based, I would send them a query asking them how to get your National Registry based on your German education/licensure. https://www.nremt.org/rwd/public find in the lower left hand corner of their site under Contact Us, then click Email the NREMT and ask that question. Hope it all works out.

Once you have discussed with medical Director, the ball is officially out of your hands. I'd leave it there until you get a note back from the medical director. You never know who else is a member on this forum, it could be one of your colleagues who reads this and then all hell breaks loose, or we do have families sometimes come here for fishing expeditions. You just never know. And GOD FORBID, don't post anything about the call on Facebook, even to a EMS related facebook site.

Sounds like some bad calls were made. Would the outcome have been any different? There is no way to know. One thing you will learn in the medical field is that no one will publicly discuss mistakes/bad decisions. Doing so, opens up everyone on the call (yourself included) to a lawsuit. As others have said, discuss it with the medical director but I wouldn't say anything more about it in a public forum.

Off label has apparantly in this case has it right, sounds like pissing match. Sad case if you ask me.

I think this is one of those situations where it was an on-scene judgement call. Depending on exactly what was going on at the time might change one's answer. 10 minutes is too long to go without CPR but what exactly was happening when the arrest occurred? Was the pt on a stairchair in between flights? Were they in bed? That would make a huge difference in how quickly you could start compressions. OP, being that you almost chanted BLS before ALS, it makes me wonder about your experience level. You may not understand why some things are done the way they are. You say that there were other meds that the ALS crew could have given. What were they and what were the indications? We don't just push meds to be pushing meds. If the pt lost his pulse in a place where it would be reasonable to start working the code, then it should have been worked. Once the pt codes, there is very little that the ER can do that a properly trained and equipped ALS unit can't do. Too much missing to make an informed decision at this point.

This is where blindly following protocols is bad. Yes, the pt c/o chest pain but why might that have been? Hearts weren't made to run at a rate of 160-180 so there might have been some ischemia, but it is most likely rate related. There is not much use for ASA or ntg in a case like this. You want to get the rate down. I'd be very cautious about converting (ie, I wouldn't convert) since we don't know the onset.

Yes there is a phenom called pissing matches but when it directly affects your patient's well being, there's a time to speak up. I know I know, some people don't feel comfortable in doing so but there are ways to do so that aren't done on scene. I get wehre you are coming from Offlabel but with more to this story, it sounds like the medics got tunnel vision and focused on one thing when another thing came back and bit them in the butt. As an armchair quarterback, if the patient began to crash to the point of coding, CPR should have been started earlier. Either in the house or in the ambulance as quickly as possible but 10 minutes is a really really long time to go without CPR when we of all people know that Early CPR means a better outcome (sometimes). Jenjas, you sound like a good person, I would at least let your medical director know about this call. they can review it and if needed, contact the ALS services medical director. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Had a call on a woman who was sick. On arrival found a woman who had AMA'd out of a psych facility. She had taken her motorized wheelchair and travelled about 8 miles on her fully charged battery. By the time she got to where we picked her up her wheelchair was dead dead dead. We put her on the cot and into the ambulance and she asked about her wheelchair and we told her we didn't have any way of transporting it. So sh,e made us wait 45 minutes until her boyfriend got to the scene with a nice big pick up truck to transport her wheelchair to the psych facility. He refused to put her in the truck and was going to make us take her. An argument ensued when I told him that she didn't qualify for ambulance transport and it would not be paid for if she didn't go with her boyfriend. He still refused to take her,said that she was our responsibility. She then broke up with him right there and he then proceeded to push her wheelchair out of the back of his pickup truck, back over it, and then drive off. So now we have a pissed off psych patient, a totalled wheelchair and a patient who doesn't qualify to go by ambulance. We end up taking her back to the psych facility and dropped her off. The service got no money out of this call, the woman billed us for the damaged wheelchair, they paid the bill to her, and I got a talking to because I apparantly couldn't control the scene. I soon left that service because of assholes that ran that service micromanaging crews.

Unfortunately, my views have changed so much and I'm quite uncertain about past assertions, particularly in terms of education and experience that I don't think I have much beyond speculation to offer. Additionally, I'm just not as interested in discussing EMS related topics. I had a big shift in interests while in graduate school and while overlap exists with EMS, it's not as interesting or robust. Finally, I have hobbies away from EMS that demand much of my free time and if it's between an involved discussion on a computer or going out for a trail ride or endurance run, I'll choose the out of doors every time. I've meant to re-engage here but my interests are so diverse and exciting that I experience a strong pull in directions other than EMS. Back when I started here a decade or so ago, health care was my identity. Now that I have a healthier perspective and a more rounded existence, I find it difficult to spend time discussing EMS or indeed, health care in general. Particularly when I'm inundated in policy and procedure for EMS education programmes at work.

What color are you now? Reminds me of a Muppets gag...

Well, my attempt at returning to the field, was a dud, the service never called or wrote me back even after personal emails and facebook messages to the hiring manager who I used to work with and am friends with on facebook. She told me that HR deleted the position and she was trying to get it back but I'm not buying it. so eventually I'll try again at a different service but I'm not in a rush, but I'm thinking that maybe a different road may be better. The wife and I are looking at 40-60 acres to begin a lifelong dream of ours. Christmas tree farm and horse farm where we can provide horse riding lessons to kids and board horses. There's a real need in our area. Long long term goal for the christmas tree farm.

Cleaning equipment, wow that is old school. I remember those days. The bloody cervical collar with the porous foam was good to go once you hit it with peroxide. My old VAC is building a new headquarters and found a bunch of old stuff laying around. They've been putting pics of the stuff online. http://shirleyambulance.smugmug.com/History/Equipment/37971131_Lgk3Pm#!i=3136145531&k=pBzdBWL

I would like to also add that EVERYONE should have a personal and professional email address. Make sure you place the PROFESSIONAL email address on your CVs. I do not want to see bigdaddy@aol.com or kewlchick83@gmail.com...you get my point. Create an email that is your name if possible or first initial last name or something of that nature.

Amanda, Tell the truth, I'm a brand new EMT , looking for a break in my first job, bosses like total honesty. Besides, really what else do you have to tell them. I came out #1 in EMT school ... ? Good luck

Here's a great format demographics section (centered) include name addy, phone number and email You can include or decide not to include a summary of what you can provide to the right company and what you are really looking for. Next include your Work experience. As an EMT applicant you shouldn't really have any EMS experience unless you volunteered. So go with your past 4-5 jobs unless you've worked at the same place for years Next give your education info - what schools, what you studied and when you graduated. Include your current classes at the top of this section Next put this sentence in References: Upon Request Do not make the resume more than one page. I repeat, NO More than ONE page or it most likely will end up in the trash. (I know this) If you would like to put together something or a list of your jobs and education, along with your demographics I'll fire you up a resume and send it to you. I'll even do the resume in two or three different styles, such as functional, chronological and one other. The key to a successful resume is this, each resume should ideally be written to the job you are applying for. If this job is in Orange county and you got your training in Orange county you can put an emphasis on that. It the job is for a tactical medic job, then any tactical EMS and other types of that classes should be emphasized. No longer is it safe to send out a generic single option resume. Mix it up, focus it on the job applied for and you will be way above and ahead of the rest of the applicants in the gene pool. One other thing, NEVER NEVER NEVER lie, not even a little white lie. the other thing is if you have a facebook or myspace(get rid of the myspace account) then you need to clean it up. No offensive posts, take politics, religion and all that out of your facebook page. Get rid of all the pictures that your mom would not like to see if she were on facebook. If you have inappropriate pictures on your facebook page and I was doing the hiring, I'd put you in the NO pile. It shouldn't matter a whole hill of beans but it does. My email is ruffems@gmail.com My offer is valid until midnight tonight -- JUST kidding. Michael

Welcome brother...it's exciting to have you! I only know one German..my dentist. I was scared shitless to go to her, being a child of the World War propaganda, (Germans are cold, and mechanical, unkind) but had no choice when my mother called her for me when I had a terrible toothache. She called my cell and said, "Are you on your way then?" I said, "Now??" She said, "Of course. Hurry now." When I showed up the office was packed with people! A girl took me back to an office where they were taking a lady out of the chair that I later discovered was having her teeth cleaned. I protested that I was perfectly capable of waiting my turn, to which she said, "In Germany now one sits in pain while a healthy person gets care just because they came out of order..that is an American concept..." I now really, really love my German dentist... I look forward to your thoughts! Dwayne

One thing I have observed about Canadian medics is that they are much more open and willing to speak frankly about the quality of their school or service than their American counterparts. It's not at all uncommon to hear Canadian medics telling others of the shortcomings of the paramedic programme they attended. Conversely, in the U.S., it is damn rare to hear that. Everybody identifies personally with their school, good or not, and they tend to run around crowing about how teh awesome it was to anybody who will listen. If any medic anywhere tells you how awesome their school is, you have to take that with a grain of salt. After all, if you've only been to one medic school in your life, how the F do you know how good it is? But, on the other hand, if any medic anywhere tells you about the bad points of his school, you would be wise to take notes. Sure, it's still subjective, but it was at least significant enough to affect that person. It may affect you too.