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claren

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Posts posted by claren

    Fresh EMT-B

    in General EMS Discussion

    Posted

    I work in the ED and I love it. Pays better than what I would make on the truck (AMR and Acadian are the only ones that higher Basics in Austin) and I know that I am learning a lot more than I would if I were working for a transport service.

    A quick list of my duties, off the top of my head:

    Making beds

    Drawing blood (straight stick, but the few paramedic techs start lines when we're slammed)

    Cleaning pee and poop off patients

    Patient comfort issues (fetching blankets, water/ice chips if not NPO)

    Stocking supplies

    Making beds

    Helping restrain/keep an eye on combative intox/psych/in-custody patients

    Compressions during codes (bagging too, until Resp. shows up)

    Putting in/taking out Foley caths

    Vital signs

    Splinting/casting

    Dressing wounds

    EKG monitor lead placement

    Making beds

    Setting up Suture/LP/Chest Tube/Whatever trays

    Assisting with Suture/LP/Chest Tube/misc. sterile procedures

    Chaperoning doctors/nurses with certain types of patient

    Helping bring patients from the helipad

    Sitting in the triage window recept-ing (something techs probably shouldn't do when RNs are available)

    Translating (only one in the dept. that's full spanish bilingual, except for one of the registration gals :D )

    Running to and from lab with stuff they're afraid will spill in the tube system (blood, CSF, poop)

    Making beds

    And finally, the most important one of all: Being an extra set of hands. Because that is what being an ER tech is all about. Just as a large part of the nurses' job is to be the hands that carry out the MDs' orders, your job is to do what the nurses and MDs tell you. Honestly, you're pretty much a scutmonkey as a tech. However, few of the staff will treat you that way, especially since you're an EMT (some of the staff will be jaded by working with CNAs at best, lay-volunteers-turned-techs at worst).

    That's probably the hardest part of being a tech, and one of the things they won't really outright teach you: it can be a difficult thing to balance wanting to be as helpful as possible to the folks with licenses, with not letting yourself be taken advantage of or treated disrespectfully.

    Still, don't let me scare you: it's a blast. The patients often love you, since you're the one bringing warm blankets and not sticking them with needles as often as everyone else. It's an amazing learning environment, both in terms of your co-workers and the variety and sheer quantity of patients you will see. No one should be a tech as a career, but it's a great intro to the field to see if caring for patients is really your thing, as well as dealing with the icky stuff that comes with EMS.

    You asked this question a few months back: did you get the job? How's it going?

    If you could work anywhere, where would it be?

    in General EMS Discussion

    Posted

    Austin Travis County Starflight- Austin, Texas

    Though I do not live in Texas, it sure would be sweet.

    Why?

    High speed operation

    Dual pilot IFR/ VFR

    NVG, TAWS, TCAS

    EC145 Twin engine aircraft

    Long line/ Hoist operations

    Bambi bucket operations

    You name it they do it.

    http://www.starflightrescue.org/

    Actually, all the Austin/Travis medics I've talked to are steering clear of STARflight these days, because the county took it over. It's no longer a part of A/TCEMS. They're afraid the county will nix it eventually, leaving them to start over at base pay with A/TCEMS.

    Big Bucks for Basics

    in General EMS Discussion

    Posted

    Working off the truck in Austin, TX as an ED technician (with my EMT-:D, I draw a base pay of $10.25.

    I work 15:00 to 03:00 am. With differentials it goes up to $11.20 @ 17:00, and to $ 11.55 @ 01:00.

    On top of that, I also make another $ 0.85 an hour, when I'm working (every other) weekend. I also get benefits and PTO; working off the truck has it's advantages.

    Still, this is all in Austin, where the starting pay for A/TCEMS medics is over $ 43,000. Cost of living is high here, but I think Houston is worse?

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