Leener77

I was a stay at home mom for quite some time after I married my husband. He was in the military and I went through EMT school while pregnant with our first. (granted I had a child but he was from a previous relationship) I worked for a little while part time in a hospital before we moved from FL. After that I became a full time SAHM, which was okay......but I did it for so long I was yearning to get out of the house some. I still needed to be at home during the day as my youngest wasn't in school yet, but I was able to work part time and have the best of both worlds. I was able to stay home during the day and be there for my husband and kids and then once or twice a week I would get out there and work and it felt GREAT! Now all my kids are in school all day and although I'm part time status, I work almost full time hours most weeks. But I get to choose which days and which shifts I want which works best for our schedules at home! So I totally agree with the above post......I think making a bit of a compromise would help you get what both of you desire. You can spend most of your time at home taking care of the kids, house, husband, etc.....but also be able to get out a couple times a week to keep your sanity (one of the big reasons I work as well ) and to have a little bit of 'mad money' of your own. Good luck to you in whatever you do decide to do!!

Hey, I have to admit that there have been a couple of times (after days in a row of working especially and being rather tired!) that I've come to intersections looking to see if it's clear........then catching myself thinking 'wait a minute! I can't do that in this vehicle!!' I've also had conversations with other EMT/Medics that have said the exact same thing. Not that any of us would purposely do anything.....you just get so used to doing it. Tis just the nature of the beast I suppose.

I'm really not too superstitious but there have been many times that calls will go out as soon as I try and use the bathroom or try to get some food. However I seem to have this damn white cloud that hangs over me because I rarely get the 'good calls' that so many others get in my service. I have been on the streets for 3 years now and have had 2 cardiac arrests. I have been with EMSA and out on the streets since January and haven't had a one here! There are tons of bad wrecks, shootings, stabbings and all kinds of other crazy stuff in Tulsa and do I ever get any of them?? Yea.....not so much. Can anyone tell me how to get rid of this white cloud I have lingering over me???!!!!! :cussing:

East coast also has a very high cost of living which sucks......I know.....I lived in NJ! You can get the same decent calls and high call volume in other areas that have a much lower cost of living. For example. I work in Tulsa, OK where the call volume is high and we get some pretty decent ones. Of course, as in any place, we get the not so exciting ones......but that happens anywhere you go. Is EMSA the best EMS to work for? I don't know......but so far I like it. They have bonuses and just raised their pay. The cost of living out here is extremely low which is great and EMSA is up there as far as ranked EMS services. Hope that helps

I second that Mateo! :lol:/ ....but actually from the time I was in about 4th grade I wanted to become a famous actress.....I took acting classes, did speech and drama through highschool but then had a child at a young age and figured my chances at that were pretty slim to none. So I worked as an executive assistant while going to school for office administration and realized that I really didn't want to do that.....I didn't feel like I ever had to use my brain and I finally (at age 19 or so....lol) wanted to use it! I started a family, went to EMT school, continued to do some small theater, and here I am. Still doing EMS. I will definitely be going to go to paramedic school as I have found you don't have to use your brain much as a basic either :roll: Unless I somehow get my big shot into Hollywood!! Do you think there is still a chance???!!!! [-o< LMAO!!!!!

Okay, so I have almost no experience starting IV's as I'm just a basic (right now) but my paramedic wanted to show me how start a line. Soooo, our student let me stick him and then she let me stick her. I definitely felt that 'pop' right as i got in.....it was pretty weird. But it made me feel pretty good that I was successful at my first 2 attempts. One thing that my partner will sometimes do is take her flashlight and put it right up against the skin and sometimes this will help her to visualize the veins better and exactly what direction they are going in. Has anyone else ever used this technique? I've seen it help her and wondered if anyone else has used it.

Exactly.....having a Pt w/ hx of COPD on high flow O2 for any type of difficulty breathing isn't gonna knock out their respiratory drive in the short amount of time we have them in the back of the ambulance......In most cases anyway, unless maybe you are on a long distance transfer......

I live in Tulsa and work for EMSA. I see Muskogee Co. ambulances from time to time at the hospitals.....usually at either St. Johns or St. Francis. I've never really talked to anyone that works there....just the passing 'hello'.......but I can ask them next time I run into them at the hospital.

Where was this 'something' she felt on her in the out house?? Check the area (and areas around) for any suspicious marks and/or coloring......

Any possibility of a bug/spider bite?? Maybe when she was in the outhouse?? Was she exposed to any substances/chemicals on said ranch?? I know those possibilities are a bit of a stretch but ya never know!!

When I thought I was going to be moving back to Toledo (ended up moving to Tulsa instead)....I checked out the how they did EMS there. Basically Lucas county has their own ALS service which only hires Paramedics (so that ruled me out as I'm just a basic right now) then you have your first responders at the fire stations. Then you have your transport companies, such as Medstar and whatever that other one was. Basically the majority of what you'd be doing with those companies are transfers and then if the county is busy as well as the fire department ambulance, then you can get dispatched to 911 calls. From the sounds of it, you haven't worked in this field yet and if you're okay with doing mostly transports/transfers (non-emergent.....usually anyway.....interfacility or facility to home/nursing home) then those two companies are okay. But if you'd prefer first responder then you'd have to become a FF and go through the fire department. Not something I really had an interest in doing so I'm kind of glad we ended up moving to Tulsa...lol! The suggestions of others are completely correct. A lot of times it's not what you know, it's who you know. Get yourself out there.....go to the fire stations introduce yourself, ask questions and do the same with the other ambulance companies. Getting your foot in the door and your name known will get you a long way in this field. Now once you do that and are able to get hired.....thats when it comes time to prove WHAT you know! Nothing wrong with getting a little EMT-B experience under your belt but if you want to be where all the good action is......go to paramedic school (which I will be doing soon myself) and get on with the county. If we ever do decide to move back to Toledo (that's me and my husbands home town) I'll have my paramedic and be able to get on with Lucas county EMS. Which is much better then the alternative in my opinion. Take our advice and go market yourself even if that means stopping a crew on a break somewhere and offering to buy them coffee!!!! Good luck to ya!

I'm sorry Vent, maybe I should have specified....... I was actually responding to the reply before mine (EMTBASIC_911_911)......I believe she was referring to bagging a Pt prehospital (and not on a vent) and I was simply correcting her/making her aware of the approximate number an adult should be bagged in the field. I understand that in the case of the original post it might be different because of the circumstances and the pt being on a vent. Make sense?

You would only bag every 3 seconds if it's a pediatric patient (appropriate age/size). Otherwise the rate would be too fast for an adult. It's about once every 5 seconds on and adult. But yes, squeezing the bag at a somewhat slow steady rate would be the correct way to do it.

Coming from NJ where we were a BLS service with ALS intercept, I know that you don't have much to work with especially if ALS isn't available. If you have a somewhat new EMT or one that hasn't had some of the more advanced classes (or maybe just one that is completely clueless and lacking any form or common sense), like AMLS for example, they may not understand the etiology behind certain illnesses or diseases and therefore not know how to treat them. Basic class usually only gives you a certain number parameter to work with and unless you have an instructor that is able and willing to go beyond what is in the book and explain things in further detail.......a basic isn't of much use to a PT like the one explained in the scenario. ALS was needed in the call, unfortunately they weren't available. It's a good thing this PT didn't go completely in the crapper during transport. Hopefully the crew was competent enough to know what to do had had that happened !! I'm a basic myself and I wholeheartedly agree that the EMT-B class barely begins to scratch the surface of prehospital care. It's a good start as far as the basics go and is a necessary stepping stone to furthering education in the field. I've been a basic for several years now and simply have stayed this way mainly because I was staying home with the kiddos while the hubby worked on his career. Now that his is settled, I can move on to bigger and better things with mine I plan on going to medic school soon and am really looking forward to it! :thumbleft:

:shock: Wow......I don't even know what else to say about this.......just......Wow! Oh wait.....one question comes to mind.......how did she clean herself.....um.....down there, if she was stuck??!!! :pukeright:

Agreed, my FTO should have showed me.......I didn't even think about it while doing my FTO rides and apparently neither did he. But I'd say that would probably be my only real complaint (not that it's actually a complaint persay) about him......I think he did a great job as my FTO! And I know the chance of actually having to whip out the paddles is slim to none but I'd still like to know how to use them.

Oh come on Ruff.......we all know that paragraphs are overrated......right along with capitalization and punctuation!!! Such a waist of time! #-o :roll: But seriously.....I'll try and actually use that space bar/tab button as needed next time.....my bad! LOL!

Driving an ambulance and doing it correctly isn't difficult. I know there are complete idiot drivers out there and that I have to keep a constant eye out for them and try to avoid them. Intersections are no exception even when the light is green. You can still have the idiot not paying attention come flying through when you obviously have right away. I make it a habit to take my foot off the gas and place it over the break as I go through intersections that are green......usually slowing down just a bit. I've been almost hit a couple of times at intersections both of which would NOT have been my fault.....but luckily I was able to avoid the situation because I wasn't flying through. Also making sure your PT arrives safe and sound to the hospital isn't difficult either.....even if you are running hot. Tulsa streets are HORRIBLE and most PT's are aware of that but I still get many compliments on what an easy ride it was for as bad as the streets are. (I also like to avoid having my Pt puking from motion sickness which makes my medic rather happy =D>) I leave plenty of stopping distance and stop as slowly as I can when I need to. When I take off from a stop I do so rather slowly.....I stay between 1000 & 2000 rpm's until I get up to the speed limit. This not only makes for an easier ride for the Pt but also for your medic who is usually getting up and down and will keep them from getting tossed unnecessarily. Getting onto the highway I start out a little faster so not to impede too much traffic but I still try to make the transition as smooth as possible. I use the same regard when running back hot (which is pretty rare). There is more of a sense of urgency and if my medics asks me to 'drive it like i stole it' :wink: I do step it up a bit but still have to be very cautious of how fast I'm going and my surroundings. Getting my PT and my medic there safely is my main priority and I'm not going to do anything that will jeapordize that. If I can't get them there safely then it defeats the whole purpose of why they called and taking them to the hospital for the help they need.

We use Lifepack12 w/ fast patch combos.......but we also have the paddles in one of the cabinets of all the ambulances just in case. I've never used the paddles though so it would be rather interesting if I had to resort to them considering I've never been shown how to use them! :-k I could just pray I don't have to ever use 'em [-o< .......oooor......I suppose I could ask someone in the education dept exactly how it's done (although I'm sure it's probably rather straight forward). Maybe they should also include that info in the academy because I'm sure i'm probably not the only one that doesn't know how to use them!

I don't know where you live in OK or what service your work for but I live in Tulsa (just moved here in August) and work for EMSA. I love absolutely love Tulsa and working for EMSA. But I don't know if your looking for a busy city or a slower suburb.......maybe being a little more specific on what you want would help.......

I work for EMSA in Tulsa where the population is about 400,000 (I think anyway) and we also cover 3 smaller cities which surround Tulsa (Bixby, Jenks & Sand Springs) we have about 22 different places throughout the 4 areas which we can post. Granted we don't ever cover all posts but we have different levels which determines which posts we use. So depending on how many ambulances we have out and/or how many calls we're getting......there are times we are constantly moving around from post to post. There are also times you could get put at a post for hours at a time (which most people don't mind considering how busy we usually are). In 2007 we ran over 150,000 calls (Between Oklahoma city & Tulsa) Tulsa is quite a bit busier then Ok City. I work 12 hrs shifts at night from Fri-Mon so we tend to do about 6-10 calls a night on an average night. From what I understand summer is much busier then winter so I have yet to experience how things work in the summer. We may end up moving around more during the summer months. The constant back and forth from post to post can be very frustrating especially at night when sometimes you just want to sit for a little bit. It's rare we even get a break on the weekends. I'd say one shift a weekend we get an actual 'break'........so you just eat when you can and sometimes it's on the way to a call........lol!

Not really sure why you'd want to stay east coast YUCK! (I worked in EMS in NJ and couldn't wait to get out!) Now I'm in Tulsa, OK where cost of living is SO much less and I absolutely LOVE it here. I work for EMSA who are always looking for good medics. I've only beeing working there for 3 months but I really like it!

That's one of the longest sentences I've ever seen in my life!!! [-X Anthony is right, please use correct grammer, punctuation, etc. It makes it very difficult to read and understand when you don't. Spellcheck is your friend =D> Well, as for your situation. I don't know much about it based on what you said but it sounds like you're letting them get to you which means they've won. If you know you're okay, then nothing that they say or do should make any difference to you. Ignore them and go on with your life. If you enjoy what you're doing, then keep doing it. If you feel burnt out, then stop. Seems simple to me. Good luck to ya

It's typically a joint decision. On scene both are treating the Pt so the driver knows what condition the Pt is in and can decide from there or ask the one treating in back what they'd like to do. But sometimes if given the choice......the person treating will say L&S even when it isn't necessary, so I'd go ahead and make the decision and let the person treating know what I'm doing. Or in the case that ALS was with us, I will ask them what they want to do since they are in charge of PT care at that point. I'm sure that each place is different. This is just how it was normally done at the two places I worked at.

I began working as an EMT in NJ where ALS & BLS are separate. I started on a volunteer squad. Several very good, experienced EMT's that I learned a lot from and respect.....but at the same time, there were lots of young kids that were there mostly for the thrill. At this squad you couldn't drive until they felt you were capable of being in charge of the crew and you went through the "safe force" drivers training which was an addition to EVOC. In my experience with most of the partners I ended up with, we ran L&S to ER darn near every time. And even being a 'new' EMT, I couldn't understand why. What was the emergency?? We're taking grandpa who fell and cut his arm....what's the hurry. Why are we putting others, including the patient, at risk to rush grandpa to the ER and only shaving a minute or two? I deduced that it was because they could. There weren't any 'rules' at this squad saying you couldn't. And some just did it for the thrill......mostly the younger ones I noticed, that did that. Now when ALS was dispatched, some would instruct the driver to go L&S or not. Some never said a word and left it up to the driver. Once I got to become Crew Chief (driver) I would decide when we used L&S and if it was BLS it was just about never. If it was an ALS call, I would specifically ask ALS what they wanted, and would state that in my narrative. I also began working at a paid squad where it was left to the discretion of the driver or sometimes the driver would ask the person treating. But there weren't any specific protocols (just like at the volly squad) that stated if/when to use L&S. We ran L&S much less often at my paid squad. But the paid squads had much higher standards for the EMT's they would hire! I worked at a transport company for a little while where we NEVER ran L&S.....there was no reason to. They were rather strict when it came to that which is a good thing! I can understand running L&S to all calls because you never know what your actually going to. Dispatch tells you one thing, and it turns out to be another where ALS should have been dispatched and they weren't.....so going to calls I think it's justifiable. But from the call to the ED......usually not warranted especially if your w/in close range. It's not saving that much time and it's certainly not worth the risk. And that's my two cents......