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CharleeFoxtrot

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    Hell, Michigan

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  1. That's the one thing I'd change, well two. More education which (in my fantasy world) would translate into better wages.
  2. I've have said junctional escape as well and considered atro/pacing. Amiodarone??? D'oh!!!!!
  3. In Michigan, the only drugs EMT-Bs are allowed to give are oxygen and oral glucose paste. They can assist patients with inhalers, nitroglycerin and aspirin if the patient has these already. Not quite sure what other drugs you may be referring to...
  4. Stuff happens man, and I guess it's part of the huge learning curve this profession has. Put that one on your "learning pile"...mine is so tall now I have to climb up on top of the rig to throw things on the top. Had a similar thing happen to me, the call was from a nursing home for an altered. We get there, Pt is on dialysis, cardiac HX, hypertensive and diabetic. The staff says she was 'fine' two hours ago but is now out of it. I asked the right questions-did they do an accucheck? They said her BGL was 194. Did she eat breakfast? They said no. We loaded her up, got a line/12 lead etc. She was a bit hypertensive but not alarming. Halfway to the hospital I think to recheck her BGL. It was 15 . I thought I asked the right questions- but I didn't ask how long ago her BGL was 194, and if she didn't eat had they given her usual insulin dose. I took their word the accucheck was recent-bad move. Of course after some D50 she wakes up and starts screaming....sigh.
  5. First off...relax! You know you know this stuff, and getting yourself all knotted up won't do you any good. As far as the oral stations, the best advice I can give you is to use the paper they provide to your advantage. Write down the time you start the scenario-that's where I messed up when I tested a month ago. I went over time allowed on one of them because I didn't pay attention, and wasn't writing down my interventions so I couldn't even extrapolate the timed elapsed to the hospital. So, I had to do it over. In my program, part of the requirements for graduation was a nice sit down with the head Doc from Med Control/head of ER for one of the hospitals. Talk about getting run through the wringer! It was two hours of questions and thinking off the top of your head. This interview included scenarios, and we used to attack them the same way all the time in practice so we wouldn't freeze. Take your paper and draw two lines, one up and down in the middle and the other across to make 4 squares to write info in. The top left was your scene info...who what where-note the environment of the call. The bottom left was your SAMPLE, OPQRST, etc. and physical exam findings. The top right was for your interventions, bottom right was for vitals and trends. Setting up the squares I wrote "SAMPLE" and filled stuff in as it was given to me. For the vitals I wrote BP HR RESP P/OX etc so I didn't forget to ask the questions and then I could trend vitals by writing them in a column to keep track of them. I had three scenarios: peds asthma, active MI (the one I went 2 minutes over time on) and the retest was a hypothermia. Keep yourself focused, and start with the basics ABC always! Remember rapid transport vs. stay and play, and keep your mind on what can happen next. After each intervention reassess. Overwhelm the proctor with correct info, which shows him/her you do indeed know what you are talking about. The proctors do take nerves into account, and at least when I tested where really great about making you feel that they weren't out to get you. Go over your basic skills, practice them if you can. Remember to look at the autofails and the points. No reason to give points away, repetitive practice of the entire evolution will help with that. Don't have the equipment to practice? Use a friend and a pillow as your patient for the longboard/KED and pantomime it. Sounds stupid, but it does work. Someone else posted up to check youtube, there are some videos there on the practicals, but they are a bit out of date. Watch them anyway, using your checksheets (you can get them if you don't have them already on the NREMT website) and think how you would have done things. A few days before...and this is important...STOP STUDYING. Give your mind a rest, and go into the practicals with a clear mind. If you keep going over and over and over things, all you'll do is get burnt out and doubting yourself. Good luck!
  6. :oops: in my basic class we used "Toilet Paper My @ss" to remember the order of the valves in the heart (tricuspid, pulmonary, mitral and aortic.
  7. Interesting topic. Here in Michigan, Basics are required to have both adult/junior EpiPens and be trained in their usage. In fact, the only other 'drugs' they carry is oral glucose and O2. They can assist a patient administer their own NTG, ASA or inhaler.
  8. To answer the original poster's question if you are lucky, the rush never leaves you. Now there are days when you've only been at the base long enough to drop your gear and sleep is a distant memory when that 15th "general weakness" type call comes in. Well then the rush gets to be more like a muted growl through clenched teeth . But when that general weakness call turns into an active MI you are off to the races again If you feel the need to up your skill level, try and ride more than twice a month or perhaps work out a training arrangement with a local dept or service where you could come in, use the mannikens, etc to keep fresh. A lot of this job is simply repetition that trains your hands and mind to do "this" when "that" happens. Think about trying to learn your skills initially, it took lots of reps until you had those basic skills firmly in your hands and mind. Keeping those skills is a matter of the doing. In order to get through the NREMT-P practical, I had to do some basic skills. Heck, I can't remember when the last was I used a KED board (other than as a handy splint for pelvic Fxs) :oops: so I had to arrange a refresher before I went and did it.
  9. I had thought to start another thread getting people's opinions on opportunities around the country. I know I'm not the only one (due to the bad economy) that is considering relocating and who better to ask than someone already in the field?
  10. You haven't had any training yet? Best thing to do is keep your eyes open, pay strict attention to what you are told to do and learn all you can. Questions are a good thing, just be sure and ask them at an appropriate time. First thing to do is familiarize yourself with the equipment, where gear is stowed so you can help the crew by grabbing stuff at need. Good luck, you'll be fine!!!
  11. Get an anatomy coloring book and some crayons...seriously, it's a great into to anatomy and a fun way to learn.
  12. Nah, I did the smokeater thang in my youth and would be looking at straight EMS. Thanks for the (off topic) info.
  13. Do ya make more per hour there than as a greeter at WalMart? :wink: might be worth the wait
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