rdhdemt

From arrival to departure depends if the ER staff needs our help or how busy they are. Also, how critical the call is. We've been there for well over an hr before helping with a pt. We always write the PCR there at the hospital. One member writes the report, calls dispatch for the times, gets all the signatures while someone else cleans the ambulance, makes the gurney and restocks any hospital provided supplies. ALS writes their PCR at another time usually. We aren't usually in a huge hurry, gotta have time for coffee you know. If we get another call, we get movin' fast. So average time at the hospital would probably be about 30 mins. with easy conditions.

Being relatively new at this (less than two years) I don't have anything to compare. I work in a rural setting and love it. Our service has three ALS that we work with. One of them will take over and you basically are along for the ride if you let him. I'm a bit of a control freak so I wouldn't back down. Now he puts me to work. Hopefully you will be working with a hospital that will let you help in the ER also. Maybe that isn't the norm out there but our ER docs are more than willing to let us help and teach us while they work on a patient. They are all docs from the war in Iraq and trauma centers from across the country. They welcome the opportunity to teach. Read, listen, watch, ask questions. Good luck!

I've been an EMT in a VERY rural area for about a year and a half. I LOVE it. We are lucky in that we have a great hospital with docs from large trauma centers from all over the US and Iraq. We are a volunteer station, (but do get paid for ea run ). My husband and I are both EMTs with no regrets except...we just wish we would have known what we wanted to be when we grew up 30 years ago. I enjoy helping people, I enjoy the adrenaline when the pager goes off. I don't have a second job but need one. The EMT b course was good but our station made the mistake of having a "ridealong" program. So when it was time to take the NREMT test, I had a difficult time. The test goes by the book only, not necessarily what was being done on scene. We have a small service, only two ambulances and 18 members in our station. But we do have excellent equipment, If we need something, we get it. As far as having productive down time, read, read, read. Know your equipment. Know your vitals. Encourage your department to have lots of training and scenarios. Like I stated before, we are very remote. Some calls take over an hour to get on scene and then another hour and a half to get to the hospital so we call in life flight if in doubt. We also have very severe weather to deal with 6 or 7 months out of the year. Also, the people you work with make a big difference too. Some you run with and the calls go perfect, others, well............no so much. So good luck. I'm sure you will enjoy it very much.

I used to live near Reno myself. I miss the area sometimes. Good luck.

in VERY rural montana. A good mid-life career change/addition.