kndoug1

Being one of the youngest in both my EMT class and my medic class, I thought I would chime in here. There is no reason for them to be screwing around when it comes to learning how to appropriately do a patient assessment. We didn't have that problem for long in either one of my classes. In EMT school, day one we were put into groups and whoever was in our group was who we worked with. The instructor did a great job of meshing all of the various ages together in these groups. We had people ages 18-mid 30s in our class. One guy in my group had a hard time doing an assessment on me because I was the same age as his daughter. He quickly got over that on our first test day. Our program brought back former students who posed as patients and it went from "going through the motions" like we did in class on our clothed classmates, to actually having to perform a legit assessment and treat what we found...that included removing the clothes from our simulated patients. We had a few students that had to repeat the assessment station because they would not touch their patient, remove the necessary clothes, etc and they missed "fatal wounds" and had they not passed the retest, they would have been kicked out. This actually scared everyone into taking things more seriously, and the shyness issue went out the window. Another thing that it taught us was that we are probably never going to see our patients again (unless they are a frequent flyer, but that's another issue), so it didn't really matter if we were embarrassed or uncomfortable doing an assessment and removing clothes. Those that had a problem with physical contact with their classmates during an exercise got over it quickly knowing that they could fail out that easily and finally realizing that 1. your patient probably isn't going to care as long as you make them feel better in some way, and 2. that it's your license on the line if you miss something because you are shy, and 3. the first time you show up in the ER with a fully clothed patient that RN is going to kill you (our instructor worked in the ER and had some scary stories). In medic school to get everyone to stop being stupid, we had to actually cut off the clothes of our classmates during assessment scenarios. We were all told day one to bring clothes we didn't mind getting ruined, and the girls were told to bring sports bras for lab days because we were all expected to play faking patient. And "affective domain" was a big part of our grade, so one smart ass comment or smirk during lab days and you would see it reflected in your grade. My point in this big long rant is, make these skills a big part of your student's grades. Do not let this behavior go on any longer. If that means pushing them and making them uncomfortable, then do it. They have to get over it sometime, and the classroom is supposed to be the place to do stupid stuff and make mistakes. They need to learn that now, rather than on a ride out with a preceptor who will chew them out for acting like that, or even worse, when they are actually out in the field working. No patient wants to be exposed, but sometimes there is nothing we can do about it. They expect us to be respectful and professional about it, and you should make it known that that is what you expect from your students.

You have both gotten some great info from everyone so far! Just wanted to say that your hospital time will be so incredibly valuable to you, IF you put the time in to learn. No one (in hospital or on the rig) is going to MAKE you do anything. If you just sit in the corner and watch, you won't get much out of your experience. Don't be afraid. Jump in and do whatever you can that is in your scope of practice. They know you are a student, and they aren't going to let you harm a patient. But you MUST make that effort to learn. You will find that not everyone you encounter in the field or hospital is going to want to teach you. It is a rare finding (or at least in my experience) that someone will actually force you to do something so you can learn. I am in the same position in my paramedic clinicals, so I speak from experience. I sat back my first day in the ER and lost out on 2 intubations and a code and the learning experience that I could have had from performing those skills. The second and third day, I jumped in on every code, every EMS delivery, and every walk in patient that showed up and was allowed to do everything that I asked to do. Yea, I was scared, but I learned so much more by actually performing the skills. And when you are in the ER, listen to the radio reports coming in. Learn what that hospital wants to know. Will prepare you really well for when you get on the ambulance and have to actually start giving radio reports. MICNs in my experience hate to have to keep asking questions about your patient. They have a lot to do before your arrival and if you have a 30sec ETA, they need to get moving, so just listen to what is going on around you while you are there. Please don't just blow off your clinical and ride time, especially since you said you want to go straight to paramedic. Jump in, ask questions when appropriate, and learn everything you can from your preceptors. Stay on their good side, help with chores and if they ask you to do something, do it. I still keep in touch with my preceptors from EMT clinicals and our FD ride outs and they have been so helpful in getting through medic school. This profession is one big family. You don't want to blow it during school ride outs because you didn't take it seriously. Not that you won't, I'm sure you wouldn't be where you are if you weren't serious about it, just giving you fair warning. Good luck to you both and let us know how it goes!

Thanks Dwayne. I wasn't actually referring to necessarily letting them get to you personally and letting that interfere with your job (although, I'm sure as the new kid it will happen). I was more referring to a run in I had back in EMT school with a medic my school had set me up with for our ride outs. This particular individual was having a bad day or something and basically told a patient off and they were then unable to actually do anything for this patient because they lost that trust. I saw how not having that trust from your patient can affect your work, and it's something that I try very hard to have not happen on the job. In class, we tend not to focus on the whole "people skills" aspect of the job, when in fact that is such a big part of our jobs. That's all I was referring to. But thank you for that advice. As an EMT, I rarely have patients fighting me and crying when I am trying to do something, so I will definitely remember that the first time I get a screaming patient when I'm trying to start an IV.

Thank you to everyone for your posts! It has all been really helpful! Fireman1037, you made a lot of good points. I am fairly confident in my skills in the classroom...that will be a totally different story out in the field. On your point about IV sticks...we actually were not allowed to start IVs on each other. Mannequin arms only. This is the one skill that I have been most worried about. The first time I will have a real arm in front of me will be in clinicals next week. You can do your skills a million times in the classroom, but the second you get a real person in front of you things change. I definitely won't be going into clinicals and my internship super confident because I know that having a real patient in front of you changes things. You don't have to build a rapport with a dummy arm, you do have to with a real patient if you have any hope of starting a line on someone. Thanks for your response. You listed a lot of good things that made me think of things I want to brush up on that I had forgotten about.

Thank you to you both! Some really good advice there. Dwayne, that was more feedback than I ever could have hoped for, and unfortunately you both basically pointed out the one thing I know I have to work on. I tend to be the shy type when I am unsure about what I am doing, but at least I know that about myself and that's just something I will have to work on. I am hoping to get paired up with a preceptor that likes to teach and remembers what it's like to be the student. Not that I need or want someone to hold my hand, because we all know that EMS is just not that kind of profession, but to have someone who knows how to teach rather than just bashing you for every mistake would be nice. The school sets us up with a preceptor, so should know soon! Thanks for the advice guys, will definitely keep it in mind next week when we hit the hospitals!

Hey everyone! I've been away from the site for a while while trying to get through the didactic portion of the medic program I am enrolled in. And now that the book part is done, I'm getting ready to start my clinicals and internship next week and needless to say, I'm super nervous about it! I was hoping to hear from some of you about what you find most difficult about working as a medic in the field. Hoping this will give me an idea of what to work on and study up on. I know the areas that I am weak in and will definitely be picking my preceptor's brain about, but what do you as experienced providers find to be the most difficult aspect of your jobs? I know it's kind of vague, but really wanted to leave it open and get as much info as I can from those of you that have been there done that, or even from those going through their internship now. Thanks for any help you give me in advanced!

Sorry to hear you are having a hard time. I know how you feel, I had a bit of trouble finding companies that were hiring as well. As was said, try hand delivering your resume and applications. You can always email the HR manager for the company you are applying for or call them to check up on your application. Always resumbit your apps as well. I did that like every 3 months or so. What county are you looking at? I'm in CA as well, but the Central Valley is a little vague...any county you are looking at in particular? I have made some pretty good connections with EMS providers through out CA and might be able to help point you in the right direction to companies that are actively hiring and how best to contact their HR dept...no promises, but I would be willing to see what I can do. Good luck!

I was in your position not too long ago. Things I would highly recommend including any volunteer work that you have done, whether it be medical or not. I have found that employers love any sort of volunteer work. Include any significant educational achievements you have such as a college degree. Do you have any work experience outside of EMS? Include that and any references you can. I always include 3, and would suggest asking maybe instructors from your EMT class or those you did ride outs/clinicals with (depending on the relationship you built with them) for letters of recommendation to include in your application packet with your resume. Just keep your resume short, organized and to the point. Highlight the skills you are proficient at or have had experience/special training with. I include these things in mine, and things have turned out alright for me so... As for the structure of your resume, it kind of depends on what you have to put in it. There are a lot of templates out on the internet that you can google and use. If you would like, I can send you the one that I used for mine. You just have to find a format that works for your life experiences. Hope that helps and good luck!

As everyone else has already pointed out, your age is what is going to be the problem when applying for jobs. It does depend a lot on where you are. But just to give you an idea, where I'm at, there are a whopping 3 companies that I have found in all of northern California that will hire under the age of 21, and that is only IF you have a spotless driving record. Now, I may have of missed a few in my search for jobs, but when I got out of EMT school, I was unable to apply at most places due to this age restriction. So, I went and did volunteer work with different EMS organizations and the fire department to get some experience, and that is what will eventually help you get a job. Employers are all over the volunteer work. Says something about you as a person if you are willing to put up with all the same crap a paid EMT does, but for free. It's really hard to find a job at such a young age. And the fact that you will only be 18 when you are done with school, well good luck. Like I said, where I am at we don't hire under at leat 21. Some have even moved to 23 years of age. I don't know where you are living at, so I can't really speak for your state or county. I can only give you information on what I have seen and experienced where I am at. But someone did mention going to emt-i or medic school after your emt, and I would highly recommend it. Yes, it takes time but it will help you to not only further your knowledge, but help you keep up on those skills that you won't be using while just waiting around for a job. That's what I am doing right now, and I am very glad that I am taking the time to do it now while I have the time. Once you finish the advanced schooling, it will also give you more options when applying. You will be able to apply places as an EMT as well as a Paramedic...may make it easier to get into a company, depending on their needs.

As everyone else has said, there really is no quick way to get where you want to be. It is going to take time and effort, but you sound like you are determined. One thing I would like to add in addition to the excellent responses you have received already is just to add the fact that depending on where you are, RN school may take a while to get into. I am in California and have been on the waiting list for RN school for almost 2 years. That's how I ended up in EMS. Becoming an RN was what I had my heart set on since I was 5. I knew that that was where I wanted to go, so I took a full load every semester in college right out of high school and finished all of my RN pre requisites in 3 semesters and started applying to RN schools all over the state. Realizing that RN school was going to be years away (we have a 3-5 year waiting list here for most programs, CSU, UC, and JCs), I decided to go get my EMT and am now starting paramedic school. So, basically the point I am trying to make is, it's great to have your goal in mind already but don't limit yourself to just one program or career route. I would highly recommend heading down the RN route if flight nursing is where you eventually want to end up, but keep your options open. If you finish your RN pre requisites and are waitlisted, you can always get your EMT cert. This will at least allow you to gain some experience in the medical field and working with patients. As an EMT (at lest in CA) you can work in the ER as a Tech if you get your phlebotomy cert and take/pass and ECG course, so that will open even more doors for you. Will allow you to apply to work on an ambulance as well as in the ER so you will have the opportunity to have the best of both worlds and give yourself an insight as to what EMS is about as well as what working in the hospital is like and allow you to see which environment fits you best....just my two cents based on personal experience with a similar dilema. Hope my rambling helped.

Thanks for the response Dan! Was nice to hear about the class from someone who wrote the material and did a lot of the behind the scenes work. Definitely enjoyed the class and have recommended it to several people already! There was definitely a significant clinical benefit for EMTs to take this course, don't get me wrong. I was not meaning to insinuate that this class should solely be for ALS providers. As a basic, I did learn a significant amount of information from this class and was very fortunate to have been able to participate in it. I loved the style of teaching...much different than other courses I have taken. It was nice to have so many medics in this class because it allowed those of us at the basic level to understand their train of thought when approaching a patient, which will definitely be useful on the job. To actually hear the thought process out loud and have someone facilitate that discussion rather than just having one person run the call was very helpful, especially when it comes to the history taking because what one person found significant in the history, others did not. I got to hear questions asked about a patient that I never would have thought about asking and also got the reason behind the question. Being able to hear the thought process start to finish was extremely helpful, especially from those that joined us from out of state. To hear how they would approach the given situation and treatment they would give differed greatly from state to state, so that also gave me a great insight to patient care and how it does differ, but still works for the patient. It was a great course and I really hope many people take advantage of it! Unfortunately, the school did not have many copies of the book, so we were not able to purchase them. However, I did look at one of the copies the instructor had and it looked like it would be a great resource for any student, whatever their level of training would be. Can you tell me where I might be able to purchase one? I don't know when this school will have copies of the textbook in and would like to be able to read through it and link some of that information back to the course and apply that information to my own work out in the field and in school as I will be starting paramedic school in a few short months.

We regret the announcement of the deaths of Lt. Vince Perez and Paramedic firefighter Tony Valerio of SFFD. May you rest in peace. Donations can be sent to accounts at San Francisco Fire Credit Union. Our thoughts and prayers are with the SFFD family. Here is the link to the news article: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-firefighter-dies-second-critical-in-san-francisco-house-fire,0,7616953.story?track=rss

So I just finished taking the Emergency Medical Patients: Assessment, Care, and Transport (EMPACT) course and was curious if anyone else here has taken this? Wanted to get your thoughts on the class. It's a fairly new course and this was actually the first class offered here in California, but I know that it has been taught in other states. We had some EMS providers from Texas and Arizona in the class as well, and they brought amazing insight as to the difference in care of our patients and protocals across the country, as well as our education differences. Was pretty cool, but as a BLS provider, I found the class to be a bit advanced for me. The other 2 BLS providers in the class said the same thing, so I was just curious what others (BLS or ALS providers) who have taken this course thought about it? For those BLS providers, did you feel this class was a bit advanced for you? Do you think there was anything you could do to further your understanding of this course materials? ALS providers...any thoughts on the class as a whole? This school has not specified the course as good for BLS or ALS providers yet seeing as this was the very first class, so was just looking for some opinions from others who have taken it. Thanks!

Hey! Welcome to the City... Honestly, the answer to the majority of your questions depend a lot on where you live and what company you work for. Where abouts in California do you live? Jobs in southern California seem to be pretty abundant, but jobs in northern California where I am at seem to be pretty scarce, but not impossible to find. As for your question about sleep, it really depends on the company you are with. Is it a 911 system or an IFT company? How busy is the area that you cover? Those things really differ from place to place. As for stress, yea, the job can be stressful but I believe that it is what you make it. If you let the stress of every call get to you...well, you get my point. I have only been at this for a few months now, and yes it is stressful, but I don't let each call that doesn't go exactly the way I want it to get to me. And just because a mistake gets made, doesn't mean you get fired...once again, it depends on the company you work for, what exactly happened, and the entire situation as a whole...not everything is going to go exactly the way you want it to and shit is going to happen. We are only human, so don't let the thought of a lawsuit keep you from pursuing this career. Hope some of this helps, but like I said, I have only been at this a few months so hopefully the more experienced people can give you some better and more specific information. Good luck!

Here in California EMT-B and EMT-1 (number 1) are the same things...some schools haven't gotten away from listing their programs as emt-b or emt-1. After you complete your course, you will have to take the NREMT. Then you will need to apply for your California state card...after you are nationally registered, it is your option to keep that current. I would highly recommend keeping you national registry up though. Many places that I have looked at only ask for national registry and one actually told me that they didn't care if I had a state card...weird. But hey, that's what I get for working at a theme park. But anyways, yes, you will need to initally take the NREMT. California won't let you apply for a state card without it. Hope that helps. Good luck. btw...where in Cali are you?