PrissyEMT

I started in January too... although we jumped right into intermediate interventions, and a basic overview of an EMT-I. In order to get my Associate's Degree when I'm done, I have to take an A & P class on my own time. My class is part time, lasts about 18 months, and I'm doing it while still working my full time job. We have to do a minimum of 48 hospital clinical hours each semester. During clinicals, we're also required to get 50 successful IV sticks, 20 intubations and 30 complete written patient assessments each semester. After that, at the end of the program, we must complete a 300 hour (25- 12 hour shifts) internship with our county EMS agency. But we just finished our intermediate class last week, and next comes pharmacology... yay. :wink:

LOL- these were actually pretty funny Jake! :wink:

Not too long ago down here we had a woman who went "missing" from one of the nursing facilities for nearly a week. The police department and entire city put on a massive search for her, and she ended up being in one of the supply closets still inside the facility. One of my friends was on the truck that picked her up, and he said it was one of the the most horrible things he's seen- she was in the floor for about 5 or 6 days, not able to move and barely alive. Needless to say even after they rushed her to the ER, she died a couple of hours later. It's sad that these facilities who are responsible for taking care of the elderly don't have their act together.

That is such a tough situation to be in, and I hope I'm never faced with it myself. If he's brain-dead, I don't think it's fair to keep him on life support if there's been no improvement in his condition over the last month. I know if I were actually faced with this situation, that decision would be incredibly difficult to make, but I don't think I could let my child remain on life support for so long being brain-dead. I can understand being hopeful that he'll get better, but the reality of it is that he likely won't.

I agree completely. Granted, even though right now I am technically on the BLS side of the fence, my goal is to come out of my paramedic program being totally and completely confident in my abilities. Our school stresses that to us constantly- if we don't feel comfortable in a certain area, they want to work with us until we've totally got it it down, no matter what or how long it takes. They've set minimum clinical and field hours, but they encourage us to do more than that, and to do as much as we can. I plan to take full advantage of it, because it'll do nothing but benefit me in the future.

This is too funny! And I think I find it funny because I can actually relate to it! OMG- that's a little sad.... LOL :wink:

I'm in an 18 month, 5 semester program. Each semester, we're required to put in at least 48 clinical hours. These hours come from time in the ER, OR, the 5 ICU's, Cardiac Floor, going around with the Respiratory and IV teams, and a few shifts with the flight nurses/paramedics. During clinicals, we're also required to get 50 successful IV sticks, 20 intubations and 30 complete written patient assessments each semester. Even though we're only required 48 hours, this semester I'm putting in 60. After that, at the end of the program, we must complete a 300 hour (25- 12 hour shifts) internship with our county EMS agency. It's not just going to be a ride-along type thing- we actually have to perform our paramedic skills and do assessments in the field. Even after I've completed the program, and actually get my cert, I can only act as a basic during the first 90 days of employment with our EMS service, and I'm not able to actually be a crew chief until I've been there for more than 1 year. ALS is definitely not something I take lightly at all. It's a serious job with the chance of serious consequences coming from mistakes you could potentially make. I completely understand that, and that drives me to learn everything I can now, and to get all the experience I can, even though right now in class it's all in a controlled environment. I still run with our volunteer service that also transports, and that's helped me incredibly just in the past 2 months that I've been doing it. I agree, you can learn everything in the classroom, think you've totally got it down, then get out on a call and realize how different the real world actually is. Everyone's different, and everyone has different abilities. If I didn't completely feel like this was something I could do, then I most definitely wouldn't have started school again right away. But I know I'm ready, and I know I can do it, so that's exactly what I'm doing.

Good point- there is no way I can guarantee that I'll be as confident as any other paramedic who went about their education differently. That is something that does come with time. But I do feel that the particular program I'm in gives me so much clinical time, and so many different clinical opportunities (not to mention an extensive internship with our EMS agency), that I'll come out of it feeling a sense of comfort/confidence in what I'm doing. Granted, I may be relatively "new" at it all, but everyone's different. I'm sure some people benefit from waiting to begin ALS courses, and some prefer to jump in head first like I do. You know what you can accomplish, and only you know what works best for you. If after going through BLS you aren't ready to continue right away, then don't. If you feel you can do it, then go for it. You know your own limits and abilities.

I got my EMT-B cert in December, and started Paramedic classes 3 weeks later. I don't feel remotely like I'm at a disadvantage to those who've been working in the field for awhile. I am currently volunteering at a VFD while I'm in school to get experience under my belt, and this combination works great for me. I'm sooooo glad I started now as opposed to waiting, and don't regret it at all. :wink:

"The 60-Second EMT: Rapid BLS/ALS Assessment, Diagnosis & Triage " by Gideon Bosker, Donald Weins, Michael Sequeria helped me tremendously. It focuses on assessments of nearly every type of patient you'll come across, and really helped me improve and fine tune my assessment skills. It isn't a book of scenarios per se, however, it walks you through patient assessments for tons of different types of calls.

You Are a Bright Star Soul Like a shining star, you have no trouble being the center of attention In fact, you often feel a bit hurt when all eyes aren't on you You need to be number one in everything, no matter how trivial And it's this ego that both hurts your confidence and helps you acheive You're dramatic and a powerhouse of pure energy You posess a divine quality or uniqueness that's hard to define A natural performer, it's likely you'll become famous in some circles. Just learn not to take everyone's reaction to you so personally! Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul and Prophet Soul

:wink: So can I just go ahead and take a BLS position for now??? LOL

So- as you can imagine, with me being in EMS for a whole whopping 3 months, I have like no advice! LOL Just wanted to say congrats! :wink:

It's really rough when your significant other doesn't understand what you're going through, and isn't quite as supportive as they should be. It's eventually what drove my ex and I apart. Now granted, I wasn't married, so it wasn't as big of a commitment I was leaving... but we just couldn't work things out. I felt like he started to resent me for going to EMT and Paramedic classes, and never had one supportive or positive thing to say about it. And he then decided to use the "you're never home" excuse to cheat on me, and expected me to understand and forgive him for it (because, after all he's just "a man with needs" LOL). If things were different, and I were married, or even if he hadn't cheated, I probably would've put more effort into resolving our problems, but everything in life happens for a reason, and in my situation, I'm much happier to be going through Paramedic classes without him. I've got all the support of my wonderful friends, and I can honestly say that right now in my life, I couldn't be happier. But then again, that's not to say I'm not still looking for Mr. Right who understands my drive for EMS! LOL :wink:

I chose not to work as an EMT after getting my cert because I couldn't afford the pay cut- EMT's here make roughly $24k a year. Once I get my Paramedic cert, they'd pay me close to $40k. I think I can swing that a little bit easier! :wink: Oh, and the volunteer service I run with pays me $14 per call! LOL

Good point Jake. I agree- as long as it doesn't carry over into the classroom, there shouldn't be a problem. It's only human nature, and sometimes you just can't help who you're attracted to. :wink:

I agree w/ Jake on this one- as a Basic, if a patient can't tolerate high flow O2 by NRB, then you've gotta go to the nasal cannula- you can't make a patient do something they don't want to do, and 6L of O2 is better than no O2.

Can't say I've exactly done that yet, but it wouldn't suprise me if I did- one of my contact lenses fell out when I tried to intubate someone during my clinicals!!! Hmmmm.... TPBM has great taste- after all, they're under me! LOL (j/k)

Smells are worse for me than anything- I can handle things that look really really gross- but a bad smell? I'm puking in a heartbeat! LOL

Mine's "Pillow Biter".... which doesn't seem all that bad! LOL :wink: [/font:83dc5da10d]

Ok- this was waaay too addictive- but I got an 11 too.

Stephanie was killed by... ...her brother and two of his teenage friends. (didn't know I had any brothers/sisters!) ...a repeat sex offender. (scary!) ...a drunk driver in January 6, 1994. (still scary!) All depressing & scary- nothing funny or exciting! LOL

[/font:163c82ab8f]I'm soooo LMAO- every single person in my Paramedic class (with the exception of me of course :wink: ) perfectly fits the description of a wanker! They all wear their VFD sweat/t shirts, and their EMS boots with their jeans- and all they ever talk about is EMS- kinda makes you wonder if they even ever think about anything else! http://www.emtcity.com/uploads/emoticons/default_laugh.png' alt=':lol:'>

[/font:59ba7cb592]I absolutely love Grey's Anatomy, and I don't think last night's episode was all that bad. It's just TV, and we all know that the biggest majority of professions or even life in general is never portrayed the way it actually is. I agree with noahmedic's comment - "... real life wouldn't make good tv.". And I was waiting for one of the guys to mention the 3 girls in the shower! I'm suprised it didn't get mentioned sooner! LOL :wink: