lemonlimeEMT

While on duty, I found out (the hard way) that I was allergic to turpentine. We got called to this guy's house who was a painter and used turpentine as a solvent with his oil paintings. I walked in to the room and had an anaphylactic reaction to the turpentine in the air. My poor partner now had two patients to worry about! It turned out alright and I now carry an EpiPen with me, but I still sometimes worry about walking into another turpentine-filled room.

I fully agree. From my own experience, I feel like a lot of the programs out there have too low of standards. I took the basic class as a senior in high school and the only requirements for getting into the program was 3 teacher recomendations and a small interview-not hard at all, no real standard. And no offense to the program I took, but really it kind of sucked. I learned more from 2 years of health science technology in high school prior to the emt class and then in anatomy & physiology in college than I ever learned in my emt-b class. The only thing I learned from the class was some of the skills (those that I did not already know). Only 8 people out the entire program tested for NR and TDH; 70% dropped out. Fresh out of the program I felt 100% unprepared to work as an EMT. I think I learned more after I had my certification than I ever learned in class. I think EMT programs of any level need to have higher standards, not just of what they teach but higher entrance standards. Maybe there should be some sort of entrance exam or something, just to show that those in the program are competent engouh to actually learn everything and gain an actual education not just some training. Oh and Rid, I really loved what you said about "shifting from training set of mind to true education". WELL SAID. Just my two cents...

in my emt class there was ONE guy

well you are older than me britt...

Ok so where was this reverse jinx when I was a student? I was a black cloud for lots of calls, usually crappy ones that tick you off because they woke you up at 3 am to sit and wait for the cops to clear an assault only to find out 30 minutes there is no patient.....and I firmly believe in the boots thing, literally every time I've ever taken my boots off at the station we immediately get a call-some of the in charges have banned me from taking off my boots after midnight...

well lately i've been a bit of a white cloud, I've had 3 consequtive (sp?) shifts with absolutely no calls-and i was at the typically busiest station; the paramedics love me because when i'm around they get to be paid to sit around and watch tv because we don't get any calls....then again i'm due for my black cloud spout any day now....won't that be fun

First off, welcome to EMS, it's a lot of fun and I'm sure you will love it! You aren't crazy for wanting this as a career, or for wanting so "late" in life; plenty of people where I work started in EMS late in life, some have even started in their 40s and 50s, so don't worry about it. As far as gender bias goes, well yeah occasionally you come across it but really it depends on where you are/where you work. But as Woody said, if you are the easily offened type then stuff will offened you, a lot. That's really the only thing I've run into as far as gender bias; I work with a lot of guys and they are constantly asking me if they offended me, and they are trying to watch their language and stuff, although I constantly tell them it doesn't bother me. Don't worry about the lifting, there are always people around to help and if for some reason you guys can't lift the patient, then call in the FD. Jobs are pretty easy to find, lots of places like new comers, just because they can train them the way they want, but there are jobs out there. If you have any other questions, just ask, everyone is more than willing to answer.

Writing narratives for PCRs was something I struggled with, hell it's something I still struggle with from time to time. The best advice the paramedics I worked with gave me was to "paint a story", you are the eyes and ears for the ED, you see what they can't, so you have to tell them everything. Let them know as much about the patient as possible; tell where/how you found the pt, condition and complaint of pt, history and allergies, vitals and pertinent findings, treatment, and how the patient responded to treatment. Put enough info so that the ED knows what was going on, but watch out because you can put too much (don't put meaningless information and remember that there are check boxes for findings and such on the front-or at least with ours).

The "Q", "S", and "B" words are the kiss of death; and so is taking off your boots during a night shift

The agency I work for gives BLS first responders jump kits, and in them are: -bandages/dressings -splints -OPAs and NPAs -3 adult NRB and nasal cannula -O2 tank (sm) -2 c-collars -sharps shuttles -adult and child BP cuffs -stethoscope -triage tags -2 tubes oral glucose -adult bvm I have my own for my personal vehicle; it's got all the same stuff minus the O2 tank, OPAs and NPAs, and sharps shuttles.

Wow this turned into a very heated discussion very quickly! Ok well speaking as someone from the south, the confederate flag should represent southern pride, but the reality of the situation is most people equate the confederacy with racism since slavery was the hot button issue of the civil war. So does the confederate flag represent racism or southern pride? well that's all in the eye of the beholder-we, the viewer, give the symbol the meaning not the person displaying it. The meaning in symbols is all in how you perceive it. And I agree with Punk; if you don't like it, don't look at it. and yeah the klansmen would probably do something not just walk away, but that's what makes them low, foul, hateful people who will probably burn in hell.

Don't you just love not having any time, or sleep? Actually I love every single second of it and I wouldn't have it any other way; although since I am a nursing student and I spend my free time volunteering, and I'm trying to find a paid EMT job, I feel like all I ever talk about/think about/hear about is medicine. I mean I don't think I have any friends that aren't in EMS or medicine in some way.

Well, when the agency I work for first started out, it was completely non-profit. Their goal was to provide EMS to anyone who needed it, free of charge. But then the times caught up with them and they started to have to charge something. So they started only billing the insurances companies for what they covered; if the patient didn't have insurance (or the insurance didn't cover much) it didn't matter. Well recently we've come to find out that this isn't legal, so we have just started to have to charge people. Of course we don't really enforce it; it's more like a pay what you can when you can kind of thing. As far as actual charges, I have no clue-no one but the medical billing people do.

In my service, there are at least twice as many guys than girls. But whatever, right? I just look at it this way, this just means I get to spend my nights with a bunch of guys :wink: and another thing, all those guys around really helps when it comes to lifting obese patients

Yeah Wren is a really great guy. All the guys who teach the course seem really sharp; and from what I've seen the students seem to really enjoy the course and learn a lot. How was it that one of the Creek guys put it, oh yeah he said that the point of the course isn't to turn you into a SWAT team but rather teach you how to function within a tactical team and not get you or anyone else killed. From what I've seen I love the course, I think it's great and one day when I have the time and money I will definitely take it. Let me know how things work out.