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.

rsqmedic, I've never been through CCATT class as a student but I volunteer for CCEMS and from what I've seen the class seems very solid. Every year when they do the class, I participate as a role player for their field training exercises and everything I have seen I've been incredibly impressed with. When I get the time, I eventually want to take part in the class as a student.

yeah me too, although I get the feeling that if I ever take a paid job, that's it I'll be hooked and it will be my career.

I'd like to add my 2 cents (as Dixie put it) from a student's perspective. Repetition was the best way for us to learn the skills, the only problem with my class was that I took it senior year of high school, and our teacher had to have a lot of surgery that year and so we had subs a lot. And the subs didn't know anything about EMS or the skills, so while the sub was there we just practiced but we didn't know if we were doing it exactly right. It would have been nice to have a more supervised hands on practice.

Moosey, no hard feelings-you didn't offend me. Well, EMT001, after debating in class, the general consensus was to save the five strangers. On another note, our teacher asked us this question (very similar) about something that actually happened. A woman was working in the 5th ward (worst part of town, not even the cops go there) teaching an ESL class. One night a woman came bursting in the door screaming "he's gonna kill me! please help me!" A few minutes later her pimp came to the door, started pounding on it, yelling "if you don't give me back my woman I'm going to kill you all". And our philosophy teacher asked us, what would you do: try to help the woman or give her up? (note that this was before cell phones and even if they could call the cops, they probably wouldn't come). She made us analyze the situation using a benefit/harm analysis chart. Anyways, our class decided to give up the prostitute, and as it turns out that's exactly what the ESL teacher did. She gave up the woman to save the rest of the class.

I have a 91 plymouth acclaim that is very literally held together with duct tape, I swear duct tape is God's gift to humanity, without it my car would fall apart

Oh well I agree with you about the blind allegiance; I think that if you believe in something, you should know why, and the only way to know why is to think it through. And its sad to think that in the wake of 9/11 people began to feel that you were unamerican just because you disagree with our nations leaders. The right to freedom of speech and expression have been the pillars on which our nation stands and it is a sad thing when people start to forget that. The very fact that you do disagree and you say something about it makes you very much American. As far as the unpatriotic thing, well that's not entirely fair. The definition of patriotism is "love or devotion of country and willingness to sacrifice for it". I think that most people feel by waving a flag, or saying 'American' things, they are showing their love of country, their support and devotion. And if anyone ever said that you were unpatriotic just because you didn't do these things, well then they are just a little confused on the definition. True to be patriotic you have to love our country and feel some ties of devotion and you have to support our country in some way, that's just from the definition. But no where does it say how you have to show your support or love. And I didn't mean to sound like I was saying my grief/pain/whatever is just as bad/important as those who live NYC. All those who were there, who smelt the smells, walked the streets, saw everything with their own eyes felt (and I'm sure in many respects still feel) unmeasurable, incomparable pain. You guys went through something that the rest of the country could never fully comprehend. I get that and I'm not trying to compare my grief or whatever to yours, its just that it really bugs me when someone says that line about how 'you weren't there'. When someone says something like that, whether they mean to or not, it sort of comes across as saying you weren't there, so you don't count.

We use the electronic PCRs...they are pretty cool; it's light and portable, easy to use on-scene, it's got spell checker and a drug dictionary, very useful. When we get to the hospital, they've got a thing set up where we download the PCR into the hospital system and make a print out for them, and we get back to the station we download it into our system. It works really well and I like it so much more than the paper PCRs we had when I was a student. Thank God for technology.

yeah that's me on almost every single shift; or to add on to that if the in charge thinks "it"s best you stay in the bus" because of the ethnicity

Had a patient who tried to eat all the equipment in the back of the bus, got to love those full moon shifts...

Hey I get what you are saying Moosey, but I don't think it's entirely fair. You talked about how you You almost come across as to say we (the rest of the country) don't deserve to carry flags or say patriotic things, or feel the loss of 9/11. Just because someone doesn't live there, doesn't mean that they weren't affected. I mean, look at me for example. The plane that crashed into the second tower, my cousin was supposed to be on it but she was running late and missed her plane. My uncle was working in the pentagon at the time of the crash. I sat in my classes at school, terrified, thinking that my uncle and cousin might be dead; I didn't find out for 2 days that my uncle was ok because the phone lines were so busy. I live thousands of miles away from NYC but I was still tremendously impacted by 9/11. The whole country was. But Moosey, I know that's not what you were trying to say, so I won't take offense to anything you say/said. But as the for the fire question at hand; I agree with you. Theoretically, I morally should, and would, choose the five strangers. It's that whole for the greater good utilitarian thought, but in reality what would happen is very different. I mean my brother and sister are my best friends, they are my rock and pillars, without them I would be lost. I came pretty close to loosing my sister a year ago, and now I almost say screw the strangers I'm saving my sibling; a year ago I would have said without a doubt save the strangers, my brother and sister would understand, but when you come so close to loosing them, your perspective changes. Now, as much as I rather say save the strangers (and as much I know I should), in reality I think I would try to save my sibling first.