DwayneEMTP Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Or how about none of them, as we managed to do without for thirty years. You know that old theory about the amount of crap on an EMTs belt having an inverse relationship to their experience level? I am seeing the evolution of a whole new theory. That is, the amount of silly acronyms used by an EMT school has an inverse relationship to the quality of their training. I've never really understood this thinking. Of course I don't have to explain to anyone in this thread that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I got through basic, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology...etc, etc with mnemonics. I never think of them now, as I've seen several hundred patients and follow logic, and at times intuition, to where I need to go. But when I was nervous, or taking exams, I owe them a lot. I see them kind of like tricycles or training bras...you use them as an aid, then you mature, they are discarded. (Don’t care much about tricycles, but thank God for discarded bras! :thumbup: ) There are so many things that make little to no sense when you first learn them that I don't see the problem with 'book marking' information until you have a chance to place it in it's proper context. To really make it part of your toolbox. I don't really see it as a replacement for thinking, so much as a cheat sheet to keep it in your head until your logic and intelligence has a chance to catch up and organize what you memorized. And I had no time in basic for logic and intelligence. It was all memorization...As is the testing for the National Registry. (Right or wrong is for another thread, but let’s not pretend that this is not what “is”, even for good students) In basic class the majority will not have the time to 'live' with this information long enough to assimilate it...so are we telling them they are better off leaving with nothing? I guess I'm just not getting it... Dwayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaramedic Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 My favorite was always AWAM Age Weight Alergies Meds ... or as I also remembered it All Women Are Morons. :twisted: Duck and cover!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Plain Ruff Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Incoming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akflightmedic Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Progression Associated chest pain Sputum Talking tiredness Excercise tolernance T-indications for: Expiration date of medication Medication - correct for indiction Pt's medication - is it prescribed to the Pt Dosage Route As an EMT, when are you using this PASTE device? As for the second one "TEMPRDS", I guess someone decided to make that up instead of using the 5 rights that the rest of the professional medical community uses?? (6 rights if you count right to refuse) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I've never really understood this thinking. Of course I don't have to explain to anyone in this thread that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I got through basic, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology...etc, etc with mnemonics. I'm not saying that mnemonics are useless. They can be valuable learning tools when properly used. Using them to memorise labels on anatomy drawings is fine. But the problem is when we attempt to use them to have our students simply memorise steps from a checklist. They end up memorising that list, but all too often fail to understand the meaning of those steps. I see too many EMTs these days that know all those mnemonics, but they aren't capable of understanding the answers to they questions they ask. They take a nice, thorough history, but then they cannot assimilate the results into a coherent plan of assessment. In fact, many of them seem to have never even been told why they were even asking all those SAMPLE questions. That's the problem. We're teaching people steps for the sake of steps, and not as a means to an end. And that's why we end up with so many cookbook practitioners, even after medic school. Because from the very beginning, it was all about mnemonics and acronyms instead of logical scientific concepts. Yeah, it may make it easier for you to pass a test given by the same retarded instructor who taught you the mnemonics in the first place. But it's not helping your professional development towards actual practice. Instructors who rely heavily on these things are handicapping their students' development, and themselves using them as a crutch to compensate for poor educational skills. Consequently, it is easy to see that those schools that do so are educationally unsound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaO925 Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 As an EMT, when are you using this PASTE device? As for the second one "TEMPRDS", I guess someone decided to make that up instead of using the 5 rights that the rest of the professional medical community uses?? (6 rights if you count right to refuse) So far, in class, we are using PASTE for SOB assessments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asysin2leads Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Talking tiredness? Exercise intolerance? Here's an acronym: WTF? What exactly are you planning on doing for this patient? An echocardiogram and a stress test? Should I assist the patient in taking their thallium? Christ, lets focus on simple things, like getting bleeding control or splinting right. That takes a lot of practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief1C Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Exercise intolerance I have that... Should I call 9-1-1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaO925 Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 I don't know what to say. I have to learn what they want me to. The questions that we are to ask for PASTE are as follows. P-Progression - Did your SOB come on suddenly, or gradually over time? A-Association - Are you having any chest pain right now? S-Sputum- Have you coughed up anything today? What color? T-talking tiredness - I am going to have you count outloud for me, 1-10. = Pt. WPB (Words per breath) E-excersice tolerance - On any given day, would you be able to walk from here to over there (pick a landmark) without any SOB? We ask this, after our inital assessment, and then continue on to the AMPLE portion of Sample. Then focused physical exam, baseline vitals, intervention (Albuterol) transportation, and reassessment of everything including a complete head-to-toe while en route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS49393 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 During this "PASTE" part of your schooling, did your instructor give you the percentage of patient that will look at you like you had fire coming out of your butt for asking some of those questions? For the life of me, I can't believe you can't figure out if a patient is speaking in partial or full sentences before you get to the counting thing. Is your instructor still using the "who is the president" question to determine if a patient is oriented? I now return to my corner to suck my thumb and cry over the future of my career. :binky: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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