paramedicmike

I've read promising info about the fecal transplant treatment. Hope this goes well and she starts to feel better soon. I can't imagine how miserable repeated episodes of C. diff must be. Hell, I can't imagine how miserable a single episode must be.

Welcome.

C'mon, Mike. He doesn't want smart answers. He even said so. And those are just smart answers. Ok. Well, they're smart questions. I think smart is the operative word here. And he said he just doesn't want smart.

Cripes! Glad you got this addressed and are feeling better!

This would fall under EMTALA in the US. If the patient is being evaluated in the ER because of a change during transport that's one thing. Otherwise, the patient has to be accepted into the receiving hospital with a bed available for this specific patient. With that, as ERDoc mentioned, the patient has to go to an equal or higher level of care. If there's no ICU bed available, or if they can't tell me exactly where this patient is going in the receiving hospital aside from "going to the ER", then I wouldn't accept the transport.

None of the ambulances in which I've worked over the course of my entire career has had or used cargo nets. What kind of equipment are you trying to secure? Where?

How does your state fare? Click me to find out.

Ok. I laughed.

To be fair to our new friend, having a job to support oneself during any kind of academic undertaking is a good thing so long as a balance between the two can be maintained. So let's not discourage the resourcefulness being contemplated here. Now, that being said, being an EMT to support oneself during nursing school may need some additional research. EMTs are a dime a dozen and wages reflect that. Depending on your financial situation surviving nursing school on only an EMT income will be difficult. Please make sure your research includes the availability, stability and compensation of EMT jobs in your area if you decide to pursue that route. As has been mentioned, working as an EMT will give you absolutely no indication of what working as an RN in the ER is like. If you managed to get an ER tech job with your EMT certification you will probably get a good idea of how an ER operates. You'll certainly get more exposure to nurses and the work they do than you would as an EMT on an ambulance. But you still won't really know what it's like to work in an ER as a RN. If you are attempting to earn an RN license please base that license on a BSN level education. Hospitals increasingly are not hiring ADN educated RNs. I'm not sure about JCAHO but Magnet certification pushes hospitals to hire BSN educated nurses. ADN educated nurses are finding it harder and harder to find jobs. ADN educated nurses who have jobs are finding it harder to either keep their job or move up without at least a BSN education. Now, once you earn an RN license (hopefully with a BSN behind your name), you'll be able to do an awful lot of nursing even without an EMS background. Nursing is not EMS based. Nursing dabbles, in some ways, in EMS. But nursing is nursing. Earn your stripes as a nurse and you will be able to do anything you want. Want to be a trauma nurse? Go for it. You don't need an EMS background to work trauma. Want to work in the ICU? Go for it. You won't need an EMS background for that, either. Want to work in an ER? You don't need an EMS background for that, either. You will need to put in your time as a nurse working in a med surg capacity (this seems to be coming back for new grads from what I can gather) before you can expand into other areas. But you can get there. Please keep in mind that this discussion is not any attempt to discourage you. Comments relayed here so far are based on years of experience and knowledge. And keep in mind your EMT instructor was probably just attempting to butter you up. Unless s/he is an ER nurse what does s/he know about it? Get where I'm going? As you've seen here we all have some pretty strong opinions about things. You've also got a pretty wide expanse of experience just in this discussion alone. Don't think we're trying to discourage you. We just like to call things like we see it and sometimes our attempts to correct misconceptions can be, well, blunt. If this is really what you want and the path you want to take then do it. Please understand that we aren't trying to discourage that. There are several ways to get there. Some are better than others. Those better ways are what we're trying to encourage.

Welcome. It sounds like you have a lot of options and opportunities available to you. That's not a bad position in which to find yourself. You'll forgive our skepticism regarding your desire to be a flight nurse. Yes, air medical transport is exciting. It's also hot, cold, dirty, dangerous, smelly and more. It's also something that an awful lot of new members and new EMS providers think they're going to do someday. The numbers, and unfortunately the education of many, don't support the chances. (Nurses, in my unscientific observations, are not always as excited for the air medical aspect of nursing. I find that interesting.) You've gotten some good advice so far. You don't need a special watch. You'll need something with a big enough face for you to count seconds. IslandEMT prefers a watch with a second hand. I've managed all my years in EMS with a digital. Go with what works for you. If you're spending more than $25 or $30 you're spending too much. If you want to be a nurse go to nursing school. If you want to be an EMT go to EMT school. They are not mutually exclusive. However, please don't go to EMT school thinking it'll do you any favours regarding nursing school. It won't. The two are also not nearly as similar as one might think.

For some of the more complicated processes or concepts I was trying to learn I found an empty classroom with a big white board and just started putting it up on the board. I'd set a goal for reading (complete certain concepts, get to a certain page etc...) and once I reached that goal I'd take a break from reading to write it all out. I don't know how time efficient it was but it was something I found that worked for me.

Agencies and employers such as... who?

I can't help with your quest for information directly. However, I have known several couples who have gone to Saudi Arabia for a variety of reasons... mostly work. All the wives, all of them, *hated* living there. The restrictions on women within the Kingdom are vastly different from what women are used to in the US or even the rest of the western world. Every last one of them said they'd never go back. The husbands all agreed. They all understood the concept of "When in Rome...". However, there's only so much of the "Romans" one can take when their beliefs and lifestyle are so vastly different. This is all second hand info received from the women/couples I knew who've lived there. Take it for what it's worth. Your mileage may vary.

Agreed with the above. Good documentation is your friend. I will also suggest you do not go back and add to your documentation if your chart doesn't have the points my two colleagues mentioned. Adding the info in later will only damage your credibility should this go anywhere. Just take it as a learning point for the future because you will experience this again at some point.

Welcome.

Welcome.

As has been mentioned, a college level anatomy and physiology class. In fact, there are a whole list of college level classes that are probably important. There have been many discussions here in these forums about what is important. As far as physical items I really don't think you'd need much. The program will tell you what you'll need to get. Use what you have. Buy what you need but don't spend a lot until you get out and recognize how much you use, or don't use, the item.

Congrats, Mike. We needed a countdown, though! We had one good countdown going. My Registry cards are good through next year. My state is good for longer than that. I'd hate to let NR go especially after all I went through to get it. We'll see what happens over the course of the year.

Welcome.

Welcome. Direct questions are some of the best questions to ask. Why beat around the bush? I don't know. Should you? What do you think? Are you up for it? Do you want it? As Clutzy said the only person who can answer this is you. How old are you? The challenges are different for everybody. They largely depend on you, who you are, your background and your motivations. Do you second guess other decisions in your life based on similar concerns? EMT class and being an EMT or paramedic isn't the only challenge people face that brings with it emotional or mental strain. How do you face these other challenges? Your answer to how you face those challenges will help you decide if you're up to this challenge. You're welcome.

That sounds more like a malware issue than anything else.

Somehow I think this may have simply been a once off for the OP to express his disgruntlement. What better way to feel better about things than to create a profile on a website and spout off with personal anecdotes?

Depends what State you're in.

No. I'm implying it hurts like a motherfucker when you infuse fluids lidocaine flush or not. Just because you can do it doesn't always mean it's the best thing, or right thing, to do.