AnthonyM83

If you're used to academics, most EMT programs will be a piece of cake. I went to one that was probably easier than most and I probably studied twice the whole class and that was right before class started. This summer there were several premeds who worked at our company just for the summer to get patient contact experience. They plan on doing it winter and summer breaks. There's also a number of people who have graduated school and are studying for MCATS (if you work a slow area you get patient contacts, access to doctors at ERs, and downtime to study while getting paid...seems like a good deal). My EMT class had two high school pre-meds too. I don't, though, know as many premeds who work during the school year, though I do know a number of them...they often end up working non-emergency transfer cars because they offer better schedules.

Naw, at least here, there's always fresh new faces looking to get hired as EMTs so they can be firefighters and an ample supply of firefighters to be ordered to medic school, so I can't see us running out of manpower. It'll probably just become less profitable, though.

I always try to ambulance before carrying...just makes common sense and prevents injuries. BUT simply having the ability to walk isn't even a semi-good indicator of whether they need transport by ambulance. Examples are psychs, MI's, ALOC's, hypoglycemics, hypertensive emergencies, overdoses, abnormal cardiac rhythms, GI-bleeds, gunshot wounds, stabbings.

That really is a big problem, though...ER knowing what medics/EMTs can do and medics/EMTs knowing how nursing homes or ERs work. Some cross-education on scopes of each others' fields would be nice...

Can we trust doctors to make the decision? It seems to be working for the EMS system that they interviewed as a contrast system in the news video. Also, while fewer BS transports means less pay, it also means they have to keep fewer ambulances on the road if they start denying the BS transports.

It always happens that I see reference to something, don't have time to read it, then see it in the field. Had one just the other day. They were two distinct, but back to back p-waves at regular intervals in relation to everything else. It was almost like a McDonald's "m". I can't remember if they were connected or not....the one I saw might have just be mitrale. I think i was able to get the EKG for it, gotta look through my clipboard papers.

muwahaha

I don't know if this is the best way....but I'm starting to figure out that the best reply to criticism to be able to immediately quote a protocol and your patient data. Doc: It's your fault You: For pushing the 5 of Versed? (gotta get clarification first, either to find out if THAT was the problem and/or to box him into an answer) Doc: Yes You: Nope, protocol's fault. We're not allowed to disregard them. (a time when strict protocols can actually be good...to defend yourself). But maybe that's just me being argumentative. Also, I imagine the tighter knit community, the easier it is to not go off on (perceived) mistakes...if he knows he won't see you again for a month, he might not feel like (what he feels is) wasting his time with another random medic. Doesn't help things for doc, medics, or patients....but I've seen this with FFs interacting with EMTs.

AZCEP, where did you see the axis deviation? (I'm still trying to self-learn these things...with Mr. Dubin's help)

First off, I would check out this thread on mapping: http://www.emtcity.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph...;highlight=maps I much prefer to memorize than map. Between my partner and I, we can get to pretty much all calls in our area and surrounding areas without a map...we fill in each other's memory gaps. We'll pull out the map maybe 2-3 times a month for a quick double check. As far as getting to that point, I just took one weekend and memorized all main streets in our greater coverage area and all little streets in our regular coverage area. (This is harder with windier road areas) Get a piece of paper and write down all the streets from west --> east, then from east--> west. Say them aloud. Copy the list. Then start trying to re-write list from memory in both directions. Then do north/south. Start with only major streets/highways, then include smaller ones. You might have to memorize twice if north and south sides of town have different east/west streets. If you forget one, look at your sheet, then continue down the list. Then practice just saying them orally based on images in your head. Then practice mapping yourself from different spots on the map. When you look at the map, imagine the street. When you're on-duty (or off-duty) driving around to learn your area, imagine the map book. Call the streets before they happen. Practice mapping in your head other units' calls, even if you know you're off a bit. It helps your brain make connects between streets....like Street A is west of Street B somewhere...that sets up the framework, then you narrow down to exactly how many streets apart. It also helps to look at a big map of your area every now then, instead of the little mapbook pages. A lot of my recall is based on how things are in relation to each other, bigger picture images in my head. Once you do that, another big one is to memorize the addresses. Is the 5000 block all the way in the west side and the 1300 block all the way east. That way you can start in that direction immediately. Careful is there's a W Main street and East Main Street, numbering usually changes. Then, you can start memorizing landmarks like schools, parks, government buildings, nursing homes. As far as getting to hospitals, for the longest time I always mapped myself from the call to the hospital, even if I knew exactly how to get there. Partners would think I was lost and give me directions, but I was doing it so my brain got used to mapping from random directions to known locations (usually it's the opposite)...and only after several months did I stop doing it. It helps with memorization if you're intimately familiar with your mapbook. If someone gives you an intersection, you should be able to point to it almost with your eyes closed (and if you ever do need your mapbook, you won't be unfamiliar with it). If you want to be that intense about it, that is. It makes things more comfortable for us, gets us there faster than most, we can concentrate on the road (or sleep), and if it's a one of the raare calls that gets our adrenaline going just from hearing it dispatched, we can rely on memory rather than mapbook analyzing skills which can be affected by stress easier. Also, spend time figuring out which routes are the ABSOLUTE shortest, for different types of traffic, etc...which roads are packed and have a center divide, so you can't oppose traffic. Non-urgent calls a good chance to practice not using your mapbook or trying shortcuts you see in the map but haven't driven though (sometimes u don't get a chance to explore them on return-trip if dispatch wants you to take a different route back for coverage purposes), as long as you know for sure that you'll know immediately when you've messed up and can get back on track immediately.

It's up to the medics on-scenes. Some use common sense about it, but some want to us carry almost all to the gurney....it's easy to make that decision when it's just the two ambulance privates doing the carrying, unless it's a whale of a patient.

Man-power shouldn't be an issue here. FD would be there to provide man-power to privates, anyway. In some cases there would be a delay, but I imagine not often if they're dispatched concurrently to traumas/full arrests etc.

CBEMT does bring up a valid point. How do we do something NOW. We talk a lot about "perfect system" or "ideal medic school". It gives us something to shoot for and keep in mind as we become more involved in the system and take on roles such as instructors, system advisors, etc . . . but knowing how the ideal medic school or EMS system is supposed to run doesn't do us that much good to help our immediate problems when we go to work the next day.

As much as I enjoy holding hands (especially in boy-girl-boy-girl setups) and lip syncing, I have to admit that his (and others') attitude has had an effect, at least on this online community. What a high percentage of the active EMTCity population is interested in being more than just another whacker EMT. There may be an air of arrogance, but not self-importance, rather it's rising above to a higher level for the sake of patient care and improvement of the field and for yourself. And as long as offers to educate are extended (rather than automatic exclusion) with every harshly written post, I'm okay with that. In a way, it's a weeding out process. The ones who say "hey, I'm more than just an EMS wanker" and set out to prove it to themselves are the ones who are better for the profession anyways, USUALLY. I will admit that people have varying levels of self-esteem and not all were raised to be empowered. I imagine if my mom became an EMT (she said she always wanted to do that when she was younger, but that she's too old now) and came to this site, she might leave feeling bad about her job...THAT'S why I think a bit of hand holding is good. The condescendingness without offering a path is useless. But I think Dust and others usually offer that. And of course, it's our job to pass that one to our respective systems...

She was probably replying to my post about SAT scores. If she doesn't know what kind of college range she's fit for, her GPA and SAT/ACT score can guide her to a starting point of colleges to look at.

Everything's a statistics game, from being in a car accident to getting shot to getting sprayed in the face by blood on a non-trauma/non-bleed category call. I would base it on how often things happened there. When was the last time an accident happened in your service? 1992? Last EMS assault? Never? Last wrestle with a patient? 2002? Then, no, I probably wouldn't. Here. Last accident? I've been off for a few days, but probably today or yesterday or day before. Last serious-ish one, probably a few weeks ago. Last EMS assault? With a gun, several months ago. Last wrestle with a patient? Probably within the last few days. So, I'd say you probably should. I honestly don't know how to answer that question without being extreme and saying "don't ever take a chance"...in which case I just wouldn't work in the field at all. It's a balance of pros and cons.

Well now that you're degreed you can start charging consultation fees

Eh, I kinda have to straight up here. You're not getting into a medical school if your entire bachelor's degree is from a community college, even if you're a straight A student, top of your graduating class. The only exception I can think of is if you happen to be a genius and a super high MCAT, higher than a lot of those Ivy League undergrads are getting....which would be hard to do having only taken community college classes. Also, if you're truly interested in medical school, I wouldn't waste too much time getting your paramedic cert while you do other school. It's hard enough getting good grades taking classes like Organic Chemistry and Immunology and Calculus. You probably also want to leave room in your schedule for general ed requirements and others that will make you a more rounded person. It seems like you're a little confused on the order of things. You do your four years of college at once, taking all the required classes for graduation and for your specific degree and the pre-reqs for medical schools. THEN, you apply to a separate medical school that only teaches medicine (not medicine and criminal justice). You go through that, then go into internship/residency/etc. So, if you want your CJ degree, I would take that while you're getting your bachelor's degree along with whatever you undergraduate major will be. You won't have time later, I'm pretty sure. I really really really recommend setting up a meeting with your high school college advisor and coming up with a plan. Only go to a community college if you're going to do their formal transfer to a state school program. Also at a 4-year you'll have advisors that specifically help you prepare for applying to medical school. There's a couple docs and some premeds on this site, so they might post with more info than what I know...but you could probably find some premed forums online, too. But nothing beats in real life consults with your advisors.

Read the post above yours....and maybe the 3 above that. Addresses exactly what you posted about. PS This isn't about paragods. Simply about classification of different jobs someone with an EMT cert has.

It's for the kiiiiiiids

Ha, how about I just hang at the station and hear it for real everytime they get a call? :) Juuuust kidding.

PS my two previous posts no longer relate to the article, but are rather an offshoot of both the article and the claim that in general there might be an innate biological difference in desire to risk one's life for a person of a different race if doing it for emotional rather than professional purposes (just a thought I had) and then reply to Dust's post about firing risk takers. Not replying the article in case it seemed like it.

I know this is a stupid question to ask, but I'll go ahead and pull my newbie card... Do LEGITIMATE incidents like this happen all the time where you'd need to fire people when they risk themselves to save a life in IMMINENT danger. Where if you didn't, person died, right then and there, period. I imagine there are a lot of incidents where whackers do dumb stuff unnecessarily, but it seems like legitimate emergencies like that are a bit more rare...and some leeway might be given to a medic who choses to take a risk. I can't imagine it'd happen often enough to drive insurance rates that high....legitimate cases that is.

It's not working!