MedicAsh

Dwayne said it perfectly. Ill tell you that as a new medic there is a lot going on. Hiding in your shell isn't the best thing. You may be out of your comfort zone but you just have to do it. Its been hard for me to do but it helps to just step up to the plate and bat rather than just stand there hoping for a "ball".

I found that memorization of the sheets helped! That is what worked for me. When I went into my oral stations, I wrote my entire assessment out on a sheet of paper they provided me with just to cover my bases. It also put things in order for me when it came time to give the "hospital report". I also found that they day before the test I refused to touch the sheets. I tend to over prepare though. I am strange like that LOL Ash

I just got my medic so stations are still fresh in my mind. The oral station is where my instructor told me to verbalize everything you can think of. I failed one first try but passed it second try. They aren't hard but I forgot to verbalize. Just make sure to know your trauma and medical assessments for this one. You don't have to go into too much details but make sure you cover all treatments and how you will transport. As for random basic station for us it was KED, however, Around here (Wisconsin) they also get long boarding a fair amount of the time. Usually its KED, long board, or splinting. As Jake said above, all the rest of the stations are the same. Overall it wasn't too bad. The check off sheets were my best friend for a while, but I was also doing registry as a new grad. Don't let the "street" habits get in the way of "proper" habits. Good luck and remember, BSI.....Scene Safe!!

I did trend vitals but honestly I dont remember what they were at this point. I can look at my report when I get to work tonight.

Our 2nd rig is a BLS rig so we dont have 12 lead capabilities on that life pack. As for history she has never had anything like this. She lives alone and the house is kept very neat (although she said it was messy. she needs to see my house LOL) There have been no changes in anything lately. She just started feeling yucky today. I can follow up tomorrow night when I go back to work. oops I just saw the cancer question. The cancer was diagnosed a long time ago and she has been in remission since.

Ok guys I want to get some input. Dispatch: 90/f with chest pain and is sweaty Arrival: (Once you get into the house) You find an elderly female standing in the living room. She says she feels fine now and feels silly for calling. She agrees to be checked out. Patient is alert and oriented, skin is warm and dry, She states she had pain "here" (pointing to epigastric area) and felt like she was "going to throw up". It lasted 10 minutes and went away and now she feels fine. She woke up this morning not feeling well. Initial Vitals: 200/70 pulse 80 resps 22 O2 97% on RA Cardiac monitor shows sinus with PACs. Pain is currently at a 0/10. At its worst it was a 4/10. History: Had ovarian cancer. She is on no medications (except Tylenol PRN). She has "3" allergies but is not sure what they are. She last ate breakfast at 0600 (its now 1100). She is hard of hearing but mentally sharp as a tack. Patient does not initially want to be transported. We talk her into going in to get checked out. Patient denies pain, nausea, dizziness. Patient taken out to the ambulance. Still states pain is 0/10. As we are pulling out the aspirin and asking her if she is allergic to it she tells us that she "has problems" with it and absolutely refuses the ASA, so its not given. Patient transported. During transport she still denies pain and says she feels normal at this time. Rhythm stays sinus with PACs. Is there anything else you would have done for this patient. Don't look at this as a medic stand point. Look at it as a basic standpoint with IV and EKG certs. (Sounds strange but humor me).

Ok, I am on 2 different services but here is what we have for my primary service, 1-24/7 staffed paramedic rig 1-24/7 on call rig 8-paramedics 4-Basic IV Techs 6-casual staff (all but one are Basics) The other service I dont have a roster for right in front of me so I am not 100% sure as to exactly what we have there.

As the others have said, do NOT assume that if someone is tachycardic that they are hypertensive. Patients going into shock may be tachycardic but be hypotensive. That is why they teach you to assess your patient. This way you can find out what is going on and so you can put all the signs and symptoms together to create a working and differential diagnosis.

Why didn't they teach me that nothing ever goes according to the book???? LOL

We dont need the ER codes. We have one hospital we mainly transport. MAYBE 2 but that is very rare. Thanks everyone. I start my official Paramedic training Monday. This is my last 2 days of working as a basic. Its actually kind of scary the idea of me being a medic.......EVERYBODY RUN! lol

I have a good stethoscope. Mine is a Littmann Cardiology II. Thanks for the ideas. Ill look into getting the Pharmacopoeia, and hemostats. I have a caribeaner in my locker, I just never carry it LOL. Its a good point about IVs though. Thanks! Wow quite the interesting post there. After reading that I think maybe I need to go invest in a tazer gun. LMAO!! ok well maybe not.

Ok, so I know there are posts about what to carry with you while you are on duty, but my question is (for all you "older" medics) What would you suggest to a new paramedic to carry with them?? I don't know when Ill start orienting as a medic but I dont know what I should carry with me for work. Right now I carry my trauma shears, flashlight, and pager. Do you think I should carry a guide book with me? If so which one would help me the most? I am not one to carry a lot with me while I am working. My personal stethoscope goes in the ambulance when I am on duty so I have it for calls so I dont really carry it with me, but its there. I want to see what the current and past medics would suggest for a newbie. Thanks

I bought a pair of Thorogood Omega series boots. They took a while to break in but now I LOVE them. They have held up great for me and they are comfy. They also keep my feet dry and warm. They were just under $150 but well worth it.

The one that kind of hit my partner and I both pretty hard was we were dispatched out for a possible stroke. We got on scene to find the first responder doing CPR. We looked at each other like um...wait what happened?? So he ran outside to get the med bag and I got her hooked up to the monitor. She was in asystole. First responder kept doing CPR and I got the IV going and put a combi tube in her for an airway. My partner went out and was talking to the husband as this was going on. We did our rounds of meds and the husband said that he wanted her just to go. My partner called medical direction and he ok'ed us to call it on scene. After I got everything cleaned up and out to the ambulance I went into the kitchen to help my partner with the husband. He asked if we could call the priest which my partner went and did immediately. So we decided to wait on scene with the husband and the officer until the priest had arrived. As we were waiting we kept offering the husband coffee, water, if he wanted us to call anyone and he declined everything. He was sitting there talking to us and he was just in a state of shock. He kept looking at me saying that they had just watched the news at 10pm and she was fine. She had no complaints of anything. She was her normal self. He was talking about how when she got sick with cancer how he was 100% devoted to her and how he took care of her. You could see that he was a genuine person. He lived for his wife. So the officer on scene and I looked at each other and we could just tell we both wanted to just hug this guy. The priest had arrived and we gave our condolences and left. We had a ways to get back to the hospital so my partner and I were talking about the call and he asked if I had heard what the husband had said. I looked at him and told him no. He looked at me and said, "The husband told me when you were in the room and I had him in the kitchen that he knew his wife had just died in his arms and there wasn't anything that he could do to help her." My heart sank. I honestly don't think I will ever forget this guy and his wife. It goes to show that there is 100% true love out there. He was devoted to her.

The only thing that comes to mind is using sand bags and duct tape to hold a patients leg in a position that she could tolerate while transporting for a hip fracture. Fentanyl was not touching her at all for when we tried to move her. As long as we didn't move her leg she was fine so we put her on the backboard, put the sand bag at the end of her foot so it wouldn't slide down ward then using duct tape to keep the leg and sand bag in place. My medic thought I was insane (well the ER did too) for doing it but HEY it got the job done and the patient was more than happy that I did it because it made things tolerable for her. They asked where I learned that and I told them that working in no where Wyoming you have to come up with things like that to help you out.

We dont see it much here but when I was doing clinicals in the city near by we had quite a few of them. The main treatment for these was care of the ABCs. Depending on LOC, we may do a fluid bolus or give fluids wide open. We always have an IV established and of course the cardiac monitor too. We don't do Benzos unless we contact medical control. The patients that we have had have not had to be restrained at all. We were able to get them to go with us without a fight.

Oh no I know the learning continues, but I wanted to come across is I am done with the official schooling and testing. No, I have a LOT to learn!!! It still feels like I am a basic. Yea its strange changing rolls.