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In 5 short months I will be sitting in my first Paramedic class at our local Community College. One of the best programs in the area honestly, and they are developing a hell of a reputation for themselves locally. I have been an EMT for a year or so now, enabling me to have run enough CIty-ALS time to work with a medic quite a bit, run some decent calls, and learn a few things. Yet I have not been on the truck long enough to obtain bad habits. I'm one for preparation. So my question for you so far, is what can I do to prepare? My EMT-B book explains the processess of ALS Assist with tubes, monitor's and lines, and the A&P of all that, and I have been going through that lightly, but its only 1 single small chapter in the back of the book. So I'm on the quest for a A&P book. Any ideas? Any suggestions? Maybe I'm looking at this wrong? Once Medic told me I should start learning my drugs, its a BIG thing I can know before school starts its one less thing I have to learn... I'd rather refresh then learn, but I know if I Learn wrong now, that refresh is going to be a re-learn, which is twice as hard as learning it the first time. Thank You

Its been a while since I last posted here, but life's been interesting, and I've been away from the computer for a couple weeks. I had a few questions about how a college degree fits into EMS, and I thought you guys have given me pretty good advice in the past, so it makes since to field the question to you. For the past couple years I've been going to a community college, working on getting an AA in Fire Science. I would have had it finnished a couple months ago, but a temporary lapse in judgement and one shoulder surgery (both unrelated incidents) slowed me down a bit. In short, the college canceled the Fire Science program, and now I'm re-eveluating my college plans. I may switch schools, and I'd like some input on how having a degree factors into a carreer in EMS. Does your specific major play a large part in determining depts hiring decisions, or is it more a case of just having the skills that comes with getting a BA/BS? Eventually, I'd like to be a paramedic, but I'm reluctant to get a degree thats only applicable to EMS due to how hard its been to get hired on, even as a volunteer, in the past. Would you turn down an aplicant because his major was History, English, Criminal Justice, or Anthropology instead of Biology, Chemistry, Nursing, or Paramedics (I've been told its a Major, but I'm still trying to figure if, used in this context, its even a word.)? If you don't mind, I'd be interested to know what you majored in, and how that has affected your EMS carreer. Thanks, and stay safe, Chris "the Kayak-Man" Johnson