Requesting online study buddy for EMT Basic

[EMS49393]

I agree with Dust, I often agree with him, I just hide it well.

My post was not aimed at you, it was aimed at your program. I applaud anyone that wants to learn, practice, and become the best provider they can become. I have a problem with a majority of educational programs.

I met a young man a few days ago that is doing his ride time for his EMT-basic class. He was a nice young man, near the end of his class, and he had no idea how to take a blood pressure or how to put on a nasal cannula. I wasn't mad at him for not knowing how to do these basic skills. I was furious with his instructor for letting this young man begin his ride time before he taught him how to do these skills. He informed us that his instructor told them all at the beginning of their class that he has an average of 2 people in each class that actually pass their national registry exam. We're talking a class of more than twenty people. Considering how easy the national registry exam is, it's a darn shame his pass rate is so poor. I'd venture to say, the common denominator in his class fail rate is HIM.

This young man wanted to learn, but he was stumped on where to even begin. He told us that his instructor has told them to bring their stethoscopes to class every time because he was going to teach them how to take a blood pressure. Apparently, that never happened.

I don't see how we can ever hope to build strong providers if the education continues on the path it is currently on. I certainly hope that you stick around. There is an abundance of education and experience on this forum.

[Scaramedic]

You're not going to catch me getting all bent out of shape...

Oh yeah, well your icons real name was Marion!

[Dustdevil]

Oh yeah, well your icons real name was Marion!

You better smile when you say that, Pilgrim!

[LisaO925]

Believe it or not, I am not trying to be a drama queen, or attention whore. It is hard to hear on here with someone says how awful that something is that I am learning. Yeah, I take that personal, because its what I am given as tools. It shakes the confidence that I have, and then I feel weak. I feel like fingers were being pointed at me, because I am an extension of my school. I feel attacked because this is something so important to me, so passionate, that I am very protective of it. I make no apologies for that.

I should not have used the word "bashed" that was incorrect, and emotionally based, and for that, I do apologize.

There are a handful of people who took the time to PM me about all of this, who explained things better. Also, I decided to read the responses after my last post, and I thank you for those as well.

If I seem sensitive, obviously I am. I am not able to toss out any of what they are teaching me because others think they are stupid, and still pass this class. The other schools I have looked into around here teach the same thing! Changing programs will not change anything. I looked into this program, discussed it with people who are EMT's and Paramedics around here. My CPR instructor who is a Firemedic, and as far as EMT-B goes, they all had great things to say about my school.

*breathe* lol

[DwayneEMTP]

Lisa, outstanding post!

You belong here, are going to learn important things here, and even make some really cool friends here.

I'm glad you stayed, and I know exactly what you mean with your school. I researched my options for medic school here, chose the one I felt was best, with the highest standards and most difficult requirments, yet found it was not "all that" once I'd started.

So what do I do? I, like you, continue, take every scrap of information they can give me, all the while understanding it's not enough, and fill in the gaps on my own.

So far it's worked for me. And I know it'll work for you.

Stick with it! You've got gumption...pretty cool.

Dwayne

[karieduckworth]

Dwayne, I have to agree with you. Lisa, you WILL meet a lot of really cool people here. And there are A LOT of people here that are willing to help you do what you gatta do, and teach you beyond that.

I too am a student. Granite I am a lowly EMT-b student, but a student none the less. I understand you "have to do what you have to do to pass the NR exam." I too, have to do this. And yes, I will probably be an EMT-b for awhile. My hubby is working extra so I can go to school, when I am in the field for a year, we are furthering his education next. From there we will see if or what decisions I make on my own education.

Please do not take to heart everyones opinions, for they are just that, opinions. Everyone has them, don't mean you have to take all of them to heart. Take from this site what is useful to you now, and in the future. And don't ever, ever give up. Keep trucking along, have fun doing it. My experience says, if you enjoy and have fun with what you are doing, you will learn WAY more than you would by the hum drum way.

Again, stick around, learn from the viable information And good luck!

PM me sometime, maybe we can help each other out. :study:

[Asysin2leads]

Ya know what, nevermind....

I am done here

The few on this board that helped or are helping me, I will stay in contact with. I am honestly sick of this bashing.

I paid for my school, and I am doing what I can, what they tell me to, and doing what needs to be done.

I cant apologize if people feel my education is crap. It is what it is.

How would any of you feel if you were just as excited about something, (something you are working hard on) and wanted to be the best you could be at it. Just for others (from different regions, states, cities, generations, levels, etc.) to tell you its all wrong! It may not be what what you learned. It may not be right for you. But for my county, my NR, my school, and its what they want, and its whats needed for me to graduate.

I didn't create the program, and yes, I did sign up for it. But after meeting about 5 (of many) successful Paramedics that had infact graduated from that same class, it can't be all wrong.

Not many remember what it was like to be a medic. I mean, all Paramedics started somewhere, right? It doesn't matter the letters, the questions, or the school uniform I wear. It matters that I do, right? And that I do well, and I help people, save lives, and learn and grow with each call. And, thanks to this board, I will NEVER forget that I too was a medic once, and started at the bottom. I will NEVER slam anyone or look down on them for that, no matter what.

Be safe everyone...

Thank you for the time here

Lisa, hang on, don't go this route just yet. I don't think anyone was slamming you per se because of the mnemonics you were being taught. People we

re discussing the mnemonics here and there, making their own conclusions, and if anyone was having a problem it wasn't with you it was with your course. Its what we do. If you really want to learn and grow, you need to take into what people say, even if it makes you mad.

Thank you for explaining the PASTE acronym. I still think it's unnecessary though. Most of it is already covered in the OPQRST questioning portion, and if there is one acronym I still use, OPQRST is the one. Onset: Did it come on rapidly or suddenly? What were you doing when it occured? This takes care of P in PASTE. Association is also taken care of in S: Severity, are you having pain, on a scale of 1-10, how bad? S: Sputum is taken care of in "associated signs and symptoms", T, talking tiredness is one, really not necessary in a rapid emergency interview, but is also mentioned in P: Provocation, does anything make it worse? The same goes for exercise intolerance.

Learn what you have to pass the class. Just be aware that there are disagreements as to what to learn and how to learn it, and it isn't anything personal. Don't treat your class like its your church, its possible they may be wrong on some things.

[Just Plain Ruff]

another of our young who was the focus of a 5 course dinner. We again on this forum have eaten one of our young.

She unfortunately felt offended enough to possibly leave the forums.

sad.

I for one am helping her as best I can. How many others offered to help?

[NREMT-Basic]

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.

So Dust-

We have heard that pnemonics are useless and only stupid people who attend poor quality programs need to use them. In a previous thread we heard your assertion that elementary school teachers have better skills than Basics, but what you havent done is offer offer the assistance that the original poster asked for. So I will... If the original poster wishes to PM me, i will be glad to help in any way I can.

[Eydawn]

Man I must've been tired! MNEMONIC, not pneumonic... my apologies...

Wendy