Ride Along

[spenac]

Let's leave the fire vs EMS for yet another thread, so this one doesn't get locked, mmkay Spenacky? :wink:

Welcome mmkay Spenacky we look forward to your posts. :shock:

[Eydawn]

Oh come on... I know someone's called you that before. You know what I mean.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[letmesleep]

Even if they haven't, you have to admit that is was funny, eh?

[toutdoors]

I have always held the opinion, that if you want to do well in the medic program, go to it straight from the get go. Get your basic, then maybe your intermediate, ( for us in Iowa, it is essentially the basic all over with a little acid base balance and IV access thrown in, but 120 hours of clinics and ride time.) Then go for your medic. This way, you get some clinic and field time to work on the V/S and become somewhat decent at getting your IV. The biggest upside to this approach that I see is you are constantly in school, and saying the same things over and over. ie, Scene safe, BSI, OPQRST, SAMPLE, AVPU yada yada yada. It becomes ingrained in your mind, and your medic tests might be somewhat easier because you have not worked the field long enough to develop bad habits. So you don't start thinking "this is the way we did it in the street" when you are testing on a topic. That is my philosophy. Now for how I did it.

I started in the EMT-A program, never tested out, girlfriend dumped me, I enlisted in the Marines. Got out and got on a volunteer FD. Started at the first responder level there. Got hired on career dept, got my basic, and my Iowa Intermediate. Next week is my paramedic national written, and the practical is 17 days away. Total time lapse between first responder and today? 13 years. 10 of them as an EMT.

I had a few old habits to work out while in the paramedic program, no doubt.

For me, having the street time as an EMT on the FD, and working part time with the ALS ambulance service has really been a benefit. I am fortunate in that alot of the medics I work with would answer questions when I asked why they did this or that, and why did they make the deciscions they made in regard to treating a pt. Of course Q&A time is in the rig after the run. Most of them were great, going into detail as to why this was done, and why the pt responded in such a fashion. Then again some of them just gave the generic answer "Because that is what you do." Even when I would tend to pt's on BLS transports, either to the hospital or interfacility, the medic was always listening to what I was doing, and would critique the call with me later if they felt there was something to talk about.

I gained a great deal of experience working with some awesome medics. I really believe it made going through class a little easier for me. I was scared to death of ACLS. As we dove into the class, I found out that I already had a really good grasp on it for the simple fact I had been on so many blasted codes with the medics that none of this stuff was really that strange to me. I was always asking questions about codes, and the medics went so far as to open the drug box up from time to time to point out the different meds and explain them to me. They taught me about rhythms, sinus, sinus tach, sinus brady, vfib, vtach, SVT, PEA, and of course no explination needed on asystole. After all, I grew up watching Johnny and Roy, so I KNEW that one. Seriously though, the experience I gained working the ambulance for two years part time went a long, long way into making me be able to apply what I was learning to what I had been seeing in the field all this time. Of course I learned alot of new stuff as well, but it made alot more sense to me.

There are pros and cons to both sides of the arguement here. If you really want to be a medic, go for it, work part time if you have some energetic, helpful medics that will take the time to talk to you and answer questions. They can be a wealth of knowledge, and if you get the ones who want to take the time to show you how the monitor on your rig works, great, you will have a basic understanding of it, it may not be the same monitor you have in class, but you have a general working knowledge of a monitor. On the other hand, if you are working with boring, burned out medics that only apply a nasal cannula and say let's go, move on; don't get caught in their lax attitude, it will just hurt ya.

I only hope that 5 years from now, I have the energy level that most of my partners have had these past three years with me, and I will be willing to teach a "new kid" some of the things he is dying to learn. After all, one of the responsiblities of being a medic, is to be a mentor and teacher to the lesser educated EMS personnel out there. (In my humble opinion) This is the only way that basics become really good basics, and an asset to the company they work for, not to mention their paramedic partner.

Good luck on your career, and in class, don't wait as long as I did.

[HARDCORE CAP]

I hope this is the right place to post this sorry if its not. So I just passed my national for EMT-B back in June and i was looking around for where i could apply. While looking around i found a small private Ambulance company no more than 5 min form my home. They only do Mostly IFT transports but i feel it will be a good way to get my feet wet. I spoke with the person in charge on Friday and was schedule For my ride along on Tuesday. Long story short i hope this will open up doors for me and i wanted to ask you all for any recommendations? or feed back. Thanks for reading

i just started a couple months ago and i can definitely, without a doubt, recommend doing IFT work to get your feet wet. I've put most of my skills into practice and continue to do so while along the way learning new things from medics, nurses, and doctors. experience has always been my best teacher....my only advice is not rely on all the technology around you. keep doing your vitals manually despite the fancy stuff around you....most of it will go wacky at one point or another

[HellsBells]

There is a program here in Alberta, at the college of medicine hat that offers a Bachelor of Applied Health Science (Paramedic) it is a four year zero to hero program. The good thing about it is that you go through and acheive your certification as an EMR, EMT, then Paramedic.

Meidcine Hat Paramedic Program

[Arizonaffcep]

i just started a couple months ago and i can definitely, without a doubt, recommend doing IFT work to get your feet wet. I've put most of my skills into practice and continue to do so while along the way learning new things from medics, nurses, and doctors. experience has always been my best teacher....my only advice is not rely on all the technology around you. keep doing your vitals manually despite the fancy stuff around you....most of it will go wacky at one point or another

What area of AZ do you work?

[Arizonaffcep]

There is a program here in Alberta, at the college of medicine hat that offers a Bachelor of Applied Health Science (Paramedic) it is a four year zero to hero program. The good thing about it is that you go through and acheive your certification as an EMR, EMT, then Paramedic.

Meidcine Hat Paramedic Program

I'm gonna have to look into this...I've heard of similar programs (I am almost done with one at Norther Arizona University), which requires that the students come in with an AAS in Paramedicine. This is the first 4 year (true 4 years style) degree in Paramedicine I've heard of.

[HARDCORE CAP]

What area of AZ do you work?

phoenix

[Arizonaffcep]

Red/ white ambo, or blue/white ambo?