I am feeling really bad....

[Eydawn]

If you are the one providing the majority of the care, you should be the one documenting including narrative. Nobody should be crossing out your narrative and substituting your own because that's the way they LIKE To do it. Also, no good FTO fails to address a problem directly with a trainee (unless the trainee is totally unapproachable) before going to the super.

Sounds like you found some of the more difficult coworkers in this company.

I agree with Dwayne... perform your care as a paramedic and keep your chin up. Especially if they're making your gender an issue. You're getting turned loose in 2 weeks? Then stick it through until the 2 weeks is over, and develop your own style from there.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[defib_wizard]

:shock: What? You start a new career in a new place and your overwhelmed? ( Just giving you a hard time)

Ok I am going to try to help you. Before you decide to quit, if it doesn't get better PM me and I will try to contact a few friends that are medics in kingman. The good news is you will use your skills and be a paramedic not just a gurney jockey. It just takes some time to get used to ems shift work and its nuances. Kingman is a unique area, it is small enough that it is a rural system with a large area to cover. But it is busy enough at times it is like working in a large city. Stick with it you will hit your stride and be just fine. If not let me know and I'll see if we have a place for you here. ( I'm 200 miles east of you on I40 ).

Now for my opinion of why they are being hard on you.

1. you not from there. ( nobody trusts outsiders )

2. You are female. ( yes this is BS but true )

3.The don't trust you because you didn't do the "normal" thing and pay your dues as an emt basic.

The emts think you were never one of them so why should I respect you. You probably intimidate the hell out of the other medics that stayed through the sale. Some of them can't go anywhere else. A lot of the bright ones jumped ship and moved on.

So here is my advice to you; When you get on duty get with your emt and go over your rig. Try to instill a team approach with them. I realize some of the opinions of basic emts on here can be pretty harsh. But they are a part of the system here and can help you especially the ones that are good at what they do. You will also earn their respect if you will show them that you can help stock and clean your ambulance. Remember they are the worker bees in the colony.

As far as your FTO's are concerned, be a paramedic, assess the situation and act on it! If one likes short narratives try to include "just the facts" and make him happy. In other words you have a bunch of people that do things in their own way and each believes it is right. Also they are a preceptor sometimes not by choice but by being forced into it. "Wouldn't you rather be back at quarters relaxing than babysitting this person that takes forever to do thier paperwork"? They will also try to push you out because without you being there then they can get more overtime. You are taking that away just by being there.

Above all be patient, you are in a new environment for you. Plus the environment that your coworkers are in has recently changed. This has caused a lot of waves in the pool you just dove into. So fight to the surface catch your breath while treading water, then start swimming with the current to a place you feel confident in. You can do this ok!

End of lecture.

[firedoc5]

Hang in there, darlin'. It'll get better, I promise. If not, then I'll come over there and bunny-punch their knee caps.

It sounds so much like I went through. One thing is, if there is any certain individual(s), be strong. Don't give them the satisfaction of getting the better of you. Some may just being testing you, and some may just be d!ck-heads.

Even though they are giving you a hard time, you can still learn from them. Keeping you rotating with different crews (preceptors) isn't right. You need to be consistent in your training. Once you are proficient enough, then have you move on to another which who is someone else to learn from. Then try and combine or incorporate what you had previously learned from someone else and those you are learning from now.

Don't show any weakness or that things are getting to you. If you have a boss or someone in a position of authority, talk to them...but don't do it while showing emotion. If they see you starting to see you cry, yell, get upset, or show a lot of stress, they can interpret that as a weakness. And even if it is suppose to be in "confidentuality", don't you believe it. And one thing is, do not complain.Speak up if you have an idea. Even if they are so "high & mighty", they know you are thinking things out in your head.

You'll do good, babe. We 're all here for you. Ask anything. If you need to vent or blow off steam, that's what we're here for.

Now go out there and work your butt off.

[DwayneEMTP]

What makes you think her FTO's opinions are "uneducated"?

It’s simple. No matter how smart someone thinks they are, they can’t get a comprehensive read on a person in one shift, ruling out the extremes of course. Any new person is going to attempt to fit into the ‘team’ dynamic, something that is impossible to do when you have to read, then get to get to know, and then succeed with, a different preceptor each day. They have a system designed to cause people to fail, and that shouldn’t be acceptable in any training/mentoring situation.

She's a brand new medic with no experience beyond her medic program...

To tell the truth, this comment surprises me coming from you, as you very often have some of the most intelligent comments in a thread.

The least value she brings to the job is what she learned in medic school. She is a mature woman of 29++ years or so, had been successful not only in business, but in life in general (The reason I know this is that we’re friends outside of the City, though don’t blame her if she denies it). For her to be subservient to a bunch of medics that can’t even succeed at the much simpler task of being a successful preceptor is ridiculous to me.

The company she is employed at has taken the time to place her with more experience…

Based on what? They may have been medics before her, but so far they suck as preceptors, a very important part of being a medic.

…and perhaps more educated…

Again, I can’t imagine what has caused you to think this based on what has been written here.

…to ease her into the job…

Which they’ve obviously failed at terribly, right?

While they may not be going about it in the best way, I think we may want to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I guess I’m missing the positive that comes from giving them this benefit. They haven’t earned it. I have trained thousands of people of all ages, sexes, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and on not one single occasion did I need to make them feel small to help them succeed.

What about the things that she has written has lead you to believe that they are more than they appear to be?

As for having her chart evaluated prior to submital, I don't see an issue with it. I look over every chart when I precept new medics, and if it doesn't comply with department standards, they write it again. Its not hazing.

Can you do me the favor of quoting from her previous passages the parts that make you believe that this is what is actually happening? I think we have been reading very different things.

Thanks for taking the time to post, I look forward to your thoughts.

Dwayne

[reaper]

I have started at services where the FTO's had been medics for 1-2 years. They will try and tell you how to do your job and that is not their job. As an FTO you are there to guide new hires through policy and procedure. You are not there to teach them to be a medic.

If she follows the dept. guidelines for report writing, then she is fine. It is not their job or right to tell her to shorten her narrative.

You will get veterans that don't like change. They don't like women in EMS, they don't like a medic that never worked as a basic and they don't like new outsiders. To them, I would say "GO TO H**L" If they can't handle it, retire. I love getting new medics on my truck, it is a chance to further their job skills and teach them the ways of the street. Plus, they are not burned out and bitching all the time. They actually enjoy coming to work and dealing with Pt's. :wink:

[Michael]

I have trained thousands of people of all ages, sexes, and socioeconomic backgrounds

Just a reminder, Dwayne (who often omits some of his creds): Some weren't even certifiably people.

[Kaisu]

I am getting so much valuable information and insight from you folks I can't believe. You all are my secret weapon :wink:

OK - so I have some more questions - I have no uniform - they told me I don't get one until after I am off probation. I bought some navy pants and white polos and show up on scene with nothing IDing me as a paramedic or EMT or anything.

I asked for a fanny pack (which is issued to all paramedics) got a bunch of double talk. I carry my ears around my neck and my pens in my pockets - 1 credit card, my motel key and a bit of cash. No place assigned to put my stuff. My probie book is out on the desk for all to see. My car keys too - unless I stuff those in my pocket too.

I asked for the protocols. Was told that there is only one per station - cannot take it home - cannot carry it on the rig - and SOPs do not match the protocols which are poorly written (old flowchart style).

Paramedics make remarks like - amiodarone is crap - we are taking it off the rigs. The main O2 is turned on and off each call - and the regulators and lines are NEVER purged - uses too much O2.

We have no SPO2 on the Lifepak and the portables often are missing or dont work.

We have no 12 lead capability - people call ST elevation on only one lead - which is crap.. as far as I know it has to be 2 continuous leads.

We have one option for pain control - morphine - and even in MI we have to get permission to give it.

The catheters are awful - they are a pain in the ass to use. Everybody gets a bag hung unless we pick up saline locks from the hospital - which everyone looks at me like I am speaking martian because here they are still hep locks.....

OK OK.. I guess I am coming across as a whining crybaby - but I have not said a word about any of this to anyone - I figure as a newbie on probation I have way too much on my plate to ask these kind of questions.

It doesnt make me feel good tho. It undermines my confidence in the system and in myself. I dont want to learn the wrong way to do things. Now I've gone and gotten myself all upset again.

big breaths - deep, cleansing, big breaths...

goes away muttering - maybe something mindless on tv....

[p3medic]

Dwayne, she posted that she has done 15 calls since leaving school, the company is busy, averaging 30 calls per shift split between 3 trucks. By my math she has worked 1.5 shifts, with two different preceptors.

Having her chart reviewed by her preceptor for approval prior to submiting it doesn't seem like hazing. I don't see any evidence of her being singled out for not having prior EMS experience, although she seems to sense this, and could quite possibly be right. I don't know the OP, you do, so I can't speak to her "life experience" giving her any particular leg up on her experienced paramedic preceptors.

I agree, she should be precepted by one FTO for a set period of time, and then sent to another if needed. We do 3 week rotations, with a 9 week field internship, sometimes longer. Yes, there is variablity on small things, but overall, the expectations are the same. It sounds like this probably isn't the case were she is employed, and that sucks.

I didn't mean to suggest that since she was a brand new medic she was somehow less qualified to do the job, but I certainly believe that a medic fresh out of school is no were near at the level of a medic several years out, assuming, and that is a big assumption that the experienced medic has continued his/her education. Education, coupled with experience is a tough thing for a new medic to match, I think you would agree.

I don't know the OP, I certainly wish her well, perhaps she is being treated unfairly, or perhaps she is a bit overwhelmed, I don't know. Is her experience with this companies precepting process unique to her, or is it of low quality across the board, I don't know that either.

[p3medic]

Missed Kaisu's last post before I posted to you Dwayne. If what you say is true, and I certainly don't doubt it, start looking elsewhere for employment, it sounds like a lousy place to work. Good luck.

[Kaisu]

I am certainly not taking offense P3medic. I appreciate the point of view. I misspoke when I said 15 calls. I have been on 7 shifts for 12 hours each. The 15 calls were ALS calls. I have not had the same preceptor for any of those shifts. I've had 3 really good ones (but each had a different way of doing things), 2 that were ok and 2 that were awful. This is all subjective of course...