The Spirit of EMT City

[Eydawn]

Hi all, sorry this has taken me so long! Nursing school be crazy, yo!

This may take several posts in the thread, so bear with me. I'm still waiting on more info from Mobey (other than his purty pic), and I'm waiting on pics from Ugly and Fiz. As soon as I get those, I'll get their bios up. For now, here's the first three!

First off, we have Lone Star. His real name is Brett Lang. He's 46 years old. He's also FUGLY. (Just kidding.)

Brett is currently an NREMT-I pursuing his paramedic degree. Since he worded things so nicely, I'm going to insert his exact biography to me in quotes.

"I got into EMS initially by applying to a full time fire department in the Detroit area. After passing the Civil Service test, I met the Review Board and found out that I was going to be passed over because I didn't have at least an EMT-B license.

One of the biggest challenges I've faced was recovering from a giant cerebral aneurysm.

In EMS, I feel that we need to increase the educational requirements for entry level positions to help weed out the 'lowest common denominator' and advance EMS to a recognized profession.

When I started my EMS education journey, I was introduced to Michael Everett, who was by far the best EMS Instructor/Coordinator I've ever had. He actually cared more about the student than he did about his pass rate. Because of this approach, he had one of the highest pass rates in the state of Michigan.

After joining EMT City, I've met a great number of fantastic people and outstanding providers who have continually pushed me to not only increase my educational levels, but have pushed me to be able to defend my positions with more logic and less emotion.

I'd like to thank each and every one of the EMTs, Medics and Doctors who have taken the time to answer all of my inane, goofy and otherwise aggrivating endless barrage of questions, technical advice and for sharing their wealth of medical knowledge."

It will probably take me a couple days to get all the posts up... so folks, please refrain from replying to this thread until I get em' all up, k?

Next, we have Bieber! Oh lord, folks, he wasn't kidding when he told us how he got the nickname.

His real name is Justin Sleffel. He didn't tell me how old he is, but as I recall he's somewhere in the 24ish range (right in with me!) Justin, feel free to put your correct age in here later.

He also sent me his bio already very nicely written, so I'm going to quote it below:

"I'm a nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic and a Mobile Intensive Care Technician in the state of Kansas since January 2011.

I should be getting my Associate's in Applied Science this spring as part of my paramedic program (currently degree eligible, just waiting for graduation) and I'm also a student at the local university studying Biology and I'm planning on bridging to get my RN at the start of next year. Before EMS I studied Spanish language (which I'm fluent in), and I got into EMS because about halfway through my Spanish degree I somehow got it into my head that I wanted to go to medical school. A classmate of mine in one of my Spanish classes was an EMT and suggested I become one to get a "taste" of medicine before I made the big commitment of trying to get into medical school, which I did in the fall of 2007. In 2008 I got my EMT-Intermediate and spent the rest of the year preparing to enter the paramedic program, which I did in the fall of 2009. I completed schooling at the end of 2010 and, like I said, got certified at the beginning of this year.

I'm currently working part time for a busy urban EMS service and seeking part time employment as a lab assistant for my former EMS program. Probably my biggest challenge in EMS has been just trusting my own knowledge and instincts and to really "own" my calls.

I'd like to give a shout out to Dwayne and everyone else on these forums for their continual support, guidance, and even criticism. You guys help me grow more each day as a paramedic and your feedback and advice is invaluable."

Moving on to Chbare; His real name is Chris Bare. He neglected to tell me his age. We'll go with "seasoned"

Chris was also kind enough to send me a complete, well written bio! Thanks, Chris! Quoted below:

"I became involved in EMS back in 1995 when I took a first responder class. In 1996, I joined the Army National Guard as a medical specialist. In 1997, I received national and state credentials as an EMT-Basic. From 1996-1999 I worked as a CNA at a long term care facility and also worked as a basic EMT for a private EMS service. In 1999, I started college and eventually graduated with a certificate of completion in practical nursing and sat for the NCLEX-PN in 2001. I worked as a LPN in a long term facility while continuing to work as a basic EMT from 2001-2002 while completing a degree in nursing. I graduated nursing school in 2002 and sat for the NCLEX-RN. Shortly after graduation I started working in an emergency room in New Mexico. I worked as an ER nurse and a part time transport nurse for a private EMS service from 2002 to 2006. In 2006, I began working as a flight nurse and also obtained national credentials as an EMT-I. From 2006-2008 I worked as a flight nurse and did some ER travel nursing on the side. I also obtained CCEMTP, CEN and CFRN credentials during that time.

From 2008-2009 I worked as a private contractor in Afghanistan performing medical evacuations and providing austere medicine and first aid training. I also ran a few special projects such as immunization clinics. After coming back to the United States in 2009, I returned to part time flight nursing and also began teaching for a community college based paramedic program. I was also accepted into a respiratory therapy program at that time.

My personality is one that tends to focus on details and this includes the technical and scientific aspect of health care. I am a big advocate of using the study of physical science to better understand our role as providers. To this end, I am very pro-active about integrating principles of chemistry and physics into my lectures. One of my biggest goals is to push for formal integration of science based course work into the paramedic curriculum.

The biggest challenge that I have faced and continue to face is a tendency for people to stagnate and hold onto old thoughts, ideas and concepts, treating them like axioms. The pursuit of teaching correct ideas that are based on best available evidence along with instilling a sense of skepticism in providers so that they will always challenge the current conventions with the newest and best evidence has been great challenge that I have always faced.

Some of my biggest role models include my wife and mother, two people who have succeeded in spite of facing overwhelming odds. My wife has also been instrumental in instilling humility into my personality that is sometimes less than humble. I would also say that my military experience was pivotal in instilling a sense of discipline, maturity and motivation in me that was lacking before I joined. There are too many mentors and people who inspired me to name from the military."

Edited March 27, 2011 by Eydawn

[Eydawn]

Alright, hearing from some more people... still waiting on Fiznat, and a picture from UglyEMT.

I present to you Mobey!

I will be directly quoting him as well... he summed it up pretty nicely for me!

"My real name is Marc Mobey (almost), I am 29 yrs old, and am married to my elementary sweetheart with 3 kids. I have literally been with my wife since I was 14!

started in EMS back in 2004 while volunteering as a Fire Captain, and finding myself in the back of the ambulance helping out. Just seemed to fit.

I took my PCP/EMT in Saskatchewan, and immediatly upgraded to Intermediate. Still not satisfied, I worked for a few years, saved up some cash and went to Paramedic school. 2+ years later.... here I am!

I currently work at 2 remote stations doing mixed 911 calls, and IFT. Both stations are greater than 2 hrs from any major hospital giving me plenty of time to manage patients to the full extent of my knowledge. This also forces me into difficult ethical decisions, and lots of adapting since there is no backup out here.

To be honest when I first started into EMS, it was a total adrenaline thing, however, I have found that having my intellect challenged and overcoming difficult scenarios with each call out here in the rural has completely taken over as my main drive.

As corny as it may sound, I really do owe a thanks to a few here that have challenged me to be a better provider. I have always put pt advocacy as #1, however the meathods I initally used such as "following the leader" were quickly ended by Dust, Rid, Asys, Mike, and others.

From these members I learned to never take info at face value, and to use science as a tool to better care for my patients no matter how hard the monkeys beat me.

It is important to note that I have no Paramedic co-workers out here, so to the past, present and future cyber-friends who help me through some of my more difficult calls and challenge me to be better....

Thank You."