Fitness levels of new students

[Dustdevil]

Would you believe me if i told you that a student in my medic program was sent home from his internship shift because he was unable to figure out how a nasal cannula works. True story. Or the guy who tried to intubate holding the scope in his right hand, we still make fun of him for that one.

Hehe... nothing unusual about that. Even the good ones make nervous mistakes until they have the second-nature muscle memory that comes with practice. That's why students are supervised. God knows I've pulled my share of boners. It's those that lack the intellectual capacity to understand and learn from their mistakes that are the problem.

Skills are very rarely ever a concern to me at any level of training. If the student has that mental capacity, then his/her skills will always improve with practice, and schools ought to be providing that amount of practice. But, no matter how long they practice, morons will forever remain morons. You can't fix stupid. Consequently, my teaching is heavily focused on education, not training. There are already too many trained monkeys out there who know which hand to use, but not when or why. Those are the ones who are holding us back.

This is where a developmental psychology understanding helps. Think about babies. One learns to walk at 10 months. The other takes 13 months to walk. Does that mean the first is most likely to be smarter, stronger, or more successful? No. So I don't get terribly impressed by how fast someone masters repetitive tasks. After all, I'm not paying them by the hour. They are paying me.

[hatelilpeepees]

I must admit that I have had trouble intubating patients that are on the floor or ground due to the size of my stomach and breasts. If you actually put in a mental and physical agility test, who would be left to hire in this new generation. Remember they never played outside and all of them have ADHD or some form of depression.

[HotelCo]

I may take some flak for this, but...

I'd like to see some sort of entrance requirement similar to a Marine Corps PFT, and a CFT modified for EMS. I'm also not entirely opposed to body fat % requirements (except in cases of a genuine medical condition causing it, or causing an inability to exercise).

I just have this crazy notion that if you're in healthcare, you should be healthy.

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[Dustdevil]

I may take some flak for this, but...

I'd like to see some sort of entrance requirement similar to a Marine Corps PFT, and a CFT modified for EMS. I'm also not entirely opposed to body fat % requirements (except in cases of a genuine medical condition causing it, or causing an inability to exercise).

Just to enrol into EMT-B school??

Schools would never go for that. It'd be impossible to keep their classes full.

[2Rude4MyOwnGood]

I must admit that I have had trouble intubating patients that are on the floor or ground due to the size of my stomach and breasts. If you actually put in a mental and physical agility test, who would be left to hire in this new generation. Remember they never played outside and all of them have ADHD or some form of depression.

I disagree with this. There are plenty of kids who were not glued to their gaming console, and participated in sports. There is absolutely a growing movement of parents who do a good job guiding their children towards a healthy lifestyle. Sadly, they may not outweigh (pardon the pun) the lazy parents who allow their children to eat garbage and sit inside all day.

exercise).

I just have this crazy notion that if you're in healthcare, you should be healthy.

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Couldnt agree more. I dont understand how healthcare providers can justify living an unhealthy lifestyle when we have such a good understanding of what is causing many of the illness' we treat. Im not saying that everyone needs to be a fitness model, but some level of good health should be expected.

Edited May 24, 2011 by 2Rude4MyOwnGood

[HotelCo]

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Just to enrol into EMT-B school?? <img src='http://www.emtcity.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> <br />

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Schools would never go for that. It'd be impossible to keep their classes full.<br />

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Perhaps not to enroll into the school, but certainly to be on a frontline response unit.

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[usmc_chris]

I may take some flak for this, but...

I'd like to see some sort of entrance requirement similar to a Marine Corps PFT, and a CFT modified for EMS. I'm also not entirely opposed to body fat % requirements (except in cases of a genuine medical condition causing it, or causing an inability to exercise).

I just have this crazy notion that if you're in healthcare, you should be healthy.

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A 3 mile run? Really? I agree with some sort of physical agility/endurance test, but if you put almost any of my coworkers through a PFT and a CFT, you'd need a dozen extra response units standing by to transport them all for chest pain, syncope, SCA, etc!

That aside, I do get what you're saying. Maybe, say, a half mile or mile run. And pushups instead of pullups (like the Army does). Crunches can stay. As for the CFT... maybe we can do a Lifepak lift instead of an ammo can lift. And a gurney push instead of the boots & utes run. OK, I'm being a little facetious now.

A start would be employers allowing their employees to get out of the ambulance for at least some of their shifts. No wonder we're fat, when we eat McDonald's all day long, and sit on our ever-fattening as*es in the front seat for 12 hours a day, 4 days a week. I know, this scenario doesn't apply to everybody in EMS, but it is typical of most system-status management services.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Why not just include a physical fitness component into the class.

Maybe a 30 minute exercise session prior to the session to start. Make it required for completion of the course.

10 minute run, 10 minutes of calesthenics and then 10 minutes of weight lifting or cardio machines.

Have the school offer a membership to the school gym and they have to sign in and provide a printout of their workout or something like that.

Shouldn't be too hard.

My EMT class had an optional physical fitness component. I took advantage of it so did most of the classmates too.

[rock_shoes]

I must admit that I have had trouble intubating patients that are on the floor or ground due to the size of my stomach and breasts. If you actually put in a mental and physical agility test, who would be left to hire in this new generation. Remember they never played outside and all of them have ADHD or some form of depression.

Is there a specific reason you’re so quick to blame societal issues on a particular disorder? In particular Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Do you have any concept of the number of people in existence who not only manage said disorder but are productive members of society? Rather than randomly assigning blame or assuming something is merely an excuse I would strongly suggest taking the time to learn about what that something is and the implications it has for the people who deal with it every day.

Just as a little aside. I deal with ADHD in my own life every day. I also just finished the first year of my EMT-P (ACP for the rest of Canada) program with a 4.0.

Edited May 24, 2011 by rock_shoes

[Timmy]

Back when I was a paramedic student you had to pass a medical and fitness test every year in order to undertake the required amount of clinical placements, this involved a visit to the doctor for a medical (blood pressure, BMI, cardiac/resp assessment and general check up) and the physical involved a 10min bike ride with a pulse oximetry type monitor in situ, a flexibility test, about 50 push ups in 3 stages and 30 sit ups in 3 stages. I only just passed but I’d defiantly have to get into shape now if I ever needed to re sit it! Certainly my state ambulance service has a fitness, psychological testing and medical as part of the recruitment process.

I’ve always been a little overweight but ever since I started nursing I’ve put more on than I’d really like to! I simply don’t have the time to commit to a regular exercise routine or even participate in team sports anymore, my diet is all over the place, I have no set times for meals just eat when ever I can depending on what shift I’m on. Between university, work, driving around the country side, volunteering and life in general my week can range anywhere from 60 to 80 hours. My partner is a 6 foot 4, Maori who is heavily into sport/rugby but even now his becoming a bit lazy, we try to walk along the river for at least an hour twice a week but I’d really like to get into the rugby scene again but have absolutely no time during the week to train let alone attend the odd match day on a Saturday.

I think nurses should involve a little fitness here and there, probably not as much as paramedics but some is better than none I guess. I work with quiet a number of nurses who I’d classify as morbidly obese, there very competent, professional clinicians and great colleagues but boy, the 6XL work shirt does them no justice. If you attend Blue Calls you need to be able to run up a flight of stairs, down the corridors and be ready to start compressions without arresting yourself. There is a down side to being the bigger nurse, you’re often called upon to help out with all the manual handling, patient transfers, you’re the one everyone stands behind when there’s an aggressive patient, people expect you to tackle patients but you know what just because I’m 6’2 doesn’t mean my back doesn’t get sore too!

I must say, recently there’s been an influx of young paramedics, they all look pretty fit and ready for action but I’ve rarely seen an obese paramedic. Must be all that spare time they have on there hands!!