First week. I don't think I'm coping well.

[Seth412]

So my first week on the job has been pretty eventful. I've had a variety of calls, the most stressful of which being a DOA and a possibly septic patient (fever, tachycardia, low blood pressure). In the moment, I do okay as far as coping with stress. I do what my partners ask me to do to the best of my ability and I certainly don't freeze up. However, the stress that I put myself through seems to sink in after the shift. I experience anxiety, depression, fatigue, and loss of appetite. It's my first day off and I'm feeling not so good. I'm hoping that it gets better with time. I've made the decision to stick with it and teach myself to cope with it the best I can. Any advice is appreciated. If you don't feel I'm cut out for the field, let me know.

Also, something else that has me a bit stressed: I'm a slow learner. Every new job I take it takes me longer than average to get comfortable and learn the ropes. One of my partners told me that I'm I'm a below average EMT and that I won't last in the field. Given the nature of the work and my delayed learning, I saw it coming. Still not a nice thing to hear :/

[ERDoc]

Don't sweat it. Medicine is a new environment that takes some getting used to. You will always have those calls/patients that will stick with you forever but in time you will learn that it is not your emergency and you get to go home to your family, which is all that really matters. Make sure you have someone in the field you can talk to. You can talk to those on the outside but they will not fully understand it (sometimes all you need is someone who will listen and be sympathetic even if they don't have a clue what you are talking about). Your "partner" is a douche and should not be listened to. We all learn at different paces and all start with a different level of knowledge on which to build. I'm not sure how you judge someone as a "below average" EMT as there is not much to judge an EMT on. Generally the "below average EMT" is someone who does it for the glory, the action and the lights and sirens. If you are doing it to help people (as cliche as that is) they you are already above a large portion of your cohorts.

If you want to survive in this field you will need tough skin and will need to learn to say, "Fuck them," even if it is just in your head. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and are doing it for the right reasons, just keep doing what you are doing.

[Seth412]

Don't sweat it. Medicine is a new environment that takes some getting used to. You will always have those calls/patients that will stick with you forever but in time you will learn that it is not your emergency and you get to go home to your family, which is all that really matters. Make sure you have someone in the field you can talk to. You can talk to those on the outside but they will not fully understand it (sometimes all you need is someone who will listen and be sympathetic even if they don't have a clue what you are talking about). Your "partner" is a douche and should not be listened to. We all learn at different paces and all start with a different level of knowledge on which to build. I'm not sure how you judge someone as a "below average" EMT as there is not much to judge an EMT on. Generally the "below average EMT" is someone who does it for the glory, the action and the lights and sirens. If you are doing it to help people (as cliche as that is) they you are already above a large portion of your cohorts.

If you want to survive in this field you will need tough skin and will need to learn to say, "Fuck them," even if it is just in your head. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and are doing it for the right reasons, just keep doing what you are doing.

Thank you. I told him he was wrong and that I'm going to prove it. I've never been subjected to this level of stress before, so I think you're right in that it will take some getting used to. When I think about it, I'm coping better than I give myself credit for. I'm reaching out to people and I'm avoiding alcohol. Even a single beer with dinner. I'm going to stick with it. I got into EMS for a variety of reasons. I believe I will be good at it as soon as I get the hang of it, and I want to do something that matters. Something that gives back, you know? The lights and sirens are a cool plus, but that's not my primary reason.

[island emt]

A lot of folks experience this when first starting out in EMS.

Unfortunately EMT class is not good at preparing newbies for the reality of what we deal with on a daily basis.

It is more concerned about getting students to pass the exams, than real life learning.

I've always said it takes the average newbie a couple years to find their way and get comfortable with what we do for a profession. by then you get exposed to just about everything we deal with.

The DOA: no biggie, beyond anyones help. Don't let them bother you as you will see a lot of them in your career.

Be supportive to the family members and move on to the next call where you might make a difference.

Everyone learns at a different pace and we all make mistakes. Just learn from them and don't repeat them.

Good luck, we are here for you to vent to.

[Seth412]

A lot of folks experience this when first starting out in EMS.

Unfortunately EMT class is not good at preparing newbies for the reality of what we deal with on a daily basis.

It is more concerned about getting students to pass the exams, than real life learning.

I've always said it takes the average newbie a couple years to find their way and get comfortable with what we do for a profession. by then you get exposed to just about everything we deal with.

The DOA: no biggie, beyond anyones help. Don't let them bother you as you will see a lot of them in your career.

Be supportive to the family members and move on to the next call where you might make a difference.

Everyone learns at a different pace and we all make mistakes. Just learn from them and don't repeat them.

Good luck, we are here for you to vent to.

My mistakes are small and, in retrospect, kind of silly. On one call I failed to get the gurney out of the ambulance. Pressed the wrong buttons. I felt that I made up for it in the way I handled patient care in the back of the ambulance. I got a O2 sat, temperature, helped the pt remove clothing, and held a wet cloth on her head (temp was 102.8)

Thank you for listening. My first week was rough. Not used to being put through that kind of stress on a job. My background is manual labor. Generally stress free so long as you have a good supervisor. Does it get easier as you get used to it?

There is a huge difference between class and actual EMS. It's like, not even the same thing.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Seth, my first day on the job as an EMT was like this

I come in for work ready for a day of orientation and they tell me to get on the truck and drive the medic to where he needs to go. That location is the scene of a adult cardiac arrest and we work this guy to the hospitals.

We then catch two transfers back to back.

The fourth call was to a major trauma on the interstate - Class I trauma, closed head injury, massive internal injuries, kids involved and lots of blood.

The final call of my 24 hour shift was to the scene of a infant non-breather where we were unable to get the baby back.

That day nearly was my last day in EMS. I stuck with it, you can too.

PM me and we can chat. Everyone of us on this site have had the kind of week you are having right now.

By the way, my second shift I ran 2 calls for the entire 24 hour shift. We just were never in the right place at the right time to catch the calls.

[Miz Black Crow]

Hi Seth! Welcome to the big, weird-ass world of EMS.

The first thing, the most important thing: What you're feeling is normal. Being scared out of your eyesockets is absolutely appropriate for your first week on the job, even if you react to it later. You will live with the constant question of, "Am I good enough for this?", at least for the first stretch of your career. That question lingering in your head is how you know you actually care. (The day you become a medic, it gets 10,000x worse, believe you me.)

I'm going to cull some of my favorite Laws of the House, from that amazing book The House of God:

LAW THREE: At the scene of any cardiac arrest, the first procedure is to take your own pulse. My personal version of this is, whenever I start to get flustered, I take a 5-second "time out", close my eyes, take one good big solid breath in and out, mentally detach from the scene, open my eyes, and reassess the entire situation.

LAW FOUR: The patient is the one with the disease. This is another wording of the idea that it's an emergency, but not your emergency. Act accordingly.

Also, anyone who says something that spiteful to you on your first week isn't someone who's full of love for what they do. The ones who love their job, teach and nurture. You can, and should (dare I say will?) prove that jerk wrong. And when it all goes wrong and your anxieties get all up in your head, and you can't think straight, remember: This Too Shall Pass. Cry if you have to, talk to whoever you talk to, learn, and move forward. You'll be okay. Honest.

PM me if you need anything. ~MBC

[srothig]

You will be fine my friend, you are going to see that there are a lot of people in this field that would like to see you fail for reasons such as envy towards you for the way you work, look, communicate for what you know and the reasons can go on and on the best thing to do is C.Y.A ( cover your A** ) and your partners, work very diligently and all those haters will see that you are very capable of doing your job.

There is a lot of shock factor that goes into are line of work as far as what your calls entail the more you work the less surprised you are but there is always that call no matter how well or long you have been working will shock and make you question your methods but that is why you are with someone ( your partner ) that you can bounce interventions off to make sure you are in the right and it is the best interest for the PT, I work in Chicago the Englewood and Roseland are and both areas are very high trauma places that if it was not for the great work of both me and my partner a lot off calls would of not went the way they did, try to find that person that has your back and you guys just groove at the scene and deliver great PT care your partner I found out my first few months on the job means the world out there so try and find that one person that will help you instead of put you down and things will be great for you my friend, keep on chugging and if you ever need to vent hit me up on PM anytime.

Good luck, and just block out the rudeness and take care.