all you EMTs, share your stories!

[gotigers]

Hey there--

I'm currently training to be an EMT for my year off and trying to stay sane while filling out my AMCAS, I was hoping some of you with EMT experience could share some (hopefully) positive experiences you have had on the job to keep my spirits high. Thanks a lot for your time!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[late inthe game]

Don't know if this is what you were looking for, but just for reassurance: every EMT I know who has applied to medical school has been accepted to fantastic schools.

 

[Robz]

you might want to try this in the EMS forum.....

 

[sdnstud]

i was part of a unit that was dispatched to a double shooting sparked by a robbery at a gas station. when we got to the scene, i swear, the whole police department was there. anyways...it was my first time entering a crime scene so i was kinda nervous. there were 20 police officer lookings at me to make sure i don't move or touch anything. there were 2 vicims..my partner and I chose to attend the sicker one...another team got the other victim. our victim was pretty much gone...no airway, no pulse, bullet holes everywhere on his chest, but still half awake. my partner and i performed CPR for about 3 minutes, loaded him on the board and into the ambulance. I continued to do CPR on him on the ambulance, trying everything i could to keep him alive. we arrived at the hospital 10 minutes later and got him into the emergency room. Before we finished cleaning our uniforms...the doctors declared him dead. kinda sad cos' my partner and I tried our best..and thought he might have a chance..but the drs took one look and declared him dead.

 

[TheRussian]

I transported a dead patient to the ER thanks to the incopetency of the nursing staff.

We got called to a code at a nursing home. The paramedics arrived pretty much at the same time as us. The medics hooked her up to a monitor and were starting to work her when the nursing staff informed us that she had a DNR. While the nurses went of to find the damn DNR I put in an OPA and started bagging her. (This was the summer and the nursing home didn't have AC) After about 15 minutes of this with sweat dripping down my face the DNR was finally produced. At this point the medics called medical control and were about to pronounce her dead and pull everything and leave. The nursing staff however did not want agree. Neither myself, my partner, nor the two medics could find a pulse (we tried radial, corotid, and brachial) The nurse insisted that she had a pulse, picked up her wrist and claimed that she had a pulse of 60 or so even though the monitor was right there and said that there was a pulse of 25 or so. We just said ef it and loaded her up on the strecher, she went asystole but the medics said they had enough and we just took her to the hospital.

The moral of the story, don't ever put some one you love in a home.

 

[bkmonkey]

Unless your on a fire engine, life as an EMT can be pretty boring. Lots and lots of transport between nursing homes. If however, you are able to land yourself on an engine, there is great opportunity to see some cool stuff. When I was working as an EMT, we got a call of a motorcycle down about 5 miles from our station (up in the Sierra Nevada foothills). We rolled code 3 to the scene and the only other EMS there was CHP. The motorcyclist had taken a corner going way to fast, hit some gravel, lost control, and had then made contact with a rather large pine tree. Needless to say, the guy's bike was toast. The patient was in somewhat similar shape. He had a compound fracture of the tib fib, as well as a crushed foot, broken arm, and a developing pneumothorax. The patient was also starting to lose consciousness. We quickly stabilized the patient, loaded him onto the engine and proceded to meet a CHP helicopter which transported him to the UCDMC. This was a really great experience for me. The patient ended up having surgery and making a full recovery. The experience of going code 3 and being the first on the scene (other than CHP) was awesome. For the rest of the summer we went on many other similar calls. My experiences as an EMT definitely furthered my desire to be an MD.

 

[tegs15]

Thanks to everyone and there stories.

 

[styphon]

I strongly disagree with bkmonkey...The level of calls will depend on where you are, not if you are on a fire engine.

For example, I ride in upstate New York in a NON FIRE ALS squad...I have been to many exciting calls..Multiple motorcycle accidents, car accidents that require extraction, fatal car accidents, shotgun suicides, stabbings, shootings...

In a related nursing story..We brought a patient in who was unresponsive upon arrival...The paramedics work him up and start "pacing" him, and I, the lowly basic, find a thready pulse and a rhythem is present..The medics confirm..We get to the hospital, and for some reason a nurse unplugs an electrode, turning off the pacing..Then bamn, no pulse, no rhythem..Doctor has seen this. Tells us we are all stupid, we felt no pulse, there is no strip. there is nothing. This did not happen. He then threatened us..

The most horrible thing..I let this just happen, I didn't tell anyone..A nurse killed someone and the doctor covered it up...And i just let it slide =(

 

[bkmonkey]

If you are fortunate to work with an ALS squad, great. If not, you are most likely going to get stuck doing lots of transport. While you can have some great experiences as an EMT, the fact is that you will not see as much as a paramedic or flight nurse. Sometimes, in rural areas, you will have the opportunity to participate in a greater variety of cases. The fact is that many smaller agencies employ EMTs solely as transporters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it might not be where the action is.

 

[TheRussian]

If you are fortunate to work with an ALS squad, great. If not, you are most likely going to get stuck doing lots of transport. While you can have some great experiences as an EMT, the fact is that you will not see as much as a paramedic or flight nurse. Sometimes, in rural areas, you will have the opportunity to participate in a greater variety of cases. The fact is that many smaller agencies employ EMTs solely as transporters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it might not be where the action is.

The experience is what you make of it. I myself worked for a private company and most of my call volume was transports. That doesn't mean that I didn't see a lot and learn alot about medicine. For me the lack of emergency calls was not a big deal to me because my interests are not in Emergency medicine. Instead I took the opportunity to get used to talking to patients and learn a lot about many different conditions, how they are treated and so forth.

 

[hakksar]

If you are fortunate to work with an ALS squad, great. If not, you are most likely going to get stuck doing lots of transport. While you can have some great experiences as an EMT, the fact is that you will not see as much as a paramedic or flight nurse. Sometimes, in rural areas, you will have the opportunity to participate in a greater variety of cases. The fact is that many smaller agencies employ EMTs solely as transporters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it might not be where the action is.

This is not necessarily true. You just have to find the right job. While working on a BLS rig for a private ambulance might get boring, EMT's at other jobs are front line even without being in ALS units. As a pro ski patroller and state park ranger/emt I have been first in on lots of exciting calls (ie high speed boat accidents, skier vs tree, cardiac arrest on a ski lift, near drownings, bike accidents, even a severe stabbing). If you want excitement as an EMT it can be found (BTW the state park I worked at is in the Denver Metro area so it was not a rural agency).

 

[samurai_lincoln]

Sorry to jack the thread, but I am at my wit's edge with my current gig, and need something to pay expenses over the next few years while I knock out prereqs. This sounds like it would be a great resume gap-filler. What kind of training is required for EMT cert & how long does it take?

Please return to cool war stories after answering

 

[gotigers]

thanks a lot for all the great stories! i'm excited to start work in a month as an EMT-B for the year before I start med school, although i understand that i will be doing a ton of transports i hope i can get some quality experience in high pressure situations as well.

 

[TheRussian]

Sorry to jack the thread, but I am at my wit's edge with my current gig, and need something to pay expenses over the next few years while I knock out prereqs. This sounds like it would be a great resume gap-filler. What kind of training is required for EMT cert & how long does it take?

Please return to cool war stories after answering

You need to take a course usually runs a couple of months. Then you need to take and pass the state exam. The lenght of this varies on the state. An alternative is to take the national exam but once again depending on the state you might have to take the state exam as well.

 

[beanbean]

Check out the "What I learned from my patients" thread in the EM Forum and the What I learned on the ambulance" thread in the EMS forum for some great stories. Actually quite a few of the threads in the EMS forum have some interesting antedotes to share about EMT/medic life.

For those wanting to take an EMT class: It is usually ~120 hours of class time plus some ride time/ER observation time (varies). Check with the state you will be working in. As mentioned above some states accept and follow the National Registry exam. Other states mandate that you pass their own exam. Being certified in one state does not automatically mean that another state will offer reciprocal certification. If you find a volunteer service to ride for they will often pay for or remimburse for EMT tuition - may service even offers a paramedic scholarship for two people each year - 100% tuition paid up front with an agreement to volunteer for a set length of time.

Don't become an EMT just to fill your resume or AMCAS application. If you really think you will enjoy the work, then go for it. If you love it, you will never get it out of your blood, but if you think its all lights and sirens you will be very disappointed. You will see humanity at its best and worst and that is what makes it so wonderful.

I won't type my war stories here - I have written several in the threads I refered to above.

Congrats to the OP for passing your EMT! Good luck!

It is usually