Do you have your MFR license? It's odd to me, unless you're in a severely underserved area, that this EMS agency is allowing an untrained volunteer assist in treating patients.
I do have my CPR/BLS. It’s 100% volunteer EMS service. I do treat them based on the supervision of the EMTs on call.
I agree. But it sort of sounds like they are all untrained volunteers. Where are the EMTs that are on call? Are they with you and you assist them when needed?
Yeah they are always on call.The EMTs communicate with the patient as I get there BP, O2 sats, etc and then confirm my readings as well. I assist them based on what they tell me to do.
Are they with you or is it by radio or cell? Very interesting.
They are physically with me. Typically we have 3 people on call. EMT, Driver and Me.
This is a good experience. The important things to learn are not how to take a BP and so forth (we teach that in med school) but how to work as part of a team, how to deal with uncertainty, how to remain calm when emotions are high, how to speak to strangers in a way that will deescalate an emotional situation. This can be a good opportunit to grow in maturity and professionalism.
Thank you for your insight. Unfortunately, no my squad does not sponsors an certification. But I am glad that they do teach me some basic.
It this exactly the same outlook I have on my volunteering. Team work is extremely important in the medical field. Showing leadership is a good quality but working together as leaders is also crucial. There was a situation where the patient may had internal bleeding and at the time of the scene, we were going to transport them to a non-trauma center. I asked couple more questions to the workers and the patient, and we got more detail that lead to a potential conclusion of internal bleeding. We drove him to a trauma center that is 30 mins away and saved his life. This is way I wanted to be part of the First Aid team.
