EMTs AND PARAMEDICS REPRESENT!

[deleted6669]

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FYI- " wacker" in east coast ems slang= ricky rescue type. for instance:
has their own mast pants in their car at all times
wears trauma shears even when off duty
bought a blue light so they can go to accident scenes when off duty. they hear about these on the scanner they carry all the time.....
you get the idea

 

[blotto geltaco]

Blue light? Come on, most wackers have full-blown light bars, in addition to the 14 antennas all over their vehicles.

 

[mochafreak]

I think I used to work in the same company with one of the biggest wackers of them all...he had EVERYTHING in the back of his pick-up truck, including medic level equipment even though he was a basic...amusing, but very scary. Had a paramedic tat also. I think he actually used a separate plug in light on the dash of the...ambulance. 🙄 Don't worry...he got fired.

 

[NDESTRUKT]

bump

 

[paramed2premed]

Bump - so folks can see the potential for an EMS forum.

Of course, this thread has had such a cozy nest in pre-osteo...

 

[Tas]

Wow! I just stumbled into this thread...

I'm working on my EMT (~8 more weeks), I've been working as an EMD for about 3 months (I answer those calls that you guys make the runs on and try to help the caller until you get there)

Can't imagine all the stories out there 😀

I got a call the other night, a 5 year old couldn't wake his mother up...
So, while keeping him on the phone I tone out the ambulance, first responders, and PD. We get the little guy to unlock his door, the medics go into her bedroom

and...


She opens her eyes and asks what the heck is going on. hahaha, poor kid was scared and his mom had just had a tad too much liquid refreshment... *shake head*

I bet it was odd waking up and seeing about 7 guys standing in your bedroom 😀

 

[rescuetomm]

Its nice to see so many in EMS that are taking the next step. From my experience over the last 14 years the ED docs and medcal directors with prior prehospital experience have a better appreciation of what we really do out there. I have to agree with a prior post regarding padding your app. with a Emt position. Its not right for everyone and the motivation should be a genuine want to help others My career in EMS started as a First Responder/FireFighter, Emt-B then Emt-IV. Its not all guts and glory, I have been on some hilarious calls over the years that I will never forget. I will be attending DMU in the fall and can't wait.

 

[Green912]

I was a Paramedic for 10yrs before attending LECOM. The past experience doesn't help much for the core sciences (everything I knew was covered in the 1st hour), however you'll be way ahead when it comes to clinical procedures. Good luck and keep striving higher.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Check out our new EMS forum!!!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=96

 

[styphon]

Hey, just a basic from upstate NY..It is great that EMS has its own forum..I was tired of the only threads being "HOW MUCH DOES EMS HELP ON APPLICATION" crap..

I volunteer for fun..Then again my idea of fun is a 4 car crash with major trauma

 

[oudoc08]

You're a sick individual who I'm sure makes your paramedic partner groan at 3:00am saying, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!!"

 

[PACtoDOC]

EMS might give you an edge if your application happens to fall into the lap of someone who appreciates it. The problem is, most docs and administrators don't have a freaking clue what EMS experience means. I still have problems with getting people to understand it. I mean its stupid, when someone gets ill on an airplane, the ground control physician has the right to delegate to someone on the plane the ability to open the medical aid box. If I was the ground control doctor, I would be happy as hell to have a paramedic running the show. The last person I would want running the show would be the dermatologist.

 

[styphon]

I can just imagine a dermatologist about to entubate someone.

"Now..I just have to remeber how to do this from medical school..Think think"

And yes..I am that person who makes my paramedic partner groan..I also like to sarcasticly say "I suuuure hope we don't get a CPR soon"

 

[oudoc08]

Originally posted by PACtoDOC
EMS might give you an edge if your application happens to fall into the lap of someone who appreciates it. The problem is, most docs and administrators don't have a freaking clue what EMS experience means. I still have problems with getting people to understand it. I mean its stupid, when someone gets ill on an airplane, the ground control physician has the right to delegate to someone on the plane the ability to open the medical aid box. If I was the ground control doctor, I would be happy as hell to have a paramedic running the show. The last person I would want running the show would be the dermatologist.

As a 7 yr. paramedic, it occurs to me that other medics (esp. newbies) seem to think that every doctor should be a de facto emergency medicine expert. Would it be odd to think that the last person the dermatologist would want running HIS show would be a paramedic?

 

[EMT036]

EMT-B 5 years
AEMT-I 1 year
ED Tech 1.5 years
BA in Biology
MD student (Year 1)

Well, I can say that working full-time in the ED definately has made me more cynical and very jaded. Basically unless you don't have a pulse/aren't breathing or have a condition that will lead to one of these two outcomes in the next few minutes, I am not impressed. Sit down and wait your turn. (This especially applies to the drug seekers that present to your triage window for the third time in a week.)

 

[quideam]

Hey everyone,

I've been an EMT for six years, although I only actively rode for the first four and a half.... loved it though!! I think it definetely helps with being more comfortable dealing with patients and learning new clinical skills... I'll be starting med school in the fall, so I'll know better then, but friends of mine who used to ride and are now med students or physicians all say the same thing: being an EMT does wonders for your confidence!

for EMS!

 

[EMT036]

Originally posted by quideam
Hey everyone,

I've been an EMT for six years, although I only actively rode for the first four and a half.... loved it though!! I think it definetely helps with being more comfortable dealing with patients and learning new clinical skills... I'll be starting med school in the fall, so I'll know better then, but friends of mine who used to ride and are now med students or physicians all say the same thing: being an EMT does wonders for your confidence!

for EMS!

I'll second that... even though I am only in my first year of med school, I am definately noticing a difference... from actually having done CPR (I teach MD students CPR and believe it or not there are some that fail the AHA test..) to doing skills like B/P's/IV's, and to interviewing patients... (In my clinical skills class the tutor had to stop my interview so other people in my small group could ask questions, since I had already covered all the important stuff..) Good for competence and good for knowledge of both medical conditions and patients...


So I will join you in your for EMS!

 

[edtheman]

just passed NREMT- B
any words of advice for a new emt 😎

 

[edtheman]

just passed my NREMT-B EXAM about a week ago . good luck

 

[paramed2premed]

just passed NREMT- B
any words of advice for a new emt 😎

It's not at all like they taught you. It's better!

 

[Febrifuge]

just passed NREMT- B
any words of advice for a new emt 😎

Congrats!

If you decide to work in an ED rather than on the street, don't stress about being called a "Nursing Assistant." You know you're not, and so does anyone who needs to know. Solidarity with your fellow Techs can co-exist with being one of the more medically-minded.

You can get along well with residents without sucking up, too. Volunteer for ridiculous scut stuff, and you're more likely to be included when a cool procedure is going on. There's need for holding and immobilizing, watching the vitals monitor or the clock, or just being the non-sterile pair of hands to adjust lights or drop supplies into a sterile field. I've "helped" with LPs, suturing, casting, and conscious-sedation reductions of dislocated hips, shoulders, and elbows. Cool stuff!

 

[EMBess]

EMT since 1994 (back in the old days of EMT-A)
EMT-CT (something akin to a paramedic in my state, though not the same)
since 2000
ER Tech at the hospital where I go to MD school since 2000
Member of the same squad since 1994

So, I've been doing this stuff for just about 10 years now, and I'm only 26 😀

I guess I kinda started as a way to find out if medicine was really going to be my thing or if it was just an idea planted in my head by my parents. Turns out I love it and wouldn't change a thing.

I'm in MD school; when I interviewed the 2nd time at my current school (I was wait-listed and didn't get in the first time) the interviewer pointed out that not only did I have clinical stuff on my application, but also the fact that I'd been doing it for so long (and at the same squad no less) really showed committment to the clinical side of medicine, not just resume fluffing. When I prepared with the pre-med advisory committee at my undergrad they told me to highlight my interest in clinical medcine since before I graduated high school if anyone had any questions about me not doing research.

I also know of at least 12 other people in my year and the years behind/in front of me that are EMS people too (at least 5 of whom were members of the squad where I ride before starting) - so a lot of us do go to MD school too. We even have it set up to get continuing education for our time in school - I recerted last year without having to do a thing other than fill out paperwork and be in med school.

But, considering the DO part, there hasn't been a DO school in my state until the past year or so with VaTech opening, so maybe something will change with that development. I know of one person at my squad who's going for DO there now.

Anyway, good luck to those applying - and keep riding if you can once you start school - it's not that hard and it's a great "light at the end of the tunnel" situation where you can have some autonomy and remember the stuff that makes this fun when you're memorizing the TCA cycle for the fiftieth time.

 

[Big Papa]

As of 2 weeks ago...

I am now a licenced EMT. 😀

 

[SMW83]

just the other day, where I volunteer as a firefighter, I was called to a scene of a 14 year old boy hit by a car. Blood was everywhere. They ended up having to call life flight. So far thats 2 calls Ive been on where theyve had to call life flight. At any rate, we were on the six o'clock news that very night.

 

[Oats]

Blue light? Come on, most wackers have full-blown light bars, in addition to the 14 antennas all over their vehicles.

Speaking of blue lights...reminds me of a story (go figure). A couple of years ago the PD had an incident where the suspect and police officer shot each other. Pt. had life threatening injuries, and the officer had a graze wound to a finger. When the medics showed up, the fire dept. and 20 officers were with the injured officer and nobody was with the injured suspect (I know, I know, guys. Shoot an officer and you deserve what you get. Fact is though, the pt. was still alive and more in need of medical attn. than the officer.) Anyway, the lone medics watch as the fire dept. rides off with the officer in a 2nd unit. Meanwhile, they're trying to intubate and all that good stuff with no help at all. They ended up having to ask a police officer to drive them into the hospital. As they were getting ready to pull out, the officer that's driving yells through the inside window to the crew and asks, "How do you turn on your blue lights!" That's when you know you're in trouble!

 

[GeneGoddess]

This thread is for all those applicants who are prehospital providers, from volunteer EMT to professional paramedic. The topic of how such experience plays as an EC and "exposure to medicine" in the application process has been ground well tilled in many threads; e.g. "what will make me look better, an MS or an EMT?" None of that here.

Does working "in the field" make you more cynical, more idealistic, or just make you tired? Did you decide to become an EMT after deciding on applying to med school, or did working on a rig inspire you? Any good war stories?

I have a gut hunch that, per capita, more DO applicants are sirenheads and transfer monkeys than are MD applicants. Lets represent here!

I trained as an EMT-B (Texas) when I was in college because I wanted to be an EMT. I *loved* it...I fully admit to being a woo-woo. I volunteered with a rural service and it was always a blast. I had known for a few years that I planned to apply to an MD/PhD program, but I didn't train as an EMT just to get experience. I just really liked it. And, in retrospect, it was a great way to learn how to TALK to patients. I was one of the best in my class at talking to patients and getting an H&P just because I'd done it before (surrounded by screaming people and flashing lights in the dead of night). I even continued to volunteer until my 3rd year rotations started (didn't have time, esp. since my crew was based an hour away from home). We used to joke that I was going to be the only EMT-B in Texas with two doctoral degrees!

Ironically, I never wanted to be an ER doc...just a woo-woo who cleaned them up and dropped them off. I have an incredible respect for any EMS crew, and almost wish I could do both (be a doc AND volunteer a shift or two on the side). But, since I would have to drive an hour to get to a crew that would take a volunteer (closer places are run by the FD and are paid-positions only), it just isn't an option right now.

 

[stephen.mathies]

I went to school back in New York for EMT-B, my license expired back in 1998, reason, I paid out of my own pocket and basically ran out of money for more education. Now, I live in Oklahoma have a family, my wife has good income, so I wanted to get back in the medical field. Do you think I missed out to long for a refreshers course? I mean like I remember almost everything I learned back in NY, and here it's like WOW. No one that I know experienced anything like that traumas that I went through back in NY. More laid back here, no gunshot wounds, stabs, things like that. I worked in Far Rockaway for a while back home. Well, looking for some advice. If all is lost, I might just go to school for LPN/RN or something. Now I have the time and the money. Thanks.

--

www.stephenmathies.com 😎

 

[MedicCCTRN]

FireFighter/EMT 1979 (yeah I'm old)
CRT 1980
EMT-Paramedic 1981
Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse 2001

Started off at volley fire co. got my EMT, then took the Cardiac Rescue Tech course, which was kinda EMT-I with more drugs, then to paramedic. worked for a County EMS department for 20 yrs, retired, went to nursing school, got my RN, worked in an ED for 1.5 years then took a Critical Care Transport position. I still don't think of myself as a nurse, more like a glorified paramedic.

 

[Rrotz]

Former 91B/2F, Flight Medic with the 45th Medical Company, 421st EVAC.....Ansbach Army Heliport.

Ground Ambulance crew for 1 year, had a nervous breakdown, changed careers and now I'm looking to get back into the game after a long hiatus.

 

[Rrotz]

Oh, gotta give a shout out to all the SOLDIER MEDICS, past, present and future.

HOOOAH!

 

[SMW83]

You will be pleased to Know that I am on the wait-list to get into the EMT class at the school I'm going to....then I will go for Paramedic!!!!!!!!!

 

[LDutch]

Brand New LA County EMT!


Made history by sitting for the test with the largest group of applicants the county has ever seen.


Almost had to use the skills I was just tested for on the drive home though- a spare tire popped lose on the car infront of me and nearly took out a few other drivers while is squirreled around the freeway~ could have been exciting.

Until then, I'm doomed to ride alongs, volunteer hours, and job applications until I can get with the company I want... 10 weeks. Shizah.