How many have CPR and first aid

[engdoc]

I was just wondering how many of the SDNers here have first aid and CPR training

 

[Anjlprincezz]

Emt-b...

 

[engdoc]

wahts that? lol

 

[mdm2fly]

Emt-b...

ditto
it's an emergency medical technician-basic...those people that drive those ambulances

 

[mr burrito]

what if it's expired?

 

[Vvandenn]

Emt.

 

[DrBowtie]

Ha 10 Yes...0 No

 

[Stolenspatulas]

I CPR by making out. I guess I watched too much baywatch as a kid.

 

[Disinence2]

CPR/FA instructor here!

Great activity by the way. Get to interact with broad cross section of the community, learn to understand and interact with different cultures, thoes with different levels of education...you can pretty much twist this into anything, and its not even that much of a stretch

 

[armybound]

EMT cert is current, CPR has expired

 

[Disinence2]

sigh...so true

 

[ssquared]

Everybody's like, "yeah, I'm an EMT"

My training's from being a lifeguard....not quite as impressive. Gotta love the red swimsuits, though.

 

[Nomemory]

For work.

 

[sashie19]

Expired.

 

[Jadyn]

Who has time for CPR training?????? Does being able to make a sweet western blot count?

 

[TMP-SMX]

Who has time for CPR training?????? Does being able to make a sweet western blot count?

It counts in my book.

 

[stickitindahole]

No offense to everyone but being an EMT doesn't mean much, well at least I dont think so. I can't imagine that it would really give you much of a boost to getting into med school. I'm currently an EMT with the FDNY and in my opinion, EMT's are only boyscouts who give glucose and oxygen.

 

[armybound]

No offense to everyone but being an EMT doesn't mean much, well at least I dont think so. I can't imagine that it would really give you much of a boost to getting into med school. I'm currently an EMT with the FDNY and in my opinion, EMT's are only boyscouts who give glucose and oxygen.

It's better experience than someone with no experience, in my opinion.

But it's definitely not a guaranteed acceptance. A friend of mine was an EMT-P and an EMT-B instructor and didn't get accepted.

 

[spicedmanna]

No offense to everyone but being an EMT doesn't mean much, well at least I dont think so. I can't imagine that it would really give you much of a boost to getting into med school. I'm currently an EMT with the FDNY and in my opinion, EMT's are only boyscouts who give glucose and oxygen.

I don't want to further divert this thread, but you don't get to do much with patients shadowing doctors or volunteering at a hospital. Thus, being an EMT-B (or some kind of hospital tech for that matter), provides a good opportunity to actually get involved in the care of patients. For what it's worth, patient care is more than just giving meds, as I'm sure you know. At least, I hope you do.

Yeah, it's not a magical way to get accepted into medical school, or anything. But if it is part of a balanced application, the experience can certainly round it out, since it is fairly good clinical experience for someone at the level of an undergraduate student.

 

[GuzzyRon]

Had mine for more than 4 years now but never had a chance to use it - not even once.

 

[XRanger]

I need to be CPR/first aid certified to volunteer at my local hospital, so yes

 

[JLT91W]

Yep. Have to keep it current to work in the hospital that I work in. No matter what your job is!!! Even kitchen people!! (?!?!) I'm starting "EMT school" soon. (Never thought I would be going to the technical college in my town....*laughs*) I DON'T want to be a ditch doctor...not my style....I'm going more for the ER Tech thing. BUT, I'll do EMS if I can't transfer to ER Tech. You gotta do what you gotta do to get that clinical experience!!

 

[MystA RavE]

Current EMT-B in NYC

 

[DropkickMurphy]

It's so funny. As a pre-med we're all like, "Well I have CPR, and I'm an instructor, and I'm taking ACLS in a month . . . "

By the end of school, you're like, "****, you're telling me I have to renew this crap again already?!"

I second Dis' amen. I finally broke down and just renewed a few years back my CPR/ACLS/PALS/NRP so they all expire in the same month (March ironically enough) that way I can just renew them all around the same time and it makes it easy to remember when I need to renew.

 

[greytmedic]

They have some silly requirement that paramedics have to be CPR certified and know a little about first aid, so I have mine. I also get paid extra to be a CPR/ACLS/PALS instructor.

 

[sphincter tone]

No offense to everyone but being an EMT doesn't mean much, well at least I dont think so. I can't imagine that it would really give you much of a boost to getting into med school. I'm currently an EMT with the FDNY and in my opinion, EMT's are only boyscouts who give glucose and oxygen.

As far as getting into medical school, the weight placed on EMS experience is dependant on who is reading your application.

While EMT-B can't do much in terms of treatment, if you are working for a 911 service you learn

1) how to talk to patients (take a history, explain treatment etc)
2) How to stay calm and work through an emergency situation
3) How to figure out how to manage a crashing patient BY YOURSELF and implement your plan (well.... if you work for a service that runs double basic trucks or if you're a paramedic). This has less to do with actual medical knowledge and more to do with practicing clinical desicion making without a net.

It may not help you get in but it'll help you when you do.

 

[Critical Mass]

As far as getting into medical school, the weight placed on EMS experience is dependant on who is reading your application.

While EMT-B can't do much in terms of treatment, if you are working for a 911 service you learn

1) how to talk to patients (take a history, explain treatment etc)
2) How to stay calm and work through an emergency situation
3) How to figure out how to manage a crashing patient BY YOURSELF and implement your plan (well.... if you work for a service that runs double basic trucks or if you're a paramedic). This has less to do with actual medical knowledge and more to do with practicing clinical desicion making without a net.

It may not help you get in but it'll help you when you do.

Agree with this big time. BTW "sphincter tone?" LOL!

 

[bbabul01]

It's not the actual existence of the EMT cert that helps you out. It's what you do with it, as with anything. I was director of our campus EMS, which is a little bit more worthwhile then my friends in the class who did nothing with their cert. EMTs are a dime a dozen, but so are premeds. It's about what you do with it.

 

[stickitindahole]

As far as getting into medical school, the weight placed on EMS experience is dependant on who is reading your application.

While EMT-B can't do much in terms of treatment, if you are working for a 911 service you learn

1) how to talk to patients (take a history, explain treatment etc)
2) How to stay calm and work through an emergency situation
3) How to figure out how to manage a crashing patient BY YOURSELF and implement your plan (well.... if you work for a service that runs double basic trucks or if you're a paramedic). This has less to do with actual medical knowledge and more to do with practicing clinical desicion making without a net.

It may not help you get in but it'll help you when you do.

OK well I dont want to start this into an argument, but while I guess you do point out some decent points, I disagree with it as well in many aspects. First of all, communication skills aren't really achieved through working in this field. I know many people who suck when it comes to patient care. And honestly, with some of the people we deal with, I dont blame them. And if you want to talk about patient care/how to talk to patients, well then you shouldn't be going to med school, you should be going to nursing school. And I think you're completely wrong about the handling emergency situations aspect simply because unless you actually work in a urban area when EMS response is within 5 minutes (this is only a small percentage of the country) then maybe you can make some what of a difference. Other than that, evidence clearly shows that the quality of EMS is poor in suburban areas. Thus if you're an EMT out in lets say kansas, which has one of the poorest ems systems out there, then all you're really dealing with is a DEAD patient and not a critical one. Now im not quite sure how you can learn decision making skills on a dead guy, unless of course you're practicing you're skills of diagnosing rigor mortis.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

And I think you're completely wrong about the handling emergency situations aspect simply because unless you actually work in a urban area when EMS response is within 5 minutes (this is only a small percentage of the country) then maybe you can make some what of a difference. Other than that, evidence clearly shows that the quality of EMS is poor in suburban areas. Thus if you're an EMT out in lets say kansas, which has one of the poorest ems systems out there, then all you're really dealing with is a DEAD patient and not a critical one. Now im not quite sure how you can learn decision making skills on a dead guy, unless of course you're practicing you're skills of diagnosing rigor mortis.

Spoken like someone who doesn't know the first thing about EMS. I smell troll.

 

[gotmeds?]

OK well I dont want to start this into an argument, but while I guess you do point out some decent points, I disagree with it as well in many aspects. First of all, communication skills aren't really achieved through working in this field. I know many people who suck when it comes to patient care. And honestly, with some of the people we deal with, I dont blame them. And if you want to talk about patient care/how to talk to patients, well then you shouldn't be going to med school, you should be going to nursing school. And I think you're completely wrong about the handling emergency situations aspect simply because unless you actually work in a urban area when EMS response is within 5 minutes (this is only a small percentage of the country) then maybe you can make some what of a difference. Other than that, evidence clearly shows that the quality of EMS is poor in suburban areas. Thus if you're an EMT out in lets say kansas, which has one of the poorest ems systems out there, then all you're really dealing with is a DEAD patient and not a critical one. Now im not quite sure how you can learn decision making skills on a dead guy, unless of course you're practicing you're skills of diagnosing rigor mortis.

Rather than take the flamebait, I'll just put this thought out there for you: a lot of the patients we find in cardiac arrest don't make it. But if we have reason to think that they have a chance, we try anyway. We perform CPR. We intubate. We start IVs or IOs. We diagnose the rhythm on the monitor, try to determine reversible causes, and treat accordingly. And even if all our efforts don't help our patient, in the process of trying, we become better at what we do so that when we do have a patient that we can help, we have the skills to be able to do so.

Not to mention that your typical medic in a big city only responds to a dozen or so cardiac arrest calls a year. There are a lot of other medical emergencies that we treat. You should try going on a ride-along sometime. Then again, it's more fun to base your "facts" on speculation and bad TV.

 

[sphincter tone]

OK well I dont want to start this into an argument,

glad to hear it

but while I guess you do point out some decent points, I disagree with it as well in many aspects. First of all, communication skills aren't really achieved through working in this field. I know many people who suck when it comes to patient care. And honestly, with some of the people we deal with, I dont blame them.

We barg into people's houses when they're hurt or sick and start asking them personal private questions to take a history. Unless you're conducting a history by telepathy, you inherantly have to be able to comunicate. You can be a jerk but it makes everyone's life easier to be professional.

And if you want to talk about patient care/how to talk to patients, well then you shouldn't be going to med school, you should be going to nursing school.

Doctors are the ones who take histories, explain treatment options and "break the bad news".

And I think you're completely wrong about the handling emergency situations aspect simply because unless you actually work in a urban area when EMS response is within 5 minutes (this is only a small percentage of the country) then maybe you can make some what of a difference. Other than that, evidence clearly shows that the quality of EMS is poor in suburban areas. Thus if you're an EMT out in lets say kansas, which has one of the poorest ems systems out there, then all you're really dealing with is a DEAD patient and not a critical one. Now im not quite sure how you can learn decision making skills on a dead guy, unless of course you're practicing you're skills of diagnosing rigor mortis.

Only a small percentage of our urgent/ critical patients are in cardiac arrest upon our arrival. IMHO cardiac arrests are relatively low stress since the algorhythms (sp?)/ protocols are clear and YOU CAN'T make the situation worse. It's the rapidly decompensating MI/COPD/CHF patient with 47 overlapping medical problems that you have approximately 28 seconds to formulate a field diagnosis without labs or radiological studies and initiate treatment before they do code that jack up my heart rate.

 

[med2007]

Emt too