I need a job. - Your ideas please? (Main interest=Emergency Medicine/Traumatic Injuries)

[Gauss44]

PS - I cannot deal with LOTS of ambulance lights. Getting ambulance lights in my eyes a few times a night for a couple minutes is fine, but much more than that and I will get sick (neurological). I am fine with steady/non-flashing lights. Do EMT jobs and/or Parametric typically involve working around lots of flashing lights? How long is the training? How hard is it to get a job? What else do you recommend?

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[Eccesignum]

If you have serious issues with flashing lights I would not recommend it. In the field you're going to end up at scenes that have multiple units presents (fire, police, EMS) all with flashing lights going, and it can last for extended periods of time.

If you're solely working a transport sort of job it's less likely, but if you're interested in trauma and the like then that's probably not what you're looking for.

Job availability varies depending on region. Doing a job search is the best way to see what kinds of things are available to you at different levels. Keep in mind your scope of practice at a given level can also vary (for example, out here in the sticks our Basics have a wider scope of practice than they do in the city ninety minutes away).

Training for Basics is six months in my area (YMMV depending on region and program). Advanced is about a year and change. Paramedic is a two year commitment.

Have you looked into scribing in the ER? It generally doesn't pay well, but it's good exposure to the environment.

 

[gracie369]

Do EMT jobs and/or Parametric typically involve working around lots of flashing lights?

Stupid questions do exist. If you're a child at the age of five I would let this go.

 

[ROSC]

I mean....... c'mon man

 

[Gurby]

If you want trauma, you don't want to become an EMT anyways. You'd have a hard time getting a 911 shift as a new EMT-B with no experience in an area that sees a lot of trauma. Your best bet would be to become a paramedic, but that's a 2-year path minimum which also doesn't make sense if you're a pre-med.

I would strongly suggest looking into becoming an ED tech. You'll do a lot of fetching warm blankets and answering call lights in the ED, but you'll also get to lend a hand during traumas that come in and do other cool stuff. It might also look better to AdComs because you're actually in the hospital interacting with other healthcare professionals all the time, instead of out on the street interacting more with Fire/PD.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I second scribing as a potential option. As an ED scribe, I worked many trauma and critical care shifts. My role, of course, was to document the chart but that meant that I got to observe tons of codes, traumas, strokes, MIs, etc. I had to work other less acute shifts as well but those were also a great learning experience.

I'm not an EMT/paramedic but yes, I would imagine that in these jobs, you'd be exposed to flashing lights for long periods of time. I would be wary of this, if it's a trigger for you.

 

[Gauss44]

If you have serious issues with flashing lights I would not recommend it. In the field you're going to end up at scenes that have multiple units presents (fire, police, EMS) all with flashing lights going, and it can last for extended periods of time.

If you're solely working a transport sort of job it's less likely, but if you're interested in trauma and the like then that's probably not what you're looking for.

Job availability varies depending on region. Doing a job search is the best way to see what kinds of things are available to you at different levels. Keep in mind your scope of practice at a given level can also vary (for example, out here in the sticks our Basics have a wider scope of practice than they do in the city ninety minutes away).

Training for Basics is six months in my area (YMMV depending on region and program). Advanced is about a year and change. Paramedic is a two year commitment.

Have you looked into scribing in the ER? It generally doesn't pay well, but it's good exposure to the environment.

Thanks for the info. FYI - I'm in Boston and hope to stay very urban.

Stupid questions do exist. If you're a child at the age of five I would let this go.

I believe that there are either EMT and/or parametic positions in emergency departments that do NOT require being around ambulance lights for prolonged periods of time. There may or may not be other options like this.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I believe that there are either EMT and/or parametic positions in emergency departments that do NOT require being around ambulance lights for prolonged periods of time. There may or may not be other options like this.

I think the problem is that the extent to which you'd be exposed to flashing lights as an EMT/paramedic is probably very unpredictable. I don't think you could count on being around them for only a short period of time unless you were doing something like dispatch - which wouldn't give you any direct patient contact. As someone else pointed out above, it's not just the flashing lights of the ambulance (which you may very well be expected to drive) but also of police and fire vehicles, which will often respond to the same calls, and even other ambulances. (I'm thinking of the ambulance triage area of my ED and how on a busy night it's packed with ambulances with lights flashing...)

 

[ROSC]

Thanks for the info. FYI - I'm in Boston and hope to stay very urban.



I believe that there are either EMT and/or parametic positions in emergency departments that do NOT require being around ambulance lights for prolonged periods of time. There may or may not be other options like this.

If you ever find a position where you respond to traumatic emergencies frequently at the BLS - EMT level and Emergency lights are not in use I would certainly be interested in hearing about it.