First halloween shift. It's a night shift too.
I'm a college premed student so I know the absolute insanity of college life. Our station is near a high school and a nightclub.
I'm fully prepared that I probably won't get a lick of sleep all night, which is fine since I don't really have exams near halloween.
What calls should I ready myself for?
Hey everyone! I’m a newly certified EMT and came across Stellar EMS Ambulance in the Seattle area. Has anyone worked for them or heard anything about the company?
I’m particularly interested in their work environment, management, training for new EMTs, pay, and overall employee experience.
I’d appreciate any firsthand experiences or insights. Thanks in advance!
Hey all, I’m looking to go to med school after college and looking to get my emt-b to get experience. I’m planning on getting my certification over the course of the spring semester along with a 16 credit load and was wondering if that would be manageable. It’s 3 harder engineering classes with two easier engineering electives. I could drop to 13 but I’m trying to save space senior year for pre reqs to minimize my gap year.
Is it realistic to get a prn role after I get my certification to work weekends during school? I do have the ability to stay in my college town over the summer if that would help land a role by allowing me to give them 3-4 months of full time service before transitioning to prn.
got toned out to a “low mechanism” crash… dude had bilateral tib-fib fractures and right arm arterial bleeding. obvious knee dislocation in the left leg and crazy hematomas on the right. got hit by a pickup truck, and the driver was drunk of course. it was honestly the best case scenario, dude was talking to us and feeling everything but he was in so much pain that my medic pushed 100 of fentanyl. i dunno what happened but i just sort of tunnel visioned and did whatever my medics needed from me, but as a basic i feel like i didn’t do enough.
i’ve only been in ems, let alone on an ALS rig, for about a month now, if that. we of course didn’t have a pelvic splint on the truck so we had to make one with a sheet which was the biggest thing i helped with. i guess i just need advice on what i should jump into first with traumas like that. we had 4 people on our crew, two medics, one A-EMT and a basic which is me lol, so vitals and whatnot were already taken care of by the time i even got to do anything since we did have a second patient i had to clear. i’ve always been told that vitals and airway are the two things i should worry about as a basic. but what about in this scenario? i don’t like stepping over medics or jumping into stuff that might cause my medic to mess up. i might just have imposter syndrome right now, because i feel like i suck at my job.
i got certified almost a year ago now and i haven’t been able to find a job where i can use my emt certification and i feel like giving up. the area i live in is so extremely oversaturated with emts its extremely competitive. i’ve applied to amr and was turned down, ive applied to hospitals as an er tech and was turned down for lack of experience and i interviewed at a smaller private ambulance company and was also turned down. how the hell am i supposed to get experience in this field is no one is willing to hire people without experience. a lot of my classmates are running into this same problem. should i go back to school and get other smaller certifications or even think about jumping right into paramedic school? that was never apart of my plan because i know going straight to paramedic school is problematic in a few ways but my area needs paramedics right now. any advice is greatly appreciated
For any of you that’s had to start this lovely medication for yourself-
What are your best tips and tricks? I am rural service and long transport times. I go back to work tomorrow and I’m terrified since I just started metformin ER. Yes it’s ER. Yes I take it with dinner. I still have the next day bathroom hell. Literally this is my worst nightmare as a paramedic. I’m on day 3 of metformin. Also taking the 500 mg. Tell me it gets better day 4. Or tell me all your secrets - unholy or not- to prevent the unpredictable fire hose in the bathroom next day.
I recently joined my town’s volly squad about 5 months ago. I did it with no intent rlly if I was going to get my EMT cert, kinda just wanted the experience. I loved working in the ER but couldn’t land a job, this was next best. The problem is…the drama working with younger kids and also my motion sickness. In short rides I’m fine in the back. I have an essential oil stick to smell which helped for a little. A few weeks ago I had an episode where I actually was vomiting in the back of the ambulance. I was so embarrassed.
- I bought Dramamine, we’ll see if it helps
Secondly, I’m starting EMT school soon, which they are paying for. It requires a 2 yr commitment since they’re paying. Well I’m starting nursing school in the summer. Idk what to do.
Bit of a weird question, but how do (real) sirens work? I work IFT, and the sirens we have are more like speakers. When I flip them off, they shut straight off. They also aren’t as loud. The 911 ambulances I hear running around sound more like “real” sirens. When they’re turned off, they still have to slowly wind down. I know some vehicles use foot pedals for the air horns. Is it similar to that?
Hey guys, I got accepted into both UCLA and Victor Valley College paramedic programs for this upcoming spring. Does anyone who has experience with these programs recommend one or the other? For context I am a non-firefighter with 2 years of 911 experience wanting to work as a 911 paramedic with a long-term goal of being an emergency physician.
Thanks for any help.
Hey guys I need help. I am a student in the DFW area currently enrolled in an EMT program and as part of a class project, I need to interview professionals who earned their EMT certification and later advanced to higher-level careers using the knowledge and experience gained from that certification. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to participate in a interview for my project. The interview will be on a Zoom and should be a minimum of 15 minutes. I need someone in the DFW area, someone in Texas but outside of DFW, and someone internationally. Please if you’re willing to do the interview you can comment, message, or email me my email is:
Currently an EMT and finishing my medic program.
I am not going to lie, I have hated paramedic school. Work, class, clinicals, life, it has not been a good year. In fact atrocious in an understatement. I’ve honestly drained all of my financials, had family issues, car issues, relationship issues, work issues, all while going through paramedic school and it’s been terrible. Like I honestly wish I could just not think about this last year because it’s been that horrible.
When I’m on the truck for clinicals, I feel like I’m lost even though my preceptors have told me I am doing a good job and am where I’m supposed to be at. I do not feel confident in the slightest bit honestly, because there are times in my head I do freeze up but I pretend I’m not and then I’ll “start an IV” while my brain is processing the call. If anything I’m internally panicking and asking myself if I’m really cut out to be there for someone’s serious medical emergency.
I sit here and am about to be in capstone. Idk how I feel about it. Idk if I feel ready. When I finish and I’m a paramedic, I’m worried it’s not for me. I’ve been beyond exhausted and found paramedic class to be beyond difficult. And I also find myself very stressed and thinking a lot during clinicals, on top of being severely uncomfortable.
What I’m getting at is, if I finish this, end up on a truck as a medic, what if these feelings persist because I can’t be at a job long term where I feel severely uncomfortable and stressed out. I don’t feel like it’s normal.
Advice please, thanks
Looking to get recertified and am having trouble finding free websites to get recertified. I’m just website jumping to get a couple free videos here and there to scrape by
I failed my first attempt at the NRMET Exam I got a 572 and the questions were mostly protocol can drag and drop based and I studied those areas must clearly not as much as I should’ve. I want some advice on what to do next and where to go from here
I’m relatively new to 911 side of EMS after few months of IFT. I’m concerned by how much I seem to panic (Im using this term very loosely here) in actual emergency. Like Im not screaming bloody murder and worlds gonna end type of panic. My movement becomes faster and my mind start to race. I’m by no means paralyze, but I panic enough to seem like I’m panicking to outside observers. It’s also problematic that a lot of frameworks (NREMT style assessments, SAMPLE, OPQRST, AEIOUTIPS, and etc) that I tried so hard to drill myself into just goes out the window. I try to really take the advice “slow is fast” to heart, but that also seems to go out the window once there’s lights and sirens. Any tips on how this newbie can improve? Much appreciated.
My driver's license is expiring in a few months so I'll have to renew my CA ambulance cert. as well.
My medical examiner's certificate is from about a year ago, do I have to get a new one for the renewal or can I just use my current one because it hasn't expired yet?
*I just really don't wanna drop another $100 for an exam that hasn't expired yet*
I know ambulance cert can be good for up to 5 years 6 months but medical examiner is only 2 years. Do you have to submit a new medical examiner certificate to the DMV every 2 years or do I just have to have it?
Just to double check; I just need to retake test, pay $12 fee, show valid grey card, and valid medical examiner's cert? No need for another livescan right
Thank you in advance.
I've been an EMT at my current job for about 2-3 months. We do the BLS transports for the city's fire department. They are a pretty busy fire department and they BLS a lot of calls. The ambo I'm on is BLS 911 so it's 2 EMTs and we get to the call after a paramedic decides it's bls. I think for the most part I've been doing good? It's my very first ems job so everything is pretty new to me considering my emt school didn't have us do clinicals or ride alongs which definitely sucks experience wise.
We got dispatched for a seizure. We get on scene and fire is bringing the patient out. I get the rundown on the patient they tell me he didn't actually have a seizure but something from being intoxicated. They also said he does have a history of having seizures but they really don't say much other than that. He seems out of it and by looking back he really did seem like he was postictal. We get the patient loaded and transport to our closest hospital. He's AOx2 and really is saying much but is able to tell me he has chest pain and that he did drink alcohol. Halfway through transport this guy goes unresponsive not even to pain but his sats weren't dropping just wasn't responsive. We were only about 3 minutes from the hospital and we were going normal traffic. His vitals stayed stable we get off loaded into the hospital and then he becomes alert and is able to talk clearly. Charge has us hug the wall for a bit but then my patient goes unresponsive and seizing then we rush him into a room.
I think I could've done much more for my patient but I listened to fire too much instead of taking what they said with a grain of salt. I think I should've upgraded and I'm not really sure why I didn't. I didn't trust my gut and up into this point nothing like this has happened to me. I keep replaying this in my head and feel really bad and feel like a bad emt. I know what I should've done and what I can do better but it still bums me out because I just want to be the best provider I can and this call was far from me being at my best.