r/Paramedics

I’m halfway done with medic school. My grades are stellar. However, I got let go from my first EMT-B job just prior to going into medic school. It’s been 6 months and I just got hired (as an A, I took my A class right before medic school but did not take the NR-AEMT till semester break) with another agency. I have probably 6 ALS shifts and 6 ILS shifts under my belt. The agency that just hired me is doing events only with the opportunity to pick up OPs shifts if I do at least 2 events a week. Between school and clinicals 3 times a week, I’m not sure if it’s worth it going to my internship in 5-6 months knowing that I’ll fail due to lack of experience. I’m basically going zero to hero. What’s the point?

Who’s done it? Would you recommend it, was it online ? How much does it cost? Or would you try the PA route?

Hi. I’m looking for the answer to a question about an emergency procedure. I’m looking to talk to a practising paramedic. Are there any paramedics on here who I can talk to?

with the warm weather coming up, I wanted to ask what tips and tricks you all use to help cool a pt with a heat related illness down?

our trucks don’t have anything specific for this and the AC in the back is worse than useless.

I’m looking for advice from anyone who’s been a firefighter while serving in the Army Reserve, especially as a 68W.
I’m already a certified paramedic and currently work full-time for a large private 911 EMS system. My long-term goal is to become a firefighter/paramedic with a large metro fire department while also serving in the Army Reserve as a 68W Combat Medic.
I’m trying to decide which path makes the most sense:
Join the Army Reserve first, complete Basic Training and AIT, then apply to fire departments.
Focus on getting hired by a fire department first, complete the academy and probation, and then join the Army Reserve.
My biggest concerns are:
Will being in the Reserve make it harder to get hired by a fire department?
How difficult is it to balance drill weekends, annual training, and possible deployments with a firefighter schedule?
If you could do it over again, would you choose a different order?
I’d especially like to hear from anyone who has done both careers or has experience hiring firefighters who are in the Guard or Reserve.
Thanks in advance—I appreciate any advice or lessons learned.

I see this advertised quite frequently and wonder if it would be helpful to record conversations with staff, nurses, and patients for reference later when writing the patient care report. Has anyone used one of these in this context? Thanks.

Does anyone have experience working in the OHSU or Dorenbecher ER? I am a paramedic and interested in a tech job, but I don’t know how my scope will change going from a transporting medic to an ER tech. Does anyone have insight on this or what it’s like to work there as a paramedic?

Hello! I'm a 22F Washington state resident who's interested in transferring an Oregon, US Paramedic to Primary Care Paramedic for British Columbia, Canada.

I've done a lot of reading online about how the Canadian EMS system works and was hoping to hear if anybody has had success obtaining Primary Care Paramedic licensing based on originally being a US NREMT-Paramedic?

I personally can't see myself becoming an international student due to costs and was hoping that anyone would have experience going from US to BC,Canada; if you do have experience with the process may you provide how the process was?

TLDR: has anyone been able to transfer to British Columbia, Canada from U.S as a Paramedic (1 year certificate program) How was it?

Getting close to 1 year experience in a medium call volume district.

I got most of my IVs when I first started but somehow I’ve gotten worse?

I can always get flash but somehow the attempt doesn’t end up being successful. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.

This has been going on for a while so idk if slumps are supposed to be months long … Any advice?

Do you suggest someone to take a partial drop. Is it worth it . Can one manage it.

Whats the future scope of paramedics

Hi all,

I was planning to try my hand at going to medic school in a year from now (July 2027) and was wondering if it would be feasible if I only had IFT experience (it would be almost a year and a half going into it) with limited higher acuity experience.

The most acute experiences I've had were Code 3 CCTs (really I'm just driving) and BLS downgrades from our local city fire department (3am toe pain and fire just wants us to give them a ride and a ringdown).

Other than that, most of my experience would be ER to home or home/SNF/etc to ER (I try to do as much of my BLS assessment/questions/history-taking and other EMT skills as possible plus I technically have experience doing pre-hospital notifications but those calls are not urgent at all).

So, with that being said, could I make it happen? If so, what are some steps I could take in the next year to give myself the best odds? (I already have two college semesters of A&P where I passed with As but they were a few years ago now). Also happy to answer any questions that might help you guys give me advice.

TIA!

I’m currently a paramedic student and am very close to graduating. All i have left to do are my ride time hours as team lead and wanted some advice

It doesn’t matter what kind of call we get i just get so nervous. I feel so green and obviously i am but thankfully my nervousness has never interfered with the care i give to a pt, that being said does anyone have any advice on how not to feel like a complete imposter and nervous mess on these calls?

I’m not a genius by any means but i definitely know my stuff enough to have made it this far. For some reason though the second we get a call i just go blank for a second. My background before medic was basically all IFT so i haven’t seen as many pathologies in the field like my classmates have so that might be weighing into my anxiety.

I also just tend to dwell on the stupid things i miss that you definitely shouldn’t like for example we responded to a fall and i didn’t even remember to put a c-collar on the pt, which yes i know, very dumb even though the pt was fine and even my preceptor told me not to beat myself up about it, but obviously I feel like a jackass so feel free to let me have it

If you read all of this thank you for taking the time

Just reaching out for some advice for my husband who just started the class on Monday. So far it’s already pretty difficult. No time to do anything but study. I’m taking on all the parent and house hold duties so he can focus just on this. His firefighter job is putting him through the course after only working a few tours. He’s very stressed that he doesn’t think he can pass this class so I was wondering if anyone has tips on studying or how you passed the same 6 month program.

This partner I had was dumb as a box of rocks, actually, I think the rocks are smarter because they had a purpose. (Less dramatic edits)

He couldn’t do anything without being directed, even after 6 months to learn my habits and being the only one he worked with.

I had a count down to the shift bid when it was announced because I wouldn’t have to work with him anymore. He asked to buddy bid and I said I couldn’t cuz it would mess with the shift I needed.

First month or so together I told him three times a call was an emergent return. I’m in a flow state that was interrupted by getting a moment to breathe and noticing we’re stopped at an empty intersection. (I had a patient with an allergic reaction with airway involvement, I had told my partner we’re going back lights and sirens three times before getting in the truck because I had an intern, he acknowledge me and said he understood. I get a moment and notice we’re stopped at a red light and empty intersection and ask if we’re going code 3, he says, oh my bad, I didn’t realize that’s what you wanted, after the call I ask about it and he just apologizes, I move on.)

A few months later with a GI bleed out both ends I’m prepping and checking the suction and there’s a mask on the airway I’m trying to work with. Sitting there with his thumbs up his butt or something while fire and I work with the EKG leads still not placed after I threw them at him and told him to do it. (We have an emergent GI bleed going on, while I’m managing the airway and monitor, I say hey, put the leads on, and place the cables over the shoulder for him to grab, he acknowledges me and does nothing.)

Our last shift together he took a cardiac arrest to the wrong ER. Fire told me to handle it or they would. His excuse was they got seen faster with us jogging from one ER to the next… I texted him I moved the truck to the other ER and he still brought the gurney to the wrong ER. (He took a cardiac arrest to the trauma er entrance when the main ER entrance is across the hospital, when I asked him about this he deflected blame instead of just saying he made an honest mistake.)

He was so dumb I refused to downgrade calls, I’d just throw an IV in and go oops, my call. He upgraded to advance tho so I can’t do that anymore. (On calls that could go either BLS or ALS, I would just do ALS rather than downgrade calls to him.)

He drove horribly, I was constantly covered in bruises from his driving, no amount of yelling easy fixed it. (On a perfectly flat and even road with a crunchy wrist fracture that I gave max dose of fent to, he finds every bump and my patient was screaming in pain.)

He couldn’t draw zofran for me for fucks sake, no matter how many times I tried to help him. I’ve shown many an EMT how, the super awesome ones could be talked through it if they didn’t know and I was busy.

I tried to guide him gently and sternly. I just can’t do it again. He needed to be directed to do any and everything. The mental load of dealing with him was exhausting. It’s not a me problem because I’m great with new EMTs. (I tried to help him in every way I knew how, and nothing worked. I just wanted to set him up for success and only found stress.)

TLDR: they put an idiot back on my shift and I can’t do it again. Help.

Hello. I’m looking for an American Paramedic where I can fly out for 3 days, I’m doing a personal story about your growing up and how you got into your profession and how you reflect from it.

Obviously there’s not so much details to it, but my team is preferably looking for someone who has been a paramedic over 15+ years. We own a very much large youtube channel over 750K subscribers talking about people first responders careers.

What we will cover:

- Business Flight
- 4/5 star hotel
- 80$ dollars daily for food
- Rental car (Enjoy the state of Arizona)
- Transportation to and back from hotel, interview studio, airport in a black luxury video.

Unfortunately this isn’t paid at all so you won’t be making money but everything will be covered. You can reach out to me and PM and I’ll send you a email to submit a small 2 minute video about yourself and your story.

Does anyone have a copy/pdf of Prehospital Trauma Life Support 10th edition that they are willing to provide? I cant seem to find a “free” version of it

Hello!

I've been Wanting to get my paramedic for a long time..its WAY over due..

I'm looking at an online program that is ten months long. It's on a weekly schedule where all assignments are due sunday at midnight. So it's pretty fast paced. School of EMS.

So I would have to work , and it would be working three ( consecutive) twelve hour shifts a week , that would leave 4 days a week for lectures, reading , research papers and eventually clinicals.. Leaving three days a week to study

Working three days a week would leave me with very little money. Like bils, rice, and gas.. I could work four days a week , and my bills would be taking care of but three days a week for paramedic school doesn't really seem logical to me.. And that's not counting when doing clinical once a week.

So what do you guys think ? 4 days a week available to study and do clinicals? And while i'm at work(IFT) , I can do flash cards (medic test) and listen to audiobook while i'm driving ?

Doable? What's your story working through paramedic school?

I need some inspiration.

Howdy everyone,
I’m part of a UT Austin mechanical engineering senior design team working on a stroke-related design project, and we’re hoping to speak with people who have EMS experience.
We’re trying to better understand real-world prehospital stroke response workflows, including what happens during suspected stroke calls, what tools or equipment are used, what parts of the process can be difficult, and what pain points EMS providers notice in the field.
We are not asking for patient-identifying information, protected health information, or specific case details. We’re mainly looking for general professional insight from people with experience as EMTs, paramedics, EMS supervisors, or other prehospital care providers.
The interview would be informal and should take about 20–30 minutes over Zoom, phone, or messages, depending on what works best for you. Your input would help our team better define the needs and constraints for our project.
Please comment or DM me if you’d be willing to talk. Thank you!