Recent content by DarknessEMT

I wasn't really pushing "stroke", really just emphasizing higher BP than normal and headache, which I guess makes it sound like I was focusing on stroke. Something to remember next time. Just got to treat it as a learning experience. And 5 possible causes of AMS off the top of my head...

Wow, that's a great way to look at it. Thanks!

Yeah, I always get my own vitals when we get in the back of the unit. A lot of guys I work with will just use whatever the facility gives them no matter how old. And our state requires two sets of vitals no matter how short the transport (or maybe my manager is just saying that), and I've been...

Thanks for your input people, I really appreciate it. Like I said, I work mostly BLS discharges and transports (I've worked three whole shifts with a paramedic on an ALS unit), and this was only my second time having one turn into an ER call (the first being a pt seizing as we're pulling into...

She was going to a wound specialist for diabetic ulcers, not her PCP. I wasn't able to get a last BP from the staff when we picked her up. (I'm sure you've heard the excuses "the computers are acting up and it's a little old you're better off getting a fresh one yourself." That kind of run...

Hi, I'm still pretty new to EMS and I've only worked for a service tht does routine transports (dialysis, doctors appointments, hospital discharges, that kind of thing). Got dispatched for routine transport of an elderly B/F with severe AMS from a doctors appointment back to her nursing...

Yeah, good call. I'm just a little ambitious right now I guess. And I posted a similar thing on facebook, turns out one of my classmates just started at EMHC, he told me they don't allow employees to work at another private service. I'm still going to go to the interview with R/M, see what...

Ok, so I've been licensed in TN for about a month now, and in that time I've put in job applications for just about every service and hospital in Memphis. Last week I finally got my first interview with a local service called EMHC. The interview went really well and at the end I accepted an...

Thanks man. And there's no need to bet around the bush, my cover letter sucks, lol. Like I said I haven't written one since senior English class over 10 years ago. That's why I put it up here before I submitted it. Gonna scrap it and write a new one from scratch tomorrow.

I'm 29 years old, I just graduated from an EMT program at a local community college, got my NREMT certification and just got my license from the state. I'm about to start applying for my first position on an ambulance and I'm kind of worried about my resume and cover letter. I've been working...

Yeah, we're training to be EMT-IVs, if I hadn't gotten the required sticks that would have been it, no chance to just get certified EMT-B. It sounds really hard, but my instructor says its really rare someone can't get all their sticks, and honestly, starting IVs isn't all that difficult, it's...

Damn, forgot to post a follow up. I got all my sticks, one extra even, and three more patient contacts than required! The EMT I was paired with was a great teacher, I can't believe I forgot to write his name down. There were a couple of patients that had good veins in their hands, but he...

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, I'm just stressing because I have to get 3 more and I only have two more shifts to get them. And repeating the course isn't an option, I've spent all of my meager inheritance from my granddad on this, I just can't afford to fail. I did one fine on my...

Yeah, that's what we learned in class, but I was jut doing it like my paramedic showed me. He said the tournequit was just there to get the vein to pop up and tto release it when you advance the cath to make sure you have good blood flow.

I did get to see two external jugular IVs, one just as a demonstration, and one on a cardiac patient. I watched the paramedic stick a 16ga needle in her neck, push something I can't remember that "pretty much chemically defibrillates her heart" and flush it all within like 30 seconds. That was...