It feels like I'm stuck in a rut.

[Always BSI]

Thanks for the tips EMTLIFE.

Much appreciated.

I have a couple of EMT interviews lined up 4 to be exact. A couple of ambulance companies I applied to earlier this year have started to get back to me.

 

[DrParasite]

Don't make up statistics.

GO TO MEDIC SCHOOL.

I went straight from EMT to Medic school. I am a good medic. I am competent. I am fantastic at my job. I provide excellent care.

Don't waste time. GO. This "ALS experience" is a myth propagated by people who don't know any better. You do NOT need experience to do well in medic, you just need dedication and a good head on your shoulders.

not for nothing Sasha, but you might be a good medic, but if you can't handle a patient who is circling the drain, or is unstable and needs immediate ALS intervention, than you aren't as good as you might think. You might be a great person, and fantastic at IFT of stable people, but a great medic can handle those train wreck patients using all their skills and tools at their disposal. You might not like that, but that's the facts.

Also, I think if you look at the stats that were provided, if EMT John's number are close to right with 25% to 40% of no experience EMTs fail medic school, that means 60% to 75% pass it with no problems. So while the odds are in your favor, but with experience, they are MORE in your favor.

The few programs i am familiar with do require EMT experience before paramedic school. every physician assistant program I was looking at required health care hands on experience. So if it wasn't required, could you complete the class? sure..... but I am guessing those that designed the admission requirements know a thing or two about what makes a better student.

And those that don't require EMT experience might just be trying to pack as many students into class, taking the money, not really caring if the students will pass the class or not. remember, those are profit making classes, and the more students who register the more money is made for the school.

As for interviews, never make a response on the spot. always need to confer with family or significant other, and need a day or two. also remember experience counts more than education (outside of the basic requirements for the job) in this field. also some places require you to start per diem, or part time, before getting a full time position. got to get your foot in the door, and then network with your coworkers and other agencies to get a better position.

 

[Always BSI]

My school requires 6 months before I can apply for medic school. At this rate who knows when ill get a job. California is driving me crazy.

:glare:

 

[Sasha]

not for nothing Sasha, but you might be a good medic, but if you can't handle a patient who is circling the drain, or is unstable and needs immediate ALS intervention, than you aren't as good as you might think. You might be a great person, and fantastic at IFT of stable people, but a great medic can handle those train wreck patients using all their skills and tools at their disposal. You might not like that, but that's the facts.

Also, I think if you look at the stats that were provided, if EMT John's number are close to right with 25% to 40% of no experience EMTs fail medic school, that means 60% to 75% pass it with no problems. So while the odds are in your favor, but with experience, they are MORE in your favor.

The few programs i am familiar with do require EMT experience before paramedic school. every physician assistant program I was looking at required health care hands on experience. So if it wasn't required, could you complete the class? sure..... but I am guessing those that designed the admission requirements know a thing or two about what makes a better student.

And those that don't require EMT experience might just be trying to pack as many students into class, taking the money, not really caring if the students will pass the class or not. remember, those are profit making classes, and the more students who register the more money is made for the school.

As for interviews, never make a response on the spot. always need to confer with family or significant other, and need a day or two. also remember experience counts more than education (outside of the basic requirements for the job) in this field. also some places require you to start per diem, or part time, before getting a full time position. got to get your foot in the door, and then network with your coworkers and other agencies to get a better position.

IFT isnt always stable and I can handle those patients circling the drain. Nice try though.

 

[Always BSI]

*Grabs sunflower seeds*

 

[Tigger]

not for nothing Sasha, but you might be a good medic, but if you can't handle a patient who is circling the drain, or is unstable and needs immediate ALS intervention, than you aren't as good as you might think. You might be a great person, and fantastic at IFT of stable people, but a great medic can handle those train wreck patients using all their skills and tools at their disposal. You might not like that, but that's the facts.

Not that Sasha needs any help here, but how would you be in any position to judge Sasha, or any provider you know only through the internet on their clinical abilities?

Also the whole point of ALS IFT is that the patient is not stable, otherwise they can and will be transported BLS.

 

[DrParasite]

Not that Sasha needs any help here, but how would you be in any position to judge Sasha, or any provider you know only through the internet on their clinical abilities?

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=29909 not trying to pour salt in an open wound, just going based on what she said.

Also the whole point of ALS IFT is that the patient is not stable, otherwise they can and will be transported BLS.

You would think so, but apparently some places call an ALS truck for IFT. where I am, stable patients get a BLS IFT truck, and anyone who is sick gets a 911 BLS truck and a 911 ALS unit.

having any ALS truck doing just IFTs is a waste of resources, esp since most of them can go by BLS since they are extremely stable, and any sick patient the facility should call 911.

 

[Tigger]

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=29909 not trying to pour salt in an open wound, just going based on what she said.You would think so, but apparently some places call an ALS truck for IFT. where I am, stable patients get a BLS IFT truck, and anyone who is sick gets a 911 BLS truck and a 911 ALS unit.

having any ALS truck doing just IFTs is a waste of resources, esp since most of them can go by BLS since they are extremely stable, and any sick patient the facility should call 911.

Every provider is going to have calls that don't go well, that's kind of the nature of working a job that forces you to treat very sick people that have a head start on dying, no?

How is an ALS IFT a waste of resources? If you have a patient at a rural hospital that's intubated and has three meds running headed to a trauma center, they aren't going BLS, that's for sure.

 

[CANDawg]

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=29909 not trying to pour salt in an open wound, just going based on what she said.

I'm sorry, but judging Sasha on that thread alone is incredibly short-sighted. Not only do you have nearly zero details about the incident, there is nothing there that points to Sasha's skills, or as you claim, lack thereof.

It was a bad call that turned worse, and one that obviously still seriously bothers her. Bringing it up as a feeble attempt to win a disagreement in an online discussion forum is cheap. :glare:

That said, this thread couldn't be further off-topic.

 

[STXmedic]

Oh. Awesome. So you're going to judge a providers entire capability based on a single call that you have zero information about. Obviously Real paramedics/nurses/PAs/MDs never make any mistakes. And they are certainly never hard on themselves over a call even when there may have been nothing that could have been done.

I pray I can be as good as you and never in my career have a bad call or make a mistake.

 

[DrParasite]

If you have a patient at a rural hospital that's intubated and has three meds running headed to a trauma center, they aren't going BLS, that's for sure.

we call those critical care transfers, with a nurse. CCT, not IFTs, and definitely not BLS. We might even have a Resp Therapist because they are intubated.

Oh. Awesome. So you're going to judge a providers entire capability based on a single call that you have zero information about. Obviously Real paramedics/nurses/PAs/MDs never make any mistakes. And they are certainly never hard on themselves over a call even when there may have been nothing that could have been done.

I've made mistakes, and I know others who have made mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. the important thing to do is learn from them, and make sure you don't repeat them.

Be prepared as you can for every eventuality, going with the information you have. Making mistakes is one thing, being unprepared to do your job is a completely different thing.

I pray I can be as good as you and never in my career have a bad call or make a mistake.

you can try, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you

 

[Sasha]

You want to know what that call was, since you're judging me as a provider based off of it?

A seemingly stable 500lb patient coded during transport and I was too small to get adequate compressions and had trouble getting an airway and couldn't get a good seal on the mask nor good IV access. She was 500lbs.

All while the daughter is shrieking and screaming her head off in the front.

It was a horrible call I'm still losing sleep over.

Thanks for trying to be a jerk about it.

Also, we dont have nurses. We do run vents and pumps and our patients are often unstable.

Today I'm rocking the vent, actually.

 

[Sasha]

we call those critical care transfers, with a nurse. CCT, not IFTs, and definitely not BLS. We might even have a Resp Therapist because they are intubated. I've made mistakes, and I know others who have made mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. the important thing to do is learn from them, and make sure you don't repeat them.

Be prepared as you can for every eventuality, going with the information you have. Making mistakes is one thing, being unprepared to do your job is a completely different thing.
you can try, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you

Real easy to never make a patient care mistake when you're a dispatcher.

 

[RocketMedic]

Let's see...my last weekend was something like this...

80-mile transfer patient with Hx cardiac, RAD, and uncontrolled DM going into ICU due to uncontrolled DKA (sugar was 700+ when the night crew brought her in, dropped to 480 on insulin drip, went back up to 600 when drip was DCed, I transferred at 375 with insulin, levoquin, and NS hanging).

80-mile transfer patient with ridiculous cellulitis, a-fib prone to RVR (stable for the moment, but she'd been throwing PVCs in the ER) and dementia, going for ultrasounds and R/O PE.

70-mile drive with a 911 closed head trauma GCS 5-8...to the HLZ.

I'd reckon ALS transport is pretty vital for IFT work in some parts of the world.

 

[RocketMedic]

You want to know what that call was, since you're judging me as a provider based off of it?

A seemingly stable 500lb patient coded during transport and I was too small to get adequate compressions and had trouble getting an airway and couldn't get a good seal on the mask nor good IV access. She was 500lbs.

All while the daughter is shrieking and screaming her head off in the front.

It was a horrible call I'm still losing sleep over.

Thanks for trying to be a jerk about it.

Also, we dont have nurses. We do run vents and pumps and our patients are often unstable.

Today I'm rocking the vent, actually.

500 pounds = no win scenario. A linebacker can't get effective compressions through that.

 

[Sasha]

500 pounds = no win scenario. A linebacker can't get effective compressions through that.

That's what people keep saying. I was throwing all of my weight behind it and i was just squishing fat.

It didn't help that we were in a van. There was no room between the bench and the stretcher. I was literally on my knees on the bench trying to do compressions.

 

[Tigger]

we call those critical care transfers, with a nurse. CCT, not IFTs, and definitely not BLS. We might even have a Resp Therapist because they are intubated.

There are many, many places where these patients are transported by a "regular" ALS crew. The only time you'll see a nurse is when a patient is being transferred with medications that are outside of medics scope, or sometimes with dedicated neonatal and peds teams. These teams come from the flight services and hospitals here in MA. Most other transfers are done with private companies sometimes with just a single medic.

You want to know what that call was, since you're judging me as a provider based off of it?

A seemingly stable 500lb patient coded during transport and I was too small to get adequate compressions and had trouble getting an airway and couldn't get a good seal on the mask nor good IV access. She was 500lbs.

All while the daughter is shrieking and screaming her head off in the front.

It was a horrible call I'm still losing sleep over.

Thanks for trying to be a jerk about it.

Also, we dont have nurses. We do run vents and pumps and our patients are often unstable.

Today I'm rocking the vent, actually.

That patient likely dies in the hospital, I imagine there were quite a lot of other comorbidities besides obesity...

 

[Always BSI]

Whats going on in here? h34r:

 

[abckidsmom]

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=29909 not trying to pour salt in an open wound, just going based on what she said.You would think so, but apparently some places call an ALS truck for IFT. where I am, stable patients get a BLS IFT truck, and anyone who is sick gets a 911 BLS truck and a 911 ALS unit.

Low blow, man. You've never had a call where every single thing went wrong? Careful with the monday morning quarterbacking...it could call Murphy down on you.

having any ALS truck doing just IFTs is a waste of resources, esp since most of them can go by BLS since they are extremely stable, and any sick patient the facility should call 911.

911 ambulance doing IFTs? That doesn't seem appropriate...perfect plan to have people who DON'T do IFTs all day take the sickest patients with potentially multiple drips, procedures, etc. 911 trucks are typically just 2 providers, with no pumps, no vent, etc.

 

[DrParasite]

911 ambulance doing IFTs? That doesn't seem appropriate...perfect plan to have people who DON'T do IFTs all day take the sickest patients with potentially multiple drips, procedures, etc. 911 trucks are typically just 2 providers, with no pumps, no vent, etc.

your 911 ambulances don't have vents or pumps on your 911 ambulances? I know we require at least 2 pumps on every paramedic unit, and I think we also require them to have vents.