Need urgent answers - Failed Protocols Exam!

[EMT Brendan]

not snippy at all. if your advice is to step up your game to a new emt, then you shouldnt post. its not helpful. its counterproductive.

 

[NYMedic828]

not snippy at all. if your advice is to step up your game to a new emt, then you shouldnt post. its not helpful. its counterproductive.

Failing a test based on the footing of your title and losing your livelyhood is not exactly helpful or productive either...

 

[Medic Tim]

From what you describe you do need to step up your game. Is that not why you posted here? There are very knowledge people here who are offering good advice. Just because you didn't second guess yourself on the non medication parts does not mean you did well in/on those areas. With your current attitude I doubt people will want to help. It is no skin off our back if you are let go.

 

[Handsome Robb]

not snippy at all. if your advice is to step up your game to a new emt, then you shouldnt post. its not helpful. its counterproductive.

Don't be a tool, he provided a polite and very correct answer to you.

Protocol exams are not subjective or opinion based, there's 1 correct answer for each question and you need to know it.

So how many people does a new EMT get to make contact with and potentially affect the morbidity or outcome of their condition before we can tell that EMT to step up their game?

Like Tim said, you failed, you obviously do need to step up your game.

Btw aspirin in chest pain of suspected cardiac origin is to inhibit platelet aggregation and slow/stop the growth of the clot, not for the pain itself.

 

[Tigger]

No i dont take that as mean, i take that as not reading my posts clearly. i DO know what i need to know, but i failed the first test and they dont tell you how you failed. The test they administer is very biased and opinion filled, therefore it is hard to gauge where i went wrong. If you were 100% perfect on all of your tests and exams, then good for you. Not all of us are good testers. Does that mean i dont know how to actually do things hands-on? Nope. Some people are really book smart, but in the field they blank, while others are really good on the field, but tell them to explain everything they know on paper and they blank.

So you may want to consider your thoughts before your write ignorant remarks like step up my game....

And btw, im glad you were able to be perfect at what you were doing when you first started.

If you know what you need to know, then why are you having to take the test again?

Good tester, bad tester, it really doesn't matter. Your competence is measured by this test, you need to pass it and it doesn't really matter if you don't think you take tests well. A failure is a failure.

If you don't know why you failed, try and get answers. If they won't tell you, and your job is on the line, study it all. Odds are though that you already know what you are weak on, you may as well start there.

I am also unsure what a protocol test could be biased towards, but hey anythings possible.

 

[MrJones]

The thought occurs that, if I were to come to a forum as a new member and ask for advice and/or assistance in mastering my craft, it would probably be in my best interests to step gently while doing so. Snapping back at others without having gained experience in how they interact on the board and what their experience level might be - and without having gained a reputation for oneself - is counterproductive at best.

But hey, that's just me - Mr. Vegas.

 

[ffemt8978]

Dial back the attitude in this thread, or I will have to get involved.

 

[BandageBrigade]

Activated charcoal is used in pt with an oral poisoning or medication overdose. ALWAYS contact medical control prior to use. Administered in powder form. counterindicative in comatose pts or when a corrosive substance has been consumed.

Exactly how do you plan on administering this? Give them a straw or rolled up dollar and have the patient do a line of it? Please get some note cards and a medication guide. Not your EMT book. A index soley of medications, such as lippincotts nursing drug guide. Use the guide and write down the info about the meds you need to know.

 

[NYMedic828]

Side not, I have never administered charcoal in the field. They took it out where I work but still have it where I volly. I have seen it administered in the ER, which I found strange? But the girl was in total misery trying to consume it. Gagging all the way.

I wouldn't even bother trying to get someone to drink it... Let alone...snort it? I suppose I could cook it down with my partners lighter or a road flare and inject it.



Brandon, we respect your coming to this forum seeking advice. That is the first step in bettering yourself. Admitting you have a problem. 9/10 EMS providers cannot overcome this and will carry on through their career as an incompetent ill-informed care provider.

We have no beef with you, we only want to help. But, as I said the first step is giving in to needing more help than you may think you need. Furthermore, the fault isn't necessarily on you. EMS instructors are often not anywhere near what most of us on this board consider to be competent EMS providers let alone educators. A little bit of ambition and a lot of self education will go far in EMS.

 

[Jambi]

EMS instructors are often not anywhere near what most of us on this board consider to be competent EMS providers let alone educators. A little bit of ambition and a lot of self education will go far in EMS.

funny. I was sitting in class teaching my EMTlings when I thought this exact thought when I had to correct some insanity flying out of the mouth of another instructor. I swear if I have to do it again i'm going to attack him with a king airway and enough cloth tape to disable an ambulance and its ricky-rescue crew...

Getting to the point...

EMT Brandon. It's bad form to come on here desperate for information then complain about how it's offered. Would a man dying of thirst complain about the cup the water came in?

If your employer really is willing to invest money into an employee only to dispose of him or her, then it's likely a place you should think twice about working at. That is, of course, if your perception matches the reality of the situation.

 

[EMT Brendan]

i think maybe people may have misunderstood my intentions. to those i flipped out on, sorry, im just wound tight right now...

Im not arguing with how its offered or what advice people are giving, im just saying i didnt appreciate the advice is to step up my game and grow up. thats not what was i asking. obviously if im asking for people to give me corrective answers, im trying to step up my game, and that doesnt need to be reiterated.

I appreciate all the answers and advice, and even yours NyMedic.


Thank you all

 

[MarshalFoch]

I took the Fallon test not too long ago, and it really just comes down to studying the OEMS protocol book they give you front and back. The BLS standing orders get incredibly repetitive so it is easy to spot the things that stand out and that is usually what they ask you. Don't forget to study the Fallon book they give you either. Some of the questions DO come from that to the surprise of people who spent all week studying the OEMS protocols.

 

[NomadicMedic]

You don't need "corrective answers".

You don't need to be looking for help on an EMS forum.

You need to be studying the OEMS standing orders/protocol book.

That is the ONLY place you will find answers for the PROTOCOL TEST.

 

[EMT Brendan]

I took the Fallon test not too long ago, and it really just comes down to studying the OEMS protocol book they give you front and back. The BLS standing orders get incredibly repetitive so it is easy to spot the things that stand out and that is usually what they ask you. Don't forget to study the Fallon book they give you either. Some of the questions DO come from that to the surprise of people who spent all week studying the OEMS protocols.

What garage are you out of... n. quincy? did you have andy as the training supervisor?

 

[EMT Brendan]

my biggest thing is just separating the ALS from BLS in the protocol book.... i feel like im studying one page, then searching and searching until i get to another BLS protocol page. Half of them state that BLS cant do much because we dont have the materials to even diagnose the patient (a big one is EKG's)

*sigh* more reading for me i guess! lol

 

[VFlutter]

my biggest thing is just separating the ALS from BLS in the protocol book.... i feel like im studying one page, then searching and searching until i get to another BLS protocol page. Half of them state that BLS cant do much because we dont have the materials to even diagnose the patient (a big one is EKG's)

*sigh* more reading for me i guess! lol

Are you having trouble seperating ALS from BLS on a particualr situation or seperating the various pages in the book? Photocopy the pages relevant to you then just study that. Pretty much all ALS protocols start with BLS. You follow the protocol until the point where it mentions skills outside your scope.

And ya EMTs can't do much at all. You have zero need for EKGs and you do not diagnose the patient.

 

[EMT Brendan]

Are you having trouble seperating ALS from BLS on a particualr situation or seperating the various pages in the book? Photocopy the pages relevant to you then just study that. Pretty much all ALS protocols start with BLS. You follow the protocol until the point where it mentions skills outside your scope.

And ya EMTs can't do much at all. You have zero need for EKGs and you do not diagnose the patient.

just simply separating the ALS and BLS protocols. Yes everything could potentially lead into an ALS only situation, but for BLS a majority of them are just assess and monitor vitals as well as transport....

 

[VFlutter]

just simply separating the ALS and BLS protocols.

In that case......

 

[DesertMedic66]

BLS protocols are simple lets face it. Most protocols are O2, vitals, position of comfort, and call for ALS.

In the OEMS online protocols clearly state which protocols are for EMTs, which are for Advanced EMTs, and which are for Medics.

If you are having problems picking the 2 out then open up a new blank document on a computer or get a blank piece of paper and write down all the BLS protocols.

This will allow you to: 1. Write all of the BLS protocols so you know what they are and 2. After you are done writing them down study the sheets you made. That sheet will contain only BLS protocols so you can't get them confused with ALS protocols.

Don't write the policies off the top of your head to study. If you write down a protocol you think is right but actually it's wrong, then you are studying a wrong protocol. So word for word look at the OEMS book/online protocols and copy only the BLS protocols for everything.

 

[MarshalFoch]

just simply separating the ALS and BLS protocols. Yes everything could potentially lead into an ALS only situation, but for BLS a majority of them are just assess and monitor vitals as well as transport....

The BLS standing orders will almost all have these same four components: activate ALS, transport, treat for shock if bp drops below 100mm hg systolic, and notify receiving hospital. The variations are in obvious situations, like CPR in a cardiac arrest or manage wounds in a traumatic situation.

Don't just go to the end of the situational protocols either, important stuff like when you do not have to initiate resuscitation is covered in the back appendices.