New volunteer....

[mcdonl]

Hi all. Great site, I love all of the educational elements.

I just wanted to introduce myself. I am from Southern Maine, and I am at the point in my life where my daughters are getting to the age of being little women and my ability to coach them is done. They say nothing is worse then a scorned woman... try a whole soccer field of 13 year old girls... So anyway...

I turned my community service time to my local FD/EMS as I knew they needed help and I wanted to be a part of helping my neighborhood, community and town.

Well, it didn't take me long to realize that what they needed most was another EMT-B so I have signed up for the class. I have also been doing fire fighter training in-house so I can be of some assistance there as well.

Ok... I guess if I had one question, it would be about the anatomy section of the Orange book. How hung up should I be on being able to answer all 198 flash cards on Chapter 4 in on www.emtb.com? I try to get all of them answered 100% before moving onto the next chapter but I am struggling with this one. Any thoughts? I will mention, my class is not until January but I wanted to have a go through the book/workbook on my own to become familiar with the subject. Even though I have been in health care management for 14 years, it is a world away from clinical and probably 2 worlds away from emergency care.

Also, I have 1 red light I put on my truck AFTER I get to a scene as being the new guy, I get to direct traffic and I want to make my vehicle more visible... and I am getting good at directing traffic!! I only listen to my scanner when I am available and "on call"... we do a lot of mutual aid calls for a couple of neighboring towns so I like to know when they are going to be calling us as I live about 7 minutes from central station and I do not want to make anyone wait for me longer then necessary. Also, i keep my turnout gear in my truck due to living so far away. I hope this doesn't make me a whaker... I have been accused of being wacko before, but not a whacker...

Mods.... Thanks for having this site, it is a great resource and a real eye opener for new volunteers like me.

 

[firecoins]

Having more lights in your car is on the road to being a whacker. I know it may be normal for your fellow volunteers but it really isn't necessary.

Just keep studying the A&P. It doesn't need to be perfect but the more you know, the better.

 

[rescue99]

Hi all. Great site, I love all of the educational elements.

I just wanted to introduce myself. I am from Southern Maine, and I am at the point in my life where my daughters are getting to the age of being little women and my ability to coach them is done. They say nothing is worse then a scorned woman... try a whole soccer field of 13 year old girls... So anyway...

I turned my community service time to my local FD/EMS as I knew they needed help and I wanted to be a part of helping my neighborhood, community and town.

Well, it didn't take me long to realize that what they needed most was another EMT-B so I have signed up for the class. I have also been doing fire fighter training in-house so I can be of some assistance there as well.

Ok... I guess if I had one question, it would be about the anatomy section of the Orange book. How hung up should I be on being able to answer all 198 flash cards on Chapter 4 in on www.emtb.com? I try to get all of them answered 100% before moving onto the next chapter but I am struggling with this one. Any thoughts? I will mention, my class is not until January but I wanted to have a go through the book/workbook on my own to become familiar with the subject. Even though I have been in health care management for 14 years, it is a world away from clinical and probably 2 worlds away from emergency care.

Also, I have 1 red light I put on my truck AFTER I get to a scene as being the new guy, I get to direct traffic and I want to make my vehicle more visible... and I am getting good at directing traffic!! I only listen to my scanner when I am available and "on call"... we do a lot of mutual aid calls for a couple of neighboring towns so I like to know when they are going to be calling us as I live about 7 minutes from central station and I do not want to make anyone wait for me longer then necessary. Also, i keep my turnout gear in my truck due to living so far away. I hope this doesn't make me a whaker... I have been accused of being wacko before, but not a whacker...

Mods.... Thanks for having this site, it is a great resource and a real eye opener for new volunteers like me.

Congrats on your new adventure! I sure miss the days when civics was taught in elementary school. There just aren't enough people out there anymore setting the example for future generations these days.

I take it you have the AAOS book? My advice...read each chapter trough chapter 12 and chapters 37 and 21. These will give you a terrific head start before class begins in January. Re-read A/P and assessment a few times in fact. Just reading them greatly improves one's understanding of lecture material. Add hands on and it all begins to come together. Good luck.

 

[mcdonl]

Thanks....

Thanks for the advice on the studying. Yes, it is the AAOS book. Coming from an engineering background, I had bad study habits... the sort of habits you use to pass a test, not necessarily understand the subject matter. I can see that would be BAD in this field.

As far as the light, to be honest... before ever going on my first call I joined a couple of forums and due to risk of embarrassment only used it once. It was at night, a very narrow road and my truck was parked on the side of the road. My and my sign were the first thing people saw so having the light that night was a safety consideration.

Besides, it is my understanding that in Maine you have to alert your insurance company if you intend to operate with lights on so using them while parked is MY only option and I will use discretion when doing so.

 

[karaya]

It was at night, a very narrow road and my truck was parked on the side of the road. My and my sign were the first thing people saw so having the light that night was a safety consideration.

Nothing wrong at all with being safe. I saw on your earlier thread that you direct traffic (probably from being the rookie?) so you may want to consider getting an ANSI 2 vest if you don't already have one.

Welcome and good luck!

 

[mcdonl]

Thanks....

Nothing wrong at all with being safe. I saw on your earlier thread that you direct traffic (probably from being the rookie?) so you may want to consider getting an ANSI 2 vest if you don't already have one.

Welcome and good luck!

I do have one in my gear bag... I was surprised at how much there was to learn about simple changing a sign from SLOW to STOP... I had to learn which chanell to switch the radio too, not to hold the sign up high as it was out of the range of the low beams on a car, etc...

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[dragonjbynight]

Volunteers in maine have to be careful, If I am not mistaken, state law states that only one red light with no more than a five inch diameter may be placed in the front window of the vehicle excepting fire chiefs and asst. chiefs. (former Wtvl maine FF) Mirrors can be used to add to the effect however. I was a rookie there at one point in time and did my time in traffic. The light is useful, especially on some of the narrow winding hilly roads.

Glad to see another volly join up. I think you'll find it can be time consuming on occasion, but worthwhile!

 

[mcdonl]

Life is time consuming....

Volunteers in maine have to be careful, If I am not mistaken, state law states that only one red light with no more than a five inch diameter may be placed in the front window of the vehicle excepting fire chiefs and asst. chiefs. (former Wtvl maine FF) Mirrors can be used to add to the effect however. I was a rookie there at one point in time and did my time in traffic. The light is useful, especially on some of the narrow winding hilly roads.

Glad to see another volly join up. I think you'll find it can be time consuming on occasion, but worthwhile!

That is the way I understand the law to read too dragon... like I said, I would not drive with the light on because I do not want to risk increasing my insurance, but I am pretty sure I can use the light at the scene, while parked without any troubles.

It can be time consuming, but coaching travel soccer with 3 practices a week and both weekend days having games is much much worse. I am also the athletics director for the Maine Highland Games... that takes a lot of time in the summer, I have even done a stint on the PTA (Hold the laughing please) so I am pretty used to my time being consumed for others. This is the first time though that I get to help others and have personal enjoyment while doing so.