Rural EMT-B

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I'm a brand new EMT-B and just got on with my local volly service. I live in a rural area and they seem excited to have someone new sign up. I was given a basic jump kit, O2 and a radio.
They gave me the option of doing some ride time or jumping right in and going directly to the call(which I will eventually be doing). I opted for doing some ride time and learning the ropes before jumping in head first.
Any rural EMS folks out there to share their volly experiances?
 
When I joined they issued me a pager. A year later I was issued a portable.
 
From a seasoned new guy....

Ok, here is what I have learned taking calls for my town in the last few months...

My town: 4,200 people, 40,000 square acres I think... 3 selectmen, combined fire/ems with 2 rescue units... struggling to move to per Diem and volly all in one big happy family.

1st and foremost... learn to stay out of the politics. I never thought it would be an issue, but they find there way onto the ambulance.

This is paramount to be able to maintain a good attitude, and focus on good patient care.

Learn the ropes like you are doing. Pt care is relatively easy. You have training and protocols to fall back on, the hard part is learning things like how to number run sheets, where things go on the rig, when to do truck checks... (There are things that are different for different services.. it is easy to say do a truck check at the beginning of the shift but if you do weekend shifts and the rig doesn't roll on Saturday maybe it is not in the SOG;s to do one Sunday....)

Learn who is doing QA/QI and sit with them. Ask how they want narratives, etc... our QA/QI guy says "If you have been doing this for more than five years, I don't care how you do narratives... otherwise do SOAP notes...." They will be your friend.

LEARN YOUR RIG!! Your in a small town, there will be a day... it could be soon... where you need to be the primary EMT. Nothing worse than not knowing where something is, or how it works. I recently pointed at an auto pulse and said "Whats that?"...

Talk to the triag nurses and ALS providers from other towns. Introduce yourself and try to get feedback. Give them respect and they will respect you. 5 of the last 7 calls I took were Mutual Aid to other towns. In a rural setting you will find that your call radius is larger than your town.

Have fun!! And, if you want to ask me questions as a new guy just PM me. I will share my stories, and try to give you insight as I feel I have a unique perspective as I have been learning the ropes while my department is in serious turmoil so I have a lot of DON'T DO THAT experience :)

Good luck and welcome!
 
Politics find their way into any organization. Minding yourself and focusing on doing your job as opposed to trying to hear all the local gossip will keep you out of it. I've been with my rural unit for about a year and a half, and I know the political crap is going on. I even know some of it. But my response to any of it is to simply respond with "meh, I like everyone here so I just want the best for you and them, however I'm staying out of it as well" and I leave it at that. I am the girl that shrugs and walks away.

Definitely learn your rig. You don't want to show up on the scene of a cardiac arrest and be yelled at to grab the BVM only to realize you have no idea where the BVMs are kept (yes I speak from experience). Knowing where your equipment is, is paramount.


And to the PP, what is SOAP and what is an auto pulse? You've got me both times LOL.
 
auto pulse is made by zoll...it does automatic chest compressions...very cool. I myself was on a ride along with a company who had them and they showed me how to use it b/c if it was to be needed, they said that i was to go get it and set it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rP0CzKXxTw.
 
Hey sassafras... I may have gotten the acronym wrong, but it is a narrative form..

S: Subjective

O: Objective

P: Plan (What your going to do, or did do....)

A: Assessment (What the pt's problem was... "Neck Pain")

They just called them soap notes in class.

After about 50 or so calls I started to get into a groove when it came to writing them... pretty much all narratives are the same now from a stubbed toe to a multi-system trauma... Just different findings.
 
Ahh, I set mine up differently but have to include everything that I listed previously in my vitals as well. I just follow the same outline though.
 
Sassafras said:
Ahh, I set mine up differently but have to include everything that I listed previously in my vitals as well. I just follow the same outline though.
Click to expand...

Well, I am starting to get more comfortable with the laptop... not the technology but the act of using it while talking to a patient. At first I hated it, but now I am getting a little more comfortable when it is a patient who is stable. We have a 30-35 minute transport time.

So, I like to collect vitals/meds/procedures as I take them so the time is documented. That way I never need to write them in the narrative. Same with meds, alergies and PMHX. I just right Meds As listed, etc....

So, to the OP...

I have learned a TON recently and have really started to enjoy this EMS business for a rural department.

Have fun and let other providers know you are new to EMS. If they are "good" they will take that as an opportunity to share their knowledge with you and help you along your oddysey.

I look forward to seeing what others have to say. I wish I asked this question before starting too.
 
Let me rephrase, my volley unit requires vitals and PMH and well, everything, in the narrative unless you type out "see above". My paid unit IFT does not. However, so I dont' get confused I still do the "see above" thing and list vitals in all my narratives LOL. I don't list all, just my initial vitals as well as any changes I feel need documented for trending purposes.
 
On your own time drive to the hospitals you will be transporting to and find the bays. Find the best way to get to the bays. Try to keep in the loop with road closures, construction, around those hospitals and on your major routes in town. This one bit my rural EMT boyfriend in the *** one of the first times he transported... he had studied all the maps of the hospital bays but apparently one of them had recently changed and his map was outdated.
 
LucidResq said:
On your own time drive to the hospitals you will be transporting to and find the bays.
Click to expand...

That's an awesome idea. I know we transport to 5 different hospitals (Although 9 out of 10 calls go to the same.....) and they are all different.
 
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