Another Typical Newbie Thread

[Selenolycus]

I'll start off telling a bit about myself:

I'm about to start an EMT-B class that is 9:00-16:00 Tues/Thurs from 2/14 - 5/22. I'm a 22y/o male in Central Oklahoma, and have wanted to get into the program since I got out of HS, but financial restraints at the time and youthful indecisiveness delayed my pursuit of a particular educational goal.

I'm not sure what I'll do after I get my EMT-B Cert., I want to work ASAP after getting certified. I think I will enjoy it. I know I want to be in a field where I am helping to save and preserve life. I have 34h college credit atm - so I'll either be getting an associate's as a paramedic, possibly an RN - it just depends how much I like the setting.

Anyway, enough background. I have a couple of questions:

1) How difficult is it to find a job as an EMT-B fresh out of school? I tend to perform well academically, so you could assume I'll be a good performing student.

2) If working on an ambulance will a large part of my job be merely driving around the EMT-P and the patient?

4) In addition to taking the course itself, what else could I be doing to help myself? I need to start lifting some weights, I think - my arms are rather scrawny and effeminate, and I know lifting people will be part of the job. But, what text resources should I be consuming? I want to focus largely on course material, obviously, to perform well, but I do have a little over a month before the course starts. Would merely getting the course textbook and reading it before the class begins to give myself an edge be a good idea?

My apologies for the almost childishness of the questions, I'm just a bit excited and want to perform well in the coming months.

Thanks.

 

[JPINFV]

Anyway, enough background. I have a couple of questions:

1) How difficult is it to find a job as an EMT-B fresh out of school? I tend to perform well academically, so you could assume I'll be a good performing student.

That really depends. While I don't know about the job situation specific to Oklahoma, there are generally jobs to be had in interfacility transport. These jobs tend to be high in mundane "taxi" work where you will be dealing with nursing homes (system wide neglect at its finest). Normally these companies run "emergency" calls from nursing homes (I've had these range from "we're useless RNs who can't even place a foley cath in the patient" to "patient has a BP of 60/20). The emergency calls are generally more medical than trauma and EMT-B programs rather poorly prepares basic level providers for medical calls. Thus, many basics hate these jobs because even the emergency calls lack the adrenaline raising factor that traumas have.

2) If working on an ambulance will a large part of my job be merely driving around the EMT-P and the patient?

That will depend on how the system where you work is set up. If it's a basic/paramedic set up, then yes, your job will be assisting the paramedic and driving the unit on all of the critical calls. The decision on who is allowed to take the call is either based on the system (some systems require the highest level provider to take care of the patient all the way to the emergency department) or the paramedic's decision.

4) In addition to taking the course itself, what else could I be doing to help myself? I need to start lifting some weights, I think - my arms are rather scrawny and effeminate, and I know lifting people will be part of the job. But, what text resources should I be consuming? I want to focus largely on course material, obviously, to perform well, but I do have a little over a month before the course starts. Would merely getting the course textbook and reading it before the class begins to give myself an edge be a good idea?

Without knowing your other educational background, I'm going to suggest the generic "take a general chemistry, physiology, anatomy, and writing (technical/scientific writing. Being able to write even a decent narrative seems to elude a lot of basics). These are all courses that are essential to working as a medical provider (even as an EMT-Basic provider) that is not covered in nearly the amount of depth as is needed in EMT-Basic courses. Granted, it does appear that your EMT-B course is already scheduled and it is better to build a solid educational foundation before taking applied courses, but what done is done and there are plenty of people who are able to pass the course without a strong educational base.

My apologies for the almost childishness of the questions, I'm just a bit excited and want to perform well in the coming months.

Thanks.

No reason to apologize. It's better to look before you leap, no matter how close the cliff may be.