# is there anything that i can study before my emt class starts in jan to get ahead



## nicolel3440 (Nov 20, 2009)

hi i am new here and i start my emt-b course in jan.  I am a stay at home mom right now and i could prob use all the extra study time ahead of time.  keep in mind i have not recieved by book yet.  thanks for any help in advance


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## Aerin-Sol (Nov 20, 2009)

Basic anatomy would help a lot.


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## Lifeguards For Life (Nov 20, 2009)

This book, as recommended to me by an EMTLIFER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=11DFPM8E0XR64YTJDPPV


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## bunkie (Nov 20, 2009)

When you get your book, read as much ahead as you possibly can. I should have done this before I started class. That's the best piece of advice I can give from my own experiences, one mom to another. Good luck!


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## EMSEdukator (Nov 21, 2009)

If you can get your book ahead of time and prep.  There are many good sites on line that you can quiz yourself on after reading.
emtb.com is one

GOOD LUCK


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## nicolel3440 (Nov 21, 2009)

thank you all for your help i am really excited about this course.  and a little nerves too as i have been a stay at home mom for six years.


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## mycrofft (Nov 22, 2009)

*Just read the book first. THEN study it.*

If it makes sense at all, the first read can be the most productive, but be sure to mark or copy p[hrases etc you don't understand yet, then look them up.


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## thegreypilgrim (Nov 23, 2009)

You might wanna try reading the book _Anatomy & Physiology for Emergency Care_ by Bledsoe et al. Getting the best handle on A&P you can will do wonders for you.


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## Melclin (Nov 23, 2009)

I would second/thrid/forth getting an anatomy and physiology book. I've not read the Bledsoe one, but it sounds like a good idea. Any proper A&P/pathophyiology text will do, that is to say, a university text. That said, the internet is a great resource. The online Merck manual is my favourite place for this (1) but it requires some pre-existing knowledge of A&P to work with. Wikipedia is often wrong, but it can point you in the right direction sometimes and almost always gives you good links and references to the relevant journal articles. 

Use any of these resources to get acquainted with:

-Autonomic nervous system: particularly the functions and effects in different pathologies, know the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and what they do (2).
-Cardiovascular system: how it works, what affects it, preload, afterload, systemic vascular resistance.  
-Pulmonary system: get familiar with the trip that Oxygen takes from when its in the air to when it gets to your cells (its called the Oxygen cascade), and some of the things that can stop it along the way (3).
-Basic structural anatomy: the important bones, location of the major organs, blood vessels, and the the different organ systems (circulatory, pulmonary, reproductive etc).
-Anatomical terminology: distal-proximal, superior-inferior, etc (4)

All the time be conscious of the affects that age has on all these things (children have higher heart rates, the elderly will tend to have reduced cardiac output).

If you can grasp these concepts before you get into class, you'll already be further ahead than most of your classmates will every be before you even start.

(1) http://www.merck.com/mmpe/index.html
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomic_nervous_system#Function
(3) http://www.nda.ox.ac.uk/wfsa/html/u10/u1003_01.htm
(4) http://learning.mgccc.cc.ms.us/science/ap/anaterm.html

*
Further reading:* 

http://www.ccmtutorials.com/rs/oxygen/page02.htm  --- This one is great but it taken me a few months to really get through it an understand it. Maybe one for when you start paramedic school.

http://www.nursingpharmacology.info/learning2.htm --- A good one for the pharmacology, but again, depending on the scope in your area, this may be one to leave until paramedic school.


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## bunkie (Nov 23, 2009)

nicolel3440 said:


> thank you all for your help i am really excited about this course.  and a little nerves too as i have been a stay at home mom for six years.



Dont be nervous. You'll do just fine. You'll have it harder then some people in your class who don't have kids. You wont have as much opportunity to study/practice. You'll have other things on your mind. But when you are in class, be at class. Don't worry if the baby is being diapered right, the dishes are done and the trash was taken out. Wipe your mind clean, open it up to learn and absorb. When you schedule time to study. Study. Don't do the dishes or dust. Study. I was a stay at home mom for the last four years and I did extremely well in my EMT class despite several aggravating outside factors that should have slowed me down. If I could do it, you can do it too!!


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## kd7emt (Nov 24, 2009)

nicolel3440 said:


> hi i am new here and i start my emt-b course in jan.  I am a stay at home mom right now and i could prob use all the extra study time ahead of time.  keep in mind i have not recieved by book yet.  thanks for any help in advance



Where are you going to be going to school?  I'm starting at TCC in January.


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## Mountain Res-Q (Nov 24, 2009)

nicolel3440 said:


> is there anything that i can study before my emt class starts in jan to get ahead



http://cgi.ebay.com/Brown-Paper-Sch...emQQptZUS_Childrens_Books?hash=item414ad26ee7





Don't laugh... This Book ROCKS... it was this book (as well as a combination of Doctor McCoy and Doctor Crusher) that got me initially interested in Medcine and Biology back when Push Pops were all the rage... ^_^  Or, if you are must, find a good anatomy book and start there... you can never have enough anatomy...​


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## MrBrown (Nov 24, 2009)

Marieb 7e A&P is really good it comes with a DVD and online portion that are just fantasmic


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## nicolel3440 (Nov 24, 2009)

kd7emt said:


> Where are you going to be going to school?  I'm starting at TCC in January.



I am in pa and going to hacc but the class is held at a local FD


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## nicolel3440 (Nov 24, 2009)

Mountain Res-Q said:


> http://cgi.ebay.com/Brown-Paper-Sch...emQQptZUS_Childrens_Books?hash=item414ad26ee7
> 
> 
> 
> ...



My dad works for good humor bryers and makes push up pops.  LOL


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## Achromatic (Nov 24, 2009)

kd7emt said:


> Where are you going to be going to school?  I'm starting at TCC in January.



TCC is a good school - I'm in Thurston County and Medic One does our training, but I'll be headed to TCC in a little while (well, ASAP) to do medic training.


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## kd7emt (Nov 24, 2009)

That's great to hear, Achromatic.  I liked that they had a medic program as well, which I'll be prepping for during my EMT-B time.  Really can't wait for January.


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## Aerin-Sol (Nov 25, 2009)

daedalus said:


> There is no need to prepare for a class that takes no effort to pass.



That's a good attitude.


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## Achromatic (Nov 25, 2009)

daedalus said:


> There is no need to prepare for a class that takes no effort to pass.



Right. Who'd want an emergency medical provider to actually have anything beyond a baseline interest in what they're doing?

I think the word is: troll.

Would you like a medal for being an exalted paramedic student? I mean, why would you want your EMTs to understand Cushing's triad and what it means, its role in a differential diagnosis, and so on?

Or why episodes of vomiting might be of just a little importance when attached to a PT complaining of HA...

No, that couldn't possibly require anything beyond "no effort" to learn.

Here in my county, the controlling authority requires paramedics to go through EMT school, then get at least a year of field experience and 1,000 pt contacts before being taken into medic school. It's not possible that an EMT student in such a situation might find value in working on A&P, or learning at least at a baseline level what different indications are for the various anti-dysrhythmics are, be they amiodarone, lidocaine, adenosine. No, can't imagine how that might be possibly useful following an ALS upgrade. Best that we learn our place now, shut up and drive the rig, and remember where the bandaids are kept, right?


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## Melclin (Nov 25, 2009)

daedalus said:


> There is no need to prepare for a class that takes no effort to pass.



I seem to remember you being big on the whole education thing. Undoubtedly you are remarking on the low level of education involved in the EMT-B. In that case, why wouldn't you want to encourage someone taking a course that is not required to be very hard, to make the effort to extend themselves in the interests of building their clinical knowledge. 

I might add too that even an easy class takes somewhat more effort to pass when you are otherwise engaged with the important and time consuming task of raising a family. There is no harm in getting a head start on the material when you know there will be unforeseen circumstances popping up that will get in the way of study down the track.


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## nicolel3440 (Nov 25, 2009)

Melclin said:


> I seem to remember you being big on the whole education thing. Undoubtedly you are remarking on the low level of education involved in the EMT-B. In that case, why wouldn't you want to encourage someone taking a course that is not required to be very hard, to make the effort to extend themselves in the interests of building their clinical knowledge.
> 
> I might add too that even an easy class takes somewhat more effort to pass when you are otherwise engaged with the important and time consuming task of raising a family. There is no harm in getting a head start on the material when you know there will be unforeseen circumstances popping up that will get in the way of study down the track.



Thank you very much melclin.  I would like to add in my defense that my husban also works on the road mon-friday so during that time i am basicly a single parent.  So this course is going to be very hard for me and all the extra study time will help a great deal.  ( i was able to borrow some books from a emt in the area.)


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## Manic_Wombat (Dec 3, 2009)

One thing I can recommend for the future which helped me a ton, is when your class starts, ask your instructor to give you the powerpoint presentations (if your class uses them) on a flash drive or email them to you. Going over these before or after class, or before a test or quiz can really jog your memory and help you in the long run. Plus when it comes to studying for your state exam you wont have to try to decipher all the crappy notes you scribbled down without paying attention ^_^


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## Lifeguards For Life (Dec 3, 2009)

Mountain Res-Q said:


> http://cgi.ebay.com/Brown-Paper-Sch...emQQptZUS_Childrens_Books?hash=item414ad26ee7
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Mo, i already recomended this book. (as you recommended it to me a long time ago) As soon as i read this book it all made sense, and patients stopped dying all the time. Thank you blood and guts


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## Mountain Res-Q (Dec 3, 2009)

Lifeguards For Life said:


> Mo, i already recomended this book. (as you recommended it to me a long time ago) As soon as i read this book it all made sense, and patients stopped dying all the time. Thank you blood and guts



Well, you know me...  I am all about education... And this book is all ya need...  ^_^


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## spiffy (Jan 11, 2010)

nicolel3440 said:


> hi i am new here and i start my emt-b course in jan.  I am a stay at home mom right now and i could prob use all the extra study time ahead of time.  keep in mind i have not recieved by book yet.  thanks for any help in advance


http://www.emtb.com/9e/login.cfm   you don't have to buy the manuel itself but you can learn a lot from this page.  but then again i'm not sure exactly where you are from and it varies from state to state it seems.  I'm in the same boat as you tho... I just started a week ago.


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## spiffy (Jan 11, 2010)

nicolel3440 said:


> Thank you very much melclin.  I would like to add in my defense that my husban also works on the road mon-friday so during that time i am basicly a single parent.  So this course is going to be very hard for me and all the extra study time will help a great deal.  ( i was able to borrow some books from a emt in the area.)


Single mother, I'm feeling ya!  If you figure it out, can you tell me how?    I am a full time single mom of two kids under 5.. so if you can show me how you do it, I'll love ya for life


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## nicolel3440 (Jan 11, 2010)

spiffy said:


> Single mother, I'm feeling ya!  If you figure it out, can you tell me how?    I am a full time single mom of two kids under 5.. so if you can show me how you do it, I'll love ya for life



unfortunatly my class was cancled due to not enough intrest so i am still studying and waiting till spring or summer when they try the class again in my area.  With small kids it is just not possibale to drive 1 hour to class at night. as far as the kids and being a single mom during the week i have a wonderfull mother in law that i couldnt do without.  if you want feel free to pm me


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## Silver_Lining (Mar 8, 2010)

bunkie said:


> Dont be nervous. You'll do just fine. You'll have it harder then some people in your class who don't have kids. You wont have as much opportunity to study/practice. You'll have other things on your mind. But when you are in class, be at class. Don't worry if the baby is being diapered right, the dishes are done and the trash was taken out. Wipe your mind clean, open it up to learn and absorb. When you schedule time to study. Study. Don't do the dishes or dust. Study. I was a stay at home mom for the last four years and I did extremely well in my EMT class despite several aggravating outside factors that should have slowed me down. If I could do it, you can do it too!!


I'm feeling more & more hopeful after reading how you and the 'Nicole' poster here are/were both stay at home moms (SAHMs).. I was & still am. However, now I'm going it alone, & am a full time parent. My son is only 1 (on 3/19) this year.

I'm struggling with how I'll be able to pull it all off, yet trying not to think too much on it..as I don't want to get psyched out.

I'm hoping to start classes this fall..possible some this summer.
I'm mainly nervous about the basic education reminder classes. I feel certain that once I get to the EMT part/s I'll do excellently..  sigh.

I am searching for other EMT/EMT student moms here who are also basically single. & how they manage classes/training & their kid/s? I really don't like the idea of day care At All.. so I'm hoping to see what other ideas are out there, or if campuses/training centers tend to have child watching facility on the same grounds. I can totally deal with that.
Also, anyone here not vax their kids?

hmm. I guess I should c&p this post & re-post it in a general topic starter thread. 

-Crystal


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## nicolel3440 (Mar 8, 2010)

Silver_Lining said:


> I'm feeling more & more hopeful after reading how you and the 'Nicole' poster here are/were both stay at home moms (SAHMs).. I was & still am. However, now I'm going it alone, & am a full time parent. My son is only 1 (on 3/19) this year.
> 
> I'm struggling with how I'll be able to pull it all off, yet trying not to think too much on it..as I don't want to get psyched out.
> 
> ...



In case you didnt see my class was cancled due to not enough intrest but i have started a first responder course last week and it seems to be going well.  I am already three chapters ahead in the book.  What i do is take it everywere i go and i do meen everywere.  I read while i am siting in line waiting to pick son up from school, while my daughter is naping, while they are in gymnastics class.  And of course for an hour or so after they are in bed.   My advise is get a good suport staf around you ie family. We live with my mother in law so i am never alone.  I do have a very good babysitter that comes to the house while i am at class so that the kids are in there own suroundings and are in bed on time.  Since you have only one and he is realatively young i  think you will do great.


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## Silver_Lining (Mar 8, 2010)

nicolel3440 said:


> In case you didnt see my class was cancled due to not enough intrest but i have started a first responder course last week and it seems to be going well.  I am already three chapters ahead in the book.  What i do is take it everywere i go and i do meen everywere.  I read while i am siting in line waiting to pick son up from school, while my daughter is naping, while they are in gymnastics class.  And of course for an hour or so after they are in bed.   My advise is get a good suport staf around you ie family. We live with my mother in law so i am never alone.  I do have a very good babysitter that comes to the house while i am at class so that the kids are in there own suroundings and are in bed on time.  Since you have only one and he is realatively young i  think you will do great.


thanks!

yeah, its the family support I am struggling with sort-of. 
I do live near two of my sisters..and I spend weeks on weeks off at my separated spouses apartment. so far he's not available for helping with Abraham (son.) and my two sisters: one already works full time, and the other is applying for a full timer. 
I just have to figure out how to weedle him into some time they are willing to have a go at helping me. I've offered to pay them, I make very little when I clean apartments here. as peopel don't really move out often, & I only get $60 for eahc unit I clean. ..but that's not really a deciding factor for them. As they just want freedom. (understandibly so.) 
Its also slightly tough, as I'm between these two places, without a real place to call home. it's ridiculous. lol. Nothing to complain entirely about, because I DO have these two places to go. its just tight all around. If separated spouse wasn't so inclined to resign all parenting duties on me, it maybe would be different, & he's be responsible for him while I go to classes/etc. *sigh. 

Anywho.. Thanks for the reply. I'm sorry your courses were cancelled, but glad you were able to find that 1st responders course.  Here's to you passing with flying colors! 

-Crystal


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