# Scared of Needles.



## minneola24 (Apr 19, 2009)

Hello,

I have been wanting to become a paramedic for a long time now. I'm only in high school so I have 2 more years before I start schooling. I am a little scared of needles thoe. This will be a big problem eh. I was talking to a paramedic friend from London and he said some people start scared of needles but once they see them alot they get more comfortable with them. Is this true? Were any of you scared of needles before you started?


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## trevor1189 (Apr 19, 2009)

Become a regular blood donor, that will get rid of your fear. 

You do realize that you are sticking them in other people and not yourself right? lol


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## TransportJockey (Apr 19, 2009)

Shouldn't matter too much. Every single member of my paramedic class is afraid of needles to some degree


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## medicdan (Apr 19, 2009)

N.B.: In the US, you need to train and certify (and often spend some time) as an EMT-Basic before beginning training as a Paramedic.
Good luck with the needles!


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## yowzer (Apr 19, 2009)

I've never understood this. What's so scary about needles?


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## WannaBeFlight (Apr 19, 2009)

Blood donation definately helps, volunteering at a Hospital also helps.


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## nomofica (Apr 19, 2009)

trevor1189 said:


> Become a regular blood donor, that will get rid of your fear.
> 
> You do realize that you are sticking them in other people and not yourself right? lol



Hahaha this actually made me laugh.



jtpaintball70 said:


> Shouldn't matter too much. Every single member of my paramedic class is afraid of needles to some degree



I'm terrified of needles... the ones that have already been used, that is...


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## Buzz (Apr 19, 2009)

Eh, you'll get used to it. I still hate the annual Mantoux testing though.


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## EMTinNEPA (Apr 19, 2009)

yowzer said:


> I've never understood this. What's so scary about needles?



The needle itself isn't scary.  Some of us developed a primal fear of the ":censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: and a burn" part from childhood, though!


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## MMiz (Apr 19, 2009)

You should see the Paramedics lined up for our bi-annual TB test.  The tears are flowing!  Outside of EMS I don't like blood and guts, but that's never been a problem on the job.  The one thing I can't handle... vomit.


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## EMTinNEPA (Apr 19, 2009)

EMTinNEPA said:


> The needle itself isn't scary.  Some of us developed a primal fear of the ":censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: and a burn" part from childhood, though!



I can't believe something as tame as another term for making a small hole in somebody's skin is censored...


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## BossyCow (Apr 19, 2009)

To quote the illustrious and now deceased Gilda Radner... "it's always sumthin"


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## trevor1189 (Apr 19, 2009)

MMiz said:


> You should see the Paramedics lined up for our bi-annual TB test.  The tears are flowing!  Outside of EMS I don't like blood and guts, but that's never been a problem on the job.  The one thing I can't handle... vomit.



I absolutely hate listening to people vomit and it makes me want to throw up but when it's a patient it seems different. There is too much going on to be grossed out. :wacko:


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## minneola24 (Apr 20, 2009)

Thanks guys for the replys. Its funny how some paramedics are just as frightened of getting shots as the general public is.


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## Stewart1990 (Apr 20, 2009)

minneola24 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have been wanting to become a paramedic for a long time now. I'm only in high school so I have 2 more years before I start schooling. I am a little scared of needles thoe. This will be a big problem eh. I was talking to a paramedic friend from London and he said some people start scared of needles but once they see them alot they get more comfortable with them. Is this true? Were any of you scared of needles before you started?



I'm scared S***less of needles. Started getting over it by getting a tattoo.
I'm adjusting to the idea.


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## Mountain Res-Q (Apr 20, 2009)

trevor1189 said:


> I absolutely hate listening to people vomit and it makes me want to throw up but when it's a patient it seems different. There is too much going on to be grossed out. :wacko:



Ha... Ha... I hear ya.  I too am a sympathetic vomiter, unless it is a patient.  The other quirk I have is eye injuries.  Can't stand seeing an injured eye or hospital procedures related to the eye.  My eyes start itching an I have to scratch them!  AHHHHHH!!!


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## Stewart1990 (Apr 20, 2009)

Mountain Res-Q said:


> Ha... Ha... I hear ya.  I too am a sympathetic vomiter, unless it is a patient.  The other quirk I have is eye injuries.  Can't stand seeing an injured eye or hospital procedures related to the eye.  My eyes start itching an I have to scratch them!  AHHHHHH!!!



I hear that! I can't even stand to put contacts in.
I cant even stand to think too much into the eye being "filled with fluid". as far as im concerned, the eye is made out of that same stuff the cheap bouncyballs from the bubblegum machines are made of!!


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## Mountain Res-Q (Apr 20, 2009)

Stewart1990 said:


> I hear that! I can't even stand to put contacts in.
> I cant even stand to think too much into the eye being "filled with fluid". as far as im concerned, the eye is made out of that same stuff the cheap bouncyballs from the bubblegum machines are made of!!



Reminds me of search we did in Yosemite this last year.  Missing for 8 years, backpack finally found a the bottom of a ravine.  We were asked to grid search the 500-600 foot drop near the valley entrance.  By now all remains would have been scatered and pulverized, except...  the reason she went missing was that she had seperate from her group to go back to the valley to have here infected eye examined by the Valley Doctor... her GLASS EYE.  We were all hoping to find that, and yet praying to god that we didn't look down and see and eye stareing back through the pine needles... I think I would have itched so bad I would have had to scratch my own eye out!


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## Stewart1990 (Apr 20, 2009)

Mountain Res-Q said:


> Reminds me of search we did in Yosemite this last year.  Missing for 8 years, backpack finally found a the bottom of a ravine.  We were asked to grid search the 500-600 foot drop near the valley entrance.  By now all remains would have been scatered and pulverized, except...  the reason she went missing was that she had seperate from her group to go back to the valley to have here infected eye examined by the Valley Doctor... her GLASS EYE.  We were all hoping to find that, and yet praying to god that we didn't look down and see and eye stareing back through the pine needles... I think I would have itched so bad I would have had to scratch my own eye out!



To quote ron White-
'things that make you go.....buhhhhhh-hhh-hhhhhhh"


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## mycrofft (Apr 20, 2009)

*LIKING needles is unnatural!*

I HATE it when I go to draw blood and the pt goes "Ahh-h-hh-" and shuts his eyes as the needle goes in. _NOT---RIGHT_.


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## Shishkabob (Apr 20, 2009)

I HATE the sight of my own blood... it can, and has, made me woozy on the verge of syncope.  But, seeing other peoples blood has the exact opposite effect.. I go "oh cool!'

SO, because of the blood aspect, I also hate needles inside of me.  I remember a couple of years ago I went for a shot at the Drs office.  I was looking away when the nurse felt it was a good time to jab me without warning, so I flinched.  The needle was stuck inside of me and out of the plunger.  Muscles tensed up so much that pulling the needle out took a while


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## Stewart1990 (Apr 20, 2009)

Linuss said:


> I HATE the sight of my own blood... it can, and has, made me woozy on the verge of syncope.  But, seeing other peoples blood has the exact opposite effect.. I go "oh cool!'


welcome to the family!


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## Shishkabob (Apr 20, 2009)

Heh, I remember in EMT class when we had to watch and autopsy.  Nothing in it bothered me until the stuck a needle in the eyes to get the vitreous humor.  My God that was horrible.


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## Stewart1990 (Apr 20, 2009)

Linuss said:


> Heh, I remember in EMT class when he had to watch and autopsy.  Nothing in it bothered me until the stuck a needle in the eyes to get the vitreous humor.  My God that was horrible.



3 things i dont like in this world

1. clowns
2. dinosaurs
3. eye juice


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## *ofLife (Apr 20, 2009)

Hey, don't let the little things discourage you. If this is something you _really_ want to do, then you'll see through the little stuff. When I first became interested in EMS in High School, I had similar fears and similar doubts. You just gotta say "what the hell, let's do this!" If this is what you want to do, then just dive in. The rest will follow 

p.s.- I do feel that "weird" things like needles are just things you _do_ get use to after awhile.


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## BuddingEMT (Apr 20, 2009)

Stewart1990 said:


> 3 things i dont like in this world
> 
> 1. clowns
> 2. dinosaurs
> 3. eye juice



Amen to that.


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## Mountain Res-Q (Apr 20, 2009)

Stewart1990 said:


> 3 things i dont like in this world
> 
> 1. clowns
> 2. dinosaurs
> 3. eye juice



There are only three things I hate in this world...

1.  Nuclear War.
2.  Firefighter/FR's who think they know more than me.
3.  And the Bloody Dutch.


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## Stewart1990 (Apr 20, 2009)

okay, thing #4- LEO that show up 3 hours later, if they show at all


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## minneola24 (Apr 20, 2009)

*ofLife said:


> Hey, don't let the little things discourage you. If this is something you _really_ want to do, then you'll see through the little stuff. When I first became interested in EMS in High School, I had similar fears and similar doubts. You just gotta say "what the hell, let's do this!" If this is what you want to do, then just dive in. The rest will follow
> 
> p.s.- I do feel that "weird" things like needles are just things you _do_ get use to after awhile.



Thanks for the great reply *ofLife,

It's funny how needles have become so scary. Is this something that we are naturally afraid of? Or is it just all the hype we create about them. Because they really aren't that bad, I mean they do help us in the end. (excluding some needles )


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## Mountain Res-Q (Apr 20, 2009)

minneola24 said:


> It's funny how needles have become so scary. Is this something that we are naturally afraid of? Or is it just all the hype we create about them. Because they really aren't that bad, I mean they do help us in the end. (excluding some needles )



Ha, Ha, Ha, that's what all the Doctors and Robot Aliens want you to believe.  Sleep well, Minneola...


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## minneola24 (Apr 20, 2009)

Mountain Res-Q said:


> Ha, Ha, Ha, that's what all the Doctors and Robot Aliens want you to believe.  Sleep well, Minneola...



Haha :lol:

Half the things they stick into my blood stream via a sharp needle, I have no idea what it is! You may be right


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## BossyCow (Apr 21, 2009)

Needles seriously do not bother me. I guess I have a high pain threshold or something. I generally will volunteer to be the pincushion for new IV techs. Even let a fellow student start a 14 on me in class. Seriously, doesn't hurt and doesn't bother me. 

However... I am a sympathetic retcher. If someone's puking, I start feeling those tremors in my own throat warning of impending vomitus. I have yet to actually puke on a call or in the ambulance.. but I've been very, very close a time or two.


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## apagea99 (Apr 21, 2009)

I'm not scared of needles. I'm scared of the person wielding them! 

Honestly, what's the worst that could happen to you? Other than embolisms, infections, diseases, allergic reactions, etc, etc? :unsure:

We stuck each other in our IV class and it was no big deal. I wasn't really excited about having a newbie stick me, but everything went smoothly, and I got my turn to stick. As long as you follow your training every time you should be fine.


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## Shishkabob (Apr 21, 2009)

I have huge veins that you can stick a 14 in with ease... the moment a nurse sees my veins, she starts flicking them and asking if the can poke it.


Every.  Single.  Day.


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## Stewart1990 (Apr 21, 2009)

Linuss said:


> I have huge veins that you can stick a 14 in with ease... the moment a nurse sees my veins, she starts flicking them and asking if the can poke it.
> 
> 
> Every.  Single.  Day.



or you can be as pale as i am, and you can see every vein with ease. it looks like some one dripped light blue paint down my arms. every time i need an IV:

Nurse: "Well, this will be easy!"

BEst time is when they tell me "We can't find your vein.."

OPEN YOUR EYES! ITS RIGHT THERE!


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