# Scared of being a Paramedic??



## Mohrenberg (Sep 16, 2011)

I have been an EMT-B for 4 years now. I've got exactly 1 month of classroom time left and around 500 clinical hours left to complete for my Paramedic school. 

About 3 of my years as an EMT have been spent on a BLS truck, and I normally get stuck working with new employees since I work the weekend. Because of this, I've become use to being the person in charge on scene and have become comfortable with running 911 calls. I still get the adrenaline rush on codes and unresponsive patients, but am confident in my very limited scope of practice as an EMT-B. 

Now, with the prospect of becoming a Paramedic getting closer and closer I'm starting to get those worries all over again. Scared that I'm going to run a call and have absolutely no idea what to do. 

Did anyone else have these worries when going from Basic to Paramedic?
I'm hoping that as I complete my clinical time I'll become more comfortable with making a field diagnosis and implementing a treatment plan, but right now it scares the :censored::censored::censored::censored: out of me!

Thanks!


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## Shishkabob (Sep 16, 2011)

Yes.  Infact I'm trying to convince my current partner to man up and get cleared to work as a Paramedic on his own truck, and he's been an EMT for 14 years and a medic for a few months.  Infact, every medic I've spoken to have all admitted to being scared when they first started as the lone Paramedic on a truck.

This is to be expected.  It's a lot of responsibility.  But it will get better, and the consensus is your first year is the hardest, but after that it gets easier.



I've been a Paramedic for 18 months and doing 911 since December.  If you ask my partner how I was when we first started with eachother in February, when I first cleared, and how I am now, he will tell you it's a world of difference.  



The confidence will come with experience.


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## Handsome Robb (Sep 16, 2011)

I'm about two months behind you in school and your not alone! I don't have near the experience as you do but I have enough to know how wrong things can really go. 

We'll be good man! haha


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## abckidsmom (Sep 16, 2011)

I'm a decade or more ahead of you and I sometimes wonder what the heck I'm going to do about a situation.

It's a lot to learn.  Most of it requires you to just develop and then exercise really common sense.  Push for a thorough preception.  Ask hard questions from your preceptor.  Read a lot.  

Acknowledging that you're nervous or afraid is the first step toward overcoming.


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## Mohrenberg (Sep 16, 2011)

Linuss said:


> Yes.  Infact I'm trying to convince my current partner to man up and get cleared to work as a Paramedic on his own truck, and he's been an EMT for 14 years and a medic for a few months.  Infact, every medic I've spoken to have all admitted to being scared when they first started as the lone Paramedic on a truck.
> 
> This is to be expected.  It's a lot of responsibility.  But it will get better, and the consensus is your first year is the hardest, but after that it gets easier.
> 
> ...



That's reassuring that everyone experiences this. 
As an EMT I find comfort in the fact that my abilities are so limited. When things get crazy, I have the request for ALS intercept to fall back on and just maintain ABC's until a Paramedic arrives to take over (we have a 20 minutes transport time to any medical facility). 
The idea of being a Paramedic and having an entirely new set of skills and responsibilities is very intimidated.

I honestly think I'll be a good paramedic. Not only to my patients, but to the new EMT's who are looking for someone to help them get comfortable with the job. I hate seeing new people come in and get barraged by old EMTs and medics who think they're god. They often fail to remember that at one point, they didn't know anything either.

I think my intimidation comes from a lot from that. I know that in the big picture, my patient care will be good. It's missing that not-so-noticeable sign or symptom and failing to treat it & answering for it when I present my patient to the ER that worries me the most.

EDIT: That, and the 20 minute transport time! Even if things go to hell and it's one of those "get us there now" situations, it still takes 20 minutes haha


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## Sandman-EMT (Sep 16, 2011)

I just passed my class final and am starting on my ride time,(500hours). I have my 260 clinical hours done. I still lack national boards and NR test. I'm glad you posted this up because I feel the same intimidation and fear.:unsure:


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## Shishkabob (Sep 16, 2011)

I have a 45+ minute transport, depending on the specialist needed and which corner of the county I'm in.   Yes, it can be nerve wracking, but, as cliche as it is, as long as you fall back on your ABCs, you'll be fine.

Just a month ago I had a bradycardic, unconscious, hypotensive patient who I ended up RSIing.  I had 40 minutes of just me in the back with the patient, maintaining the HR, BP, and ventilations.  It happens, but you learn to trust yourself.


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## abckidsmom (Sep 16, 2011)

Linuss said:


> I have a 45+ minute transport, depending on the specialist needed and which corner of the county I'm in.   Yes, it can be nerve wracking, but, as cliche as it is, as long as you fall back on your ABCs, you'll be fine.
> 
> Just a month ago I had a bradycardic, unconscious, hypotensive patient who I ended up RSIing.  I had 40 minutes of just me in the back with the patient, maintaining the HR, BP, and ventilations.  It happens, but you learn to trust yourself.



That's the kind that takes longer to write the report than it does to do the work.


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## Shishkabob (Sep 16, 2011)

abckidsmom said:


> That's the kind that takes longer to write the report than it does to do the work.



Yeah, but they also tend to be the more fun calls, too


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## firetender (Sep 16, 2011)

*Scared of what???*

I mean, what's the big deal? 

Now, the patient croaks, you can't blame the guy with the extra letter.

So what if everyone on the scene looks to you as if you knew what everyone needed to do?

And if you tell someone below you to do something and they reply, "Do it your damned self!" it won't kill you.

Yeah, yeah, I know, you can't drive like a butthole any more; sometimes you gotta sacrifice.

Start accepting right now that you're likely to lose the love of any RN in your life.

And if you're a guy, you'll *never* get to marry a female doctor.

It'll only take about six months until you learn you don't have to let ALL your peers ALLA TIME know that you really know the paramedic stuff. 

Then, it'll take another six months before everyone stops razzing you about it.

So look forward to one year of self doubt.

Until you're convinced you actually killed one of your patients you'll always wonder if that could really happen to you.

Once that happens, and it will, you will really begin getting it.

But you'll be hard pressed to find one person who you'd feel safe enough to talk it over with.

NONE of your partners will be good enough, EVER until they perfect the cloning thing, and even at that, you'll say he sucks!

You're sure to bring someone back who you wish you hadn't.

The pressure placed upon you by your supervisors will be proportional to the letters behind your name.

The pay will suck as bad but it will feel MORE like an insult.

Ten years from now you'll learn that much of what you were taught to use really never made much of a dent on death.

You will encounter more challenges of an emotional, moral, philosophical, ethical and spiritual nature than you ever imagined existed.

You'll have to train yourself to see the ones you saved instead of the ones you couldn't as you drift off to sleep.

In this moment, with a burnout average of five years and little if any upward mobility in a flooded field, you have no where else to go.

You won't be able to joke about :censored::censored::censored::censored: like this like you can now; it will all be too real.

...and if you insist you will, please don't bother taking the next step.

The funny thing is, all it takes is one, good, personal heart-driven reason and as long as you really know why you're there, it tips the scales in favor of _*not* you,_ *but the people you touch*. 

If it's about anything but them, I'm sure there are far better things you can do with your time. 

(This will be up on my blog soon, probably.)


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## EMT-IT753 (Sep 20, 2011)

Well, currently I am riding as a third medic with an FTO for the service I have been with for 14 months. I did some clinical ride times here with people I have worked with for awhile as an EMT-Intermediate Technician. 
Now that I am "in charge" of the calls now, there is substantial more pressure put on me. For the most part, I can figure out the right field diagnosis and form a treatment plan. The problem is with FTO's trying to make you second guess your thought process even when they later tell you that your diagnosis and treatment was correct in the first place.
I go to work excited and wary everyday. Everything you learned in school is still in the brain, somewhere, and trying to pull that information out at the time of need is critical. On top of pt care, there is navigating, driving, PCR, interaction with other staff, and trying to get along with the various co-workers.

All I can say is I hope it gets better with time


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## EMT-23 (Sep 20, 2011)

this post makes me feel like im not the only one...im glad...


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## silver (Sep 20, 2011)

If you aren't scared sometimes, especially when you first start out, you are doing something wrong.


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## Sasha (Sep 20, 2011)

Oh you are going to get calls that make you go uhhhhmmmmm... what am I going to do about THAT? but so is Linuss, so is abckidsmom, so is every medic. Doesn't matter how long you're a medic you're going to get the calls that throw you for a loop.

It's okay to be nervous, but don't be so nervous that it stops you from reaching your full potential. Every single poster on this forum has been there, whether it was for basic, medic, nurse, whatever.


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## dstevens58 (Sep 20, 2011)

I know that for years, I have this perception I have developed regarding Paramedics, both of whom I have worked with and admired.  The thought of being a paramedic is rather daunting, and probably the closer I get to graduation, the more daunting it will be.

I can only hope to be as good as the "good" paramedics I have admired and a lot better than the "not so good" paramedics that have given me a sour taste in my mouth.


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## pa132399 (Sep 23, 2011)

*just started p-school about a month ago*

started class aug 30th we start doing clinical during class oct 1st and they told us outright this will be 11 months of hell. i started to think of why i am doing this i was planning on attending a four yr university for some degree because thats what my parents want and i will still be doing it after medic school and while having the nervousness of how i am going to be in charge and second guessing myself on doing this because im still younger than most people who go into medic school at the ripe age of 18 and being an emt for only two yrs i got that lightbulb that goes off in my head only in deep deep thought that its not that im doing this for anyone but the patients that i will make contact with, so that I can provide them with the best pt care possible and yet medic school has only began and in the very boring and dry reading and lectures that this is for me.   

I realized that there is no better career in the world for me the very first time I stepped into the back of the ambulance. Its the only career where you really can have those ohhhh shiat moments and can be the difference in the outcome of the person in their dire moments.

im incredibly nervous about starting clinical next weekend and trying to keep the jitters down will be tough but it should be ok im used to being a leader and i can only hope to have a long very productive career in ems.


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## EMS Patient Care Advocate (Sep 23, 2011)

pa132399 said:


> im still younger than most people who go into medic school at the ripe age of 18 and being an emt for only two yrs .



Good for you! Wow, I definatly am glad I didnt take on paramedicine at 18, I am still on the young side at 28. I was a lone EMTB scared poop at 18. You should never stop going to school, remind your parents this is a license to learn.


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## pa132399 (Sep 23, 2011)

thank you im still scared poopless at the thought that class has only began and yeah its kind of boring at the moment. i still look at it as its not an impossible task people have done it before me. and i found that this field was exactly for me helping people is all i have ever wanted to do since i was little. maybe it was because i always tried to one up my dad by joining a fire company when i was younger than him, to getting my emt right after i turned 17. and now going for my medic, only thing im not going to beat him to is becoming a state trooper too much aggravation and way to much politics involved. but yet again thank you


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## NREMTB12 (Sep 23, 2011)

Sandman-EMT said:


> I just passed my class final and am starting on my ride time,(500hours). I have my 260 clinical hours done. I still lack national boards and NR test. I'm glad you posted this up because I feel the same intimidation and fear.:unsure:


greetings from mccracken county, in the last semester of classroom here, and then clinicals.


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## johnmedic (Sep 26, 2011)

Being a bit anxious just means you care about what you'll be doing and you respect the job's challenges, very normal response. Btw: always keep some of the fear, it's a great motivator to always study more.

Sent from my G2X on tapatalk. Forgive my typos. ; )


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