# I hate practicals!



## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

Well this is the second time I have completely hosed my trauma practical. Then I have one more chance before I have to repeat the basic course. What pisses me off the most is a graduated top of the entire comminity college basic program with a 99% and I cant get through my f^@%!n trauma and the lowest scoring person in my class passed his first try. That makes me ill.


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## MedicPrincess (Feb 20, 2006)

pfmedic said:
			
		

> What pisses me off the most is a graduated top of the entire comminity college basic program with a 99% and I cant get through my f^@%!n trauma and the lowest scoring person in my class passed his first try. That makes me ill.


 
Sounds like overconfidence...ego issues.

Slow down.  Concentrate.  Humble yourself and realize just because you can pass the course and take book test you just might not be able to apply it in the real world.

Review everything as if it the first time you read it.  Get a good nights sleep and most of all 

RELAX!


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## Wingnut (Feb 20, 2006)

I was SO afraid I wasn't go to pass my practicals, I came up with a system to make sure I didn't miss a single thing when I did it. If your trauma sheet is like ours it might help. In fact I can still do it off the top of my head: MNOP GAL ABCD SOS exam MR.


Scene Safety/BSI
M : Mechanism of Injury/Nature of illness
N: Number of pt's
O: Others...Do I need to call for help
P: Paralyze...Consider C-spine immobilization

G: General impression 
A: AVPU/LOC
L: Look for Life threats/Chief complaint

A&B: Airway/Breathing- Look,listen,feel
initaite O2 therapy
Ensure adequate ventalation
C: Circulation- control major bleeding
assess pulse
assess skin(color, temp, condition)
D: Decide transport (load & go or treat/priority pt's)


S: Select assessment (Focused & physical or Rapid)
O: Obtain Baseline vitals
S: SAMPLE

Detailed Physical Exam:
HEAD
inpect palpate scalp & ears
assess eyes, face, mouth & nose

NECK
inpect palpate neck
assess for JVD, & tracheal deviation

CHEST
inspect palpate auscultate

ABDOMEN/PELVIS
assess abdomen,pelvis, genitlia and perineum

EXTREMITIES
inspect palpate assess PMS

POSTERIOR
assess thorax & lumbar

M: manage secondary injuries, wounds
R: Reassess vitals every 5 mins (unstable) every 15 (stable)


Btw, I got a 100% my first time, so it's worth a shot.


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## Frogylovers (Feb 20, 2006)

That's nice. This is some really helpful information!

Thanks
Rachael
EMT-B Student


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## MedicPrincess (Feb 20, 2006)

Our very first oral exam was to memorize the Medical and Trauma NR Testing Sheets.  

Wingnuts way of remembering it is great if you cant just memorize that sheet.


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## MedicPrincess (Feb 20, 2006)

But then again...since Wingnut and I are women and in your mind are "lower quality creatures" and lack the ability to "posess logic" you might not want to listen to what we have to say.

Wouldn't want you to lower your standards.


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## Wingnut (Feb 20, 2006)

:angry: 

You might want to reconsider that link to your blog in message forum signatures.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

yeah thats probably not a good idea. I'll go ahead and remove it. Sorry guys. However, that doesnt change how I feel about women. and yes becuase you are emts that makes you logical... and abnormal.


Despite this, You wouldnt want to deny me the chance to vent about my ex girlfriend though would ya? ahahahha she is after all a b!tch.


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## Wingnut (Feb 20, 2006)

pfmedic said:
			
		

> yeah thats probably not a good idea. I'll go ahead and remove it. Sorry guys. However, that doesnt change how I feel about women. and yes becuase you are emt that makesy you logical. You wouldnt want to deny me the chance to vent about my ex girlfriend though would ya?


 

Ok that I can deal with  


I've said some pretty nasty thing sbaout men when dealing with a break up myself.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

*yep*

and yes... I have huge ego issues. and a host of other problems... dont worry about it though, it's not your problem... it's mine


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

well the truth is that men and women are usually too different to coexist.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

but we wont talk about it anymore becuase that blog is for my thoughts... and has no traffic.


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## Wingnut (Feb 20, 2006)

An ego isn't necessarily a bad thing. My husband has one, people usually don't like him, but like he says, that's thier problem. Confidence is a good thing, false confidence is bad. Like princess said, just take a step back take in a deep breath and study your trauma sheet, you'll do fine the next test.


And I've co-existed with my husband for 7 years, no problems. We don't want to change each other we just enjoy each other.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

whatever I dont care anymore about the trauma or about the blog. I'll just retake the course and quit my volunteer fire department until later. Im no use to them without my basic anyway.


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## Wingnut (Feb 20, 2006)

Well that's a pretty pessimistic attitude. You're going to throw away the work you did over one test and redo it all?  Get over it and study, then you can go on with your volunteer work and pass your test without having to redo everthing again. Don't make more out of it than it is.


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## MedicPrincess (Feb 20, 2006)

Wingnut- just stop.  theres no use.  he is going into the poor me mode.  he is going to have to pull himself up by his bootstraps and work hard.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

well guys the truth is you dont know me. you dont know about the 22 years of schooling I have under my belt, my masters degree of basket weaving and how tired I am of working so hard just so I can make 8.50 an hour. Yeah Im tired and if I didnt cut the mustard this time, Im going to go take the class again, because I'll be better next time and trying to do my trauma practical a third time is not going to yield me a cert if I couldnt do it the first two times.

Man my teacher is going to be pissed to see my butt in a seat in her class next fall though. ahhaha

By the way- it isnt a matter of getting over it an studying. I study quite a bit actually, or I wouldnt be top of the class. I just freeze up in the room. Im not a fan of the pass/fail system of testing. It makes me uncomfortable.


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## MedicPrincess (Feb 20, 2006)

So then tell us this..

If your so great, and did so awesome in the class passing it with a 99%, and your only problem is you freeze up once you get in the room, what good it retaking the class going to do you.

According to you, you already know the material. Your the best there was in your class, but you just cannot seal the deal when it comes time for the practicals.

Reread my first post. Loose your ego, humble yourself and realize, perhaps your not as great as your mind is telling yourself you are..

Maybe then, when you realize you don't know everything you will quite freezing up and get through it.

Your testing for BASIC??? Your blog says your already an EMT, I guess I thought you were testing for Paramedic.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

what? No. It doesnt say that. It says I have a completion cert from a CC. No Im not dumb, Im just tired and I get nervous. Going through the class a second time may or may not help me. who knows. I just dont think testing a third time is going to yeild a different result.  Maybe retaking the course would.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

and yeah basic thats it. I've only been in the medical field for 6 months. Before that I was in the arts. I dont expect to be awesome at it right now. I just had alot of faith in myself until I hosed the trauma twice. Now my spirit is gone. I tend to throw in the towel when something seems impossible. I figure that it wasnt meant to be.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

and I removed my blog for you guys and even took the draft off of my website. Jeeze you women are so controlling. Im going gay.


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## MedicPrincess (Feb 20, 2006)

*From your profile....*

*PFMEDIC *


*Age:* 27
*Gender:* male
*Astrological Sign:* Aquarius
*Zodiac Year:* Sheep
*Occupation:* EMT/FF *<<<<<<<<<<-------------  right there*.
*Location:* New Mexico : United States
Really, though...

good luck.  I just hope your attitude towards women doesnt carry over to your partner if you happen to get a female.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

oh I forgot that that was there. I had alot of confidence in myself when I put that. sorry. Thanks for the good luck or whatever... and for taking the time to type up the trauma sheet. Since I feel that I have thoroughly embarassed myself on this forum, you wont see me on here anymore. take care... and thanks for allowing me to vent a little.


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## MedicPrincess (Feb 20, 2006)

well geez....I sure hope everytime you get embarassed you don't cut and run.  You will spend your whole life running away.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

well I couldnt figure out where you found that let alone how to change it so if you want me to change it, you will have to enlighten my feeble brain.


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## ffemt8978 (Feb 20, 2006)

pfmedic,

First of all, yes you did embarass yourself, but only slightly.  Everyone here understands the stress of practicals and also understands the need to vent occassionally.  We tend not to remember these ventings, so let bygones be bygones.

As far as your trauma scenario goes, what are the evaluators saying you are doing wrong?  Is it a safety thing, an assessment thing, or a treatment/procedural thing?  There's a wealth of information here that could definately help, but you just have to be willing to listen to it.

To put what EMTPrincess first said in another perspective, "The first thing you should do on the scene of any emergency is check your own pulse.  If it's there, everything else is easy."  Remember it is the patient's emergency, not yours, so take a deep breath and slow down.  Your training will kick in.


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## dgueldner (Feb 20, 2006)

pf, i used to test national registry,  and teach with acadian in LA before the storms.  you could always tell the top of the academic class they always studied their papers the day they were testing and had this sense about them that they could do no wrong.  they floated on a cloud until our reps. gave them the bad news, and they kept coming back over and over again.  it is not until you humble yourself and ask someone else for help.  don't be afraid to ask someone your not fond of (or of lesser intel) for help.  sometimes you can have all the book smarts in the world, but when you are all alone in the field with that trauma pt and nothing goes right, the book doesn't tell you how to make a square peg fit in that round hole.  take a deep breath.  after you enter the room put all the equip. in the order you need.  then during your entire station talk your way through, and move your hands the ones that have the most trouble are the ones that are silent and unorganized.  relax the night before your test read over your sheets out loud and the put them away.  the next morning bring them with you to look at after you finish your station.   GOOD LUCK


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## Celtictigeress (Feb 20, 2006)

I remember what pissed me off about my practicals....

There was a chick with subtle downs syndrome, now Our instructor worked with her to make sure she could get intubation... it took 2weeks of it and she STILL had trouble with pediatrics (this was AFTER her difficulty with CPR) anyhow they called both of us in and I was supposed to get adult as my station well she whined (her sister was one of the board members) that she couldnt do the pediatrics which they switched... Now normally I wouldnt have had an issue but heres the thing

I and one other were the highest scores, another was already a First responder... we had to redo ours... she passed first go

Im so with you on it I was PISSED when it was all said and done, didnt find out it was her sister that was one of the guys there until after the chick had left....

However passing my written first go with damn near perfect made up for it heh.

Oh and DG that whole "you can always tell the top of the academic" dont categorize all of us... I never once picked up a book and studied... Not even in H.S Not for my ASVAB not for SAT....surely not until my practicals and even then I have a friend (you know who you are) that sat on the phone with me for an hour as I went over it repeatedly (I had trauma) until I got it... But not all of us academics study our papers, people have learning styles that differ.. and there are some that will study study study and still do poorly... Some of us are silent.. what gets me are the people who think they are better then everyone else cutup in class or dont pay ANY attention (like the one chick) and pass BAM first go


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

*well this is all very interesting.*

thanks for everyones imput. Practicals still make me want to vomit. I'll be glad one day when I dont have to do them anymore.


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## fm_emt (Feb 20, 2006)

I blew the medical assessment practical the first time too because I didn't *SAY* that I was "checking for needle marks, track marks, bleeding, or shunts" on each section of leg or arm. I did a blanket statement saying that "I'd check his arms & legs for track marks or bleeding." 
Just because I didn't follow the script verbatim I was dinged just enough points to cause me to fail it the first time. Needless to say, i wasn't too thrilled about it, but I got 100% when i re-did it. The first tester was a kind, elderly woman, but IMO was way too picky about following the script exactly. As if that ever happens in reality. 

Anyway, what I can suggest is to find someone to go over it with you. Friends with any of the students? They make great trauma dummies. Go over it and over it and over it until you're blue in the face. Then bust out whatever text editing app you have on your computer and type out the steps as you remember them. Then compare that to the skill sheet. 

Sounds funky, but it worked for me.


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## Celtictigeress (Feb 20, 2006)

Oh that had to SUCK!

My scenrio was easy a 28year old Male that fell 20 ft and landed on a brick wall..his co workers moved him...

The day before I went to Ruby Tues had one of those HUGE chocolate tallcakes and just went over from top to bottom using the first letter of each got them in order to where I could "see" the sheet... THEN when I did it flawlessly several times I put the sheet away

I did however take it next day for my retest Like DG said that way when you go in and come out you can pull it out with "what did I miss"

Oh I made it a point to memorize my critical fails too heh..safe then sorry..

I know I know "vocalize vocalize vocalize" *groans* I got told to speak up because Im so soft spoken *giggle* So you had a druggie eh? did you have trauma or medical??


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## dgueldner (Feb 20, 2006)

true that if the examiner can't hear you, you don't get the credit, just remember you know this stuff, you have studied it until you can't anymore, then go in there and do your thing, but go in order, i know some examiners don't skip around on the sheet if you get too out of order they will simply put their pencil down and wait for you to run out of time or say your done.


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

dgueldner said:
			
		

> ...if you get too out of order they will simply put their pencil down and wait for you to run out of time or say your done.



Ooh that would make me slightly upset.


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## Celtictigeress (Feb 20, 2006)

heh not ours nuh uh

they kept on like nothing was going wrong, if you messed up, got a critical it didnt matter..they kept making notes so you couldnt tell No setting of pencils down with these guys


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## pfmedic (Feb 20, 2006)

I just dont like waiting, wondering, questioning yourself, not knowing. I would rather know so I could start drinking for joy or sadness rather than just waiting two weeks for that evil letter.


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## pfmedic (Feb 21, 2006)

well it doesnt matter anymore becuase apparenty I passed and am getting my cert!


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## pfmedic (Feb 21, 2006)

man I have never been so happy in my life. you would have thought that I won the lottery.


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## emtff376 (Feb 21, 2006)

congrats.  good job.


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## Phridae (Feb 21, 2006)

Jen, all those things you posted yesterday on how to memorize everything in a sensible order... I LOVE YOU!:wub: 

That is going to help me greatly.


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## pfmedic (Feb 22, 2006)

*heck yes it was a nice list!*

Yeah that was nice. I will use that for my intermediate somewhere down the road.


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## VinBin (Feb 22, 2006)

pfmedic said:
			
		

> Yeah that was nice. I will use that for my intermediate somewhere down the road.


 
congrats...

but try to take it easy tho...how do you usually study for the practicals anyway?


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## pfmedic (Feb 22, 2006)

I go over them in my head and conduct scenarios by myself. Im sure I would have more success if someone went over scenarious with me... but everyone is always soo busy.


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## Wingnut (Feb 22, 2006)

Congratulations!!    

That's great news!! Now you can relax, pop a few beers and enjoy it!!

Phridae, glad you found some use out of it...I'm feelin da love 



Edit: can't spell tonight


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## MedicPrincess (Feb 23, 2006)

Congrats.  Best day ever, isn't it.


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## pfmedic (Feb 25, 2006)

yeah it feels really good.


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