# need some suggestions



## MikeRi24 (Feb 9, 2008)

In my cert course, we practice off the grading sheets for the NY State Practical exam. For the Patient Assessment (trauma and Medical) I keep doing bad on these because I forget stuff. Actually I shouldn't say that....I get everything in, but sometimes it not always in the right order. Now, I do a ton of ride time out in the field, and often times I will compare my "guide sheet" to what the various EMTs and  Medics are actually doing out in the field. I've noticed that a lot of them are doing the same thing I do, and will combine multiple steps. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to learn the exact protocol and order of the sheet? Oh, and during the "tests" the instructor likes to throw random information and other things about the patient in along the way that tend to get me all confused and second guess myself, and then I'll forget where I was in the whole process and thats where I get messed up....and he does this purposely. any help and/or advice would greatly be appreciated.


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## roxychick (Feb 10, 2008)

You might want to check your private message later on....there will a really loooooooooong message waiting for ya. lol


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## Topher38 (Feb 10, 2008)

There is a huge diffrence between being on the street and being in class and testing. When your actually in the street doing EMT work no one is critiqueing the order of your assessments. There are no specifin rules for street emt work. The guidlines are the same. ABCs and what not but being an EMT in a classroom is TOTALLY diffrent from being an emt out in the world. 

To get you assessments down right, study them! Study like crazy! And then do practice scenarios with other fire fighters or EMT students with out the paper. 

Practice is key here. And you really need to be comfortable with your assessment sheets before you go to NREMT testing because they will test you for every little thing you do.


PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and check out mikeri24's message, ITs probably the same as this, just longer and in more depth. Hope this helps dude.


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## skyemt (Feb 10, 2008)

if your approach is to memorize steps on the sheet, which i believe it is, or "new" patient info would not throw you off, and make you "forget where you were".

you must understand what you are doing first. in our class, we never saw the state sheets until 3 days before our exam, because our instructors are mandated to give them to us.

there philosophy was, if we learn to understand what we are doing, in a systematic way, we will cover what's on the sheets and more, and the exam will take care of itself.  and it did.

memorizing steps from sheets will not prepare you to be a good emt.


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## roxychick (Feb 10, 2008)

MikeRi24 said:


> Does anyone have any suggestions on how to learn the exact protocol and order of the sheet? Oh, and during the "tests" the instructor likes to throw random information and other things about the patient in along the way that tend to get me all confused and second guess myself, and then I'll forget where I was in the whole process and thats where I get messed up....and he does this purposely. any help and/or advice would greatly be appreciated.



Our instructors did that too to make sure we knew what we were doing and we weren't just going by what the steps said. Don't rush the assessment and just take your time. You have 10 minutes to finish it. Once you've got your steps down don't be afraid to pause for a second to think about what you have to do next. Oh yeah, it doesn't hurt to study your terms too!

When I did mines, I made sure I studied with everyone including my classmates, friends, family, and sometimes myself. lol Once I had everything down I googled videos on the skills test and identified the steps they were doing without looking at the sheet.

During the skills tests, some instructor like to throw in the "do you want to change anything?" or "are you sure you want to do that?" questions. I knew my stuff and once they asked me those questions I doubted myself. On the splinting station I got so irritated that I actually yelled at the instructor. LOL On the other station I forgot to say that I needed to transport and I was already half way out the door when I remembered. I just kinda turned around and yelled it out. They were like wtf? lol It turns out that there was no need for that...haha!


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## Topher38 (Feb 10, 2008)

skyemt said:


> memorizing steps from sheets will not prepare you to be a good emt.



Good point. 

Memorizing the sheets is a method of passing your practicals but if you dont understand what your actually doing, whats the point? haha very good point. And my smilies arent working but if they were Id have the guy with glasses right here (        )


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## firecoins (Feb 10, 2008)

MikeRi24 said:


> In my cert course, we practice off the grading sheets for the NY State Practical exam. For the Patient Assessment (trauma and Medical) I keep doing bad on these because I forget stuff. Actually I shouldn't say that....I get everything in, but sometimes it not always in the right order. Now, I do a ton of ride time out in the field, and often times I will compare my "guide sheet" to what the various EMTs and  Medics are actually doing out in the field. I've noticed that a lot of them are doing the same thing I do, and will combine multiple steps.
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions on how to learn the exact protocol and order of the sheet? Oh, and during the "tests" the instructor likes to throw random information and other things about the patient in along the way that tend to get me all confused and second guess myself, and then I'll forget where I was in the whole process and thats where I get messed up....and he does this purposely. any help and/or advice would greatly be appreciated.




I am a NY EMT. Just keep going through it over and over until you memorize the sheet.


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## rollingbones (Feb 10, 2008)

I look at the task sheets as a proces as opposed to a series of steps.  I started with the basic flow and after understanding the what and why of it, the steps fall into place much better.  I know it can empty the brain during a praticle when the examiner says, OK, this is what you have, now go for it.  We had to remember all 10 of the questions before even starting the childbirth exercise.  Once I put them in an order that made sense, it all came together.    Medical--> BSI... Scene Safety... MABC... Transport Decision... SAMPLE Hx...  you get the picture.  I'm sure you'll do great.  Just asking tells me you're committed to this.  Good Luck!!!


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## uscgk9 (Feb 11, 2008)

One of the biggest failures of my students has been during the trauma assessment they do not expose the chest while assessing ABCs. This is where the “B” comes into play. If you don’t have “B” than there is no need to go to “C”. That is where you will see the sucking chest wound, major bruising, or paradoxal chest movement. Some of the emergencies that are found under the shirt will require immediate attention. If you do not expose the chest you will not see the injury and I will fail you if you move on to the blood sweep or something like that without fixing what you see. Start slow and move your way through the sheet from top to bottom.


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