During my clinical internship I had a psych pt make a 4in x 4in pyramid out of a tuna sandwich and his own feces. His caretaker said he had been hiding his meds somewhere, but couldn't find them anywhere. We found approximately 30 pills caked into his pubic hair. Oh, and he had an affinity for...
Northern California has more opportunities available for Basics than Socal. Many of my friends from my EMT class got on with Pro Transport and other bay area IFT rigs. Just put in your app and resume to every company possible and something will eventually work out for you.
And as for jobs. The two ambo companies here are AMR and Central Coast Ambulance. I work for CCA in Monterey as a basic. Once you have you're medic done though, your options are pretty much restricted to AMR or fire.
I will be attending ETS starting in Jan. I've had friends and co-workers go through the program and have absolutely loved it. It is pricey (13500), but the cost is all inclusive. Other programs will cost less initially, but will require you to pay for internships, uniforms, books, and the like...
Basics like Fire Behavior are good to know going into an academy. As you probably are expecting, most fire academies are extremely physical.If you wanna get a leg up and work on something, Id do push ups, pull ups, and run.
If you can walk under your own power into the office, can see the door to walk into, and hear the doctor talk you should be fine. Its not an especially thorough exam. If you did any strenuous activity ( In my case, wrestling) you may have trace amounts of blood show up on the urine test. They...
As for additional classes to take. A college level A&P class is recommended for most paramedic programs. As well as chemistry,medical terminology, and college level algebra.
First time I ever drove an ambulance I forgot to unplug it from its power source. I thought people were just being friendly and waving at me. It wasnt until i got the the hospital when I realized i had been dragging a 20 ft extension cord along 10 miles of freeway.
At the very least you'll get practice moving immobile old ladies down a precarious set of stairs. In complete darkness. On a flat stretcher. In the middle of the biggest storm of the year. With the rig parked on the steepest,most slippery driveway in the county. Oh, and getting there you'll have...
Learn your assessments, ABC's, and vital signs by heart. Have fun and study hard. When you have an opportunity to get hands on time with equipment, make sure you are the first one to use it and last one done.
My ambulance company buys cheap costco gloves that dont come neatly in the box. Makes it really easy to fill gloves with hand sanitizer and put them back as though nothing has happened. Hilarity ensues.