Advice for entry level EMT?

Daynuhmuhree

Daynuhmuhree

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Hello!
I'm a newly national and state certified EMT. I have a few interviews with ambulance companies coming up.
I had one a few weeks ago, and felt like I blew it! (They don't have the best reputation so I wasn't heartbroken) haha. They started asking clinical case scenarios, and I just blanked!! Easy questions, and it all falls out! I'm a terrible test taker,but amazing hands on!

Any advice for an entry level interview to blow them away? Thank you :)
 
Daynuhmuhree said:
Hello!
I'm a newly national and state certified EMT. I have a few interviews with ambulance companies coming up.
I had one a few weeks ago, and felt like I blew it! (They don't have the best reputation so I wasn't heartbroken) haha. They started asking clinical case scenarios, and I just blanked!! Easy questions, and it all falls out! I'm a terrible test taker,but amazing hands on!

Any advice for an entry level interview to blow them away? Thank you :)
Click to expand...

Just be someone they wouldn't mind being stuck on a truck with. Have friends or family act as the interviewer and ask you questions so you get comfortable with the process. You passed your tests to become an EMT, its in your brain somewhere.
 
They might ask clinical questions on an interview!?
 
I don't know if you are being sarcastic adamNYC but I have certainly been given scenarios for EMS jobs. Some services have written and practical testing as well. OP: Unfortunately it is probably best to cultivate your ability to communicate your hands on abilities verbally, especially if you plan on advancing to Paramedic, RN , critical care and/or flight. Employers want to be confident that you have the clinical reasoning and education to know how to take care of a patient, not just that you possess the physical ability to perform procedures. Given you are just out of school, maybe some other new EMTs who are also looking for work from your class might want to help you (and themselves) practice some oral scenarios. Best of luck!
 
My fulltime 911 job at a county service had black and white questions during the interview like drug dosages etc, but also had senerio questions just to see how you think, then give you a multiple guess written test. Again, all during the interview.
 
Thanks guys. Where can I find example questions they may ask?
 
Daynuhmuhree said:
Hello!
I'm a newly national and state certified EMT. I have a few interviews with ambulance companies coming up.
I had one a few weeks ago, and felt like I blew it! (They don't have the best reputation so I wasn't heartbroken) haha. They started asking clinical case scenarios, and I just blanked!! Easy questions, and it all falls out! I'm a terrible test taker,but amazing hands on!

Any advice for an entry level interview to blow them away? Thank you :)
Click to expand...
Congratulations on getting certified. Getting stressed is the number one reason people tend to do poorly during interviews. I have conducted a fair number of interviews and have trained a fair number of people and feel like I am pretty good at telling when someone is stressed out and just blanking. The best advice I have for handling clinical questions during an interview is to review the things you know. Review national registry sheets and test questions since that is generally the standard from which you will be tested. The more comfortable you are with your knowledge base the less stressed you will be during an interview.

My second piece of advise is to learn to calm yourself. This will help you in the field as much as it will in interviews. There is nothing quite so sad as watching a smart, well adjusted new EMT/Medic start making mistakes and getting flustered on scene because they are stressed out. I've watched people freeze or make poor choices when I know they know better; all of it simply from stress. Learn to gauge your current level of tension, feel your heart beat, feel what muscles are tense, then just breathe and try to relax some of that tension. There are a lot of books on the subject, my favorite so far is Warrior Mindset. Some might make fun of the use of meditation in this field but the reality is that people get epi dumps while caring for critical patients and you cannot function effectively while hyped up on epi. Same goes for interviews, just relax the best you can. Feel confident and keep your head away from negative thoughts. "I'm a terrible test taker" is not a productive thought and the more you tell yourself that and the more you focus on it the more likely you are to freeze up when they start asking clinical questions.

It looks like you are in Denver, do you have your IV or EKG cert? Most places won't hire you without at least the IV. If I may ask, who did you interview with? I can make a few guesses (starts with Rural, ends with -etro?). Let me know if you have any questions. I've made the rounds in Denver so I can give a few tips about interviews specific to the agency.
 
One tip is to ask pointed questions. Often scenarios are vague. Start asking basic stuff. What does the patient look like from the doorway? ABCs. Are they breathing? What does their skin look like? Do they say anything to me? What are their vital signs? Make a transport decision. Request additional resources if necessary. Treat and transport.

Think about a registry skill sheet, and just go down the sheet...BSI, Scene Safe, general impression, etc.
 
It sounds silly but all too often people forget to say what they are thinking. Talk your interviewers through what's going on in your head. Every time you get to a "it could be x or y" or "do I do a or b?" type situation, say it out loud and go through your reasoning. Show them you can think critically.
 
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