Assessment Help?

[JBryan25]

I'm a relatively new EMT in the field roughly about two months - Still in field training and all of that stuff... I've spoken to my FTO's about it, I've had several. I have some who are pretty throughout in their assessments, then others who just don't really care and do the very very very bare basics... What you learn in the book, then what you do in the field is two completely different things... Least this is what a few of my FTO's have told me "You passed your EMT exam, congrats - Now throw it out the window and learn how it's really done!" This is what really confuses me;

Patient assessments; Yes I know, Scene safety and all of that...

Primary assessment - ABC's - Treating any life threats - Chief Complaint and Vitals.

Secondary assessment - This is where things are tricky for me... I know;
OPQRST - SAMPLE but really is that all it really is? Honestly....

When/what happened - how did it happen - anything make it worse or better - what type of pain if any is it - does it go anywhere - How would you rate it

Any known allergies - Medications you're taking - past medical history - last time you ate - what were you doing what this problem happened?

My question is, is this really all that needs to be done? I just feel like there is more to it, as if I'm supposed to be a doctor or whatever... I guess my biggest fear too is getting involved, messing something up, losing my certification that I worked very hard to get and so on.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks! By the way, I'm at the basic level

 

[NomadicMedic]

I don't think you have to worry about getting too involved. The best patient assessments come from asking a free-flowing Q&A. When the patient tells you they have chest pain, ask them if they've ever had anything like that before. In most cases, your patient is not so critical that you can't have a conversation with them. It's just like all the same questions you would normally ask with those silly mnemonics, SAMPLE and OPQRST... But in conversation form. The patient will always tell you what you need to know, you just need to ask the right questions. Unfortunately, we can't tell you what questions to ask, that has to come from you. That's why you learn SAMPLE and OPQRST, to give you a place to start.