Don't know what to do.....

Dominion

Dominion

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Well I'm stuck, and I don't know what to do. I don't know anyone that is an EMS so I thought I could come here for some advice.

A little story, I took my EMT-Basic course, an indepth course that lasted from April to August. I took my tests and finally got my numbers in September of 06. At the time I was moving from that city to a much smaller town. I lived in that town for a year, unfortunately all the nearby services are very much an exclusive club. You had to be born into it almost, so I was never able to get a job. Summer of 07 my wife and I moved to Germany for a few months to live with some friends and to just experience it, we lived there for 7 months and finally moved back home this year. I FINALLY get a chance to live in a large city with some good options for employment.

This is where I've messed up in the past, I have some big tickets (not a DUI), 19 over and reckless. I got those tickets in 2005, because they are considered 'big tickets' for the services in my area, I missed out on a job I actually got doing transfer services. That job told me I'd have to wait the states 5 years for the tickets to drop. After that I called the various services and got in contact with the hiring departments and they also confirmed the same policy, 5 years for it to drop.

So here I am, a basic that hasn't had a job since getting my numbers in 06, and I can't work until 2010. I REALLY enjoy the job, it's something that I've known since I finished my first day of ride time.

Does anyone know of any other options out there for me? I was considering entering a paramedic program, considering by the time I get out of the program I will be eligible to drive, which is good for two services here which employs their medics in chase cars. On the other hand I have heard recommendations that you shouldn't do this, you can be book smart (which I am) but be a complete idiot when it comes to field work. I really don't know what to do and i don't want to give up my hard work to get to this point.
 
If you really want to go into EMS and be a medic, then be a medic. The old wives tale of "You have to be an EMT first" is a myth. Many institutions are now seeing that the best Paramedics are those that DID NOT have prior experience! Rather, in lieu of picking up bad habits and then attempting to break them, and really the experience of an EMT and that of a Paramedic are not even similar. Many agencies are now realizing this as well and some are not even counting being an EMT as experience.

Go to school, study hard, get your record cleaned up, mature some and take your professions serious as well as you should yourself to a point. You will do well, if you really want to be a medic.

Good luck!

R/r 911
 
Take Rid's advice. Go to Paramedic school. You can get a job working in an ED which will give you great experience and a flexible schedule. You could also get your phlebotomy and EKG training in the ED to help with Paramedic classes.
 
Ridryder911 said:
If you really want to go into EMS and be a medic, then be a medic. The old wives tale of "You have to be an EMT first" is a myth. Many institutions are now seeing that the best Paramedics are those that DID NOT have prior experience! Rather, in lieu of picking up bad habits and then attempting to break them, and really the experience of an EMT and that of a Paramedic are not even similar. Many agencies are now realizing this as well and some are not even counting being an EMT as experience.

Go to school, study hard, get your record cleaned up, mature some and take your professions serious as well as you should yourself to a point. You will do well, if you really want to be a medic.

Good luck!

R/r 911
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Thank you for the advice, I've been lurking around and you seem to pop up and give the best true words of wisdom. The worst part about my record is when I got that ticket I was in some pretty big trouble and was able to just evade a suspended license. It was my wake up call, I've been a very responsible driver since then.

Now to just find classes to sign up for.
 
The is one more option for some money while in Paramedic school. If you speak another language, you can get certified as a translator for medical and legal services. Many hospitals and government agencies will pay up to $50/hr. That will also give you an inside look at questions physicians and other medical professionals ask.
 
VentMedic said:
Take Rid's advice. Go to Paramedic school. You can get a job working in an ED which will give you great experience and a flexible schedule. You could also get your phlebotomy and EKG training in the ED to help with Paramedic classes.
Click to expand...

A position like this would be great, is there a specific title that I should look for?
 
ER Technician

There have been a few threads recently on this topic.

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=6655

You can also get Telemetry certified with an EKG class and watch cardiac monitors while you study.

Hospitals usually have tuition benefits to help with education.

Or, with a phlebotomy certification, you can work for a blood bank or part time at the hospital doing morning lab draws for 3 - 4 hours before class.

And then there is dispatching for an EMS system.
 
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different hospiatls call it different things. ed tech, patient car tech, clinical tech, clinical assistant theres prob more.

fwiw, i wholeheartedly disagree with R'r's pov on medics with no experience. i may just ahve a bad taste in my mouth due to some bad experiences with shake and bake medics. i have never met one that has been able to cut it. things like taking signs in the back of the moving bus, bedside manner, tact, basic knowledge of how the system works. you may think you love doing this job now, but will you still love it after a few years of working overnights, holidays, forced doubles, your kids birthday and christmas and your anniversary and valentines day all in the same year? you dont know till you do it. this job can get to you. me personally, i wanted to know before investing all the time and money into paramedic school.

theres one other angle. right out of school, lots and lots of emts are for lack of a better term, trigger happy. every call is the big one. lights and sirens and running headlong into the scene with a go bag under the arm with very little regard for scene safety. after a while you calm down and learn how better to do your job. theres not a whole lot you can do to harm your patient at the bls level. sure, theres some stuff but as a whole your probably not going to kill somebody as a basic. but think about a medic that is on their first chest pain call. they're so excited and blinded. all they're thinking is MONA!! but the patient is an ed sufferer and took a viagra 4 hours ago. see where im going with this. thats not to say every person is like this, but it happens. ive seen it. hell i probably did it when i was a rookie. ive trained plenty of brand new emts and seen it a hundred times. ive worked with brand new medics and seen it. it may just be me, but i think previous experience medics are better medics.
 
KEVD18 said:
fwiw, i wholeheartedly disagree with R'r's pov on medics with no experience. i may just ahve a bad taste in my mouth due to some bad experiences with shake and bake medics. i have never met one that has been able to cut it. things like taking signs in the back of the moving bus, bedside manner, tact, basic knowledge of how the system works. you may think you love doing this job now, but will you still love it after a few years of working overnights, holidays, forced doubles, your kids birthday and christmas and your anniversary and valentines day all in the same year? you dont know till you do it. this job can get to you. me personally, i wanted to know before investing all the time and money into paramedic school.
Click to expand...

That would depend on whether you went through a college program which can take 2 years or through a "medic mill" which can take 6 months. There's nothing worst than a Paramedic who only developed an attitude and not knowledge or skills while working as an EMT-B and then took the easy route through a "medic mill".

If you are working in the medical profession during Paramedic school, you will get hands on training and patient contact. Actually, you will get much more than on a BLS ambulance. You will also have contact with other professionals that can teach you many things especially when it comes to patient assessment. By seeing many, many patients each day in the ED, you will learn to recognize several disease processes. You will also be receiving emergency patients from many different ambulances, sometimes all at once. Vital signs, observation and assessment should become your strong points if you use the job to your advantage.

On an ambulance, you could have a great experience or pick up bad habits which will be hard to break later.
 
I can understand the bad taste, and I know what you mean about the working schedule. But to be fair you must almost expect this in almost every medical field. Being young with a VERY understanding wife puts me in a good position. Working and missing family functions is not a new thing for me unfortunately.

Who knows, paramedic may not work out for me, but I will never get the experience of being a medic by working as a basic. I'll only get introduced to the system, which yea can be a plus. I also fortunately have a good head about my shoulders and do very well with tunnel vision situations.
 
My position is, if you have the luxury to get a couple years basic under your belt before starting paramedic school, do it, it gives you a chance to fine-tune a foundation of action that will work very well for your future in EMS.

...in the meantime, do the best you can do with what is available to you. Keep the goal simple; to render as effective emergency medical care as you are capable. And by keeping your eye on that ball, everything else will take care of itself -- AND you!
 
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