EMT drop out?

Cape Cod Community College

My class last fall started with most of the room full, about 50 people give or take. After about a week, about 45. After two weeks, 40. Once the first major test came, we lost a few more. By the end of class we probably had less than 25 and not ALL of them even took the state test. There were a few girls (not women ,GIRLS, as they acted like they were 15) who stuck it out to the last but didnt take the state test, which, honestly, is GREAT b/c I don;t want those morons working on/with/near me. What's sad is that they were both CNAs @ local nursing homes. *shudder*

We had a few ppl who were just taking the course as a filler/meeting a req/informative class for the nursing program. A few made some noise about going on to Paramedic, but I'm in the school of become-an-EMT-first-then-medic-school. Stupid MA changed it a few years ago so you can go RIGHT into Medic, whereas a lot of the states require you do to a year first.

Of course we had a few ppl drop out b/c of family issues, or becoming really ill, or almost dying in a car accident (true), but a lot just couldnt stick it out. I think they were probably thinking the same thing I did when I took a diff course (not going to mention it here) and decided it wasnt meant for me and got out before I lost $$ and time. Personally, I found out my adopted mom has lung cancer, my beloved chocolate lab passed away, and I was the vic of a hit & run accident all while I was IN the class-and I stuck it out. Dedication and drive to do the job, or at least attempt it.

Side note-IRONY HERE-the DAY after we talked about whiplash & MVCs, some idiot ran a stop sign and slammed into me. I hit my head on the window and smashed my arm up, of course I had whiplash and a mild concussion. And he had the audacity to drive away!! <_< I was livid, but couldn't help laughing at the irony as my local FD came and got me (most of them whom I know ). my poor Hyundai was all smashed up. :sad: Anyway..irony for the day.

kate
 
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cynikalkat said:
My class last fall started with most of the room full, about 50 people give or take. After about a week, about 45. After two weeks, 40. Once the first major test came, we lost a few more. By the end of class we probably had less than 25 and not ALL of them even took the state test. There were a few girls (not women ,GIRLS, as they acted like they were 15) who stuck it out to the last but didnt take the state test, which, honestly, is GREAT b/c I don;t want those morons working on/with/near me. What's sad is that they were both CNAs @ local nursing homes. *shudder*

We had a few ppl who were just taking the course as a filler/meeting a req/informative class for the nursing program. A few made some noise about going on to Paramedic, but I'm in the school of become-an-EMT-first-then-medic-school. Stupid MA changed it a few years ago so you can go RIGHT into Medic, whereas a lot of the states require you do to a year first.

Of course we had a few ppl drop out b/c of family issues, or becoming really ill, or almost dying in a car accident (true), but a lot just couldnt stick it out. I think they were probably thinking the same thing I did when I took a diff course (not going to mention it here) and decided it wasnt meant for me and got out before I lost $$ and time. Personally, I found out my adopted mom has lung cancer, my beloved chocolate lab passed away, and I was the vic of a hit & run accident all while I was IN the class-and I stuck it out. Dedication and drive to do the job, or at least attempt it.

Side note-IRONY HERE-the DAY after we talked about whiplash & MVCs, some idiot ran a stop sign and slammed into me. I hit my head on the window and smashed my arm up, of course I had whiplash and a mild concussion. And he had the audacity to drive away!! <_< I was livid, but couldn't help laughing at the irony as my local FD came and got me (most of them whom I know ). my poor Hyundai was all smashed up. :sad: Anyway..irony for the day.

kate
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thats some deep stuff right there. Im glad you were able to stick it through. Most people dont have the will power. Im still in my course so far and I love it.I must admit it is tough, due to me also taking three additional courses, but I am sticking it out with my 89%. I love the practicals in which we get to role play and put our skills to use, sadly, this is the hard part for quite a few students in the course. They cant grasp the hands-on skills, as a result, quite a few has left the program at this point.
 
thnx emergencyjunkie. I enjoyed the practicals too, though my class had the same issue you did. Just enjoy yourself and learn! I wish we would have had more time for practicing stuff, but I took an accelerated course that was 2x a week (friday for 3 hours and sat's for 6!), so we didnt get a lot of in-class practice. I wanted to do more vitals and more with the boards. 89% is still great! I started out with 100s and then 90s and a few 70s in the middle when things in my life got rough, but passed the class with at least a B and did great on the practicals. Good luck!
 
cynikalkat said:
thnx emergencyjunkie. I enjoyed the practicals too, though my class had the same issue you did. Just enjoy yourself and learn! I wish we would have had more time for practicing stuff, but I took an accelerated course that was 2x a week (friday for 3 hours and sat's for 6!), so we didnt get a lot of in-class practice. I wanted to do more vitals and more with the boards. 89% is still great! I started out with 100s and then 90s and a few 70s in the middle when things in my life got rough, but passed the class with at least a B and did great on the practicals. Good luck!
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Thanks....my instructor makes us take a partners vital signs each morning when we come to class. Also, evey class we will to do a patient care report based on a given scenario. If we do it.correctly we get 5 points from each one up until the end of the class on december. Hes a great thorough instructor with over 30 years in the field. he teaches so many programs and courses as well. Our exams are given like the national registry where you cannot go back and view the questions/answered once you complete it. the school has an overall high pass rates for the national for the paramedics. The assistant chief of the local fire department come and talk with us and we have to perform our practical in front of him...talk about nerve wrecking.
 
whoa!

Emergencyjunkie said:
Thanks....my instructor makes us take a partners vital signs each morning when we come to class. Also, evey class we will to do a patient care report based on a given scenario. If we do it.correctly we get 5 points from each one up until the end of the class on december. Hes a great thorough instructor with over 30 years in the field. he teaches so many programs and courses as well. Our exams are given like the national registry where you cannot go back and view the questions/answered once you complete it. the school has an overall high pass rates for the national for the paramedics. The assistant chief of the local fire department come and talk with us and we have to perform our practical in front of him...talk about nerve wrecking.
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DEFINITELY nerve-wracking but good!! Don't stop studying after you finish class either. I wasn't able to find a job right out (and still havent) and I stopped studying , and then BAM, I have to study a lot now for the written test CCA is making me take! AHHHHH


kate
 
cynikalkat said:
DEFINITELY nerve-wracking but good!! Don't stop studying after you finish class either. I wasn't able to find a job right out (and still havent) and I stopped studying , and then BAM, I have to study a lot now for the written test CCA is making me take! AHHHHH


kate
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I plan to always read over the book, even though I am heading into nursing. Who knows, I might want to be a paramedic at one point. Many of the department personnel are Paramedics and RNs as well. I think they go hand in hand. I know there are programs that if you are an RN you can test to be a paramedic, I would rather go through the actual paramedic course and learn things from their perspective.
 
Emergencyjunkie said:
I plan to always read over the book, even though I am heading into nursing. Who knows, I might want to be a paramedic at one point. Many of the department personnel are Paramedics and RNs as well. I think they go hand in hand. I know there are programs that if you are an RN you can test to be a paramedic, I would rather go through the actual paramedic course and learn things from their perspective.
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good plan. Nursing is a Plan B for me.I want to do Medic eventually.
 
Emergencyjunkie said:
I hope you reach your goals, im sure you will. I love the hours of EMS, especially the 24 hours on, 72 hours off.
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Thanks. I hope so too. I used to be a social worker (for a good 5 years) and was laid off last year, so I had to move on to something else. I was sort of thankful though, for being laid off, as I was well on my way to burn-out.Good luck w/ nursing school.
 
cynikalkat said:
Thanks. I hope so too. I used to be a social worker (for a good 5 years) and was laid off last year, so I had to move on to something else. I was sort of thankful though, for being laid off, as I was well on my way to burn-out.Good luck w/ nursing school.
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thanks, what type of social worker were you? child,family, school social worker or mental health social worker? just curious
 
well, a few things...i didn’t have a "social work" degree, but a bachelor's that I made up (long story there) and I started out in domestic violence actually. Then I went into behavioral health & co-occurring disorders and thats where I stopped. When I was laid off, I was a vocational & rehabilitation specialist for a community mental health center in northern RI. I worked with adults from all ranges of psych issues, backgrounds, education, families, issues, etc. Sometimes I miss it but, most of the time, I am glad I got out.
 
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oops.i dont know how to DELETE a post
 
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If I am correct we started with 30 and ended with about 12. Only 8 where allowed to test.
 
MrBrown said:
Now, for our Paramedic degree the pass rate is much higher but a few students do drop out, usually during the first year. We only admit 60 odd students to the Degree programs.
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You have to be odd to be a paramedic student.
 
If I remember correctly

EMT-A (now EMT-B) class: twenty going in, eighteen going graduated.
USAF Fire Rescue (part 2 was equiv to EMT sort of): 100% passed, they were already firefighters and if they failed the first time they were washed back to an earlier-starting class and did it over.
RN (just for fun): 265 going in with 10% men; after four years, four of the original men and about 55 of the original females remained (we could stop at two years with an Associates and a certificate). One original male graduated, said " $%:censored::censored::censored:* this " and immediately went back to being a bartender.
 
We started out with 23 in our EMT-B class...8 weeks into it, we are down to 19.
2 dropped after the first class...
 
EMT-B we started with 24 lost 2 after they failed the 3rd test, they were actually kicked out. We lost 2 after Boarder Patrol hired them. The instructor right after our class started with 24 and ended with 7. I think some got kicked out for putting gum on the equipment, talking about TA's and being rude stuff like that. Ohh yeah one the students that got kicked out the other class came to our during the last month or so. We ended with 21.
 
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Well my class is about 50% done so far. We started with about 32 people and we are down to 28 (2 have been kicked out).
 
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