First Day riding with a Paramedic..help

My EMT knows his way around my drugs, but I'll be damned if I ever give anything without checking it first. If it's multi-dose I just have him give me the vial and the syringe and I draw it up myself. Frankly, I would hope that in a 1:1 system the EMT knows where all the supplies ALS and BLS are.
 
Kaisu said:
I'm sorry - am I understanding this correctly? Basics are going into medic drug boxes and handing out drugs? Does this really happen? Is it allowed? I have run in both Wisconsin and Arizona and NO ONE but a medic touches the medic drug box. I thought this was a national standard. Educate me please. I look forward to hearing about other parts of the country.
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As many others posted, we allow our EMT-Bs (where we have B/P crews) and EMT-Is (where we have I/P crews) to pull drugs from the box and hand them to the paramedic. I will also allow my partners to give drugs that are within their scope of practice (i.e. aspirin) once I verify the drug and dosage. All other drugs are verified and administered by medics only.
 
619EMT said:
thanks for all the advice, I know I learned a lot from that run. Ive had time to reflect on that call and determine how I could have done things better and more effective. I was more embarrassed because here I was trying to be all confident being the new guy, but I looked like I couldn't even take vitals. I felt rushed, so that why i decided to leave the PT's sweater on to get the BP. Next time I know to do it right the first time and take the sweater/jacket off.

Im not too stressed about not knowing where the meds were. For sure next time I jump on to "observe" I'll definitely take some time to check out where exactly everything is.
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Sounds like you've got it under control. It sounds like you'll do just fine in EMS.
 
First day, first call; you did fine, and shame on your service for throwing you to the pirahnas like that, IMHO
 
One other thing I forgot to mention. If you don't know what something is or don't know how to do something. PLEASE just say you don't know what that is. You're not the first one to do it and it may make you feel kinda dumb but just keep in mind everyone starts somewhere. We had a new hire that was hired on with me a couple months ago that didn't know what a femur was. He was educated and now he not only knows what a femur is but also the various complications of a femur fx.

Remember that you will never stop learning in this career. Be a sponge and absorb everything. If you feel like you can, take a moment to step back and just watch the medic work, or watch the EMT on scene do his thing. It will work wonders to be like this I promise you. Give it 3-4 months of being the sponge and you'll see incredible changes in how you work and think.
 
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