Fixing a Critical Fail

[Brandon Pate]

Today I failed my supine spinal immobilization skill for EMT practicals. I did everything by the book except for one thing; I forgot to apply the set of straps that goes over the shoulders before securing the head. I realized my mistake less than a minute later, and verbalized that I would’ve applied those straps before securing the head. After that, I finished the skill by the book and felt pretty okay about it. However, the program director told me that I’d failed the skill and would have to pay the $120 fee to retake my practicals in a few months as he basically pushed me out the door giving me no opportunity to ask any questions. I was told at the beginning of the practicals that if you make a mistake but fix it either by verbalizing or physically correcting the mistake before completing the skill, you’ll be okay. Does this not apply to my situation? I’m a little confused

 

[DesertMedic66]

Generally speaking you can’t forget something or do something wrong and then state “I would have done it that way” after you already screwed it up. If you did a poor job on moving the patient over to the backboard you can’t really say “let me do that over”.

For NREMT you should be given the opportunity to file a formal complaint before you find out if you passed or failed. Once you state you do not wish to file a complaint then it is set in stone.

The way we do NREMT testing at my college is you are only told the skill you failed. You will not be told what you failed on it and you will not be given an answer if you ask.

 

[DrParasite]

The way we do NREMT testing at my college is you are only told the skill you failed. You will not be told what you failed on it and you will not be given an answer if you ask.

That's actually NREMT policy: testing is for evaluation only (can you do the skill or not), it is not a learning environment where you can learn where you made a mistake.

I'm pretty sure securing the head before the body is a critical fail. you can't undo a critical fail after you have made the mistake.

So you're right, that doesn't apply to your situation, or any situation where steps need to be completed in order, or else it's a critical failure. Similarly, if you don't take manual stabilization until the end of the traction splint scenario it would be a critical failure, because it needs to be done prior to manual traction being applied.