How many clinical hours did you get while training for EMT?

[dC0m]

Going through everyone's clinical hours made me feel under-trained..

My local community college has a requirement of 8 hours minimum of clinical experience in the ED and another 8 hours minimum in the back of the ambulance. We also had to make at least 10 patient contacts in the ED, and another 3 in the ambulance.

I put in 12 hours on the ambulance (it was a 12H shift rig and I didn't want them to make a detour just to drop me off), and another 12 in the ED. Made about ~17 pt contacts between the ED and ambulance.

 

[ctemsnewbie]

I was required to do 18. I actually did 30 hours. Worth every minute of it!

 

[chaz90]

Going through everyone's clinical hours made me feel under-trained..

Probably because most of us are painfully under trained and educated.

 

[Fire51]

For my basic class we did only 16 hours all together, the ambulance is ER based so it counted for both. For my AEMT which is in a different place then my basic we had two 12s for ED and two 12s for the ambulance so 48 hours total. Neither had the certain amount of patient contacts you need for them.

 

[ChanelCinq]

I'm paying over 16k, but I feel like I'm getting a better education than Columbia and Vol State. I liked the idea of getting more clinicals and I've heard really good things about their paramedics and they have the same teachers. So far, I'm really enjoying the class and I feel like I'm learning a lot. They haven't had the AEMT program for long, the class that's a semester ahead of me is the first. They'll graduate in July I think.

Sorry but that is completely insane. All the private programs in the San Francisco Bay Area are about 2,500 to 3,000. No less and no more. But you could go to one of the community college programs for a few hundred USD.

Sorry but I spent 18,000 on a 2 year, accelerated second Bachelors in Nursing at a private university. And you are paying a bit less for an EMT program. That is completely wacked!

 

[dC0m]

Niesje,

Are you doing an EMT-B program or EMT-IV? I clicked on your click and it looks like the school is offering EMT-IV? That would justify the additional hours + tuition cost..

 

[CPRinProgress]

In Jersey my clinical were a joke. I needed 10 hours and I couldn't ride with the medics because you had to be 18. So I went to the nearest level 2 trauma center. For the first hour I watched a working code which I didn't mind but I didn't do much and they weren't even ventilating, intubating etc. He had a AAA so I think they were giving up on him. But then for the next two I followed around a tech who was doing EKGs. Then for the next 7 hours I was in triage taking a bp with an automatic machine and slapping a pulse ox on them. And while all of this was going on the hospital had a medevac come in with a baby who was arresting after he was ejected from his car that was in an accident because his idiot parents didn't put him in a car seat. I found that I didn't learn a thing. Riding with the medics would have been more beneficial.

 

[chaz90]

In Jersey my clinical were a joke. I needed 10 hours and I couldn't ride with the medics because you had to be 18. So I went to the nearest level 2 trauma center. For the first hour I watched a working code which I didn't mind but I didn't do much and they weren't even ventilating, intubating etc. He had a AAA so I think they were giving up on him. But then for the next two I followed around a tech who was doing EKGs. Then for the next 7 hours I was in triage taking a bp with an automatic machine and slapping a pulse ox on them. And while all of this was going on the hospital had a medevac come in with a baby who was arresting after he was ejected from his car that was in an accident because his idiot parents didn't put him in a car seat. I found that I didn't learn a thing. Riding with the medics would have been more beneficial.

A day in triage can be FAR more beneficial for the new provider than a day on the truck. Recognizing acuity of patients quickly is a subtle art that needs to be mastered. It doesn't seem like it, but that probably taught you more (unless you were completely close minded) than watching a trauma arrest would have. Triage is much more than slapping a BP cuff and pulse ox on people.

 

[Clipper1]

In Jersey my clinical were a joke. I needed 10 hours and I couldn't ride with the medics because you had to be 18. So I went to the nearest level 2 trauma center. For the first hour I watched a working code which I didn't mind but I didn't do much and they weren't even ventilating, intubating etc. He had a AAA so I think they were giving up on him. But then for the next two I followed around a tech who was doing EKGs. Then for the next 7 hours I was in triage taking a bp with an automatic machine and slapping a pulse ox on them. And while all of this was going on the hospital had a medevac come in with a baby who was arresting after he was ejected from his car that was in an accident because his idiot parents didn't put him in a car seat. I found that I didn't learn a thing. Riding with the medics would have been more beneficial.

You probably saw a lot more than you would have with Paramedics. Too bad you didn't take the initiative to ask questions.
What was being done for the code? Did you make it known that you knew CPR? The staff would probably have welcomed a fresh set of hands. Why no intubation? What were the signs and symptoms of the AAA? How many patients did you and the ECG tech interact with? How was privacy maintained? What questions were asked in triage? Did you manually check a pulse at least to assure accuracy of the values given on the pulse ox and BP machine? I do acknowledge that you were limited because of your age which might even have restricted you from access to many procedures and even access to some medical records. But if your state says you are old enough to take an EMT class, then you will have to take some of the responsibility on yourself to make the most of these clinicals. It probably won't be any different with a Paramedic if you don't make it known that you are willing to learn and do more.

 

[medicrd]

For my EMT we had to do 72 hours. For paramedic, it was nearly 900 hours!

 

[Summit]

OP: 16K is 2-4X as much as you should be paying for an EMT and AAS Paramedic together.

 

[dC0m]

A day in triage can be FAR more beneficial for the new provider than a day on the truck. Recognizing acuity of patients quickly is a subtle art that needs to be mastered. It doesn't seem like it, but that probably taught you more (unless you were completely close minded) than watching a trauma arrest would have. Triage is much more than slapping a BP cuff and pulse ox on people.

Couldn't have been said any better. If I the opportunity to choose between more time on a rig or in a ED doing triage, I would pick ED + triage. There is so much more to learn from triage. Sure, you might not be doing any crazy interventions, but the education/experience you pickup in triage is priceless.

You probably saw a lot more than you would have with Paramedics. Too bad you didn't take the initiative to ask questions.
What was being done for the code? Did you make it known that you knew CPR? The staff would probably have welcomed a fresh set of hands. Why no intubation? What were the signs and symptoms of the AAA? How many patients did you and the ECG tech interact with? How was privacy maintained? What questions were asked in triage? Did you manually check a pulse at least to assure accuracy of the values given on the pulse ox and BP machine? I do acknowledge that you were limited because of your age which might even have restricted you from access to many procedures and even access to some medical records. But if your state says you are old enough to take an EMT class, then you will have to take some of the responsibility on yourself to make the most of these clinicals. It probably won't be any different with a Paramedic if you don't make it known that you are willing to learn and do more.

Agreed. I think your clinical experience is solely based on how you make of your experience. If you make the most out of it, you will definitely enjoy/ learn from it. If you stand there and watch, of course it will be boring. I don't think age matters, if you're taking a EMT course, you should be expected to know the basics (CPR, ventilation, etc.). Hell, I've seen 12 year olds do some great compressions and ventilations!

During my clinical at the ER, I was bored for the first few hours (it was a smaller Level II trauma center). But I quickly realized, it's MY clinical experience. The RNs and ED techs could care less about me. That's when I started going from room to room, doing patient assessments (even though the RNs and ER Doc already conducted their own assessments), and generally offering my assistance in any way possible. It was a great experience; I was able to interact with a bunch of different patients, all of which loved my presence. By the end of the day, I had assisted a ER doc with stitching of a lacerated lip, mastered the placement of 12 leads, and picked up a few things or two when assessing an AMS patient.

It also helps to interact with the staff. I picked up a lot of knowledge from my preceptor (she was the ED tech on duty; former paramedic) that I wouldn't have otherwise in the classroom / ride-along.