IV Training

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Capt.Hook

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Hi all. I have been considering working at a local level 3 trauma care hospital as an EMT/Tech. My plans to become an EMT-I fell through for this spring, but the hospital provides a one day IV training that all Techs are required to attend. This would "allow" them to start lines in the ER.

For those who have had or instruct IV training, is this even possible? I am not one to second guess, as the lead EMT in the ER is a CC-EMTP and well respected around the docs, etc.

I would love to aquire any additional training, but does 8 hours of IV training make for the beginnings of a competent IV starter?


OH, a side note! We are celebrating the birth of our FIFTH! today at 3 am. Little Molli and mom are wonderfully healthy and resting well!
 
sure. Why wouldn't 8 hours suffice? You'll be starting IVs under direct orders anyway so you don't need time to learn protocols or indications/contraindications.

IVs are easy to learn, they just need a lot of practice and experience to master. The majority of your education on IV therapy will be where to place an IV (basilic or cephalic are best), techniques, which guages for what, calculating drip rates (waste of time if you have a pump anyway), and indications for d/c a line (S/S of interstitials, phlebitis, sensitivity/allergy, embolus, etc).

You'll get a good lunch break out of that, and some coffee stops and then practice on a dummy arm a couple of times before doing 3 starts on other classmates and that'll be your day.

Like I say, starting lines under orders takes all the necessity of learning protocols and calcs and whatnot out of the schedule. In and out, just like an IV.

Good luck!
 
8 hours will not be the end of your training. That is only the beginning. If your ER is as busy as ours, you'll be doing so many IVs that you'll be dreaming about them in your sleep. Plus, working in the ER, you will have many valuable resources to teach you many tricks for those difficult and/or hard to stick patients.

This will be a great skill with the addition of hospital eduation all around you. You'll start to absorb the hows, whats and whys eventually.
 
Thank you both. I am planning to proceed as soon as I can. I still will do EMT-I, but this will be a nice stepping stone. Really looking forward to the experience in the ER. Of course, it will be on the side, picking up whatever shifts are available. They also run a BLS ambulance that I hope to get some time on.
 
And lest we all forget, congratulations on the bambino!! :beerchug:
 
Practice makes perfect, start doing them on yourself, then on your buddies, then with the lights off, get the feel for it, not just the sight. I was an EMT-B/IV at Denver Health Medical Center a few years back and got some really good training, similar to what you are looking at, it made me a very capable EMT.

I am now an army medic and have to practice my sticks wearing NVGs, weak handed, with everything from 20ga to 12 ga which hurt like hell!!!, and the problem is our supply is inconsistent, so we never know what kind of needle/cath we have at that moment. I know for a fact the variety of training environments has made me much more confident and capable in my work. Hospital IV's would be a regular day in the office after being in Iraq. No offense to any hospital personnel!!
 
ASEPTIC TECHNIQUE!!!

thats the huge thing with IV's. its worse working in a flow hood making chemo drugs. but yeah, just remember aseptic technique and you should be fine!
 
You can learn it in a lot less than eight hours. Try about two. But don't attempt to equate this with what is taught in a paramedic class, because they are teaching you only technique and complications. A paramedic education program (even just the IV portion) takes a lot longer because you are being taught the therapeutic and pharmacological basis of the technique, as well as the medical assessment and decision making process necessary to determine who needs the IV, what kind, and when, as well as monitoring it after initiation. The ER class will again focus only on initiation of the line. Everything else will be up to physicians and nurses.
 
Our hospital is a level 1 trauma (though they rarely call us techs in there. Trauma and ED are seperate). They just expanded our scope of practice as techs to include insertion of foley catheters, "saline locks" (can't call them IV's for legal reasons!!), removal of sutures/staples, as well as eye and ear irrigation (which we already sorta do).

The class for ALL of this is 4.5 hrs, but I talked to a tech who already took it and said it took about 3. IV's aren't that hard, but keep in mind I've taken a phlebotomy class. It's basically the same thing, except something's staying in there!

J
 
Jeremy89 said:
Our hospital is a level 1 trauma (though they rarely call us techs in there. Trauma and ED are seperate). They just expanded our scope of practice as techs to include insertion of foley catheters, "saline locks" (can't call them IV's for legal reasons!!), removal of sutures/staples, as well as eye and ear irrigation (which we already sorta do).

The class for ALL of this is 4.5 hrs, but I talked to a tech who already took it and said it took about 3. IV's aren't that hard, but keep in mind I've taken a phlebotomy class. It's basically the same thing, except something's staying in there!

J
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My condolensces. :P Make sure you all get more compensation!
 
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