woogyboogy
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I'm 24 years old, and I have wanted to become a Paramedic/Firefighter for as long as I can remember. My family has been in the medical field their entire life, however none have been in a pre-hospital setting.
I have been stalking this forum for quite some time now, just reading, and absorbing information that seems pertinent.
The EMT program I'm enrolled in is actually an "accelerated" program. They didn't inform us before hand. So it's actually 12 weeks long, with the 2 weeks at the end being final exams, so ultimately 10 weeks. It has been rather intense so far, they have thrown us a lot of information in such a short time, however most of it is basic. We just took our first FISDAP unit exam, which was an 80 question Airway and Respiratory exam. Our class of 22 students averaged a 69%. I got the second highest grade which was an 81%
We have lecture, and lab once a week, Monday (Lecture) 14:00-20:00, and Wednesday (Lab) 14:00-21:00. They basically told us at the beginning of the program, that the material you need to learn, will be up to you, with what you do on your own time. So needless to say we have a lot of chapters that need to be covered to get through a 1,600 page book in 12 weeks, not only reading it, but being able to comprehend the material.
Anyways, as far as the Lecture setting goes I feel relatively comfortable. I have a general understanding of A&P. I have completely memorized the Medical and Trauma Assessment NREMT sheets for lab. However, we have done scenarios on multiple manikins, which all have pulses, blood pressures, lung sounds, respirations (depth/quality), and can speak (Proctor). So basically our scenarios are setup to where the Proctor controls the manikin's signs/symptoms on an iPad, and we have to "arrive on scene" and properly treat their condition, and the Proctor can change the vitals at any time without us knowing.
I have a general understanding of the physiology of most of the diseases we've covered this far;
(Bronchitis Acute/Chronic, Emphysema, Cardiac Tamponade, Pulmonary Embolism, Pneumonia, CHF, Pneumothorax, Asthma, Epiglottitis, and the various shocks). However I'm having a hard time being able to properly treat them with the signs/symptoms they present within a 10-15 minute "Scenario" assessment.
For instance, yesterday in our lab scenario, I had a patient who was AOx3, complaining of shortness of breath. Pulse was 96, respirations were 26, but he was able to talk with complete sentences. I had my partner apply a non-rebreather at 10lpm. Skin condition was pink, warm, and dry. Blood pressure was 132/96. Lung sounds rales, crackly, and somewhat wet. In the SAMPLE history he explained that he had NKA, and was prescribed an Albuterol inhaler. Past pertinent history he explained that he had been diagnosed with Chronic Bronchitis. So here's where I made my mistake; I immediately assumed that since he had Chronic Bronchitis, and was prescribed Albuterol, that I should immediately help him administer it, (totally forgetting his WET lung sounds). So I ended up giving him 3 doses of his Albuterol, which inevitably made his condition deteriorate, and ultimately "flooded" the patient out by dilating his bronchioles.
Most of the diseases share the same lung sounds and signs/symptoms. So my question to you experienced EMS professionals, is what can I do to further my knowledge on differentiating between everything, and being able to react with the appropriate treatment in a timely manner?
I am all ears, and will take any criticism, constructive or not.
Thanks!
I have been stalking this forum for quite some time now, just reading, and absorbing information that seems pertinent.
The EMT program I'm enrolled in is actually an "accelerated" program. They didn't inform us before hand. So it's actually 12 weeks long, with the 2 weeks at the end being final exams, so ultimately 10 weeks. It has been rather intense so far, they have thrown us a lot of information in such a short time, however most of it is basic. We just took our first FISDAP unit exam, which was an 80 question Airway and Respiratory exam. Our class of 22 students averaged a 69%. I got the second highest grade which was an 81%
We have lecture, and lab once a week, Monday (Lecture) 14:00-20:00, and Wednesday (Lab) 14:00-21:00. They basically told us at the beginning of the program, that the material you need to learn, will be up to you, with what you do on your own time. So needless to say we have a lot of chapters that need to be covered to get through a 1,600 page book in 12 weeks, not only reading it, but being able to comprehend the material.
Anyways, as far as the Lecture setting goes I feel relatively comfortable. I have a general understanding of A&P. I have completely memorized the Medical and Trauma Assessment NREMT sheets for lab. However, we have done scenarios on multiple manikins, which all have pulses, blood pressures, lung sounds, respirations (depth/quality), and can speak (Proctor). So basically our scenarios are setup to where the Proctor controls the manikin's signs/symptoms on an iPad, and we have to "arrive on scene" and properly treat their condition, and the Proctor can change the vitals at any time without us knowing.
I have a general understanding of the physiology of most of the diseases we've covered this far;
(Bronchitis Acute/Chronic, Emphysema, Cardiac Tamponade, Pulmonary Embolism, Pneumonia, CHF, Pneumothorax, Asthma, Epiglottitis, and the various shocks). However I'm having a hard time being able to properly treat them with the signs/symptoms they present within a 10-15 minute "Scenario" assessment.
For instance, yesterday in our lab scenario, I had a patient who was AOx3, complaining of shortness of breath. Pulse was 96, respirations were 26, but he was able to talk with complete sentences. I had my partner apply a non-rebreather at 10lpm. Skin condition was pink, warm, and dry. Blood pressure was 132/96. Lung sounds rales, crackly, and somewhat wet. In the SAMPLE history he explained that he had NKA, and was prescribed an Albuterol inhaler. Past pertinent history he explained that he had been diagnosed with Chronic Bronchitis. So here's where I made my mistake; I immediately assumed that since he had Chronic Bronchitis, and was prescribed Albuterol, that I should immediately help him administer it, (totally forgetting his WET lung sounds). So I ended up giving him 3 doses of his Albuterol, which inevitably made his condition deteriorate, and ultimately "flooded" the patient out by dilating his bronchioles.
Most of the diseases share the same lung sounds and signs/symptoms. So my question to you experienced EMS professionals, is what can I do to further my knowledge on differentiating between everything, and being able to react with the appropriate treatment in a timely manner?
I am all ears, and will take any criticism, constructive or not.
Thanks!