My COVID year as a medic.

SandpitMedic

SandpitMedic

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I wasn’t really sure where to post this, so I figured here is as good a place as any.

The pandemic brought me more experience and more growth both professionally and personally as one could imagine.

I went on multiple contracts for COVID assignments that have rewarded me richly down many avenues. I took advice from this site as a matter of fact that led me to a wonderful company that turned into a blossoming career as both a medic and as a PA.

I worked all over the place from Atlanta, to Miami, to rural Arizona where I got to actually help people affected with COVID. When it kicked off I was still in PA school, uncertain of what I would do when we were yanked from our clinical year. I was anxious and unsure what would happen.

I ended up doing contracts until my program resumed and then again immediately after graduation. I worked as a medic until I got all officially licensed and credentialed as a PA. (Which, in school they don’t tell you, takes months). My first PA gig was a COVID assignment. Actually, my first and second.

After that I worked in the ICU for a while, but the schedule was rough with a young family. Now I’m working urgent care as a PA and will get my KSA’s dialed in there until I seek an ER gig. I am fortunate and happy that I kept all of my paramedic certs up to date. Eventually I will go back to working on the ambulance because I have an affinity and love for prehospital medicine, but I do still encourage all of my EMS brethren to go for the gold, persist in your higher education goals, and not to stay stagnant if you’re unsatisfied.

I say all this as humbly as possible due to the widespread pain this pandemic has caused, but the year ended up setting me up very well. I managed to avoid infection and put my skills to use to advance myself. I hope you all stay well and be safe.

Does anyone else have a similar story, finding success in one of the worst years for healthcare in modern times?
 
Similar? No, but happy to hear you turned lemons into lemonade.

I (and my family) was not fortunate enough to be unscathed, but we did all recover quite well. So I’d agree, blessings are definitely what you make of them.

Also, I thought you’d been a PA for a few years this whole time. You gonna re-up on your HEMS stuff too?
 
VentMonkey said:
Similar? No, but happy to hear you turned lemons into lemonade.

I (and my family) was not fortunate enough to be unscathed, but we did all recover quite well. So I’d agree, blessings are definitely what you make of them.

Also, I thought you’d been a PA for a few years this whole time. You gonna re-up on your HEMS stuff too?
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Already did. No, I am pretty new PA.
 
I made good money... in forced OT because of employees on quarantine.

I was/am one of the fortunate ones to not contract the virus.
 
My story is a little different, but turned out to be an incredibly rewarding year both professionally and financially.

For much of the year I was employed as the education and quality manager for a larger EMS agency. I was running calls as a medic and got to see COVID up close, but I was also working to develop policy and procedures for our staff to manage their way through the pandemic. This helped me immensely as I worked toward my bachelors degree in EMS administration. Many of the courses that I was taking dealt with policy, risk management and public health. All of which dovetailnicely with what I was doing on a daily basis.

In October, I had a conversation with my CEO, who advised me that they were not planning to move me into that position, due to a merger that I was not privy to at the time. I decided to cut my losses with that agency and accepted a position as the regional education specialist with my regional EMS council which has proven to be one of the best professional moves I’ve ever made. Opportunities to take on new large scale projects have presented and I am able to really showcase my talent in this unique position.

Financially, my consulting business and some side projects really took off and have made this a very lucrative year indeed.

I am currently nine credits away from completing my bachelors, I am exploring post grad programs and I’m looking forward to what the next year will bring. COVID-19 was not nearly the disaster for me, and my family, that it was for many others. In fact, we did better this year than we have in several years previous.
 
It's great to hear stories of assessing, adapting, and excelling. I can't help but think some of it has to do with the medic mindset.
 
I can't say it brought opportunities to take on longer term goals, but I am still very fortunate compared to others. I have lost one family member to COVID, but all my immediate family has been healthy and I didnt get sick either and for that I am thankful. My biggest worry was getting one of them sick.
 
Further elaboration—I finally got dual certified at the CCP-C and FP-C. Yes, I’m still lagging on the higher (collegiate) education.

We sold and bought a new house. Now we’re awaiting all projects to fall into play from the equity of the house we sold.

(as mentioned earlier) We all got Thanksgiving Covid, and recovered from it together. That was one for the books to share with our children’s children years from now.

Recently, my wife and I experienced a pretty sad event, we unexpectedly lost our would-be fourth baby at the close of her first trimester.

But, we’re all doing well, and mom’s recovering. Everyone here is happy and healthy. She really is the toughest woman that I know.

All in all, it certainly has been a year chock full of resilience. Basically a testament to the old “only the strong survive” adage.
 
Other than being heavily inconvenienced along with the rest of the country, it was a normal year.

None of us caught covid, nobody we know caught covid. My wife dealt with several covid patients in the ICU, I only saw 2 (known) one critical and one that just happened to test positive for covid before surgery relating to an MVA.

I never even watched Tiger King.
 
GMCmedic said:
Other than being heavily inconvenienced along with the rest of the country, it was a normal year.

None of us caught covid, nobody we know caught covid. My wife dealt with several covid patients in the ICU, I only saw 2 (known) one critical and one that just happened to test positive for covid before surgery relating to an MVA.

I never even watched Tiger King.
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Amazing how different the perception can be. I transported at least 50 COVID patients, many critically ill. A nursing home in my area was a COVID hotbed and had dozens of deaths. I know many people that caught COVID and several who died. It was certainly a bad year in that sense. I’m 50 and fat... I was worried. I luckily did not contract COVID and was fully vaccinated with my second dose on Jan 28th.

For me, getting off the street and fully into an education/admin position was half career move and half self preservation.
 
NomadicMedic said:
Amazing how different the perception can be. I transported at least 50 COVID patients, many critically ill. A nursing home in my area was a COVID hotbed and had dozens of deaths. I know many people that caught COVID and several who died. It was certainly a bad year in that sense. I’m 50 and fat... I was worried. I luckily did not contract COVID and was fully vaccinated with my second dose on Jan 28th.

For me, getting off the street and fully into an education/admin position was half career move and half self preservation.
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There were many factors that worked in my favor, mostly hospitals either weren't moving patients, or they did it before they were HEMS sick. If we saw them, they were almost always in renal failure and transfer was a hail mary.

The one critical I did have was quite possibly the sickest person I transported the entire year.
 
I just did IFT during all of this so I got to take home a lot of people who had beat covid. Nothing 911 related at all. Did one transport from a field hospital in Jersey City and that’s the closest I got to any place major.
 
GMCmedic said:
There were many factors that worked in my favor, mostly hospitals either weren't moving patients, or they did it before they were HEMS sick. If we saw them, they were almost always in renal failure and transfer was a hail mary.

The one critical I did have was quite possibly the sickest person I transported the entire year.
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Did something good happen to him? I wanna know.
 
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