Jeremy89
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Copied and pasted from my blog. Just looking for some advice from some of the more experienced folks out there:
So I just got back from Julian where I spent the last 36 hours. I had the opportunity to do a ride along with the Julian FD. Got there about 8a but it was dead until about 4 in the afternoon. Finally, we got dispatched to Lake Cuyamaca for an unconscious pt. We rolled up to find a 73 y/o male on the beach with a towel, sitting on a chair. Fire was already on scene. We talked to him and the son to find out what happened. He had just finished chemo and the medication change made him dizzy so he just kinda blacked out. Luckily the son caught him. They ended up using a stair chair to get him into the Ambo where we took his vitals. The medic I was riding with wanted to do a 12-lead EKG to get a better look at his heart.
Both her and the EMT were real cool about helping me set it up and everything. The monitor found an A-Fib rhythm. We asked him about his heart and he knew he had an abnormal heartbeat but refused to be transported. We took his sugar, BP, pulse, etc and he signed the AMA. We left and that was that.
I guess I could consider this my first call as an EMT even though I was technically just riding. Nothing too interesting but I still learned a lot from it.
However, I just got the following email from my cousin who works in the office at the FD:
Talk about hit and miss, yesterday they were transporting a moderate patient and they came across a multi car accident. I guess this old man was stopped and waiting to turn left and 4 motorcycles came up behinmd him at 80 miles an hour and smashed into him. One guy died and the other 4 were hurt pretty bad. They flew out one of the guys. The kicker is this, there was no ambulance around or available to take the call, the nearest BLS ambulance was 30 minutes out which wasn't going to really help anyway. So Our ambulance had to ask the current patient if they were ok, found an EMT on the road stuck them in the back of the ambulance with the patient while they took car of the rest of the patients. They were looking for any type of EMT"s around for help because there weren't enough people. SO they used bystanders. Pretty Crazy! Next time we should get you on for at least 2 days in a row.
Then you will totally get something!
Can't believe I missed that! Oh well.
Now I have some thinking to do...
If you're reading this, you probably know enough about me to know that I am interested in Emergency Medicine. I love the thrill of the job both in and out of the hospital. Now here's the hard part:
I am 1 year into my Nursing Pre-Reqs. I could continue to do this, and go to Arizona State and attempt to get in to their BSN program. That's fine, but I didnt get this EMT for nothing, and if I can't get hired anywhere but Target, something is definitely wrong!
So, I was thinking about California. I really like it here. Lots of sun, cool ocean breeze, and of course the beautiful mountain scenery. On top of that, I have a ton of family that lives here. Now I had a chance to talk to Karen, the medic I rode with while up there. She gave me a ton of numbers and info for getting hired here. So if I wanted, I could probably get all my licenses transferred and get a job here. Of course, this is all kind of biased towards California because I'm here now.
Then there's the whole "which company" thing. I liked the mountains because of the scenery, but also the remote location. The Julian FD covers 400 sq miles of territory. I think that'd be cool because if there is a call anywhere up there- trauma or medical- you get to take it. Plus you're always with a Medic so you can soak up all of the ALS information. Not to mention the people up there are so kind and welcoming, which is the part of the small town life I miss from Nebraska. Unfortunately it is the mountains so civilization is pretty far away. I don't really like all those winding roads- kinda made me nauseous. Plus it can be hard to get on Full Time (heck, even part time) with a small dept like Julian.
I could work in the city and take more routine, uneventful transports (not to say Julian is always exciting; and the transports can be great for learning). There, I would have to work my way up to an ALS rig. But I would still get the patient contact which is important.
Then there's the whole school thing. Being an EMT isn't exactly a typical job a college student has. I'd have to find time to fit in the rest of my pre-reqs (I still have A&P I & II and Microbiology, and others), plus the actual nursing stuff when it comes time for that. Since you're on call in EMS, there is plenty of time for studying...usually. But counting on that time being available the day before a test is a gamble that I may not be willing to take. Do I really want to live my life on call?
Well, I think I have the answer. My ultimate goal is to be a flight nurse. I've heard nursing school teaches very little on critical care, which is where a career as an EMT, and maybe even a Paramedic would benefit.
So this would all mean I would have to leave my dry, dusty desert home (that sounds cool
) and find a place to stay here in SAN. Most likely my grandparents place, but I'd like to meet some people my age. Not so easy in an EMS career. I'm probably one of the yougest EMT's in AZ. Also, I'm pretty close to my family (mom, dad and sis... oh yeah and Rover) so this would be pretty tough. Hell, 2 days in Julian and I started to get home sick. I need face reality- grow up and be independent, but where, when and how to do that, I don't quite know.
Yet another option that isn't very plausible would be getting my Medic license. This would give me the advantage in nursing school, but Paramedic school is just as hard. Do I want to put in all that effort just to ease my transition into nursing?
So now it's decision time. I'm sure I'm overthinking this whole thing, but if i can't use this EMT, I'm just throwing away $900 and that is not cool! I really like both AZ and CA, and with gas prices, traveling is not going to be a possibility...unless someone in my family wants to go [back] to the airline.... you know who you are.
So any comments, questions, and most importantly, advice are all welcome. Thanks for reading!
If you managed to read this far, congratulations! Basically, I just need to know what you guys think. Medic School? Nursing school? EMT jobs? It's all so confusing.
Thanks,
So I just got back from Julian where I spent the last 36 hours. I had the opportunity to do a ride along with the Julian FD. Got there about 8a but it was dead until about 4 in the afternoon. Finally, we got dispatched to Lake Cuyamaca for an unconscious pt. We rolled up to find a 73 y/o male on the beach with a towel, sitting on a chair. Fire was already on scene. We talked to him and the son to find out what happened. He had just finished chemo and the medication change made him dizzy so he just kinda blacked out. Luckily the son caught him. They ended up using a stair chair to get him into the Ambo where we took his vitals. The medic I was riding with wanted to do a 12-lead EKG to get a better look at his heart.
Both her and the EMT were real cool about helping me set it up and everything. The monitor found an A-Fib rhythm. We asked him about his heart and he knew he had an abnormal heartbeat but refused to be transported. We took his sugar, BP, pulse, etc and he signed the AMA. We left and that was that.
I guess I could consider this my first call as an EMT even though I was technically just riding. Nothing too interesting but I still learned a lot from it.
However, I just got the following email from my cousin who works in the office at the FD:
Talk about hit and miss, yesterday they were transporting a moderate patient and they came across a multi car accident. I guess this old man was stopped and waiting to turn left and 4 motorcycles came up behinmd him at 80 miles an hour and smashed into him. One guy died and the other 4 were hurt pretty bad. They flew out one of the guys. The kicker is this, there was no ambulance around or available to take the call, the nearest BLS ambulance was 30 minutes out which wasn't going to really help anyway. So Our ambulance had to ask the current patient if they were ok, found an EMT on the road stuck them in the back of the ambulance with the patient while they took car of the rest of the patients. They were looking for any type of EMT"s around for help because there weren't enough people. SO they used bystanders. Pretty Crazy! Next time we should get you on for at least 2 days in a row.
Then you will totally get something!
Can't believe I missed that! Oh well.
Now I have some thinking to do...
If you're reading this, you probably know enough about me to know that I am interested in Emergency Medicine. I love the thrill of the job both in and out of the hospital. Now here's the hard part:
I am 1 year into my Nursing Pre-Reqs. I could continue to do this, and go to Arizona State and attempt to get in to their BSN program. That's fine, but I didnt get this EMT for nothing, and if I can't get hired anywhere but Target, something is definitely wrong!
So, I was thinking about California. I really like it here. Lots of sun, cool ocean breeze, and of course the beautiful mountain scenery. On top of that, I have a ton of family that lives here. Now I had a chance to talk to Karen, the medic I rode with while up there. She gave me a ton of numbers and info for getting hired here. So if I wanted, I could probably get all my licenses transferred and get a job here. Of course, this is all kind of biased towards California because I'm here now.
Then there's the whole "which company" thing. I liked the mountains because of the scenery, but also the remote location. The Julian FD covers 400 sq miles of territory. I think that'd be cool because if there is a call anywhere up there- trauma or medical- you get to take it. Plus you're always with a Medic so you can soak up all of the ALS information. Not to mention the people up there are so kind and welcoming, which is the part of the small town life I miss from Nebraska. Unfortunately it is the mountains so civilization is pretty far away. I don't really like all those winding roads- kinda made me nauseous. Plus it can be hard to get on Full Time (heck, even part time) with a small dept like Julian.
I could work in the city and take more routine, uneventful transports (not to say Julian is always exciting; and the transports can be great for learning). There, I would have to work my way up to an ALS rig. But I would still get the patient contact which is important.
Then there's the whole school thing. Being an EMT isn't exactly a typical job a college student has. I'd have to find time to fit in the rest of my pre-reqs (I still have A&P I & II and Microbiology, and others), plus the actual nursing stuff when it comes time for that. Since you're on call in EMS, there is plenty of time for studying...usually. But counting on that time being available the day before a test is a gamble that I may not be willing to take. Do I really want to live my life on call?
Well, I think I have the answer. My ultimate goal is to be a flight nurse. I've heard nursing school teaches very little on critical care, which is where a career as an EMT, and maybe even a Paramedic would benefit.
So this would all mean I would have to leave my dry, dusty desert home (that sounds cool
) and find a place to stay here in SAN. Most likely my grandparents place, but I'd like to meet some people my age. Not so easy in an EMS career. I'm probably one of the yougest EMT's in AZ. Also, I'm pretty close to my family (mom, dad and sis... oh yeah and Rover) so this would be pretty tough. Hell, 2 days in Julian and I started to get home sick. I need face reality- grow up and be independent, but where, when and how to do that, I don't quite know.Yet another option that isn't very plausible would be getting my Medic license. This would give me the advantage in nursing school, but Paramedic school is just as hard. Do I want to put in all that effort just to ease my transition into nursing?
So now it's decision time. I'm sure I'm overthinking this whole thing, but if i can't use this EMT, I'm just throwing away $900 and that is not cool! I really like both AZ and CA, and with gas prices, traveling is not going to be a possibility...unless someone in my family wants to go [back] to the airline.... you know who you are.
So any comments, questions, and most importantly, advice are all welcome. Thanks for reading!
If you managed to read this far, congratulations! Basically, I just need to know what you guys think. Medic School? Nursing school? EMT jobs? It's all so confusing.
Thanks,
