My name is Robert I am a 22 year old male in the north texas area and I need some input from this community. I also want to apologize in advanced as this May be a long post. I have had health issues since the age of 3 months old and have had 16 surgeries, as a result of these surgeries I developed a class two reaction to latex, this will become pertinent in a moment. I have always wanted to be in ems since I was much younger and last year I decided to make this dream a reality by enrolling in an emt b class everything was going great up untill we started CPR practice on the dummies and low and behold they were made out of latex, you can see where this went, this happened not once but twice before they dropped me, fast forward a year and I am really starting to get the urge to try again, as you can guess I have never quiet learned what the word quit means. my question is, is my dream just some pipe dream or is there any hope whatsoever? For reference in a years time I am graduating from the university of North Texas with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and I want to do ems as a way to help others, sorry for the novel of a post and thank you all for your time and advice.
Need advice on how to achieve a dream
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I have a good friend who is absolutely brilliant. She graduated Baylor with a 4.0, and all she ever wanted to do was become a physician. She scored a 34 on her MCAT and was almost guaranteed a spot into BCoM. During some of her volunteer hours, she discovered she was highly allergic to latex. After some consult and realizing so many things in healthcare contained latex, she realized it just wasn't feasible. She went on to get an MPH and RD, so as to stay in healthcare and still be able to help people.
Take home point: it may not be worth the risk. EMS is by no means the only way you can help somebody and fulfill your altruistic urge.
Take home point: it may not be worth the risk. EMS is by no means the only way you can help somebody and fulfill your altruistic urge.
ThadeusJ
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I went to university with a guy (a friend of a friend) who was going to become a surgeon and I believed him. The guy was smart (not brilliant), goal driven and knew how to ask the right questions to reach the right people on how to reach his goal. He knew that no one was going to give it to him and he couldn't rely on the "give me a break" kind of approach many people (not you, by the way) often use to get in the door. Oh, by the way he was a paraplegic and in a wheelchair at a very old school that wasn't built in the days where physically handicapped people would even think of going to school let alone follow dreams.
Its up to your ability to function in a world where people will try to understand your allergy however you will only be accommodated to a certain degree. That may be harsh news but that's the reality of life (and that's coming from a Canadian where we like to think that we can accommodate all realities in the world). My advice would be to be prepared for latex exposure but be non-nonchalant about it and not throw it in everyone's faces. I am pretty sure that you are not the only one with such and allergy and there may even be others with worse.
I would contact a local service and discuss the work environment with them. I was once told that I should give up my dream of ever becoming a pilot because I needed glasses (it was the eye doctor actually telling this to a 12 year old me). I later got into air ambulance and when speaking to the pilots I was told, "Ya, we hear that a lot but its not true". Some fighter pilots wear glasses or contacts I later found.
Best of luck in reaching your goals.
Its up to your ability to function in a world where people will try to understand your allergy however you will only be accommodated to a certain degree. That may be harsh news but that's the reality of life (and that's coming from a Canadian where we like to think that we can accommodate all realities in the world). My advice would be to be prepared for latex exposure but be non-nonchalant about it and not throw it in everyone's faces. I am pretty sure that you are not the only one with such and allergy and there may even be others with worse.
I would contact a local service and discuss the work environment with them. I was once told that I should give up my dream of ever becoming a pilot because I needed glasses (it was the eye doctor actually telling this to a 12 year old me). I later got into air ambulance and when speaking to the pilots I was told, "Ya, we hear that a lot but its not true". Some fighter pilots wear glasses or contacts I later found.
Best of luck in reaching your goals.