New medics right into 911

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blachatch

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I was wondering how many medics right out of school or a few months out got on with a 911 company? Or did you start out IFT? Was it an uphill battle right out of school going into a 911 service with lack of field experience?

The reason I ask this it seems a lot of 911 services require "experience" to get hired. My argument is their is no replacement for going on 911 calls and getting that patient care experience rather than just transports where some companies you might get to do an IV once a week ( in my area that is ).
 
Not sure what companies you're talking about, but we get 5-6 county 911 systems recruiting at our school for every graduating class.
 
I feel like internship has to count for something. but I plan on going straight for 911 and nothing but. I worked with medics who went straight to IFT and got complacent and lazy and I don't want to be like that. I know its easier said then done and the IFT pay is better, but I know I don't want to do that again.
IFT and an EMT is enough for me
 
Well all we have is IFT.. all 911 is done by fire which is my goal ( I have my Firefighter II also) But I want to get my feet wet in EMS first before going fire/medic.

All of our IFT Privates are terrible at best.. which is giving me this problem.
 
Any good 911 system should orient their new employees to their new role, regardless if the new employees have experience as a medic or if they're new grads. If you're looking to be a 911 medic, why not apply to 911 services? The worst thing they can tell you is "no" and "apply later." Don't limit yourself to your local area. Apply to IFT services and to 911 providers that are a little farther away. You might find that someone picks you up and gives you some good training/experience that would allow you to return "home" to where you want to work.

Just remember that IFT is a whole different animal from 911 work.
 
I was running my own truck as an Intermediate when I was in medic school, so when I upgraded it was a simple matter of doing my third rides as a medic, then going right back on my own as running an ALS truck. I was also running an ALS IFT truck for my second job. That was actually harder to get used to, because our ALS trucks ran up to CCT-like levels w/ vents and multiple drips being rather common for us to transfer for long distances.
 
blachatch said:
I was wondering how many medics right out of school or a few months out got on with a 911 company? Or did you start out IFT? Was it an uphill battle right out of school going into a 911 service with lack of field experience?

The reason I ask this it seems a lot of 911 services require "experience" to get hired. My argument is their is no replacement for going on 911 calls and getting that patient care experience rather than just transports where some companies you might get to do an IV once a week ( in my area that is ).
Click to expand...

IFT is either BLS or critical care. New paramedics in my area cannot get into ALS IFT. You must work 911 before going ALS IFT.
 
I didn't work IFT until 8 years into being a medic.
 
blachatch said:
Well all we have is IFT.. all 911 is done by fire which is my goal ( I have my Firefighter II also) But I want to get my feet wet in EMS first before going fire/medic.

All of our IFT Privates are terrible at best.. which is giving me this problem.
Click to expand...
apply to get onto a FD.... work for a private until you get hired.

Personally, i find IFT to be incredibly boring. BLS IFT is incredibly mindless to me... CCT IFT is better, but only unstable ones (not the IFT for a cath in 8 hours, when the patient is incredibly stable, just going for a procedure and the doc wants her on a monitor). Again, your experience and opinion might very.

But I stand by my original statement, apply to get onto a FD.... work for a private until you get hired.
 
There are no IFT medics in New Jersey. All medics are hospital based EMS systems.
 
I was working as an EMT-I for a 911 service when I finished medic school and I promoted to medic within 3 weeks of finishing school and was cleared to operate independently about 9 weeks after I graduated.
 
I currently work for a 911 service as an EMT. Once I finish medic school I will reclass to a medic and then start FTO time (since I'm already with the company my FTO time will be fairly short).
 
Running IFT's is great experience if your an EMT because that's where you learn how to talk to patients and do assessments....most of the new EMT's I work with as a Medic on a 911 ambulance suck at both of those things because they never do it. (EMT's have to drive on all our calls, which doesn't help)

However, IFT's is no place for a new medic because you have so many skills you need to practice that you'll lose all of it.
 
SuprMedic said:
Running IFT's is great experience if your an EMT because that's where you learn how to talk to patients and do assessments....most of the new EMT's I work with as a Medic on a 911 ambulance suck at both of those things because they never do it. (EMT's have to drive on all our calls, which doesn't help)

However, IFT's is no place for a new medic because you have so many skills you need to practice that you'll lose all of it.
Click to expand...

Requiring EMT's to drive shows the area doesn't really understand or care about EMS. Disappointing.
 
My partner usually runs the call until I have a reason to takeover. Pretty sad places won't let EMTs do anything but drive and the occasional skill.
 
Even if it requires a significant commute, or relocation, try as hard as you can to get on with a 911 company. The old phrase "if you don't use it, you lose it" definitely applies to paramedics, especially new paramedics. Yes internship counts for something, but in all honesty, you never develop a real routine during internship for the most part because you are being evaluated and critiqued on every call, and have to run the call the way your preceptor would run it. I understand that family and other factors can make long commutes or relocation impossible for some, but, on the other hand, many new medics take the easy route rather than leave their comfort zone when there is nothing holding them back from applying to outlying places.

I am originally from SoCal/LA. AKA the black hole of EMS. I had many friends who went directly into IFT as new paramedics for the money and short commute. Most, if not all of them, agree that their skills degraded rapidly. Much of ALS IFT is just a glorified BLS transport with a cardiac monitor. While some IFT medics I know brag they push drugs "all the time" there is a difference between giving a respiratory patient yet another albuterol treatment enroute or pushing 4mg of morphine every 20 min per doctor's orders and actually assessing and treating a patient in the field. I had to move 3 hours north to get into a system where I am a 911 paramedic. It has been the best career decision I have ever made.

It requires hundreds if not thousands of calls to truly develop your skills, get into your routine, and develop the true confidence you need to be a good medic. (I am not talking about the "I just got my P card now I am the s*** fake confidence some new medics have until they actually run calls.) As a new paramedic, you have all the book knowledge you can have. Now it is time to hit the streets and put that knowledge to work. There is a huge difference between the classroom/clinical rotations/internship and being the one actually calling the shots when it is not a simulation or you do not have a preceptor as a safety net. I know some on these forums may disagree, but knowing people on both the IFT and 911 side of things, I believe 911 is the way to go.
 
CentralCalEMT said:
It requires hundreds if not thousands of calls to truly develop your skills, get into your routine, and develop the true confidence you need to be a good medic. (I am not talking about the "I just got my P card now I am the s*** fake confidence some new medics have until they actually run calls.) As a new paramedic, you have all the book knowledge you can have. Now it is time to hit the streets and put that knowledge to work. There is a huge difference between the classroom/clinical rotations/internship and being the one actually calling the shots when it is not a simulation or you do not have a preceptor as a safety net. I know some on these forums may disagree, but knowing people on both the IFT and 911 side of things, I believe 911 is the way to go.
Click to expand...

Where I work there are two private agencies that provide 911 service. One is the primary 911 provider, while the other if primarily IFT with some limited backup 911 service (as in 1-2 911 calls per week). The differences between the medics at both companies is dramatic. At the primary 911 company the medics are very competent and well trained, many having been medics for more than a decade. The medics from the IFT company, on the other hand, leave something to be desired. We both have the same level of training, however the IFT medics simply don't get to utilize their assessment and treatment skills enough to make them confident and competent providers. In fact, the IFT medics are generally looked down upon. It is nearly impossible to become a really good medic if you only occasionally run a 911 call. To be proficient you need that repetitive patient contact to learn your own rhythm and style.

If you're a new medic, you best get yourself a job where you're running lots of 911 calls, or you'll slowly lose all that great experience you got in your internship. If you do have to take an IFT job, do everything in your power to let it just be a quick stepping stone to a 911 career.
 
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