Practical

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nmemt

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Are you expected to verbalize every action you take to the instructor?
 
Which practical are I talking about? Paramedic, Advanced, or Basic? The general answer is yes. You have to show what you are thinking, plus make sure you are hitting all the major points and no critical failures.
 
That is the worst part of the Practical exam at ALL levels, the verbalizing. In order to be sure the examiner knows you are confident in your skills, it is in your best interest to verbalize as much as you possibly can. I really feel that is the hardest part of Practical exams. It is easy to just walk in and perform the skill without talking, anybody can do that if you practice enough. But, to be able to talk your way through all the steps while doing them is a little tougher. In order to make sure that you hit all the areas, especially the critical criteria, verbalizing them will ensure you let the examiner know you know the skill.
 
when i was going through school my instructors said its better to talk the examiners ears off so they dont have to ask you questions then barely say anything because thats when the examiners will start to question you. just relax and dont be nervous.
 
...and if you start to get lost and forget what you were about to do revert back to the good old ABC's, they like it when you recheck them...lol
 
in my emt-b course, we have to verbalize every thing that we are going to do. Im glad we do because i got a good memory.
Make sure you know all the critical points, if you do for the most part you cant fail then. I try not to focus in on the critical areas, but instead try to remember the sheet as a whole. Different strokes for different folks
 
diarreah of the mouth as my instructor put it. I verbalized everything I could think of from how to size the king airway to the approx volume of the cuffs and exactly what each letter in DCAP BTLS stood for and what i would expect to feel if I found any of the aboved mentions. As I was told, its the only test youll ever take in this field where the answers are provided to you prior to the questions. Study those checklists and follow them to a tee. Youll fair better if the proctor can go strait down that checklist as you go along. The more they have to bounce around, the more they may forget if you did something or not.
 
The thought behind verbalizing everything is that the instructor doesn't know what your thinking so you have to tell them while also using your hands during your assessment. This is a touchy feely job, if your not comfortable touching people you will have a hard time as an EMT.

I have been a trauma patient multiple times for NREMT testing at my school. Some people are really hands on but are really quiet and they lose points. Some people are really loud but don't touch. The people who do both score the best. The instructor prompt says something like "show how you would assess and verbalize your treatments." Say everything that's on your mind besides "uh".

Slow yourself down, 10 minutes is a lot of time. Don't let your nerves get to you, treat it like any other scenario you ran in class. Use a methodical and organized approach to what your doing. After any treatment reassess the results of your treatment.

Know your critical fails.

Be confident, calm, know your material and you'll be fine.
 
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