Reflections on EMT-B class...

[medichopeful]

To be fair, most EMT-B courses do a cruddy job of teaching assessments.

I wouldn't really know, as I have only been in 1 EMT course. But yes, I can see what you mean. But again, it would be nice if the students just memorized the steps so they could go through the assessment. And by memorizing and understanding the list, it allows one to do critical thinking while going through the assessment, which is always a plus, as they don't have to be like "oh, well the list says this, and I only know the list well enough to follow it step-by-step, so I'll do that next." If that made any sense :wacko:

 

[Jon Hus]

I have about 5 weeks left in my training. I have made some friends. The class has already shed 20 or so percent and I expect another 15 or 20% will not be there end of December. I have my shortcomings, true, but it is a little hard to imagine some of my classates doing this. I'm planning to volunteer and many in my class are also. It seems to me that many of the ones that want to do this full time are the ones struggling in class.

I'm glad I finally got around to doing this and I look forward to increasing my skills and getting some experience. I'm hoping that once I get into a routine that I don't loose my interest in this endevor. It is my intention to be a good solid EMS citizen.

In general I have been enjoying my class experience. I take the study part quite seriously and my grades are good. My regular job is 10 hours/day and I commute 2 hours each day also. In addition I'm a volunteer fire fighter and the parent of 2 teens, husband and so forth. So, when class is over I make a bee line for the door. Will be glad when the class is complete and I can start going on calls, however some of my fellow students are fun to be around.

 

[Achromatic]

I don't really like most of my EMT class. We're like 3-4 months in, and some of them still can't run a trauma or a medical assessment to save their life, let alone their patient's. And just the other day, one gave me (a fake patient suffering a fake asthma attack) Epinephrine as the drug of choice.

You have got to be kidding me.

Ya. We're three weeks out from sitting our state written, and several couldn't run a trauma assessment, let alone a medical. One of our instructors, a senior medic (without blowing my own horn, which still has a long way to go before I'd describe myself as 'proficient') has on more than one occasion when our group IC has asked me to do the PT exam, stopped them and said "No, someone else needs to do that", and at other times refused to let them do ride-alongs with him, given that his approach to ridealongs is to take whatever ALS/BLS calls come in and require the rider to "run the show", stopped only if "they're about to drive over a cliff with the PT in the passenger seat".

 

[Achromatic]

I realize I'm coming off as bitter, but I've just grown really frustrated recently with my group in EMT class, and I know that there are others in the class who are just as confused. It's tough because some of us have the assessments down (or at least the steps) and can just run through them (while thinking of course), while others have to struggle through and question every little thing. I know not everybody learns at the same speed, and I should be tolerant. But I'm not

That's definitely understandable... of our group of 30, 2 have failed out for scoring less than 80% in three ongoing written tests, 1 is a medic who is recertifying (not sure on the details of why he is doing it via EMT first, but I suspect its some weird requirements in our county, and he keeps it on the downlow that he was a medic), 1 is an EMT who missed our county protocol exam by 2%, leaving 26 of us, and of those maybe 6 of us I'd want running a call on my family, maybe another 6 I'd be okay with being /on/ a call on my family, and the rest I wouldn't want within 50'. They come out of each written test with this thousand yard stare shellshock, hovering about 1 or 2 per cent above fail grade, and look blankly at the rest of us when we compare our answers and give different ones to them.

Epi for asthma? How about an SOB trauma PT with bradypnea who aspirates, but one in the group wants us to stop managing that so he can immobilize and splint an open tib/fib? *rolls eyes*

 

[medichopeful]

That's definitely understandable... of our group of 30, 2 have failed out for scoring less than 80% in three ongoing written tests, 1 is a medic who is recertifying (not sure on the details of why he is doing it via EMT first, but I suspect its some weird requirements in our county, and he keeps it on the downlow that he was a medic), 1 is an EMT who missed our county protocol exam by 2%, leaving 26 of us, and of those maybe 6 of us I'd want running a call on my family, maybe another 6 I'd be okay with being /on/ a call on my family, and the rest I wouldn't want within 50'. They come out of each written test with this thousand yard stare shellshock, hovering about 1 or 2 per cent above fail grade, and look blankly at the rest of us when we compare our answers and give different ones to them.

Yeah, I have a select few who I would allow to treat my family. But not the one who about 2 weeks ago brought out an NPA when running a scenario instead of the nasal cannula that was asked for. Or the one who asked a few weeks in what "BLS" meant. Or the ones who during a scenario decided that c-spine precautions weren't necessary for somebody who had been knocked off his ATV. Or the ones who during a scenario forgot to request PD for an emotionally-disturbed individual. Or the one who didn't think you could put an OPA or an NPA in a medical patient. Or the one...

Epi for asthma? How about an SOB trauma PT with bradypnea who aspirates, but one in the group wants us to stop managing that so he can immobilize and splint an open tib/fib? *rolls eyes*

I don't see anything wrong with that. I mean, you can't survive an injury with a broken leg, right? Airway management is a secondary concern, at least where I'm from! h34r:

 

[ah2388]

Medichopeful, just keep in mind that epi has beta 2 effects so it isn't a terrible idea as linuss said, also....an asthma attack can present similar to an anaphylactic reaction(without a couple of key things) so this student probably wasn't to horribly off base in his thought process...that's what practice is for, much better to f up in class than on the street...I'd say that rather than being frustrated by your classmates mistakes, you should instead use those mistakes to ask questions and figure out ways to do things better and more efficiently in your own assessments.

Sorry for the spelling I'm typing this from a blackberry

-Adam

 

[medichopeful]

Medichopeful, just keep in mind that epi has beta 2 effects so it isn't a terrible idea as linuss said, also....an asthma attack can present similar to an anaphylactic reaction(without a couple of key things) so this student probably wasn't to horribly off base in his thought process...that's what practice is for, much better to f up in class than on the street...I'd say that rather than being frustrated by your classmates mistakes, you should instead use those mistakes to ask questions and figure out ways to do things better and more efficiently in your own assessments.

Sorry for the spelling I'm typing this from a blackberry

-Adam

If it was just this one mistake that she had made, it would have been an "oh well, it happens. I'm not going to let you forget it, though." But the thing is, it's the same people making the same mistakes over and over again, which is just aggravating. But yes, I completely realize it's better to screw up in class than on the street.

And kudos to you for typing all that from a BlackBerry. I type about one sentence and I start to get frustrated lol. It must be the tiny keys