Refresher practicals. What to expect?

[Ian2011]

Hi all,

I'm currently a Michigan licensed EMT (gained through reciprocity from AZ where I did initial training) not working in the field but would like to take a refresher course to keep my skills sharp.

My question is what is the practical portion of the refresher like? Is it informal? Is it like the NREMT practical skills exam? What can I expect?

As mentioned, I haven't found employment in EMS since I graduated in mid 2010 and I'd hate for my skills to erode.

Thanks guys/gals!

 

[lawndartcatcher]

It's going to depend on who is teaching the course and what the structure of the course is. A lot of folks do the old "show the same slides they showed in EMT class and maybe have a day of state practical stations", which is painful and boring as hell for everyone involved.

I would reach out to the instructor and ask; explain your situation and see if they would be willing to hit any additional skills you may have forgotten. The purpose of a refresher isn't to teach the same stuff you already know but rather to give a good top-level review of the material and maybe concentrate on newer stuff / skills that aren't done a lot in the field.

As far as skills / practice, if you're planning on keeping your license (which it sounds like you are) it would definitely be worthwhile to find a volunteer EMS / Fire department to join. I was a call Firefighter / EMT / Paramedic for 10 years and saw a lot of stuff. When it came time to go to medic school (and later get hired as a medic) all of that experience was great to be able to point to.

 

[medicdan]

It varies, as lawndartcatcher said... In general, you can expect it to include a brief review of the skills in your scope of practice, some unstructured time to practice then perhaps a practical exam of sorts, or not.

 

[MMiz]

I'm flying back to Michigan to to my practical credits in one week.

Last time I did them we practiced backboarding, bagging, KED board, and then spent a couple hours playing around with the equipment. It didn't involve any sort of test or assessment.

I'm not sure if anything has changed in the past three years, but I found it completely useless.

 

[lawndartcatcher]

See if you can ask for more than the standard state stations (you're refreshing, after all, so you should be able to perform to a higher standard than an EMT student). See if your instructor would be willing to run you through scenarios, protocol updates, etc. You're paying for the class after all - shouldn't you get your money's worth?