Soon to be entering the field of EMS

ChrisC5928

ChrisC5928

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So here's a question, just recently passed my NREMT exam and will be applying ambulance companies soon. But naturally there is part of me that is a little nervous, and questioning if I have the knowledge to make it in EMS. I did fairly well in my emt class and I want more then anything to be a EMT and a good EMT so I definitely have the passion.
I'm sure it's just nerves but can anyone relate? Any suggestions about entering the EMS field?
 
Congrats. Being nice and reading beyond the EMT textbook will get you places.

Start trying to expand your knowledge base before you even get to day one of the job. Physiology, pharmacology, medical terminology books are your friends.
Read Brandon O.'s blog posts: http://emsbasics.com/
When you meet homeless, abused, lonely, weird, normal, ignorant, and hateful people on the job: treat them all like you would a similarly aged family member.

There isn't much to add, that's most of the job there.
 
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Thanks I will definitely check that out
 
Try to get on a 911 job. Work on building a professional attitude, being a good communicator and taking initiative at your department.
 
You may have a hard time getting a paid job without experience, although being a nationally registered EMT may help. I would say join a volunteer rescue squad, you can learn a lot but with out the pressure since you aren't being paid. Don't be afraid to ask questions and don't let your ego get ahead of you because the one that will suffer from that is your patient. And I agree with "Flying" treat your patients like they are your family and never judge.
 
RobertAlfanoNJEMT said:
I would say join a volunteer rescue squad, you can learn a lot but with out the pressure since you aren't being paid.
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Pay or no pay, the pressure of the desire to be competent will be there. Whether you go volly or paid to start, look for a service with a good training program.
 
I can identify with the OP. Just finished a class in November, passed the NREMT on the first go around, and also have my state license now. I am volunteering locally and can only say it is almost overwhelming to start with. But, every run you learn more and become more useful to the rest of the crew. I'm here to try and learn more because I realize what little I know is not going to be enough when I am the only guy in the back of the bus with a patient for the 90 mile run to the hospital.
 
Congrats and welcome to the game! After 3 years of working EMS, I can tell you do this. Even you if you do IFTs do your proper patient assessments that way you wont develop bad habits. Bad habits quickly become the norm and take over.
 
Thank you. Actually the more I read on this site, the more I think I have been blessed to work where I do. As a Basic, the protocols here allow us to do much more, from my understanding, than most Basics in more urban areas get to do. Hence the heightened awareness of how little I know mentioned above.
 
Old Tracker said:
Thank you. Actually the more I read on this site, the more I think I have been blessed to work where I do. As a Basic, the protocols here allow us to do much more, from my understanding, than most Basics in more urban areas get to do. Hence the heightened awareness of how little I know mentioned above.
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No worries its all a learning process.
 
Welcome to ems man and good luck with your ems career. Remember your training and stick with the good guys and not the bad apples .
 
Thanks. I've been on enough runs with the "old hands" to be able to see that all of them, the 4 EMTs and 2 Emergency Care Attendants have got their stuff together. We get some really bad cases coming from Mexico and so far, in the short amount of time, I have been working, all have made it at least to the airport to be flown out or made the 90 mile trip to the hospital. I probably couldn't have asked for a better place to break in.
 
Old Tracker said:
Thanks. I've been on enough runs with the "old hands" to be able to see that all of them, the 4 EMTs and 2 Emergency Care Attendants have got their stuff together. We get some really bad cases coming from Mexico and so far, in the short amount of time, I have been working, all have made it at least to the airport to be flown out or made the 90 mile trip to the hospital. I probably couldn't have asked for a better place to break in.
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Sounds like an interesting area. Are you somewhere near the border on the US side? Sounds pretty rural and isolated for sure. Also, what is an "emergency care attendant"?
 
Yes, we are right on the border in the Big Bend of Texas. I think an ECA in other areas would be BLS/first responder types, and they usually drive the rig. They also help as needed like in deliveries.
 
Old Tracker said:
Yes, we are right on the border in the Big Bend of Texas. I think an ECA in other areas would be BLS/first responder types, and they usually drive the rig. They also help as needed like in deliveries.
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Sounds almost like my buddies old service in presidio. I used to work down in Pecos. Really frontier areas down there.
 
You aren't in Presidio, are you?

Edit: JT beat me to it. Hadn't seen my page refresh.
 
Yep, Presidio. I like it here. Worked here back in '96 when I was a Criminal Investigator (Special Agent) for Customs. You miss out on quite a bit of stuff, like WalMarts, movies, other big box stores, but it is a nice, clean, quiet border town. Beats the ones I worked in down in the Rio Grande Valley, up one side and down the other.
 
Nice. I wish i had worked a little there. Farrow was one of my P-school instructors back when Cary ran the place, and then i worked in Pecos when he was the director.
 
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with either of those persons. I was only here in '96 for about 5 months and didn't move here until 2014. My class started last September and was pretty much self paced, but the pace was more like that in a 100 yard dash than a marathon. Pecos is a fairly unique place, but the oil field controls the economy, etc. there.
 
Farrow was the EMS Director in Presidio. You must have gotten there right after he left.
 
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