* Always remember that what you're doing should be in the best interests of the patient, first and foremost. They shouldn't have to deal with your frustrations with your partner, work life, home life, local politics between responding agencies, no matter how justified. They're not toys to do procedures on. Do your best to treat strangers how you would like your family treated.
* Keep your friends outside of EMS. Don't find yourself in a place where the only people you know are other paramedics, ER nurses and cops. You want people you can spend time around who don't have a clue what it's like to be a paramedic, and largely don't care.
* As the previous poster said, check your truck. The day you don't will be the day your monitor doesn't have batteries, you have no defib pads, the laryngoscope's broke / missing, etc. Be disciplined, if you don't, someone else will suffer.
* Be safe. Look after your sharps. You are responsible for not giving yourself or anyone around you HIV or HCV. Wear appropriate BSI. Use precautions when you have someone coughing gack up. Wear reflective gear on MVAs, stage on violent calls. Know where your job ends and PDs / FDs / Hazmat's begins.
* Study, study, study. There is always something you can know more about. But the caveat remains, be aware also of what you don't know. Just because someone is more educated than you doesn't mean they're right, just that they're more likely to be.
* Have a plan for your back exploding / getting fired because you did the right or wrong thing / having PTSD. Don't get trapped. Have an idea of what you could do if you couldn't do EMS any longer. There's going to be days when you don't want to get into that ambulance. You just don't want it to be months and years.
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Specific books:-
* Street sense: Communication, Safety, and Control by Kate Dernocoeur
http://www.amazon.com/Streetsense-C...621X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1320333248&sr=8-2
- perhaps a little dated now, but a book I read in my first year on the job that was simply excellent.
* Street Dancer: Keith Neely
http://www.amazon.com/Street-Dancer...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320333319&sr=1-3
- I haven't read this in over 10 years, but I remember it making a big impression. It's a fiction book, but I remember learning a few things about running a call from it. Probably also dated.
* There is no good paramedic textbook. Some of them are better than the EMT texts though. You could try reading one.
* A physiology text. For a simpler approach Tortora & Grabowski "Principles of Anatomy & Physiology"
http://www.amazon.com/Principles-An...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320333479&sr=1-1
- Don't worry if it's an older edition. Only so much has changed.
* A better physiology text. I like Boron & Boulpaep. There are other good ones, including Vander, Guyton, and.... Lange Reviews Medical Physiology (is it Katzung? Or did he do Pharamcology?).
* Some sort of grown up patho text. I like Lange Reviews here.
http://www.amazon.com/Pathophysiolo...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320333613&sr=1-2
* Could probably grab the Lange Pharamcology text too.
ECG books....
* Basic : "Arrhythmia recognition: the art of interpretation" by Garcia
http://www.amazon.com/Pathophysiolo...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320333613&sr=1-2
* Less basic : "Rapid interpretation of ECGs" by Dubin
http://www.amazon.com/Pathophysiolo...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320333613&sr=1-2
12 Lead
* Tim Phalen "12-lead in AMI"
http://www.amazon.com/12-Lead-ECG-A...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320333818&sr=1-1
* "ECG Pocket Brain" by Ken Grauer - who posts here sometimes.
* Mattu & brady's "ECG for the Emergency Physician" I and II
http://www.amazon.com/12-Lead-ECG-A...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320333818&sr=1-1
* "Advanced Concepts in Arrhythmias" Marriot / Conover.
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Even if you work with medics, make sure you're mentally prepared to handle:
(1) an MCI. Know how to triage, mentally rehearse it before it happens.
(2) a delivery.
(3) an adult, and a pediatric code. Know when you don't have to start, and when you don't have to stop. Know what to do in a Trauma code, or a hypothermia presentation.
Ask people to tell you about times they made mistakes, patient presentations that confused them, or caused them problems. Try and learn from what other's have done wrong so that you can make exciting new mistakes, then tell people about those too.
I would suggest that you become very comfortable with all of your equipment and supplies, not just how to use them, but where to find them and the condition that they are in. I do a thorough check of my gear (both ALS and BLS gear) every shift to make sure I know the condition of the gear and exactly where to find it, when I need it. This is something very simple that is all too often overlooked. That is the only way you'll find the missing buckle or the rotten straps that can easily cause an epic fail when you need them most.
