the 100% directionless thread

TransportJockey said:
The joys of being at a rural 911 service. I've been on since 1900 and no calls yet. Rather odd actually. Some days we get nothing. Others I don't see base all 24 hours
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That's rough 24 hours with out a call. I'm not sure if I can handle rural EMS. I work in a very busy system so today of only having 3 transports all within the the last 4 hours of shift is odd.
 
I've found that 3 calls in 12 hours is comfortable lol any less and I'm going nuts.

Any more than 6 and I get cranky. I'm pretty spoiled I guess.
 
Anjel said:
I've found that 3 calls in 12 hours is comfortable lol any less and I'm going nuts.

Any more than 6 and I get cranky. I'm pretty spoiled I guess.
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Must be nice.

With that said. I miss the ambulance. I don't miss running 12 in a 12 though.
 
Rhonda said:
That's rough 24 hours with out a call. I'm not sure if I can handle rural EMS. I work in a very busy system so today of only having 3 transports all within the the last 4 hours of shift is odd.
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It does suck at times like that. Usually we run an average of six transports in a 24. Which isn't too bad. Each call from dispatch to back in quarters takes anywhere from 2-4 hours, so six calls is rather steady for the shift. My personal best is 19 calls, with 16 being transports in a 36 hour period.
 
6 calls in a 12 hour shift is nothing for us (transport times vary from 1-120 minutes). My max is 13 transports in 12 hours. We didn't even get enough time to completely fill the gas tank. I'm sure the fuel card company had some questions about 2-5 gallons being bought 10 times in the same day.
 
I average about 5 calls in a 12 hour shift. total call time from dispatch to return is about 40 minutes.

The most calls in a 12 hour shift I had was 11, and 24 was 15.
 
Right now, I average about 3-4 calls in a 12 hour graveyard shift. Each call usually takes about an hour to respond to and transport (we respond to three adjacent counties).
 
We do about 3 calls per 12. That's actually too slow. I'd rather be busier.
 
DEmedic said:
We do about 3 calls per 12. That's actually too slow. I'd rather be busier.
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We do four or five per 24 and I'm with you, a few more would be nice sometimes. We have great coverage for our large district, but realistically one crew could cover the whole thing when it's not the summer.
 
DEmedic said:
We do about 3 calls per 12. That's actually too slow. I'd rather be busier.
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We rotate, and my rotation probably averages 4 per 12 hr shift. Sometimes that's a lot, since one station has 30-40min transport times. Most times it's not bad though. Day shift is a bit busier.
 
It's been a while since I ran less than 12 in a 24hr shift.
 
I saw an ER doctor who looked to be in his late 20s who had more stuff on his belt than even the greenest EMT. Raptor shears, knife, penlight, stethoscope holster, the attachment that holds tape to the stethoscope, a glove pouch, the hospital cell phone, a pager, and several pens/sharpies. I don't quite know what to say
 
Wheel said:
We rotate, and my rotation probably averages 4 per 12 hr shift. Sometimes that's a lot, since one station has 30-40min transport times. Most times it's not bad though. Day shift is a bit busier.
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We have similar minimum transport times. That's one of my favorite things about my job, but any more than say six and its immediately my least favorite part. A neighboring agency who has over an hour transport time has the the internal motto of "flight or refusal."
 
I've been doing a lot of reading and I think ADN to BSN and eventually to CRNA or ACNP is gonna be the plan. There's a good nursing school here that I can go to and still work full time, albeit owe a fair amount of money when I'm done but still, and I'd be done with my ADN by 2016 maybe 2017 at the latest. By then would hopefully be able to lateral to flight PRN as a medic then work in the ICU as an RN, since our hospitals don't require a BSN especially if you're actively working on one and have healthcare experience, until I had enough experience to promote from flight medic to RN.

Then if I'm not satisfied I can still go upwards to CRNA or ACNP.

Nevada right now is doing a thing where they will pay for your advanced practice school if you agree to work somewhere rural for a few, I think five, years. I wouldn't have a huge problem with that, if I had somewhat of say in where I went.

I always said I didn't think I'd be happy as a RN but talking to more and more friends that are RNs in the high acuity ICUs here it sounds like something that I could have a lot of fun with and learn a lot from. The more I think about it too the more I realize how many options it would open up...get bored in the ICU? Try the cath team. That gets boring, go to the PICU or maybe even the NICU.

I can keep my medic license and play medic on the side the whole way through too. Who knows maybe ri got when I finish nursing school they change up our EMS setup here and I get a sweet dual role fire medic transport job and I work as an RN on the side and eventually a flight medic PRN as well.

The more I think about it the more I realize that the sky is the limit.
 
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Tigger said:
We have similar minimum transport times. That's one of my favorite things about my job, but any more than say six and its immediately my least favorite part. A neighboring agency who has over an hour transport time has the the internal motto of "flight or refusal."
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Ours range from across the street to across the county. Since we rotate stations, everyone has a busy station and a slow station they rotate through. This way, everyone has a good mix of super busy short turnover nights and slower, break nights. I think it's a decent system. It makes it where I get bad wrecks on country roads going through the whole respiratory distress treatment pathway one weekend, with drunks and assaults the next weekend.
 
Robb said:
I've been doing a lot of reading and I think ADN to BSN and eventually to CRNA or ACNP is gonna be the plan. There's a good nursing school here that I can go to and still work full time, albeit owe a fair amount of money when I'm done but still, and I'd be done with my ADN by 2016 maybe 2017 at the latest. By then would hopefully be able to lateral to flight PRN as a medic then work in the ICU as an RN, since our hospitals don't require a BSN especially if you're actively working on one and have healthcare experience, until I had enough experience to promote from flight medic to RN.

Then if I'm not satisfied I can still go upwards to CRNA or ACNP.

Nevada right now is doing a thing where they will pay for your advanced practice school if you agree to work somewhere rural for a few, I think five, years. I wouldn't have a huge problem with that, if I had somewhat of say in where I went.

I always said I didn't think I'd be happy as a RN but talking to more and more friends that are RNs in the high acuity ICUs here it sounds like something that I could have a lot of fun with and learn a lot from. The more I think about it too the more I realize how many options it would open up...get bored in the ICU? Try the cath team. That gets boring, go to the PICU or maybe even the NICU.

I can keep my medic license and play medic on the side the whole way through too. Who knows maybe ri got when I finish nursing school they change up our EMS setup here and I get a sweet dual role fire medic transport job and I work as an RN on the side and eventually a flight medic PRN as well.

The more I think about it the more I realize that the sky is the limit.
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That's awesome. Good luck and keep us updated. I should finish up my BHSc in a year or so. Then I'll be looking at PA school or teaching, possibly both.

I seriously considered nursing, but with many places moving to a bsn requirement and ICU jobs being so hard to get, I didn't think I could do it. I couldn't be a floor nurse if it came down to it. It sounds like you have some connections in the unit though, so it'll be much less risky for you.
 
Wheel said:
That's awesome. Good luck and keep us updated. I should finish up my BHSc in a year or so. Then I'll be looking at PA school or teaching, possibly both.

I seriously considered nursing, but with many places moving to a bsn requirement and ICU jobs being so hard to get, I didn't think I could do it. I couldn't be a floor nurse if it came down to it. It sounds like you have some connections in the unit though, so it'll be much less risky for you.
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Eh honestly I'll probably end up in the ER then lateral long into the ICU.

Probably wont be able to start school until August but possibly June... We will see.

The more I look at it the more sense it makes. I get to play medic on the side when I want and in turn wont get burnt out, get to make a decent living and work with high acuity patients more regularly.

Flight is my ultimate goal, probably end up doing it PRN though but who knows.
 
Anyone from the Salt Lake City, Orem or Provo area? Shoot me a PM. Thanks.
 
Rob, Welcome to The Dark Side.
 
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