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StretcherFetcher

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Hello everyone, I'm glad I found this discussion board it's full of great information.

I'm beginning EMT-B school after the first of the year with a local government agency in my area. I'm going into this with no medical background or experience. (other than a few ride-alongs.) I'm a bit nervous that this class will be overwhelming and I will struggle simply because I have no BLS knowledge.

Can anyone direct me to any websites, books, material, etc. that could help me get a leg up?

Any info is useful to me such as EMT vocabulary or anything you personally wished you would've known before starting your training.

Thank you very much.
 
if your going for EMT-B it won't be much, basic anatomy, super basic pharmacology. You can probably google basic anatomy and study that. An EMT-B is just really good at being logical. When class starts get really really good with a BVM :D. It will help you when your "in the field"
 
BLS knowledge is just CPR and first aid, no big deal.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to get the textbook your course is using and read ahead. You need foundational knowledge, such as basic anatomy and physiology, and you need to be good at those fundamentals. The street smarts will come later.

None of what you will be presented will be too hard to understand, but you will be learning a lot. Good luck!

I will always reccommend:
http://emsbasics.com/
http://prehospitalwisdom.blogspot.com/
 
I don't know if your EMT book will be the same as mine but that thing is 3 inches thick. Like Flying said, read ahead! That saved me.
 
Critical thinking skills are something that I'd reccommend.
 
Basically what's already been said. EMT isn't necessarily that hard, just keep up with the reading and you will be fine. Basic A&P before hand would help.
 
And a little humility. Just a couple of those "self" skills will come in handy. Also study ahead if you've never taken anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. Those 3 things were the hardest for me in EMT school.
 
StretcherFetcher said:
Hello everyone, I'm glad I found this discussion board it's full of great information.

I'm beginning EMT-B school after the first of the year with a local government agency in my area. I'm going into this with no medical background or experience. (other than a few ride-alongs.) I'm a bit nervous that this class will be overwhelming and I will struggle simply because I have no BLS knowledge.

Can anyone direct me to any websites, books, material, etc. that could help me get a leg up?

Any info is useful to me such as EMT vocabulary or anything you personally wished you would've known before starting your training.

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...

Sweet! If youre like me, i suggest you stress about it. Make yourself WANT to know and understand everything. Be thirsty for this course and you'll do just fine. I too have never had any bls studies before i took my emt course and i passed it all the way. Ive been doing construction all my life until now. Read your book!
 
If you can read, you're in pretty good shape for BLS school. In an ideal world, find out what book you will be using in school, get it, and read it a few times. If for whatever reason that wont work, several versions, both current and previous, are available for short money on eBay. While certain things will be different from previous to present versions(cpr ratios etc), the core of what you will learn in EMT school isn't vastly different from that last version of the book(or five versions ago for that matter); so if you feel you have to start early preparations, buy one of them and read through it a few times.

You don't need to graduate pre med to succeed in EMT school, so don't stress it. EMT school is supposed to be an entry level program, meaning that no preparation is actually necessary. That's not to say it wont help you, but you aren't destined for failure if you've never seen the inside of a BLS textbook before your first class day.
 
Thanks a lot everyone! Your info gives me a lot more confidence.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
 
Another tip, memorize the skills check off sheets, in order, til you can do it in your sleep. I've seen great students fail because they couldn't perform an assessment that a proctor would pass.
 
BSI (bodily substance isolation)

PENMAN(P: personal, partner, and patient safety, E: environmental hazards, N: number of patients, M: mechanism of injury or nature of illness, A: additional resources, N: need for spinal immobilization or extrication)

GENERAL IMPRESSION - PALMS (P: position of patient, A: age, L: life threat or not, M: mechanism of injury or nature of illness, S: sex)

INTRODUCTION AND CONSENT

PRIMARY ASSESSMENT; A (airway), B (breathing, if oxygen is needed, how will it be administered?), C[OPS](circulation, [obvious bleeding, pulse quality, skin signs]), D (deformities and disabilities), E (expose and palpate chief complaint, F (field impression), I (identify need to transport either code 2 or 3)

SECONDARY ASSESSMENT; [SAMPLE] S (signs and symptoms), A (allergies), M (medication), P (past pertinent medical history), L (last oral intake), E (event leading up to injury or illness)

VITALS; [BELLSRP] B (blood pressure), E (eyes) L (lung sounds), L (level of consciousness [LA COUNTY: ALERT AND ORIENTEDx3, DOT: A/Ox4]), S (skin signs), R (respiratory rate), P (pulse).

*if medical*
[OPQRST] O (onset [gradual or rapid]), P (provoked - what makes it worst of better), Q (quality of pain - description of the pain), R (Region of pain, does it Radiate to other parts of the body? Is this Reoccurring?), S (severity of pain [1-10 scale]), T (time- how long has this been going on?)

*if trauma and conscious/responsive*
Focused physical
*unconscious/unresponsive*
Rapid physical (head to toe palpating for DCAPBTLS) D (deformities), C (contusion), A (abrasions), P (punctures), B (burns), T (tenderness), L (lacerations), S (swelling)

Reassess Critical patient every 5 minutes and 15 minutes for non-critical patient.

Am i missing anything??
 
NREMT has skill sheets that you can print out. I recommend those.
 
Starting my class this coming Monday. Thanks everyone for the advice.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
 
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