The one piece of advice you wish you had gotten...

Danson

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I am a brand new EMT-B who is about to start my first job in one week. I have been cruising this site and trying to pull as much information as I can in order to be a more well informed, thoughtful and respectable EMT when I do start.

I know to avoid becoming a "whacker." I know that I am humble and have so much to learn from other EMTs and Medics, and that I never want to stop learning.

I have learned ways to deal with stress and how to stay healthy.

I have learned how much gear I NEED to carry and the best to get when I do need it.

I have learned so much and I thank you all who have posted in the past, posted to me and those who continue to post and share your knowlege.

What I want to know now is if there was ever a time when you thought, "Hey, I wish somebody had told me that before I started!"

What would you want to tell your past self: your former self just about to start his/her first job?

I know that everything I have learned here and in class only acts as supplemental knowlege to what I will actually learn in the field. But I am on a mission to never stop my learning process.

Any helpfull advice is appreciated.

Thank you! B)
 

Veneficus

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What I want to know now is if there was ever a time when you thought, "Hey, I wish somebody had told me that before I started!"

Really wish somebody would have told me patients have more than one disease at a time so they don't fit nicely into categories like "CHF" "MI" "CVA" etc.

especially with all those damn endocrine disorders.
 

Shishkabob

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If they look like they're about to vomit, they probably are.
 

mycrofft

Still crazy but elsewhere
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Ask yourself "What's next?".

Paramedic? Nurse? MD? Respiratory Tech? Law School?

Besides that, seconds don't ususally count, but seconds add up.
 
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Danson

Danson

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Hey guys, thanks for the responses!

I am planning on becoming a Nurse or PA a few years down the road. I just thought that ems would be a great starting point.

I'll be sure not to get lured into the idea that a pt has only one condition at a time and I'll definitley keep my emesis pan handy. ;)

Thanks again and keep em coming!
 

Lifeguards For Life

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Really wish somebody would have told me patients have more than one disease at a time so they don't fit nicely into categories like "CHF" "MI" "CVA" etc.

especially with all those damn endocrine disorders.

I remember this one gorgeous nurse had told me "a patient can have as many diseases as he or she pleases".

The same nurse as also told me"toast not drink" with regards to using a laryngoscope.
 

exodus

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Hey guys, thanks for the responses!

I am planning on becoming a Nurse or PA a few years down the road. I just thought that ems would be a great starting point.

I'll be sure not to get lured into the idea that a pt has only one condition at a time and I'll definitley keep my emesis pan handy. ;)

Thanks again and keep em coming!

Suction buckets make better emesin basins than the emesin basins.
 
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Danson

Danson

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The same nurse as also told me"toast not drink" with regards to using a laryngoscope.[/QUOTE]

What does this mean? I plan on going medic someday (before pa or nursing) so I'd like to get this joke!
 

TransportJockey

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The same nurse as also told me"toast not drink" with regards to using a laryngoscope.

What does this mean? I plan on going medic someday (before pa or nursing) so I'd like to get this joke![/QUOTE]

The way a scope is held and force applied when intubating a patient.
 
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Danson

Danson

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What does this mean? I plan on going medic someday (before pa or nursing) so I'd like to get this joke!

The way a scope is held and force applied when intubating a patient.[/QUOTE]


Nice, I'll have to remember that :)
 

doctorfodder

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Never ride with a guy whose nickname is CRASH and he has a certificate saying he hasn't crashed a rig in 45 days.
 
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Danson

Danson

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Never ride with a guy whose nickname is CRASH and he has a certificate saying he hasn't crashed a rig in 45 days.

Oh boy...I'm sure I'll meet this guy at some point in my career. :huh:

Patients are people you know, treat them like it!

I'll be sure to do that! I've heard of emts/medics who are complete a**holes to patients. I have vowed to always treat the patient like my own family!
 

Jeffrey_169

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"If you need a miricle, be one to someone else"
Dave Ramsey
 

VentMedic

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The same nurse as also told me"toast not drink" with regards to using a laryngoscope.

What does this mean? I plan on going medic someday (before pa or nursing) so I'd like to get this joke!

It is not a joke but a training tip.

When intubating you lift the laryngoscope as if your are toasting "up and away from the teeth" rather than tipping back to chug a drink thus breaking the teeth.

Also, handles are held like fine wine for babies and beer mugs for adults.
 
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Danson

Danson

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It is not a joke but a training tip.

When intubating you lift the laryngoscope as if your are toasting "up and away from the teeth" rather than tipping back to chug a drink thus breaking the teeth.

Also, handles are held like fine wine for babies and beer mugs for adults.

Thanks, I appreciate the clarification! That will be one of those sayings I'll always have in my head now...whenever intubating or assisting.
 

Veneficus

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Suction buckets make better emesin basins than the emesin basins.

That is because you are not using it properly.

You may have noticed when a patient vomits into it all of the regurgitation exits out the sides. Hold it in front of you like a shield and think of it as an "emesis deflector." :D

and while I am dishing out advice... It is really turns the tide on the jokers when you have a patient with diarrhrea and the more experienced providers tell you to get a "stool velocity" test if you pick up a spirometer and pull the curtain in the patient's room.

I never saw people move so fast.
 
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firetender

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I wish someone had told me it's easier to listen to what someone tells me than it is to find it out myself.

But the truth is I was told that -- MANY times!-- and it didn't make a damnbitta difference!
 
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