The proverbial fork

[8jimi8]

So i've come to that place in the road.

My fondest dream fantasy is to be a Flight Nurse. I want to do HEMS, scene flights and critical care transport. I'd even consider fixed wing CCT.

Recently, I've been lured to the dark side of advanced practice nursing. Namely, CRNA. I would essentially be an anesthesia and airway specialist. Airway is almost as dear to me as cardiac.

One of my former dear dreams is the coveted LP title...

Having finished my EMT-I course, I'm looking down the barrel of 3 semesters of full time school to get my EMT-P... which would be SO FUN.

BUT

In 8 months, I'll have enough experience to apply for CRNA school. Which pretty much means I need to kick it in gear, start my RN to BSN program in june and get my GRE taken, as well as... at some point taking the CCRN (I'll have enough hours for that in March).

CRNA school will be roughly two years and then i'd be set for lifestyle money.
And if i'm really willing to bust it... I could pick up a phD with the very same program.
Getting my EMT-P, while I hold in great esteem, really at this point will be holding me back from a huge potential elevation of my career. Even if I worked part time as a CRNA, I could fly. But going to CRNA school would definitely set me back on the necessary experience to fly as an RN. I'm not saying that I wouldn't be even more prepared after finishing school, just that I'll only have 2 years of ICU experience at that point.

But this doesn't take away my desire to work street level EMS. I still feel like I need that experience to give my patients an advantage when I start looking for flight jobs. I don't want to be the flight nurse with no scene experience.

The thought has also crossed my mind. I could always do my EMT-P online, through the same school that I did my EMT-I. There is another option through an accredited program at Houston Community College. I guess I just know that I could get it done online, it is just the motivation to teach myself takes so much more energy than going to class and keeping along with a program. I'd rather take a land based course with structured clinicals.

So i guess its not really a choice, i just had to finally type it all out and admit to myself that, I'm not going to start the paramedic program this year. I'm going to take two lit classes in the 2nd spring session and start my RN to BSN, which is a 13 month course. The CRNA application process will begin and I've finally given in to the darkside of APN nursing. More money, less hours, saftey in specialization.

I guess the new plan after that is to do the CRNA thing until I have enough ICU experience to fly and then maybe i'll pick up the EMT-P card after about 4 or 5 years when I finally get a company to pay for it. It'll still be a land based course, cause there is no way i'll get it done before jan 1, 2013.



I just can't see some 1600 hours of EMS clinicals as cutting for experience on the EMS side of HEMS. Sure i'll be an experienced critical care nurse when that time comes, I just can't see where I'm going to be able to fit in a side career in EMS, in between all of this school and full time work ahead of me.


Does that void my membership on this site? Am I one of the stepping stone deserter/volunteers that everyone despises now?

 

[TransportJockey]

You're making the right call buddy. And if I had done things smart I'd be in a similar position to you by getting at least my RN before my EMT-P. Don't let anyone run you off from here, you're full of good knowledge and experience and willing to help us lowly EMTs out

 

[JJR512]

So you have come to this place?

 

[usafmedic45]

My fondest dream fantasy is to be a Flight Nurse. I want to do HEMS, scene flights and critical care transport.

Are you prepared to have a chance of dying in the line of duty higher than what the guys on "Deadliest Catch" are exposed to? Are you willing to put yourself at that level of risk for no benefit to 99.99% of patients you touch?

More importantly, is your spouse/significant other willing to stand next to a grave and grieve for you simply so you have had a "cool job" and have increased the profits of an HEMS company?

I'd even consider fixed wing CCT.

If you absolutely have to have a flying job, then take this route. There are even fixed wing operations in the mountain west that do emergency CCT.

Go be a CRNA. It's safer, the pay is better, the hours do not suck as bad and the work is more interesting (if you work somewhere that lets CRNAs do complicated cases). You can still get the coveted "LP" tag. Having lived in Texas for a while, I know how much Texas loves its "propane and propane accessories".

 

[8jimi8]

Are you prepared to have a chance of dying in the line of duty higher than what the guys on "Deadliest Catch" are exposed to? Are you willing to put yourself at that level of risk for no benefit to 99.99% of patients you touch?

More importantly, is your spouse/significant other willing to stand next to a grave and grieve for you simply so you have had a "cool job" and have increased the profits of an HEMS company?



If you absolutely have to have a flying job, then take this route. There are even fixed wing operations in the mountain west that do emergency CCT.

Go be a CRNA. It's safer, the pay is better, the hours do not suck as bad and the work is more interesting (if you work somewhere that lets CRNAs do complicated cases). You can still get the coveted "LP" tag. Having lived in Texas for a while, I know how much Texas loves its "propane and propane accessories".

I appreciate your candor, but I am not going blindly into this.

I can understand the diminishing returns, I understand that the risk can be greater than the reward. But I am unwilling to concede that flight positions offer no benefit to their patients.

The world is full of occupations where one person risks everything, for the chance to help someone continue living. In the last year, i have certainly heard about most of the birds that went down, I've also heard about fatal ground EMS crashes.

Life is dangerous in most all aspects and yet, this has been the recurrent goal that most excites me.

 

[usafmedic45]

But I am unwilling to concede that flight positions offer no benefit to their patients.

Not a fan of evidence-based practice, eh?

In the last year, i have certainly heard about most of the birds that went down, I've also heard about fatal ground EMS crashes.

Still, a higher percentage of people involved are killed on average for less benefit in HEMS crashes than in ground crashes.

this has been the recurrent goal that most excites me.

Just don't go in with some pie in the sky ideal. You will be disappointed and be sure to get the input of those closest to you. There's no reason to sacrifice a good relationship by making a career choice that doesn't have much to show for itself other than high publicity and a high body count.

 

[firetender]

Just don't go in with some pie in the sky ideal. You will be disappointed and be sure to get the input of those closest to you. There's no reason to sacrifice a good relationship by making a career choice that doesn't have much to show for itself other than high publicity and a high body count.

But he wants to be a Warrior, usaf!

You're warning him to not risk his body.

I'm warning him if he doesn't follow what gives him life, he'll lose his soul!

8jimi8 You're doing a pretty good job of working your head and heart together, like they're supposed to!

Don't let the fact that we're all going to die deter you from living and serving as best you can.

 

[medicRob]

So i've come to that place in the road.

My fondest dream fantasy is to be a Flight Nurse. I want to do HEMS, scene flights and critical care transport. I'd even consider fixed wing CCT.

Recently, I've been lured to the dark side of advanced practice nursing. Namely, CRNA. I would essentially be an anesthesia and airway specialist. Airway is almost as dear to me as cardiac.

One of my former dear dreams is the coveted LP title...

Having finished my EMT-I course, I'm looking down the barrel of 3 semesters of full time school to get my EMT-P... which would be SO FUN.

BUT

In 8 months, I'll have enough experience to apply for CRNA school. Which pretty much means I need to kick it in gear, start my RN to BSN program in june and get my GRE taken, as well as... at some point taking the CCRN (I'll have enough hours for that in March).

CRNA school will be roughly two years and then i'd be set for lifestyle money.
And if i'm really willing to bust it... I could pick up a phD with the very same program.
Getting my EMT-P, while I hold in great esteem, really at this point will be holding me back from a huge potential elevation of my career. Even if I worked part time as a CRNA, I could fly. But going to CRNA school would definitely set me back on the necessary experience to fly as an RN. I'm not saying that I wouldn't be even more prepared after finishing school, just that I'll only have 2 years of ICU experience at that point.

But this doesn't take away my desire to work street level EMS. I still feel like I need that experience to give my patients an advantage when I start looking for flight jobs. I don't want to be the flight nurse with no scene experience.

The thought has also crossed my mind. I could always do my EMT-P online, through the same school that I did my EMT-I. There is another option through an accredited program at Houston Community College. I guess I just know that I could get it done online, it is just the motivation to teach myself takes so much more energy than going to class and keeping along with a program. I'd rather take a land based course with structured clinicals.

So i guess its not really a choice, i just had to finally type it all out and admit to myself that, I'm not going to start the paramedic program this year. I'm going to take two lit classes in the 2nd spring session and start my RN to BSN, which is a 13 month course. The CRNA application process will begin and I've finally given in to the darkside of APN nursing. More money, less hours, saftey in specialization.

I guess the new plan after that is to do the CRNA thing until I have enough ICU experience to fly and then maybe i'll pick up the EMT-P card after about 4 or 5 years when I finally get a company to pay for it. It'll still be a land based course, cause there is no way i'll get it done before jan 1, 2013.



I just can't see some 1600 hours of EMS clinicals as cutting for experience on the EMS side of HEMS. Sure i'll be an experienced critical care nurse when that time comes, I just can't see where I'm going to be able to fit in a side career in EMS, in between all of this school and full time work ahead of me.


Does that void my membership on this site? Am I one of the stepping stone deserter/volunteers that everyone despises now?

In my humble opinion, go the advance practice nursing route. At my service, we honor any time spent with a surgical team in a trauma II or higher as "critical care" hours... Plus, your hours in ICU will translate to "Crit Care" time, both for the ENA's CCRN and for flight. I have taken the round about way in education as well, it was carefully planned, but looks like I just couldn't make up my mind.. I went through nursing school, paramedic school, pre-med, and have almost finished nurse prac school, now im gonna turn around and go to medical school after all that (If I make a good MCAT score, have a good interview, and am selected that is) ... It's a strange road, but it'll all work out in the end.


Plus, I'm pretty sure CRNA's can high-five people out of cardiac arrest.

 

[usafmedic45]

I'm warning him if he doesn't follow what gives him life, he'll lose his soul!

Have you had your head CTed lately? I'm really starting to worry about you. You used to be a rational and productive poster but lately it's been all about this "healing arts" and "soul" crap. Either you've gotten into some potent drugs, have something wrong in your brain (AVM, aneurysm, tumor, etc) or you've suffered some sort of psychiatric downhill slide. Here's hoping it's treatable. I miss the old Firetender.

Don't let the fact that we're all going to die deter you from living and serving as best you can.

You ever been in an out-of-control helicopter? Let's ask MSDeltaFlight how it feels and whether your rather fatalistic approach to "Let it ride dude" is really a great suggestion or not.

 

[usafmedic45]

Plus, I'm pretty sure CRNA's can high-five people out of cardiac arrest.

What he said.

 

[8jimi8]

Not a fan of evidence-based practice, eh?



Still, a higher percentage of people involved are killed on average for less benefit in HEMS crashes than in ground crashes.



Just don't go in with some pie in the sky ideal. You will be disappointed and be sure to get the input of those closest to you. There's no reason to sacrifice a good relationship by making a career choice that doesn't have much to show for itself other than high publicity and a high body count.

I always wondered why you list your training as Flight RT if you are so against anyone being interested in the field.

I'm no starstruck teenager, I'm a professional, I have researched and networked and arrived at my plan. Maybe instead of shooting down my idea every time, you could do something useful, like post which companies are the worst in the industry and the types of things I should do to keep myself safe, like knowing what conditions to draw the line at launching. I realize that this forum is not always likely to draw responses to actual issues in flight. There's flightweb for that, i've posted there, but so far I have nothing to contribute, so i just read.

Anyway, just curious.

 

[usafmedic45]

I always wondered why you list your training as Flight RT if you are so against anyone being interested in the field.

Because that's my job?

I'm not against anyone being in the field, but I think that letting people go in to the HEMS side of the aeromedical business without realizing what the evidence says about its (lack of) safety and benefits (or lack thereof) to patients really says. Even a lot of the folks who work in the field like to turn a blind eye to this because they think they have a great job. My suggestion is if you really want to fly for a living, do it on something with wings instead of rotors. I like you and think you're a sharp person so the last thing I want to do is have to attend your memorial service.

 

[Jon]

...I like you and think you're a sharp person so the last thing I want to do is have to attend your memorial service.

Are you working Fixed Wing? If not, you've already been rolling the dice for some time.

I think it's great that you want to make sure folks getting into aeromedical are coming in with their eyes open, but I think 8jimi8 gets it .

8jimi8... Everyone brings something to the table here - even if you are out of EMS for the time being. You'll always be welcome here.

As for Firetender - If you do have magic mushrooms - you gotta share, dude. You are making a good point, though. None of us will make it out of this world alive. Whats the line? All of us will die... but some will never really live.

Do whatever will make you happy. APN sounds like fun.

Jon

 

[usafmedic45]

Are you working Fixed Wing? If not, you've already been rolling the dice for some time.

Yeah, I won't work on civilian EMS helicopters. I only do fixed wing.

 

[8jimi8]

Application to UT Arlingon RN to BSN submitted. BSN in 13 months from April. Then CRNA school. Maybe I'll have time finish uP the EMTP between working and school acceptance, otherwise I'll challenge.