The "WHAT-IFs" are stressing me out!

I think part of the stress in the class is a test to gauge how well you handle stress. If the stress of the class is bad, try the stress of dealing with a coding patient with a family full of spectators. If you can handle one, you will handle the other.
 
I'm not going to give you advice I didn't follow myself. I'm not going to tell you to read your chapter a step ahead of every one else, because I didn't myself.

Hell, and this is going to irk some people, I didn't read a complete chapter a single time through the WHOLE course, and I ended up with a 90% and the second best grade in the class. It's just my way of learning.



The advice I WILL give you is study for what ever works best for you. If it's my method of listen in class and read only what you don't get, great. If it's reading every single chapter 5 times a day, great. Just do what you have to do to not only hold on to the information, but UNDERSTAND it as well.


MEMORIZE CPR. It's not ACB, trust me--- it's most definitely ABC.


Study your practical skills a TON, as if you miss one tiny step in a skill, you can fail the course. I don't know what state you're in, so I don't know what you're allowed to do, but here in Texas we had 25 different skills to memorize step for step.

Do as many clinical rotations as possible.

Above all? Have fun.


When they said 50% will not pass, they aren't kidding. My class started with 45, ended with 20, and statistically, only 70% will pass the NREMT, so out of 45 people, only 13 people will become EMT-B's.
 
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Well my nerves have calmed down quite a bit. I think what was really getting to me was being back at a real classroom. For the first half of my degree I went to class physically but i would say like the last 40% of it was done with online classes. So I have been out of school for over a year and I knew my study habits were going to have to change. I have read the first 5 chapters that were required and I'm getting the hang of things. I know things will only get harder but I'm ready to jump in. I have a lot of people behind me that know I can do this...I know I can do this...and that is all there is to it. Thanks for all the advice guys it is greatly appreciated.
 
One thing that helped me through Emt class was writing down notes, and such, and constantly studying them. Just pay attention, read, and practice practice, study study study, and you'll do fine.
 
The shakes

Thoughts of what if I fail, what if I get kicked out??? Think positive, be positive and be aggressive-B E aggressive (that cheerleading movie???)
When test taking, first-relax, second-answer the question in your head before looking at the mutiple choice (you will usually have 2 possible right answers and 2 wrong, you have to choose the best right answer), look for the definates (always, never) they leave no room for adjustment; there are practice tests online for free, do them; remember gloves on-scene safe (first thing you do) your safety is always first. No matter at what level you are testing for-the answer always comes back to the ABCs-Airway, Breathing, Circulation. No airway-no pt. I was a pt for a medic exam and I couldn't believe the lack of aggressiveness (if that's even a word). I was a trauma pt, unresponsive. I had a bikini bathing suit under loose clothes, they were to treat me as a real pt, take real vitals then were told what they were ect. Half of the students didn't even check for hip/pelvic injuries, some never laid a hand on me, there was only one, out of about 20 students that I thought actually gave me a good rapid trauma assessment. Nothing is worse that bringing in a trauma pt with all their clothes intact!!! you must expose injured parts!!!! You have to get touchy-feely with people and your partners. On calls, I've had to crawl between their legs, they dig into my pockets, if I'm carrying backwards, someone, usually a fireman (which I was on the dept. at the time) had me by my belt or butt, depending on the guy....however, I knew I wouldn't fall they had me. And the same went for my partner. My best friend, former partner, was working and pregnant, which scared me a bit the farther along she got, went to get out of the back of the truck and the little hook that the cot catches on, caught her book and she fell backwards. I had the cot in one hand, her butt in the other, and a blonde, 5'8" 140lb 8 month pregnant flailing about like a chicken tryiing to fly. A bit embarrassing, but I would do it again in a heartbeat, to any partner, well, except for one, who was over 400 lbs. OUCH!
After you take the test, you will shake, want to hit the bar cause you think you failed and so will everyone else, except for 1 or 2 who think they are perfect. But, if that's how you feel after, that's good, you know there's more to learn.....always, no matter how long you're in EMS, you can always learn a new trick, new medical advances, always something new. Don't be afraid to admit you don't know something and make sure to speak up if your not sure what to do or don't know what to do, ask, don't just stand there and wait to be told what to do, you'll just piss off your partner. If you have questions, even if they sound dumb, ask a good medic, if they get annoyed, shame on them, keep asking, that is how you will learn, by asking, watching and doing!!!
Wow, I think I wrote a story!! Good luck, you will do fine!
 
Ask a lot of questions.

Don't just memorize the answers; work them into your own thought processes. If you're wondering why such-and-such intervention works in Situation A but not in Situation B, don't just ask what is the correct thing to do, but why that and why not something else. This is the stage in your EMS experience where you have to form the underlying rationale that dictates your actions and decisions later on. Get these concerns out now so you're not self-doubting when you're in the field.

And it's perfectly ok to screw up as long as you learn from it. I remember, when I was in my class a few months ago, that I got called down to the front to perform a medical assessment the class after we were first introduced to Patient Assessments. It was an allergic reaction to a bee-sting and I forgot to immediately put the patient on high-flow O2. After screwing up in front of twenty-five or so classmates, I sure never forgot that again. (And, incidentally, a bee-sting allergy was our medical assessment station for the mid-term. Because I'd had that experience, I was able to ace the station when it "really" counted.)
 
As I have stated before the nervousness we feel is just the bodies way of telling us we are dealing with something we are not familiar with. And when we realize we are doing something that could have a bad effect on someones life. The best thing we can do is to learn to channel the nerves into a more positive energy to keep us on a more alert state. Nerves are a natural thing and we need to learn to use rather than fight against them.
 
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