Theme park question
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FF894
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Wasn't there another thread on this? There are pros and cons. You wont get any experience beyond scraps and bruises I am assuming and maybe the once a year heart trouble? On the other hand you get to people watch all day get to ride the rides for free?
SCClayton
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I'm back and forth on it myself. After I get my certs of course.
I would be fun, but the calls like they said above, would be very lack luster.
Some band-aids and some dehyrdation calls.
I would be fun, but the calls like they said above, would be very lack luster.
Some band-aids and some dehyrdation calls.
JPINFV
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I really just need to save this reply some place, but here's something I posted in another thread.
"I would definately advise AGAINST starting off as an EMT working standby or first aid (ER tech is a good idea though). Standby/first aid jobs are a completely different animal than an ambulance job by the simple notion that you will not transport the majority of your patients. The EMT-B curriculum is designed around a job where the majority of patients will be transported. Before anyone works standby/first aid, I highly recommend that they get experience either on an ambulance or as an ER tech."
Theme parks neither have the staff to run a field training program to get providers up to speed nor to the have the quantity and acuity of patients to insure that new providers get up to speed in a timely manner.
Well, it depends. In the two seasons that I worked at a waterpark with an average daily attendance hovering around 6k guests, I've attended to, or heard about (including reading the run reports from these incidents) seizures (1 febrile and one patient seizing in the wave pool), fractures (open and closed), difficulty breathing, an assault, sprains, cuts (including a few major ones), friction burns, sun burns, bee stings, dehydration, heat exhaustion, and some pretty bad traumas. You will see things, you just won't see things every shift.
"I would definately advise AGAINST starting off as an EMT working standby or first aid (ER tech is a good idea though). Standby/first aid jobs are a completely different animal than an ambulance job by the simple notion that you will not transport the majority of your patients. The EMT-B curriculum is designed around a job where the majority of patients will be transported. Before anyone works standby/first aid, I highly recommend that they get experience either on an ambulance or as an ER tech."
Theme parks neither have the staff to run a field training program to get providers up to speed nor to the have the quantity and acuity of patients to insure that new providers get up to speed in a timely manner.
Well, it depends. In the two seasons that I worked at a waterpark with an average daily attendance hovering around 6k guests, I've attended to, or heard about (including reading the run reports from these incidents) seizures (1 febrile and one patient seizing in the wave pool), fractures (open and closed), difficulty breathing, an assault, sprains, cuts (including a few major ones), friction burns, sun burns, bee stings, dehydration, heat exhaustion, and some pretty bad traumas. You will see things, you just won't see things every shift.
Onceamedic
Forum Asst. Chief
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After a while in the field, most calls are routine and the ones with a pucker factor - oh sh** are a lot less fun than they are draining and emotionally demanding. There is a lot of satisfaction in applying a bandaid and letting people get on with their holiday. If you are in the field for the "thrills and chills" then I suggest you re-examine your motives.
Florida's theme parks can have many calls ranging from heat stroke with the Northerners that under estimate our sun to cardiac arrests. However, ALS EMS is usually very close by to take over the patient quickly.
I would definitely recommend enough experience to recognize those patients that do need a higher level of care. Their symptoms may not always be so straight forward or they may deny symptoms to keep from spoiling the family fun.
WuLabsWuTecH
Forum Deputy Chief
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Starting out, do not take a position in which you were not trained for.
I say this because your EMT class focused on the EMS system, who's goal is to get the patient to definitive care (at least in the US anyways).
When you're out at the park, oftentimes, you ARE definitive care. You can't backboard every patient who complains of neck/back pain. You can't send every patient to the hospital. Did the kid who comes to your tent complaining of neck pain from strained swimming actually go into the "older kids pool" and acidentally got hit by a surfboard? A worker suffers a minor chemical burn, treat and release or call EMS? Kid was roasting marshmallows and gets burned by the fire, treat and release or call ems? Teenager tackled playing football complains of shoulder pain, what do we do now?
Once you have more experience, then a park job may be for you, but until you get experience about acuity levels of calls, stick to what you were originally trained for. That experience can only come from the street, not any textbook.
Good luck to you!
I say this because your EMT class focused on the EMS system, who's goal is to get the patient to definitive care (at least in the US anyways).
When you're out at the park, oftentimes, you ARE definitive care. You can't backboard every patient who complains of neck/back pain. You can't send every patient to the hospital. Did the kid who comes to your tent complaining of neck pain from strained swimming actually go into the "older kids pool" and acidentally got hit by a surfboard? A worker suffers a minor chemical burn, treat and release or call EMS? Kid was roasting marshmallows and gets burned by the fire, treat and release or call ems? Teenager tackled playing football complains of shoulder pain, what do we do now?
Once you have more experience, then a park job may be for you, but until you get experience about acuity levels of calls, stick to what you were originally trained for. That experience can only come from the street, not any textbook.
Good luck to you!