Thinking about EMT

G

Glenn900

Forum Ride Along
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi, I'm new here and have been looking around for a little while but couldn't find any other threads on this topic. Sorry if this is a repeat!

I am interested in looking into becoming an EMT, and would like to know more about the kind of work a volunteer (or really cadet/youth) would be doing.

I'm currently in 8th grade and looking for more ways to get involved in my community and also set myself on the right path for college (I know, it's a little early, but I just want to make sure I don't go down the wrong alley). A teacher of mine told me about EMTs as something to look into. After doing some research, it seems like something I would enjoy volunteering for. I love helping others and contributing how I can to my community and have already made it a life goal to make a difference in the world. Being an EMT would satisfy that desire of mine.

I only have two concerns about it. I'm not looking towards building any kind of a career in the medical industry (although if I like volunteering as an EMT then I may continue to volunteer locally). Secondly, I will be taking all honors classes next year and I'm not sure if volunteering as an EMT would take a lot of time away from schoolwork.

I have a few questions though:
1. What is it like being an EMT? How stressful is the line of work?
2. How can a 14 year old become involved, and what would (s)he be doing?
3. How demanding is it?
4. Is it hard to deal with seeing people injured or dying?
5. What advice would you give to a teenager looking to start volunteering?

Thank you for your time! I'm looking forward to finding ways I can help out in my community :).
 
First welcome. It is refreshing to see youth like yourself, looking to help others and as well look into the future. I honor your desires and again applaud you for wanting to be a catalyst in change!

With that saying, I do believe EMS is way too stressful for many youth. Exposures of hazards and events encountered can have long term effects both physically and emotionally even to those of lot of life experience. As well, may communities do not wish to provide the liability and exposure of litigation to families, communities, etc.

Remember, this is a medical profession paid or not. You will see people at the worst of worst. Intoxicatred, mentally ill, terminal, dying and maybe covered in feces and urine, violent behavior etc.. You will be repsonible for their care, even if you are supervised, it is a team effort. This means legally as well.

I have worked with several Explorer programs in the past. Due to the increasing danger of exposures, and increasing litigation from those that are served expect expert experienced individuals, most have limited their roles. The same as Fire, Police, explorer programs. My employeer requires applicants to be age of 23 before applying, due to insurance coverage, to demonstrate the need of age.

My daughter is advanced placement courses and I realize the dedication that is needed to maintain high quality grades. EMS is quite addictitive and I would much rather see one excel in school. Especially, since you have described you have no personal desire to go into the health field.

Again, kuddos to your desire and demonstration as a promising adult. I wish you the best of luck in the future.

R/r 911
 
Wow Ridryder, no sugar coating there! :lol:

First off, as Ridryder stated, welcome aboard and it really is great to see younger people interested in volunteering. It is unfortunate that in some areas volunteers are hard to come by. My station is facing the need to bring in more county career staffing to make up for the lack of volunteers.

As for how to get involved...I do not think many (if any) stations will allow a 14yr old to ride on any apparatus for more than a ride along. My county has what we call the junior program. It is geared towards 16yr - 18yr olds who want to get involved. Juniors get trained as regular EMTs or Firefighters. My volunteer firefighter class had many juniors in it. One actually called me old one day because I'm 7 years older than he is....I think I felt a gray hair spring out of my scalp at that very moment.

There are limitations to what a junior member can do of course...For firefighting, you are not allowed to be in an IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health) environments. This means no juniors inside burning structures; even if graduated from academy. As for the EMT side, a junior member is not allowed to ride in the patient compartment with a patient alone. They can only act as an EMT Assistant.

As Ridryder pointed out, there is a lot to see, it takes a special breed to be able to turn off your emotions while on the job. I have been lucky so far, I have not had to respond to any of these. One call that I heard being dispatched was a teenager who committed suicide after getting home from school one day. I worked with "at-risk" children a lot in the past and that call affected me. I could not imagine responding to that call if I was in school with that kid or have been friends with that kid.

I voiced this concern to my Chief when deciding to switch my focus from Firefighting to EMT. She has been riding for more than 10 years that I know of and is a medic. She summed it up that you cannot think of the person as a person when they are on the stretcher and you are treating them. As heartless as that sounds, it is an easy way to not let it bother you as much....

Don't get me wrong, there is not only bad things that come out of this. It is very rewarding if your patient is recovered due to your assistance to running them to the hospital. I may be a pansy for wanting the easy calls..but I find them to be more rewarding. I am the same way on fire calls...I do not like going in to burning structures; I do love a good brush fire though!

As for how to get involved...Do you know any EMTs around where you live? If so, have them take you to the station sometime and introduce you around. Get to know the rescue chief and start offering help. It is always good to start out this way. The help you will most likely be assigned will be washing the ambulances. You will most likely do this with a couple guys. Get to know the guys and pick their brains. Also, see if they offer a ride-along program. Live a day in their shoes...see if it is something you are interested in after experiencing it first hand.

Your post makes you appear to be mature for your age. I wish you all the luck. Feel free to ask questions, I am new to the world of EMT and will most likely be learning a lot of things that you will be learning before long.

Have a good night and good luck to you!

--Keith

"Accountability starts with you, Everybody goes home."
-- The banner on the wall at the station
 
First of all, Glenn, welcome!

I agree with the others that its great to see an 8th grader with an interest in EMS work.

RidRyder is an phenomenal paramedic, but the two of us have a continuing debate over the role of youth on emergency calls. As an 18 year old who has been part of a rescue squad since he was 16 and got his EMT license at age 17, I feel that teenagers can be a vital and useful component of any 911 system. The fact is, however, that many stations will not even let you do a ride along until you are 16, and most states will not let you take an EMT class until you reach 16, either.

I would advise you to contact your local rescue squad and ask (in the most mature and professional way possible) what, if anything, you can do with them. Hopefully, you will live in a community with a volunteer ambulance station that is willing to let you do ride-alongs.

As Keith said, don't expect all of the stuff you see on TV. Most calls are of the "granny has a bellyache" or "I don't feel good...." variety. "Lights and sirens" emergencies are blissfully rare, and even then, those patients have a nasty tendency to die. Depending on how busy your station is, you may even spend more time maintaining, stocking, and cleaning your trucks than you will actually spend on them.

If you are actually suited for EMS work (and I hope and expect that you are), you will someday be able to participate in it, even if you have to wait a few years to be able to do so. Best of luck, and please stay in touch and let us know how it goes.
 
Like Sam said, most states require you to be 16 to take an EMT class, and I think everywhere you have to be 18 to get your license. Do as many ride alongs as possible. EMS needs intelligent people. Just by reading your post, it seems you are more coherent than most adults.
 
Glenn900 said:
Hi, I'm new here and have been looking around for a little while but couldn't find any other threads on this topic. Sorry if this is a repeat!

I am interested in looking into becoming an EMT, and would like to know more about the kind of work a volunteer (or really cadet/youth) would be doing.

I'm currently in 8th grade and looking for more ways to get involved in my community and also set myself on the right path for college (I know, it's a little early, but I just want to make sure I don't go down the wrong alley). A teacher of mine told me about EMTs as something to look into. After doing some research, it seems like something I would enjoy volunteering for. I love helping others and contributing how I can to my community and have already made it a life goal to make a difference in the world. Being an EMT would satisfy that desire of mine.

I only have two concerns about it. I'm not looking towards building any kind of a career in the medical industry (although if I like volunteering as an EMT then I may continue to volunteer locally). Secondly, I will be taking all honors classes next year and I'm not sure if volunteering as an EMT would take a lot of time away from schoolwork.

I have a few questions though:
1. What is it like being an EMT? How stressful is the line of work?
2. How can a 14 year old become involved, and what would (s)he be doing?
3. How demanding is it?
4. Is it hard to deal with seeing people injured or dying?
5. What advice would you give to a teenager looking to start volunteering?

Thank you for your time! I'm looking forward to finding ways I can help out in my community :).
Click to expand...

Glenn:

Impressive! On our rescue squad (which is a volunteer squad), you must be at least an EMT-B & 18 before you can be "released" to attend to patients on your own, but younger squad members who have CPR certification can participate & go on calls & assist the medics. They ride as "thirds" on the truck (there is a driver, an EMT/medic & the "third"). Our squad sees alot of action & people like to run with us because of that. We have many high school students that run as thirds.

Like others have said, it can be stressful. You will learn a lot about the world & how people live. I was very sheltered when I first started & it took some getting used to. Growing up sheltered is why I decided to step out of my comfort zone & volunteer. It gives me a great appreciation for what I have & it keeps me grounded. You will see some unpleasant situations, for sure.

You mentioned that you will be taking honors courses, so I hope that you are college-bound. I can't stress how important your college education is, so stay on track with it. EMT is something you can do on the side. Some colleges have their own rescue squads.

I think it's great that you want to get involved. GOOD LUCK!
 
Hey--
I am 17 (literally almost 18 now), and taking an EMT class. I started with my involvement two years ago-- volunteering at an ER. After seeing what happens there and figuring out that it is an environment that i am comfortable in-- I went for my EMT course. I have slated to graduate early this summer and get as much experience as possible before flying off to Israel to get more experience (yes, I realize EMS in Israel is a completely different beast). My goal is to get as much experience as possible.
I came into my EMS class with some previous experience-- I am a Rescue scuba diver (search and recovery, O2, u/w nav and scuba injuries experience) and the time I spent in the ER.
As others have said, the best way for you to get your foot in the door may be by contacting the local EMS chief- he/she will have suggestions for you. I also recommend getting other experience-- take a full day ARC CPR/AED for Professional Rescuer course (or the AHA parallel), volunteer/work at an ER, try to do ride-alongs, hang around the fire station.

Above all else, focus on school. If you do not have a good basic education (HS), all bets are off. One of the mistakes I made was being distracted from school by all else that is going on-- simply because it is more fun to play in an ER then do trig... stick it out, HS is very important! If you can, take advanced Bio, Chem and Physics classes, take an anatomy class, befriend the school nurse (that has led me to see some cool things!).

I have to run now, but feel free to PM me with any questions-- I am interested in hearing back from you.
 
emt-student said:
Hey--
I have slated to graduate early this summer and get as much experience as possible before flying off to Israel to get more experience (yes, I realize EMS in Israel is a completely different beast). My goal is to get as much experience as possible.
.
Click to expand...

Hey!! Wellcome!! In which region you plan to practice in Israel?
 
Welcome to the tribe! I think it is great that you have a direction in which you want to pursue a very rewarding carreer:) Keep working towards your goal, it will open up many doors to the medical field. Good luck!;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top