What can a Kid do in the medical field?

[Cameron]

I'm currently a 14 year old, high school freshman living in New York. Turning fifteen in two months. I'm currently taking biomedical science in school.

I'm a member of a NJROTC, and over the summer attended a medical training taught by a Chief Hospital Corpsman. With that training, I became a card holder for Basic First Aid, CPR, A.E.D., along with Wilderness First Aid... All of the certifications that I can get (to my knowledge). I'm very interested in the medical field and plan on enlisting as a Corpsman myself at 17.

In my local community we have two EMS Places, A Volly one and a paid one. Niether of them have a Jr. program at the moment, the best thing the volly could offer me is a ride along once in-awhile.

I was wondering, your thoughts on what I should do, I know I'm allowed to go out and get the training for CFR and EMT-B but I can register as one. So my overall question is, Does anyone know what I can do to get my foot in the door of the medical field?

Any advice or thoughts are greatly appreciated,
- Cameron

 

[Shishkabob]

Stay in school and study medicine for the next couple of years until you reach the age required by your state. You're still young, you'll have plenty of time


Could, like you said, get your first aid and CPR and just volunteer at small events, but that still might be hard to do at your age.

 

[Cameron]

When you say "small events" what do you mean? Could you please be more specific? As for the studying, I plan on taking the medical courses the next four years and taking Nursing at BOCES.

- Cameron

 

[EMT11KDL]

Get your lifeguard also. That is where I got my feet in first, after working as a lifeguard, went and got my emt-b, and now i am working fire/ems.

since your are a cadet, Talk to your cadre with NJROTC, there might be other options for you beyond the class that you listed. Since you want to join the Navy, (No idea why you would want to do that... GO ARMY), they might have some ideas for you to help prepare you for HM school.

 

[Cameron]

I tried getting into Life Guarding at my school but thats for 10th Grade and up, so thats for next year. My original plan was to head into the Marines... But as you probably know, Navy provides medical for them. As for getting into medical at NJROTC, I do alot of work with the HN that drills with us, over the summer when I go to staff trainings, I'm side-by-side with a FMF HM3. It's great to be able to learn from them, or even just talk to them and learn from that! Thanks for your reply bud!

Semper Fi!
- Cameron

 

[EMT11KDL]

There is quiet a few of us on here that are military. I am with national guard as a medic, i do believe we have a few navy guys on here and i think one or two chair force guys. Go over to the military/wilderness/tactical part of emtlife, and ask any questions that you have directly for us in there.. I am pretty sure most the military guys and girls on here check that section when they log on..

 

[EMSslick536]

Certified First Responder!

I currently hold the CFR card and it gives you ALOT more privelages than a Basic first aid. And teaches you more to benifit out of. Some use it as a bridge class to EMT. But just seriously, take it now. Get 2 years of feild exp. and then go take your EMT.

 

[Handsome Robb]

I currently hold the CFR card and it gives you ALOT more privelages than a Basic first aid. And teaches you more to benifit out of. Some use it as a bridge class to EMT. But just seriously, take it now. Get 2 years of feild exp. and then go take your EMT.

You know that just because you know how to perform the skills, and learned it doesn't give you the right to use them when not on duty....

 

[EMSslick536]

You know that just because you know how to perform the skills, and learned it doesn't give you the right to use them when not on duty....

Please explain. As being apart of a BLS company, you do in fact have the rights do enact the skills and only the skills that you are trained in. Please re-phrase.

 

[lampnyter]

Go take the MRT/EMR course asap because you only have to be 14 to take it. Also, call the local EMS and Fire agencies and see if they have any Explorer Posts. When i was in the Explorer Post once we turned 16 we could do shifts on the ambulance.

 

[lampnyter]

Please explain. As being apart of a BLS company, you do in fact have the rights do enact the skills and only the skills that you are trained in. Please re-phrase.

I think he means that like you cant give oxygen when your off duty.

 

[Handsome Robb]

True, when you are on duty. When you are off duty, I wouldn't advise you do much more than basic first aid/CPR. Unless you enjoy lawsuits...

 

[TransportJockey]

True, when you are on duty. When you are off duty, I wouldn't advise you do much more than basic first aid/CPR. Unless you enjoy lawsuits...

Keep in mind, he's in the land of vollies who tend to respond POV, so they treat themselves like they're always on duty.

 

[Cameron]

Thank you for all the advice so far. I'm currently planning on taking a EMR class, It'll be about a bit more then half a year once I complete the class before I can join the local Dept.'s. Also another question I have,
When my community has events, such as benefit runs, should I call and ask if I could assist with stand-by? If so, who should I call? The person running the event or the Company that will be on stand-by?

 

[C.T.E.M.R.]

Usually you would need to be an employee/volunteer of a company to even run standby, But running standby is a way to get your foot in the door and gain skills,that's what i did, now i have a good rep with other members of my company.

 

[EMS49393]

Cameron,

I noticed a few things from your post and I might be able to point you in a few directions.

First, you have exceptional spelling and grammar for being a 14 year old, which means you are either smart, paid a lot of attention in school, have a fantastic grasp of your computers built-in capabilities for spelling and grammar check, or any combination of those. Either way, good for you, most adults can't write a post as well as you have done here.

Secondly, you seem to have a great interest in the Marine Corps. I have a 10 year old son that is crazy for anything Marines related. We originally attempted to get him into Boy Scouts a year ago, but the scout master told us that he didn't feel my boy was a "good fit" for his unit. That worked out wonderfully because we discovered that there was a Young Marines unit in our town. He joined them a year ago. He was Honor Recruit when he graduated recruit class, and subsequently skipped the promotion to private for a promotion to private first class. He has never been happier and LOVES Thursday evenings.

Young Marines accepts kids from 8 to 17, and many of our Young Marines have gone on to enlist in the Armed Services and still participate with our group as Adult Sponsors. We have a few guys that are already certified first responders or EMT-B's (MD certifies at 16) and those guys serve as the company "medics" when the group goes on encampments or other events. They are, of course, followed closely by my husband, who is a paramedic, and is the unit medical officer. Point is, they get to do some first aid, and the other children look up to them a great deal. My son cut his finger a few weeks ago at a meeting during clean up and ran right past his father for the teenage company "medic" for assistance.

Here is a link for them. I'm not sure they have one in your area. New York is a huge state and they have a few units on this list compared to Maryland which is tiny. You might want to google it as well to see if there is a unit near you that didn't make the list. http://www.youngmarines.com/

Finally (yeah, I am very long-winded at times), have you considered re-enactment groups? You are fortunate to be in a region teeming with history and as such, full of both Revolutionary and Civil War re-enactment groups. Although not modern medicine, and not helping people in the sense you would like, these groups have a lot to offer young people that have an interest and want to be involved. We have a young man around your age that is a part of the Maryland Field Hospital Civil War group. They travel to different sites and set up their hospital as it was at the time period. He is then in character and explains Civil War era medicine, surgery techniques, infection rates, deaths, etc. This guy knows his stuff, and loves teaching others. He dresses in period costume, complete with a "bloody" apron. It's really a fantastic group that combines medicine, history, and the military. Again, I do not know what is around you, but you can try some google searches to see if you have anything in your area. Maryland Field Hospital has a facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maryland-Field-Hospital/370731148177

Stay in school, take as many advanced courses you can. If you have the ability to do a concurrent enrollment program with a local college in your junior or senior year, look into that. My father, now retired, pioneered the concurrent enrollment program in Maryland, and (showing my age) I was the first student in the state that participated. I spent my senior year of high school at the community college, and it was fantastic. If you have the ability, which it seems that you do, I highly recommend that avenue.

I hope this very long post was helpful and that you find something as fulfilling as my son. Good Luck!

 

[onecrazykid108]

Look for an explorers program. I was a police explorer. Maybe in your area they might have EMS, fire or police explorer to teach you the basics and have fun.
Another thing to do is go to borders or whatever bookstore you have near you and go through every medical book you can find. Also look up stuff on the internet. Memorize the first aid stuff. You don't need to waste your money on a first aid certification. know CPR inside out. Learn anatomy well. this includes bones, muscles, organs, different systems (Nervous system, digestive system for example) and stay in school. read lots of books, even more than you need to for school. For just my EMT basic I read 1300 pages in 2 months.

I hope this helped. B)

 

[frdude1000]

I am a High School student and First Responder. In my area, we have an EMS explorer post that anyone ages 14-21 can join. We receive free training to the First Responder level. Due to our location, we provide stand by EMS at large events in DC such as the 4th of July on the Mall and the Cherry Blossom Festival. We also staffed EMS tents at President Obamas Inauguration. In addition to the EMS explorer post, we are allowed to join local fire departments and rescue squads. Currently, I am the captain of the explorer post and I am in the process of joining a fire department where I can ride on the ambulance and receive free EMT-B training. Don't listen to the fools that tell you to not get involved at a young age. They have no idea what they are talking about because most if not all never started when they were under 18. Maybe there just jealous Let me know if you have any questions.

Also, don't do any EMS stand-bys without an ems organization. You will be a lone whacker and will not have any liability insurance.

 

[Cameron]

Thank you for all the posts above. I've known about the young marines and it turns out there isn't one in my area. the NJROTC I'm in, Navy Marines and Coast Guard all accept, so I'm still in the clear. I've been told I'm mature for my age, and its not exactly a bad thing. I sometimes like to think I am OCD about spelling, I refuse to use the common teenage slang.

I've been in non-stop contact with my two local Depts. they are trying to put a Jr. program togeather but they do not have anyone to staff it, nor do they have enough kids that are willing to join. They told me I should try the local Fire Depts so I did. The Fire Depts all require me to be 16, which is really annoying, I hate age limits but I can understand it.

As for frdude1000, EMS organizations are always there, but I was thinking they may need more staff, depending on the event. I've been told that CFR and First aid, theres not really that big of a difference.

As for you (frdude1000) saying that I won't have liablity insurance, doesn't the Good Samaritan Act/Law provide me with insurance if I am a ACTIVE card holder and only do things WITHIN my certifications?

I don't want you (or anyone) to think I'm "attacking" you or trying to be rude with the above paragraph, I'm just making it stand out,. I know how things over the internet can me misinterrupted.

As I said above in earlier posts, I'm just trying to get my foot in the door and gain what experience I can!

 

[Chimpie]

Lots of great suggestions above. I'm really impressed.

Someone above mentioned getting your MFR. The Red Cross offers a similar class as well. From there you can volunteer for First Aid Stations, coteach FA/CPR/AED classes, etc.