What made you do it?

JeffT

JeffT

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I'm a dual rate EMR/Security Officer at a Casino now, but haven't done but one medical as a backup to an EMT so far... going to do a lot more in the future. I got in to this for a lot of reasons... Prior to this job I was King of the Dish Pit (Steward II). This is a move up in pay from there... but a step down in pay from what I used to do in healthcare...

The EMR class was free to anyone who was willing to pay for the book and put in the time, so I went for it. In my past life (the job I had the year before the Dish Pit job) I was in the billing department (and for a short stint the Managed Care Department - i.e. contracting hell) for a major University Hospital near here. There was a lot of paper pushing and red tape, and lots of crazy politics stuff back then in that job. In the last year there I was working the special billing stuff... all of the stuff like prisoner claims, claims for mda, research program billing, and SAFE (sexual assault forensic exam) billing that the state pays for (rape kits), and a lot of oddball stuff like skilled nursing facility billing. I got sick of the stuff like calls to snfs about bills for patients who just passed away a day or two earlier, seeing all of the kids below age five having SAFE claims, etc. I figure being more on the fore front in ems, I can actually DO something to help these people --- instead of just being someone bringing em down... bringing on bankruptcies daily to hundreds of people that don't deserve it... like the living surviving spouses of those in the snfs, like guy who was in a burn clinic for several months and ended up with over a million in medical bills... it sucks seeing the back end... ems where you are more seeing the front end of things is more 'alive' and dealing with living people. Money is dead. Let the dead deal with the dead. I'm tired of being a zombie.
 
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StCEMT

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Run with scissors said:
The pj's are bad ***. Thats what my brother does. He went AF and I went army.

Good luck, I know the training is pretty rigorus
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Thats awesome. And thanks, it sure looks like it. Had a lot of Army guys say to try to go beyond 68W since Ill have my EMT-P by then. Option 40 contract just didnt really feel like what I wanted to do. Did a little digging, found this, and decided to make that the goal since it encompassed really well what I wanted to get and give during that time. Only way to find out is to get in there and do it and if I dont even try then it just goes against a few little life philosophies of mine so....figure I will just go at it balls swingin.
 
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BinaryBryan

BinaryBryan

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Good luck with that! My family is all military except me, my brother and Dad. It was always a big thought for me as well.

I appreciate all of you guys and gals sharing your stories!! It really gave me a lot of good perspective.

I signed up for some local volunteering and plan(since I have the time and not much to lose) to start a local college EMT program.
If I love it, I'll go for a job, but for now I like the idea of volunteering to get my feet wet and see.

Thanks again!
 
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StCEMT

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Worst case, you stick with what you do or some other job and volunteer on the side. Either way you go, you are learning something new and bettering yourself in some way and nobody can tell you that is a bad thing.
 
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BinaryBryan

BinaryBryan

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StCEMT said:
Worst case, you stick with what you do or some other job and volunteer on the side. Either way you go, you are learning something new and bettering yourself in some way and nobody can tell you that is a bad thing.
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Absolutely, I completely agree. Plus, in my chosen hobbies I tend to get a little roughed up from time to time so it definitely can't hurt to know some medical things hahaha.
 
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emt2mdorbust

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Off topic, but OP is very cute! Heeeeyyyyyy ;)

You can totally do it. Try to find a program at a local community college, hopefully a night class, so you can go after work. You might be tired though.... it's usually a 4 hour class, 2 times a week. Like MT, TW, WTh, etc. I think it's good when the 2 nights are back to back.

Anyways, the class should be really fun. Lots of information, if you like to learn you definitely will in an EMT class. Hopefully your class will have an ER shift and/or an ambulance ride along as part of your curriculum, so you can get exposure.

Even if you do not use the skills to become an EMT, you walk away with useful anatomy knowledge and you will know what to do to help others in trouble (CPR), how to bandage and wrap people, take a pulse, deliver a baby, what to do when someone is choking, etc.

What made me do it? I wanted to and I want to because I think it will be a great career . It will give me good clinical experience. I might even love it and decide to go further in paramedicine, instead of another health field.:D
 
Run with scissors

Run with scissors

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I wouldnt mind doing nursing. But I just dont like being around sick people. And having to watch them die slowly. That would get to me.

But I have considered getting my RN and becoming a behavioral nurse. And work at a rehab center or something.
 
akflightmedic

akflightmedic

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Run with scissors said:
But I just dont like being around sick people. And having to watch them die slowly.
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As opposed to watching them die quickly? I guess that makes it easier...

Aren't we ALL dying slowly...like from the day we are born, we start to die, right?
 
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BinaryBryan

BinaryBryan

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The last post was pretty dark lol


@emt2mdorbust

I work a weird second shift so I am going to do morning 8 to 12:30 classes at a local tech school but I missed it this semester it looks like so I will have to wait for spring. But that gives me time to volunteer and just do my own research. And thank you haha


@ redundantbassist
emtlife eharmony match up going on? hahahaha
 
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BinaryBryan

BinaryBryan

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thelapow said:
I did, I went from architect -> ems -> RN, and combine my drawing skills to do medical illustration. :)
So yes I would.
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Architecture was a goal of mine, until I took geometry hahaha. Medical illustration? I am not familiar with that.
 
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thelapow

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BinaryBryan said:
Architecture was a goal of mine, until I took geometry hahaha. Medical illustration? I am not familiar with that.
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Open any teaching book and you will find drawings like this one :)
356f820d339e883365f06c29d617c159.jpg

I do instructions, manuals, first aid books, safety guideline posters and so one :) I can almost double my income by drawing for hospitals and doctors writing books.,
 
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BinaryBryan

BinaryBryan

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Oh, ok yea. I guess I never thought someone actually draws those lol. Well cool, thats an interesting career(I mean that positviely, I know interesting can sound bad haha)
 
LocNar

LocNar

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I did it cause the pay is better than cleaning/handling blood and other assorted fluids, tissue, body parts in an OR. As everyone has stated previously, and I always suggest this to other people, the knowledge gained is worth the time and effort regardless if you choose to take a paying job or not. If you decide to make a career out of it, at the end of the day it's still a job. You'll learn not to take yourself too seriously (at least some people do). And if you really want to reevaluate your life and career choices look into medic school when your done... It does strange things to your brain.
 
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