I'm an EMT! Or, what I've been doing for the last five weeks

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Yes, the thread title says it all. I’ve become an Emergency Medical Technician. A volunteer one at that. I took a crash course through my county Fire Academy, and am now a certified EMT.
It was five weeks, with a week of Haz-Mat Ops (Hazardous Material Operations).

Why, you ask? Good question. My husband has been a volunteer firefighter for 20 years, and I recently joined his firehouse as a sustaining member (sort of like a wives auxilary). The idea had been at the back of my mind for a while, and when the notice went up about the crash course, I just felt compelled to do it. I’m off from work during the summer, so the time was right.

It was a lot of work - every day from 8:00 to 4:00, plus lots of time in the evenings devoted to studying, but it was a lot of fun, too. I got to do Ride-Alongs with the real paramedics, and that was incredible. Exhausting, but incredibly interesting.

I got an 88% on my written final, and on the practical final, I aced the medical scenario and only got dinged for one little thing on the trauma scenario. All in all, not too bad.

I’ve gotten all my paperwork in order, I have my EMT card, my CPR card, my Haz-Mat card and my bloodborne pathogens certification. I’ve even started Driver training for the medic unit at our station. I’ll be fitted for gear next week. It’s like lighterweight turnout gear - not the heavy stuff the firefighters wear - this stuff is blue with the reflective stripes and has the name of our volunteer station and “EMS” on the back. I’m offically an active member!

My husband is now trying to talk me into taking the Firefighter 1 class, but I’m too old for that. I think I’d die the first day.

So… that’s what I’ve been doing with my summer. Did any one even realize I hadn’t been around? No?

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Congratulations! It’s always nice to see another EMT around. I did the volunteer EMT thing for a while before I got my paramedic and I really enjoyed it. Did you have to take the National Registry test or did you take a state test?

St. Urho
Paramedic

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Yay for you!! I did the EMT training 20+ years ago and actually applied to work with a volunteer fire department, but I chickened out before I began - realized that if I screwed up, the stakes were just too high.

Any plans to take it a step further and become a full-fledged paramedic?

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Are there ranks in EMT-dom? I always confuse which are Paramedics, which are EMTs and so on. Can you wise me up?

5

Congrats!

I recently just sent in an application to my local volunteer fire department and hope to hear back from them within am onth to see if I’m accepted. Once I’m (hopefully) allowed yo join, I’ll start my training. I plan on getting both firefighter and EMT training. Though I’ll probably get the firefighting first.

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IIRC (this was 20 years ago), EMTs are the lowest level; paramedics receive a lot more training. And can do more stuff, like endotracheal intubation, starting IVs, and even administering medication.

EMT training was much lower-level - I think I had classes 2 evenings a week for 3-4 months, then had to pass a state certification exam. We were trained to do things like split, immobilize, administer CPR, stop bleeding, pick up avulsed (torn off) bits (leading to the class’s funniest moment “Here, hold these!”). A step above “first aid”, obviously, but nowhere near the level of skill a paramedic would have.

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And of course those rankings change by country, I’m sure :smiley:
Gratz, BiblioCat!

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A crash course?

That should be helpful.

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:wink:

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So so so… any “good” calls / stories yet?

How is it diffeent than you expected? More little old ladies not feeling so welll and less trauma?

Have you:

-gotten puked on yet?
-delivered a baby?
-attended an accident?
-fire?
-treated opal and said Hi!
-stepped into the middle of a fight that wasn’t quite finsihed?

Enquiring voyeuristic adrenaline junkies (and EMT wannabes) wanna know!

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Kudos BiblioCat! As St. Urho said, welcome to the ranks of emergency services folks. There are a few of us on SDMB with firefighter/hazmat/emt/medic creds. Despite the hard work, what you bring home in your heart is worth every nasty hour on the street. Hugs. :thumbsup smiley:

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Yes, there are ranks, but of course I’m sure it varies by state. Most firefighters are what is called First Responders, which is basic first aid (CPR and the like). Then you have EMT-Basic, which is what I am, then EMT-Intermediate, then EMT-Paramedic. Paramedics can do more procedures and administer more drugs.
I could take a class and become an IV-Tech, if I wanted to - I’m thinking about it.

The only drugs I can administer are glucose, charcoal, an Epi-Pen or a patient’s own albuterol inhaler or nitroglycerin. Oh, and oxygen. Yes, oxygen is considered a drug in Maryland.

As for “good” calls, our firehouse is pretty small and out in the country, so we don’t get a lot of calls. I’ve been on two so far, and they were nothing special.
When I did my Ride-Alongs, I was at a busy career station, and we got one for a woman who fell off the toilet and was stuck between that and the bathtub. She’d had polio as a child, so she couldn’t walk very well, and also had emphysema, so she was on oxygen and had the tubing all tangled up with her. I felt sorry for her, but she was laughing at herself, so it was okay.

I didn’t take the National Registry test, just the state test. IIRC, I can take the National Registry test on my own if I want to.

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There is a great book, (and an ok movie) called Bringing Out the Dead. The book was written by a NYC Ambulance Paramedic who worked nights.

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Excellent, Zebra, there’s a slew of first-hand cop books, but this is the first EMT/paramedic one I’ve seen.

I might as well read up, as I’m hoping to go back to school when trusquirt’s older, maybe in 10-12 years or so, to become a paramedic.

Cheers.

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I’ll have to look for that - it sounds great.

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Good for you! I let my cert lapse. I started to feel that people were icky and I didn’t want to deal with them anymore, it would have been unprofesional.

Because of that I have more respect for you guys that are going on calls than someone who never has seen it firsthand.

Cheers.

(I do miss the pretty lights and sirens though. Maybe if the leadership changes at the fire hall, I’ll get more involved again. Damn small town politics and the BS and gossip.)

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YAY YOU !!! I’m so glad you mentioned this, over in the 9/11 thread I OP’d. That’s so great. I envy you immensely.

One begins to gather stories that get shuffled around as new ones crop up. I’ll share one, because aside from the adrenaline addiction and desire to be of help in a true emergency…well, for many of us there are more profound reasons to go into this line of work. ( for pay or volly, it is a profession ).

I did a transport taking a woman home to die. She was leaving the nursing home, was already involved with Hospice. It was a very lengthy ride, perhaps 25-30 minutes. I monitored her vitals once or twice as per the regulations, but that was almost irrelevant.

She knew that what she saw out the windows of the ambulance were the last things she would see outside the walls of her home. Period. I took the driver aside and told her to drive slowly. Very slowly. Take every yellow light and let it go red. Take her time and make the ride last.

I sat and reached out and held her hand and listened. She was pretty coherent for someone that high on morphine, and as she saw glimpses of things she mentioned people’s names, things she’d done and so on. She was desperately holding onto her connection to the outside world. When we got to her home, she went silent. Not unconscious, she just shut up.

Bearing witness to her last time in the outside world, and holding her hand ( she had a hell of a grip too ) as we rode may be one of the most important things I ever did as an EMT.

Yer gonna love this, BiblioCat. You’re a good soul and I know from your posts here you have a wicked sense of humor. ( A must in EMS work). Just… never forget to hold someone’s hand, even if they’re not aware they need to have it held. :slight_smile:

Cartooniverse, Retired NYS EMT