So… My “When to become a Paramedic” post has drawn much debate. So I’d like to reorganize my thoughts up a little and try to restate some of my points.

So, the question begs you, what is the secret to making the BEST medics we can? Not, the too often, how can we make the MOST medics and the most MONEY we can. Well, as I’ve stated before, I think Life Experience is critical to coming out on top in this game.

The schools that medics come from vary–greatly. From Hospital Based programs like ours to community colleges and larger state universities. Advantages and disadvantages are partly perspective–a larger school will give you a recognizable degree, you will also likely have a much larger class and this could put you to a disadvantage. Even our class at +/- 20 people(it changed… a lot) made it so that “lab” time was a bit wasteful. That was our faults though… we slacked off way, way too much.

So I don’t think just choosing the right school will make you a good medic–although someone who researches the right school may be on the right track. Not just choosing the cheapest, or easiest to get into school closest to you shows that you want a little more than average.

So if it isn’t the right school, and it isn’t PRIOR experience–both life and field–only, then we must be searching for more…. Somewhere inside “future medic” has to be a drive to do this. Obviously, we don’t do it for money. Some choose to do it for the “prestige”, though I don’t find a great deal of prestige in getting puked on, hitting my head on cabinets, or being faced with informing a wife that her husband of 48 years has died. It is a dirty, tough, emotionally challenging, physically demanding(seriously, patients keep getting bigger and bigger… ask EE!) line of work, where we will be under paid, pushed to our breaking point, and shot out to do it all over again.

So I don’t think there is any secret recipe to being the best damn medic out there. I think it takes a lot of drive, a desire to work hard, and an understanding that sometimes you might not know everything–all in combination with an understanding of your skills, BLS and als, a knowledge of how to communicate and a desire to better yourself–always.

I have managed to work with a few medics that knew everything they could ever need to, but have gotten so burned out that they are some of the worst medics I’ve ever dealt with. Because of that, I think that at a certain point…. Experience can be your arch enemy. But that goes on into an entirely new subject….

But packing blows ass. Seriously. How do people pack, and still live there during the process?

Even worse, we’ve chosen a rather craptastic weekend to move. Wedding 1 on Friday. Wedding 2 on Saturday. Move on Sunday. Ya… I bet I’m up and going in a hurry Sunday… I have a hunch that lots of things are going to be packed into our sweet little Uhaul trailer in my favorite way… garbage bags…

Life over the last 10 months has been one hell of a roller coaster ride. I started Medic School, married the woman of my dreams, “finished” school, completed my internship, Found out we were having a baby, took my practical and CBT NREMT-Paramedic exams, and finally passed. Just in the last month it has been insane. OH! And I forgot to mention that I got a job… Yup. Cheating Death, the wet-behind-his-ears BRAND NEW medic is going to be roving the streets in less than 2 weeks.

I’m scared shitless. It’ll be a great gig. 7×24 call, 4 days off, repeat. With a call volume of 500 it’ll be a stretch for me to work enough for it to be a “full time” job, but it is salary and that is sorta the point…

With a total coverage of 6500 people, it shouldn’t be toooo crazy, despite the interstate and killer highways. No seriously, they kill. I’m incredibly excited. But with all of this comes moving to said small town… It will definitely be a change for us…

Wish me luck… I may be out for a few days, but don’t y’all worry… I’ll be back!

That’s right bitches. You’re friend CD is now a Nationally Registered Paramedic. Soon to be on the streets in a ghetto near you!

I about shat myself when I saw…. “Congratulations on successfully completing the cognitive portion of your EMS certification.”

That’s right. I passed. Now, when the State gets back from their field trip to 1492 they can update the computer system and let NREMT know I’ve passed the practical Exam.

In less than 12 hours I’ll be on my way to my NREMT-P CBT exam. I’m nervous as hell. In just over 13 hours I’ll be starting my exam and hopefully on my way to Paramedic Bliss…

Seriously. I couldn’t be more terrified. Everything hangs on this. My job, moving, our future. That sucks.

None the less, I am forced to go forward and do this. I hope to have good news for you come this time tomorrow!

I passed the practical exam! First try. Now we drink…

EMS Responder has a great article on their site about the toll of working on EMS. Not just on us as providers, but our friends and families. Sure-This isn’t breaking news to those of us with any experience in EMS, and publishing this in EMSresponder.com doesn’t do a whole lot for us…. If it made it on the cover of Time or Newsweek or perhaps a 4 minute bit on Dateline maybe others might actually understand the reality with the people who come to save them from a spider in your bed. We come lights and sirens–risking life and limb to make sure you get the service that you “need”.

Sure. Sometimes we’re slow. Do you honestly expect me to drop my Taco John’s just so you can save yourself the hassle of finding the keys to the Escalade parked out front–as if you didn’t have 9 months to figure out how you were going to get to the hospital with that future Medicaid patient in your uterus?

Maybe I digress from the moral of Thom Dick’s article, but I think that’s what he really wanted to say… Since he seems more eloquent, articulate, and polite, I’ll let him finish it off…

“People who make EMS happen are big-time givers who too often don’t take what they need out of life. They tend to care for others at the expense of those who love them most……….”

“…There are probably no greater citizens than EMS volunteers. In large and small towns all over the world, they willingly set their lives aside and offer their hands and hearts to the folks in their communities anytime, day or night. Challenging the notion of volunteers in EMS is like saying bad things about somebody’s mom–it’s one of those things you just don’t do.”

“But maybe it’s time to ask whether America’s volunteers are hurting themselves in their efforts to help others. Maybe they’re hurting their own families. Maybe they’re hurting others. Maybe…maybe they’re even hurting us….”

Check out Thom’s article and then check out the 2007 Article by Nancy Perry that stemmed much of this one.

EE always has updates from the EMSresponder.com LODD feed. I’ve decided to once again add it to my page. Just a way for all of us to remember the field we work in has serious risks.

Take a look to glance at the feed every time you stop by to see if there are updates. The friends and families of our fallen brethren need our support.

Thanks,
CD, the Un-licensed, un-registered Paramedic.

Got my course completion certificate today! We had a written final Monday, and tested on all the practical stations during the week. Passed all with ease. The one that scared me the most–Oral, was likely the easiest for me. Ironically IV/IO/Airway seem to be my “weak” stations. I’ll go over them a few more times today and tomorrow and then have a nice relaxing night tomorrow(per the advice of you great readers…)

I think tomorrow I will enjoy a few(not excessive) of my new favorite beers. It ranks right up there with another fav of mine… With an orange of course!

So… Hopefully soon I will join the ranks of my highly esteemed Paramedic Blog Buddies(see left).

The practical test no longer scares me as much as the CBT(written) test.

The part that bothers me is unlike the old written exam, where you had to get one percentage, now it is Pass/Fail, based on each section. You get a score of Below, Near, or Above and have to get Above on every section. So, if I happen to suck at Operations(nims), which I do, then I will have to retake the entire exam. Yippeee!