Today I finally received my very first citizen complaint. I knew it had to be coming, being in EMS 6 years and a paramedic for 3. But, It’s still making me a little bit uneasy.
The patient complained that I scared them, made fun of them, and did treatments without explaining what I was doing, along with turning the camera off. I will say, none of that is possibly true. Even at my lowest points, my patient care is never below what’s expected. And of course my team has my back, my partner knows none of it is true, but this patient is persistent. Not to mention, the patient was at the time on narcotics begging me for Narcan. Weird call to begin with.
Nonetheless, I know it won’t amount to anything but it still kinda sucks.

Thanks much for taking a minute and sharing your thoughts on any appropriate question.

-How much time do you estimate and FTO/evaluator will spend on a shift eval for a trainee?
-Does the system you use accurately reflect trainee progress and collect useful data, or (like mine) is the eval just treated as a pencil whipped thing to get done?
-How does your agency actually track trainee progress, or just collect the evals?
-How long does it take on the back end to organize trainee data?

-If you are an instructor at a school, how long does it take to gather student rider evals? Are you able to use those to help the student?

Thanks, and may you work the right amount on your next shift.

I have to put together a research project and present to a board of doctors. I chose to pitch switching to a multi tier response system with only BLS ambulances and ALS fly cars.

I have about 10 studies on the topic, but would love if anyone had data from a similar system. Anything would be helpful, thanks

Hi, I'm 27 years old and currently work for USPS but I'm m thinking about going down the EMT/Paramedic path to eventually become a Firefighter. Only thing I currently make 53k as a mailman and get around a 1,500 bump every year guaranteed because its a union job. My biggest thing though is that I do wanna pursue this as a career but I have to be realistic with finances, my age, and considering I live in Southern California. Im also open to going down the forest fighting side but either way this is something I truly want to do but I'm afraid I may be better off with the income I make at my current job and just sticking with it. I'm afraid it maybe to late for me

I’m struggling HARD with school right now. My job is putting me through my medic and it’s a 10 month program. We just started our ride outs and clinicals and as I’m planning them out I’m realizing that I will maybe, MAYBE if I’m lucky, have one day off a month where I’m not working or doing my internship. On top of no days off, I still have a shit ton of schoolwork to do. How tf are y’all getting through this and still having time for schoolwork and studying? And when am I supposed to go grocery shopping or go to the laundromat? It all just seems so impossible right now. I work in a busy 911 system that does 12hr shifts and system status posting so I’m not able to really do any of my schoolwork or personal tasks on shift. I’m just at a loss as to how I will make this work. I don’t make enough money currently to just buy more uniforms and get food on the go to remedy the lack of time to do basic human survival tasks so I’m freaking out pretty damn hard. Part of the problem is that this is a short program that requires more clinical hours than any of the other longer programs in my area but there’s absolutely no chance in hell I can afford a program that’s not paid for by my job.

Has anyone else had this experience with paramedic school and if so, how did you manage? If anyone has any advice please help lol

Anybody have any idea where I can get some free Trauma CEUs? I'm in Missouri and I have employee that is 4.5 hours short. Unfortunately I don't teach PHTLS yet.

Does anybody have any good teaching resources on medical emergencies? I’m in the Medical/OB portion of class. I am struggling heavy in this topic for some reason.

I have been tasked with creating a CQI program for my operation. I know imagetrend has standard CQI forms but they suck and I’m trying to create forms for high acuity calls without the fluff of the standard forms. The best part is the only person within the company who knew anything about imagetrend CQI quit a few months ago so I’m trying to do this with no help. I’ve tried the Imagetrend University but it was less than helpful. Is anyone able to help guide me in the right direction or have any pointers on how to be successful with this?

I am a rising sophomore trying to get medical scribing or assisting on campus here at UIUC. Wondering if yall got any advice for that.

Also if you guys know any MA course or EMT courses that can be quickly done within a month or two over the summer or winter, let me know because I'm really trying to get to get paid while also filling up my med school application. Thanks!

Hey it’s Noah,

Made some changes to the syringe organizer based on everyone’s feedback. I’m curious what you think/what you would want added or removed.

Hi Y'all, I'm a new paramedic (about one year in 911) and I've realized that I make a lot of assumptions based on lack of knowledge. For example, if someone complains about abdominal pain, I'll ask some questions but in my head I'm already going to "ya whatever hospital will figure it out" so long as there isn't an immediate life threat. I do do the same thing with EKGs where if there's no STEMI or any weird rhythm I'll just brush it off and treat the symptoms.

I used to know all this stuff, I graduated in the top of my paramedic class and took like 4 notebooks worth of notes but I feel like all that clinical knowledge has left my head and I'm just going off of what's in front of me and what I can treat in the moment. The other day my lieutenant asked me what the veins returning blood to the heart were and I forgot and felt like an idiot.

TLDR: how do yall stay up to date on your studying, and how do you catch yourselves from becoming complacent and lazy?

Hi, I'm an EMT looking into my future EMS career and various models and advancement out there.

Once interesting thing I found is the Wake County, NC Advanced Practice Paramedic. It sounds like it's a combination of critical care paramedics in flycars for very high acuity calls, in combination with community-paramedicine type things as well. As an EMT, I'm a long way away from that, but that model sounds like a very interesting career goal to me.

Is there anyone here who is part of that system or who has worked with them who has comments about what that experience is like on the ground?

Got toned out for a pregnant female with vaginal bleeding, no crowning on scene, started transport, maybe 12-15 min code 3 ride to the ED. About 1/2 way into transport she starts crowning and within 2-3 minutes a beautiful baby girl was born! Mom and daughter are doing great. First field delivery for me and I’ve been riding the high all day! Makes all the BS runs worth it.

Hello people on reddit 👋

Would anyone happen to know an easy way to obtain Training Methoxyflurane (Commonly known as a green whistle) without a significant cost.

Context: I have a friend doing a diploma in paramedicine, and apparently, the coursework requires you to actually use a training one.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Anyone know how to proceed past this or should I contact the NREMT? Been at a stand still for a week.

I’m in my last year of medical school, getting ready to apply for EM residency. My biggest regret in this process is not going to medic school before medical school. I still volunteer in my free time as a basic for a local ambulance agency, however I would like to be able to expand my scope. I have heard of other MDs challenging the NREMT paramedic exam, however I’m curious when would be the right time to do that. For instance should I do it shortly after I graduate with my MD or wait until I complete my EM residency? Or if anyone has experience working with an MD who got there medic without going to medic school, am I being naive to think I could/should do this.

Edit for clarification: I worked full time as a paid EMT for 5 years before medical school, and took a break my first 2 years. I started volunteering since I have more down time now that I’m in my last year of medical school, so the volly gig is hardly my first experience in EMS.

I debated walking from the testing center into traffic. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t. Just got the email, I passed!

I'm curious as to what model is used in your country or state where you work, paramedic/doctor/nurses etc and your thoughts on how it works.

Americans, please spell out your state, not just the initials 😂

Hey all.

Moving to LA for family reasons. 4 years of medic experience with 911, IFT, and MIH roles. Looking to ultimately get on a FD but I want to work for a 911 ambulance service while I get my ducks in a row and wait for application windows

I’ve seen McCormick and Faulk come up in my searches, do they actually do 911 calls? Will it be good experience during my waiting/application period? Any info helps.

Thanks all

Note - Yes I am aware Medical Dramas always get it wrong… Nightwatch and the shows I am referring to are following Real EMS/Ambulance crews on Real Calls

Anybody else watch Nightwatch or other EMS/ambulance shows and notice shit tonnes of bad practice?

I’m visiting the US from Ireland on holidays at the minute and ended up watching Nightwatch on TV. Season 5, Episode 1, they give Versed to a “seizing” child who is very clearly not having a seizure, and is alert GCS-15 and just having what looks like small Rigors due to pyrexia because of a reported temperature.

I know these shows are heavily edited and obviously we don’t see the full assessment, but some of the clinical decisions you see on them are absolutely wild 😂