This also goes for nonbinary peeps who bind their chest!

Hello! I am currently working towards getting my EMT-B license and I am concerned about a few things. As we are not supposed to wear a binder for >8 hrs, im worried about the dysphoria I'll deal with during longer shifts. If there is anyone in EMS who also binds their chest, what do you recommend?

Should make it clear that I'm aware of the stigma surrounding us and I don't really care what pts might say or think, this is just for my own comfort.

Hey all! Looking for some advice as whether or not to reschedule my tattoo appointment. I’m getting a 7inch piece on my thigh on Friday, but I’m scheduled to work on Saturday. Should I be concerned about healing or anything in particular or will I be good to go? It’s been hot so idk if I’ll get very sweaty and if that can impact the tattoo health. I don’t have many tattoos so some perspective / advice is very appreciated. I work BLS as an EMT. Thanks!

Joined EM residency. I'm looking forward to buy a wired headphone for my Eko core 500

I am fairly new to 911 Ems. I have been In the health care field for almost four years now. I graduated EMT school in July, the education came very easily to me, graduated top of my class. I am no way shape or form a dumb ass when it comes to knowledge of being an emt. I work 911 ems out of a fire department. My knowledge is there 100%, I do great under pressure. I HAVE the patient contact experience and do amazing in the back of the rig when I’m with a patient. Yes I am fairly new, but I am concerned that I’m setting myself/career up for failure. This department I am working for is not very well teaching of how things should be run. A lot of people there are always late & I mean like an hour late.(Even my boss) You can tell everyone there is burnt out & does not want to teach. I ask questions all of the time & I feel as if they get annoyed. I am also very uncomfortable driving lights and sirens. I haven’t been able to practice very much. My department is also in a city I do not live in & not to familiar with. I had a feeling when I was hired in that it was going to be a situation where I am just thrown to the wolves. They gave me three days of training & that was it. I absolutely hate being uneducated about how a place runs & feeling like a dumb ass. I am not the type to stand around with my hands up my ass. A lot of the EMTs who have been working there don’t even know the computer login to get into the CAD system. I love working for a fire department, I’m very proud of it. I am just concerned that I got hired into a department that isn’t set up at all for new emts. Am I the only one that has had this problem? This department is making me feel like I choose the wrong career path. Should I try to tough it out & figure it out myself or let this job go & find a better fit?

Hi Everyone, I am not in this community usually so sorry if I do something wrong.

I recently failed my PAT. And I am really upset now because I thought I would be on the field by now and had passed all the exams but at the very last step I failed...

I am planning to retake and wanted some advice preparing for it in the meantime. The part I failed was where you lift the 125 lbs and walk back and forth, and then step up and down a (low) platform. (Please don't make fun of me, I'm a relatively short 4'10.5, 135lbs unathletic girl and already very embarassed abt it). Before that I also had to drag a 180 lbs dummy around and although I finished it successfully, I still struggled. So I would like to train for these 2/3 things. But idk how that looks like.

I know deadlifts and farmers carry should be included. But that's only 2 things. Idk what to do to train dragging a very heavy dummy around. And I haven't seen a low platform in my gym to do step ups with a heavy weight.

I plan to go to the gym abt 2-3x a week. I'm not really asking anybody to make me a program (unless you want to lmao). Just asking for some guidance/direction on how I should approach this. What sorts of exercises I should focus on etc.

I am a true gym beginner and I am very lost, so I would really appreciate any help. Lastly, because I'm premed and was partially doing this for clinical hrs I can't keep focusing on it for too long. After about 1-2 months, I will have to pivot to something else. I know that's not a lot of time but I wanted to give it my all because I really did choose this. Would this be realistic? I don't know how much I can deadlift but I have done RDLs last week and I could do 3x8 of 75lbs.

This is the only one I applied to this year because a bunch of the other ones had prerequisites that I did not have at the time (extra kicker, the cutoff was BEFORE I got my final grades.) There is always next year though, and at least I have all of my stuff locked in. I just have to keep my eyes peeled for more programs opening up. It just sucks because I am turning 33 this year, so time is running out and unfortunately I feel like I should write-off fire-medic now.

I need help! Tomorrow is my midterm for my EMT program and it’s very important for us. This exam ultimately decides if we get to do clinicals and ride alongs. The program we use is JB Learning and to pass we need at least an 80% which is difficult for me

Okay really quick thing to note is I have bad ADHD and anxiety and I’ve been getting 70s and 60s on my past tests and I study extremely hard for these tests. I’ve done flash cards and little practice tests and read our book. I’ve been studying yesterday and so far a bunch today. The exam is tomorrow and I’m starting to really freak out because I’m not a good test taker.

So I’m asking actual registered EMS people to give me tips for studying and what I should most likely expect when stepping into this test.

If we need specifics the JB learning book is the twelfth edition and it’s over chapters 3 through 20

(EDIT) sorry if this seems like a lot I’m just nervous about it and we only got a heads up as of Monday that this exam would be tomorrow.

I am a 5 foot woman, weighing around 45kg. I recently did a lift test carrying 60kg between a team of 2 however failed as my legs gave way whilst carrying the head end up the stairs.

How can I strengthen myself as I feel my legs aren't strong enough and I have to redo the exam in a months time please?

Thanks!!

Next August I'm gonna begin school for my AAS in emergency medicine, and before then I'm gonna do my pre requisites (A&P, microbiology, math) while working as a EMT full time. But after the first semester of paramedic school I plan to drop down to working part time.

I hear a lot that paramedic school is extremely hard. But also I've seen many say it was because they were working full time.

If you're only working part time how hard is it?

And is it any easier if you have experience as a EMT and already did classes like Anatomy and Physiology?

Hey yall I’m on my 7th week right now and for my Platinum tests I haven’t passed a single one. I’ve been studying, doing flash cards, watching paramedic coach, doing as much as I can. I still use most of my free time to just study and do as much as I can. I know EMT is a difficult program and it’s not for everyone. But I’m really trying and I want to do this. My instructor is amazing but I feel like no matter how much time I put it doesn’t stick in my head. I feel lost and that I’m a failure for this. I’m probably just burned out but I don’t know I’m just so frustrated. Any tips? Anything. Thank you.

Hey all,

I have spent a lot of time looking for published research on this, but the closest I could find was this study from NAEMT that literally says they deliberately did not collect the data that interests me:

https://www.naemt.org/docs/default-source/ems-research/characteristics-of-volunteer-compared-to-paid-ems-professionals-in-the-united-states.pdf

So, ftr, this question isn't for school and this is not going to be scientific by any means, but it's a personal curiosity from someone who lives in a major city.

**If you do volunteer 911 service, what is your primary occupation? Do you work full time? How many hours do you volunteer? What certification level do you hold?**

Feel free to skip anything you feel is too personal. Feel free to also give secondhand info from people you know IRL even if all you can provide is their day job.

My region is not only paid, but all ALS for 911, and I do not think I'll be moving soon... so asking here is about as good as it gets in understanding how much of the country works.

ETA: responses are incredibly interesting to me so far!! Thank you so much for sharing, I am actually learning a lot. I def have opportunities to share stuff about this with my classmates so this is much appreciated

Hey everyone,

I’m coming up on my EMT clinicals and know I need to wear waterproof, black, slip resistant boots.

However, I also recently accepted a position at Colorado Parks and Wildlife and will need to get boots for them, too. The only recommendation I have is that they should be lightweight if possible.

I’d rather not buy two separate pairs of shoes.

Any recommendations for women to have one pair that suits both positions?

Title

I work as an EMT in 911 where my transport times are ~10-15 minutes, sometimes even 20+ depending on where in district we're at, weather, etc. Even the shorter ones at around 10 minutes, i feel like I have plenty of time to do what I want in the ambulance: Get IV access (EMTs can do IV/IO where I'm at), maybe give some meds/fluids, thorough secondary, lots of conversation and history gathering with the pt, and a couple sets of vitals before biophone. It feels right.

I'm going to be doing paramedic school in a very very busy system, with 5 big hospitals in the city so no matter where you're at you're never more than 5-10 minutes away, sometimes transport is just a few blocks.

To me that feels so fast, and i'm having a hard time visualizing doing all the things I want to do in that short time span. Do people in these busy quick systems just typically stay on scene a tiny bit longer for IV before starting to move? That seems bad, but so does trying to fit EVERYTHING into the trip and ending up not really prepared for biophone/handoff because "I didnt have time to do what I wanted".

Obviously there are still going to be calls where the only clear option is to load and go to the close hospital and do as much stabilization as I can in the short time I have, maybe thats just a thorough trauma assessment and some bleeding control, or maybe that's just a 12-lead and an IV but no meds yet, but i'm thinking more in general.

I genuinely don’t know what else to do besides post on this. I completed my emt course last december but technically march because processing. i took the nremt in march or april, passed. got the DL, live scans, county card everything.

i’ve applied to every IFT in san diego (premier, express, sdas, advantage, alllll of them) + even falk n possibly AMR. i’ve gotten interviews for all of them, passed their tests and still no job.

i’m getting really frustrated and sad because i just can’t understand what’s wrong. i thought my interviews went well, ane my resume is strong imo.

does anyone have any advice or similar experience? :(

I am a college student looking to possibly doing an EMT training course over winter break. Are there any recommendations for courses in MA? Thanks!

Nvm, figured it out !

I can only apply 60 days before or 60 days after my license expires! It says this on the license renewal website, I just missed it.

Leaving this post up in case it helps anyone else.

I have all my CEs done to recertify my state license as an EMT. I have all the certs and everything uploaded to my the state portal/EMSIS. But I cannot find where to renew my certification. The site only shows "initial licensure application" and "temporary license provider application". I don't see any option for renewal.

This is the site I'm using -

https://www.mi-emsis.org/lms/public/portal#/login