well mostly. Yeah i know i havnt posted anyting in a really long time. But i decided to take a little while off. I'm pretty much at the top of my department for hours committed save the few normal exceptions.
I've taken the time to read a lot. Do a lot of self study.
Emergency Em posted a little while back on her blog that 95% of volunteer EMT "SUCK!". I take comments like that to heart, and try to force myself into that 5% of at least decent EMT's. Now I realize that i'll never be as highly trained as the career EMT-P's I ride with now, at least not while i'm a volunteer in this county, but my little bit of extra reading and learning I feel improves my patient care and knowledge base so that i can buck the trend for lack lustre vollies.
I've been taking online exams on stripchart interpretation. I'm going to be attending a lecture at our station on 12-lead interpretation. Not that i will be doing any of that as a basic, but just so i can have half a clue as to what is going on when i am looking at the medic charts. I'm also looking into EMT-I/P courses at our local community college (which oddly enough is where a lot of the career guys get trained). The internship process in my county is a little too cumbersome to take on as a volunteer with my work schedule, but the extra classroom time certainly can't hurt.
I've also started logging my calls, going back and reading the ppcr narratives and writing down lists of good things and things i could have done better or mistakes i could have avoided. I'm still learning and i realize that. Right now i have a little issue with "BIG EYE" where I tend to focus on the chief complaint a little too much. Not to the detriment of any of my patients, YET. But i've identified this as a weakness so i'm aware of it and do think about it while i'm on calls.
On a little bit of a less self depricating tangent, Floody and I are taking the CPAT test this saturday so we can both go to fire academy coming up in july. I've been working for this for a couple months now, would have PWNED it back in january had i not tweaked my quad like the night before and spent the night in a cloud of IcyHot fumes.
Well, just wanted to shoot out a quick note to anyone who actually reads this to let them know what i've been up to.
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5 comments:
Like your blogging...keep it up.Im linking your blog to mine
I linked you as well Odie...
And while I didn't catch the post you reference by EE on 95% of vollie's sucking, I have to disagree completely (Sorry EE -- you know I love ya girl!).
Vollie's are no different than ANY other group of people in EMS (Be it Vollie, Fire based, Private, etc)
You have the really good ones, the ones who are bored, the ones who are burned out, the ones who think they're God's answer to EMS, the ones who are completely clueless but eager, the Third Watch's (aka Johnny and Roy's), the ones who carry everything Gall's sells on their belt... There's a hundred other types, I'm just too exhausted to think at this point.
I'm not a vollie, only because it's not an option for me. I live right in the middle of a city with no volunteer opportunities. I have TREMENDOUS respect for anyone who volunteers. Some of my closest friends are vollie's, including my last partner at my former company (My Pseudo Dad).
All this being said, you're doing a great thing by pushing to further your education. Not many folks I know take the time to go back over their old calls and figure out what could have done better. Kudos, Odie. :)
I would like to restate my point that 95% of vollies do suck.
I will write a narrative on this within the next few days.
-EE
PS: The 5% of vollies that don't suck tend to hate vollies too...if that makes sense.
For the record, I was once a vollie, back in my underage days.
There is truth in every statement, to a degree.
I don't HATE anyone that i ride with at the station. I dislike people who don't take the job seriously, because that is what it is, its a job, whether we're getting paid for it or not.
I dislike the people that do it for the admiration.
I dislike people that do it because they are bored.
I dislike the people that don't keep their training up.
I dislike people that refuse to better themselves.
So i guess in a way i do DISLIKE other volunteers. That 95% that don't like themselves enough to be proud to be volunteers.
That being said, i've submitted my application to go career:-p
I'd also like to add that 50% or so of the GREAT career's started out as vollie's back in the day.
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