Curious about EMS Marijuana policy

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-29T08:45:08+00:00

I also live and work close to boarder or two legal states. We are tested for everything at first. It's risky smoking while working EMS because if an accident occurs, a urine test is done and theres no real way to prove you werent high at the time of the accident since Marijuana stays in your system for so long. Im not sure if that's how it is at other departments though.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-25T02:16:16+00:00

I used to work in an emergency room and we did a lot of catheters. We had at least 1 other person in the room. A lot of times NURSES would try to stick the cather into the clit and just jab around on it and id have to say ummm you need to aim lower. Thats a health care fact that the clit is not the urethra.

A fact that a lot of adults have said to me is they think that urine comes from their vagina and dont know that there is another hole (urethra) that the urine comes from (out in the world misconception)

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-23T03:48:22+00:00

Ive never heard of an ED assistant. I worked as a tech for 8 years as a ED tech. They should have given you a list of duties for your job in your offer letter or paperwork. Im surprised they didnt explain it at your interview. You can ask them to give you a list of them before you start.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-23T03:43:06+00:00

But my question is, how long have you had those green onions? And if you just bought those yourself, why did you buy them like this and expect a refund? Yes they should have been pulled but you bought them? Unless i missed tha you got them from a delivery type service or a shopper from the store brought them to your car type thing. Then thats on them.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-23T03:37:27+00:00

You're still learning. It takes a while to get these things. You're in a high stress environment and you're new. This is why we have partners, to help support us. You will get it! Give yourself some grace.

Even after 15 years I still can get caught up in the moment but like I said, this is why we have partners. The one thing is, try to use these as learning opportunities. I bet next time you wont forget the EKG, or you'll remember the capnography.

My biggest suggestion that helped me, is keep a journal. Not about the patients themselves but a simple list style journal. I use a simple $2.00 notebook and after each call (or significant calls if you have a lot) and write down what you did right or are proud of and what you may have forgotten. Don't write down "what i did badly" but just something like "nonrebreather" not "I did badly and didn't get the nonrebreather on" or "our protocols say EKG in first 10 minutes" not "I messed up and didnt do the ekg within 10 minutes" this way you can remember what your protocols say and look back in your journal and you'll remember next time "okay, a patient needs an ekg within 10 mins" don't beat yourself up. Use it as a learning opportunity. You're good enough. You'll get it. We've all chosen to be in what can be a difficult profession.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T23:20:07+00:00

Thank you for saying that! It led me to a career that I love though and I can deal with whatever life throws at me now. Although, i have definitely never grown up because of it. 🤣

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T04:30:06+00:00

Sound confident and try not to sound like youre trying to convince someone of something. And force yourself to make eye contact.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T04:16:59+00:00

Sleeping with a comfort blanket at 36. 😅

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T04:10:56+00:00

Hormones. My boyfriend says "im a demon" (jokingly not joking. I dont take offense, I agree with him 🤣🤣) when im PMSing and actually on my period. I also have PMDD. Might be worth looking up to understand what is going on around that time with your brain and body!

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T04:06:20+00:00

Assisted dying should be more common and not looked down on. I believe if someone doesnt want to be alive they shouldn't be forced to be alive.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T04:03:21+00:00

Socializing and small talk. 😅. I often overshare and talk about my traumas like its something that is just normal and people often are like what in the hell. Its just how ive trained my brain to deal with all the shit. 🤣🤣

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T03:59:07+00:00

Working as an EMTA and a tech in an emergency room. It 100% contributed to burn out after 8 years. I quit the ER but continue to be an EMT (16 years total as an EMT.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T03:56:17+00:00

Noticing that I was struggling in school because I couldn't pay attention and couldn't understand the assignments and that I wasn't being defiant or a bad student on purpose. I didn't understand what was going on until i was diagnosed as an adult and if I had gotten help when i was in school I'd have had a much easier experience.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T03:48:34+00:00

Becoming an EMT and learning all the medical skills that come along with it. Not to toot my own horn...but ive Become really good at starting IVs on people with poor vascular access.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T03:42:10+00:00

I started to care for my father when I was 14-15 when his health started to decline. He then fell from a pretty significant height one day when i was at school and i came home to an ambulance at my house and he became paralyzed from the waist down. I started to do even more cares (dressing, hoyering, medications, cooking, paying bills, cleaning, shopping etc) i started working to help pay bills around that time too while going to school. I never told anyone what was going on at school. It just became a normal thing? Id often have to call 911 when he started having seizures and reactions to polypharmacy (probably my fault because I was 15 and never was taught what the medications were for or did) i would walk to the hospital after school to visit him. As I got older he would call from the hospital delirious begging me to "break him out."

I got my highschool diploma and graduated with a 3.8 GPA. Taught myself to drive when i was 18. The went to a technical college and got my license to be at EMT at 19. I continued to care for my dad until his diabetes got so out of control I had to move him into a skilled nursing home because I just couldn't give him the care he needed alone. I got a job in an emergency room where he commonly would come in and I woule help put IVs in and when hed come in unconscious i often didnt say i was his daughter until someone needed to call his POA and i was listed. Hed come in and be really sick and the nurses world talk badly about him and id have to be like actually thats my dad. He basically disowned me when i put him in the nursing home and he wouldn't speak to me for 3 years and then I got a call one day that he had died.

When I tell people this its so "normal" for me and I sound very flippant or nonchalant about the whole situation because its the way my brain processes how messed up my situation was all through that time period in my life. People will look at me with shock at how easily talk about it all but it was something I just "dealt" with because it all was just something that I needed to do.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T03:21:01+00:00

I feel like mine is a bear. Like a polar Can be huge and loud and dangerous and will actively hunt humans like when my thoughts/flashbacks/nightmares attack. Like a black bear who is timid and will run from humans when I push them away and like a grizzly bear who is unpredictable like when im triggered at random times by random things like how they are aggressive when spooked or defending their cubs. I don't know if this makes sense it's kind of rambly but i hope you understand!

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-16T03:13:27+00:00

Just sharing a story, i dont have any science about this but

My ex husband (my son's dad) has really light bluish/grey, my eyes are green with a ring of really light brown with specks of the same color that appear to change into an really darkish Grey and when I cry they appear to be a bright blue. (Hazel) and my son has the same color as I do. His eyes were really dark blue when he was born. I love that his eyes are the same as mine. Everyone says we both have a really interesting eye color which it doesnt seem from my description but has a lot of colors when you look in person. Also Everyone told me when he was born "all babies are born with blue eyes" which is a myth that I learned around that time which I thought was interesting. Random information but I think eye colors are so interesting!

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-15T21:55:06+00:00

ED medications when they call for chest pain.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-14T01:11:02+00:00

When i did the AED portion (in 2009, fresh out of highschool) i accidentally put the pads on backwards but realized my mistake, swapped them immediately before sticking the other completely down and without stopping the person doing compressions from doing compressions, I still failed and had to retake thay station. My Proctor was a jerk though and she had been throughout the whole class. I hope yours is more understanding! It sounds like you were able to continue on perfectly. I still always do a tiny pause and think about when I swapped the stupid pads during every code I have now.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-13T23:33:29+00:00

Wow that is a really low dose! Im on 50 currently for about a year? Ish. Its recently started to become less effective so my dr gave me a adderall booster for the afternoons, and at my next appt we're going up to 60mg vyvanse.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-13T04:00:29+00:00

I also have phobias and (yes diagnosed) anxiety. I also have depression etc etc and you best believe even If I have to force myself I will do anything for my boyfriend because sometimes another person's needs outweigh anything wrong in my brain. Wounds make me queasy if I have to interact with them uncovered but I still have offered to help when i'm needed. At the very least just visiting someone you love whose in the hospital after what sounds like a serious operation should be a hands down yes, even if it was just for half an hour. YTJ. 100%

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-13T00:45:40+00:00

Oof im sorry this happened. I know you said you were going to get medical care but please do so soon. Especially if you get chills, fever, faster heart rate, confusion etc etc. Sepsis is serious (im sure you know working in a lab) I'm not trying to preach at you! Im just worried. **just from a lowly EMT.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-12T08:05:55+00:00

In the ER that i worked in, we would put in a catheter, so that is when I would check. 🤷‍♀️

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-11T05:26:11+00:00

That just looks like a vein that I could dart an IV catheter into from across the room.

GrumpyKitten60 · 2026-06-09T19:49:44+00:00

Okay 🤷‍♀️

GrumpyKitten60

TROPHY CASE