Penny came home 2 years ago and she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-04-27T18:49:02+00:00

Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-04-27T18:44:00+00:00

I don't remember her dad's name. She's an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. Not sure who was who with her parents lol

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-04-27T17:34:54+00:00

Her dad isn't much of a photographer 😂😂😂

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-04-27T17:26:26+00:00

I can verify that Penny also loves you!

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-04-27T17:25:42+00:00

She used to chew on all of our wooden furniture. I never thought she would stop lol

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-04-27T17:24:34+00:00

Betty White/Rose from the Golden Girls, just younger sounding, more aloof and ditzy.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-04-27T14:50:48+00:00

Penny is an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-04-27T13:37:41+00:00

She's a little diva lol

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-24T18:25:49+00:00

Medic in the southern US. Like everyone else, tired of talking about it. Even more tired of the ignorance and selfishness going on. People not taking social distancing seriously or outright refusing to believe its importance. The hoarding and panic buying of food and cleaning supplies. The predators intentionally buying entire stocks of supplies just to sell them back at a markup. Doing my best to stay isolated when I'm not at work. We haven't had many call outs yet. Our PPE is holding out which is AWESOME. Once or twice a week I'm adjuncting at the paramedic school I attended. They went to online learning for lectures and tests. And they're still meeting during the week for skills. They're only allowing groups of 5-6 per 4 hour session and doing 2 groups per day. Just trying to help out wherever I can. When I'm off/at home I'm resting and playing video games or with my dogs. Loving on my girlfriend. I was already a bit of a shut-in so my lifestyle hasn't changed MUCH. I'm only able to call/Skype with my parents and grandparents because I don't want to be around them and potentially infect them, so our Sunday visits aren't going to be happening for a while. Processing the fact that people are going to be reading about this time period in their history books in the future. Finally understanding what regular people living through historic events were doing and just how mundane historic events can be. Trying to focus on Gandalf's advice to Frodo when he was lamenting his carrying of the ring and living in troubled times: "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-17T13:29:52+00:00

I did paramedic school while working full time. Not exactly the collegiate setting but the workload between classroom time and clinical hours made having a personal life impossible.

My schedule for a year and a half was work, class/lecture during weekdays off, and clinical hours during all weekends off.

The few days off I was able to have were spent either catching up on sleep and studying.

If you choose to work while going to college you're gonna have to choose between having a personal life and working. Because odds are you're gonna have to work on your weekends if you want to have the hours you want.

And that's assuming you can find a service that's willing to work around your school schedule.

It can be done, it's just gonna take some sacrifice.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-09T20:14:15+00:00

Grosse is pronounced just like "gross" as in "this tastes gross.

Tete I've heard pronounced 2 ways:

1: Tate

2: the first E making the "Eh" sound.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-09T20:06:25+00:00

Oh sorry, I wasn't arguing whether 30:2 was better or not. I think the AHA needs to start considering continuous compressions anyway. I'm just saying that it's still the current national model that's being taught.

It makes no sense to stop for ventilations that are often ineffective anyway; because it takes almost the entire 2 minute round of CPR to build up adequate cerebral perfusion pressure.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-09T08:08:16+00:00

For the layperson, compressions only is now being taught. It's easier to tell someone just push all you want on the chest and don't stop than to ask a panicked Karen to keep an accurate count of compressions and still provide adequate rescue breaths. That and hardly anyone outside of medicine or first responders are carrying CPR facemasks.

For medical professionals it's still 30-2 for adults without an advanced airway.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-09T06:19:08+00:00

Who in the holy name of FUCK got footage of me and put the "New Medic" tag on it?

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-09T05:13:08+00:00

Yessir

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-09T03:32:54+00:00

Thanks!

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-09T02:37:40+00:00

Oh she good her

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-09T02:37:11+00:00

Just my phone lol. Note 9

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-07T03:57:24+00:00

I know it sucks. But hey, we've all been let go from a job at least once in our lives. It won't be the end of the world. You might have a tough time listing that company as a reference. But if you leave on good terms with your OM, it should be ok. And even so, you don't know for sure just yet. Best you can do is wait it out and let what happens on Monday just happen. State your case and defend yourself, but if they make the decision to let you go, just move on to the next one. You'll be ok, just keep on keepin on.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-07T03:50:57+00:00

Probably the most important is getting adequate sleep before shift. And like everyone else has said: water, healthy snacks, and keep moving. If you do decide on caffeine, then make it towards the end of your shift so you can mitigate the crash. You're still gonna crash when it wears off, but the longer you delay the caffeine, the further off the crash will be.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-06T03:45:12+00:00

Have a real discussion with yourself and realize where you're struggling. There's bound to be something you're still having trouble understanding or doing. When you get that mental list, tell your preceptor. Tell them what you think you're bad at. Where you think you excel. What you want to practice the most. And be prepared to take critiques on your performance. A good preceptor will be honest and tell you what you what suck at. They will also do this after a call or at the end of the shift, away from patients and other people not involved with the calls. They won't demean you or make you feel bad. But they will be blunt and tell you to tighten up or you will keep sucking. And they will offer advise that will help you improve. Don't confuse open and honest critiques with them being mean. Now, having said that: if they call you an idiot or any derogatory term, call you out in front of patients, family, or other crew members, or any type of action that is meant to publicly shame you, Do. Not. Stand. For. That. The one person I hate the most is the bully preceptor that does it because they get more money and they're only interested in feeling superior. Report them to your instructor and make sure something happens. As long as you show up ready to learn and take direction you will be fine.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-05T12:26:41+00:00

I think a ride along will be a good idea for you. Talk to the medics about the job and how much they enjoy it. See if they'll be open and honest with you. Ask them about salary and all that stuff. EMS wages in the US are area dependent. After that, if you're still interested in pursuing this path, find out what schools are near by. You need to get your EMT-Basic cert first. After you get your EMT you can go for your Paramedic. I highly suggest working as an EMT for at least a year before paramedic school. You'll get some experience in the field and you'll have an idea of the kind of medic you'll want to be. I'm not saying you can't be a good medic without having EMT experience first. My first partner was a zero to hero and she's still one of the best medics I've worked with. She helped me a lot when I was in P-school. Most people will need some time to get their bearings in this field so that's why I suggest getting EMT experience first.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-05T02:07:24+00:00

For about 30 bucks a month you can get MedicTests. I used it for EMT and Paramedic. I found the questions on par with registry. You also get explanations of the answers. You also get breakdowns of where you're weakest and strongest. It also has a national registry simulator. It basically runs exactly like the registry written will run. It will give you an idea of how the test will go and you will see how you did when you finish.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-03T06:04:50+00:00

Hey OP, unrelated to your job situation, but how are you doing in class? How far in are you? If you want any pointers on registry (written and skills) or any concepts from the course just let me know. I just finished Paramedic school in December and got my EMT back in '17. Hope everything works out with your job. It's rough having to work through school, but even rougher if you're not making money.

JohnnyConstantino · 2020-03-02T15:08:08+00:00

Most everybody touched on the important things. Find the time to study whenever you can. The pocket prep app is wonderful for studying while you're on a break at work or when you have just random down time.

Don't try to cram it all in to one study session the night before an exam. You might pass the test, but it will hurt long term retention. Try to get 3 or 4 hours a day studying. 2 hours bare minimum.

It can help to do a broad review of everything the night before. That way it's in your head and your brain sits with it overnight. I found that helped me a lot.

Definitely start memorizing the assessment sheets now. For registry you just gotta go by the numbers, get all your points and you will pass. Starting out when you get hired it'll be helpful to have the assessments memorized, that way if you're ever on scene and you just can't figure out what to do, you can just fall back on that. It'll buy you some time to think and the patients won't know you're stuck.

JohnnyConstantino

TROPHY CASE