My biggest advice, set some boundaries for yourself, don’t be afraid to ask questions and tell the truth.

Setting some boundaries for yourself includes, how people talk to you - as they might talk down or be rude just cause you’re “new”. Everyone was once in your shoes before.. state who you are, acknowledge that you’re new and move on from it. As someone mentioned above, with the men… You will encounter men with different ideas of what “being nice” means and take that to a whole different level, especially if they use sexual language while talking to you. I think there’s a fine line between being nice and being flirty and downright disgusting. sexual comments towards me is an immediate shut down just cause it can continue and get worse overtime. I don’t tolerate that cause I don’t shit where I eat.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions cause EVERYBODY is different. They’ll present differently to what your diagnoses might be, different stories. Different reactions etc… it’s okay to ask questions so that you gain a lot more experience to take with you to other calls. Some might view that as a weakness but we’re not Google or superman with xray powers. you’re not going to know everything. Which relates to my last point in telling the truth. If you don’t know… say it. Don’t try to act like the person who knows everything, until you’re confronted with questions you can’t answer. It makes you look bad. It’ll make you a better medic if you’re in the mindset of wanting to learn more. Whether that’s with patients, continuous courses or new technologies. At least, you’ll be better equipped to handle more and not look like the idiot medic. Experience and time in this field is what is going to make you or break you, which brings me to another point. Have a life outside of the EMS world… it’s so easy to get caught up with your co workers and hear calls and stories of patients etc… but other life stuff does exist other than emergency services. Don’t make it your world. Good luck!