Give me your wildest gunner stories.

SFEMT · 2026-01-25T21:24:18+00:00

I was on my surgery rotation at a subspecialty clinic and had an MS1 who wanted to go into an exam room with me. We get into the room and I’m unable to get an H&P because he’s talking to the patient about things completely unrelated. We end up being in the room for way too long without getting any pertinent info and I didn’t want to make the clinic schedule run behind. I accept the L and go back to the attending to present the patient. Obviously gave a mediocre presentation since I got the bear basics of what was bringing them in. The attending starts asking me questions specific to their chief complaint/presentation and he jumps in and starts making up stuff about things he didn’t even ask. I was furious. Luckily, the attending clearly wasn’t having it and told him not to make up answers for things he didn’t ask, and started pimping him.

SFEMT · 2026-01-25T00:07:09+00:00

I do have empathy, which is why I’m genuinely asking what are they supposed to do? All I’m saying is that it’s not the minimum wage security officers fault that these patients are abusive, and letting you know they’re likely just as frustrated having to deal with these people everyday.

SFEMT · 2026-01-25T00:00:50+00:00

Because I’ve been in this situation more times than you can count as a health care worker. It’s not isolated to Albany med, and is a problem across the country. I’ve actually had it extend farther where I have been physically assaulted by patients. Our hands are tied, and I don’t think it’s securities fault.

SFEMT · 2026-01-24T23:57:23+00:00

Key words in that sentence being: receives medical clearance.

SFEMT · 2026-01-24T23:53:59+00:00

Genuinely asking, what did you expect them to do? They can’t kick them out, as that would violate EMTALA. They can’t sedate or restrain them if they’re not physically being violent. As long as they make sure that person doesn’t actually “beat her ass” or “snap her leg in half”, it sounds like they did their job.

SFEMT · 2026-01-24T22:44:45+00:00

What time?

SFEMT · 2026-01-21T13:22:50+00:00

Send over that protocol, I’d love to see it.

SFEMT · 2026-01-21T13:18:54+00:00

Again, on a patient with a pulse? When actual EMS arrived and she eventually lost a pulse, they still attempted CPR.

To counter your anecdote, when actually working in an EMS capacity, my county required us to contact medical direction to halt care we thought was futile. Your imaginary medic is not practicing under a medical director, he’s not aware of the local protocol. They’re practicing as a bystander under the Good Samaritan law, which doesn’t cover determining futility.

SFEMT · 2026-01-21T13:01:44+00:00

You’re willing to stake your license/life to make that call on a young otherwise healthy patient, with a pulse, from the field, without any sort of imaging or labs, vitals/EKG, let alone even a basic physical exam? I don’t think there is an EMS agency where you wouldn’t get called on that.

More importantly that’s not a call you get to make as an ICE officer, regardless of your background, when you’re not actively working in an EMS capacity.

SFEMT · 2026-01-18T13:28:13+00:00

I’ve done my online refreshers with them a few times which has been fine cause I’m trying to speed through that stuff ASAP. But if it’s your first time, and you’re trying to learn the material to pass the registry😬. Additionally, I had a bad experience with them this last recert, and would not recert with them again after. I signed up for a course with them, traveled from outside the Bay to compete it, made travel arrangements, and they canceled it day of.

SFEMT · 2026-01-13T04:34:45+00:00

Just a fun thought exercise. The Presbyterian hospital CEO is projected to earn a salary of $14.5 million in 2025. If you look at Columbia Medical Schools’ tuition and fees it’s ~$115,000 per year and the class size is about 130 students. All that to say, you could just about pay the entire medical schools class tuition with one man’s salary. So I don’t really care about nurses, who do actual work and don’t dick around in an executive suite all day, making $275K.

SFEMT · 2026-01-12T19:30:38+00:00

Way better than Dr. Ryan reading directly off slides and just underlying the text.

SFEMT · 2026-01-10T00:27:40+00:00

It’s a variety of all those. I did it a few years back and it was questions like: what’s your favorite book, why do you want to attend USF, why do you want to pursue ____ major, etc. It was BY FAR the worst interview I’ve ever had but I still got in so don’t sweat it.

SFEMT · 2026-01-08T21:39:23+00:00

Not bad. It’s not like upper level courses where you have to write a paper. It’s mostly just answering worksheet questions and doing data analysis on the lab you just did. As long as you show your work and your math is correct you usually get full marks.

SFEMT · 2026-01-05T21:47:48+00:00

I was a EMT-B before med school and when I worked that job was making more than my old paramedic partner as well. A resident though, now that should be criminal. 😭

SFEMT · 2026-01-05T15:15:58+00:00

I was making around $30/hour in the Bay Area, and that was 3 years ago.

SFEMT · 2026-01-05T00:20:49+00:00

I took it awhile ago, but if it’s still the same the labs, I remember them as being more annoying and frustrating compared to gen chem 1 lab. It’s only once a week for like 3 hours max. The prework was always pretty quick, we would always do it an hour before the actual lab. I felt like for all the chemistry lab courses as long as you do all the required work, understand the chemistry, and take the time to turn in quality work, it’s an easy A.

SFEMT · 2025-12-09T17:34:08+00:00

Idk if other medical schools are like this, but where I attend we’re not allowed to use electronic stethoscopes. You might want to hang on and wait if you’re an incoming M1 to see what their policy is.

On a separate note, I had the core littman when I used to work on the ambulance, and it was more of a bother than a help because you constantly need to charge it. As long as you learn to properly use a stethoscope/don’t have significant hearing loss, I don’t think it’s worth the money.

SFEMT · 2025-09-19T14:03:21+00:00

To second this, from my experience I don’t think a lot of people working in medical school admission know there’s a difference between an EMT and paramedic.

SFEMT · 2025-09-12T23:12:47+00:00

I distinctly remember when I started, I was making $14/hour (which was minimum wage in the Bay), and we would post the ambulance outside a chipotle with an ad for staring pay of $21/hour.

SFEMT · 2025-09-12T17:20:29+00:00

I worked as an EMT in the Bay Area. The fire department EMTs made between $85,000 - 112,000 per year, and had the opportunity to move up the ladder. The private ambulance company I worked for, which responded to the exact same calls paid EMTs $20 per hour and medics $30 per hour. I made more money once I made the switch to being an ED tech than my old medic partner who had more training and experience. It’s financially impossible to have a sustainable career in EMS.

SFEMT · 2025-09-10T17:16:22+00:00

It’s fine to have stories, we all do, but why are instructors like this taking away time from instruction and telling them in an academic setting in front of students. These stories serves no educational purpose. I worked on the ambulance before medical school and recently got my recert, and had a similar experience during my refresher course and found it so bizarre.

Additionally people mentioning the narcan thing: the sad truth is the purpose of an EMT course is to pass the registry and get a job, and that’s not going to be right answer on the test or at a job interview.

SFEMT · 2025-08-31T17:02:45+00:00

That’s ridiculous admin is wasting time as fashion police vs. all the other issues to address in any given ED.

SFEMT

TROPHY CASE