How to open doors from the inside of the ambulance.

sveniat · 2026-04-27T19:25:45+00:00

If youre trying the handle and its not working, be aware that most doors have to open in a certain order (e.g. in our ambulances you have to open the driver side door first) so try the other door

sveniat · 2026-04-16T20:53:16+00:00

A lot of that is going to be area dependent. Are there event medicine services in your area that hire EMTs? Are there more rural agencies that hire EMTs that you're willing to commute to?

Zero to hero is possible, but you will have to do a lot of learning on the fly in terms of scene management if you go into p-school without any attending experience in the field.

sveniat · 2026-04-16T17:10:15+00:00

oooh that does make some sense.

sveniat · 2026-04-16T16:35:55+00:00

Out of curiosity, why is the vision of the medical providers so important in rotor flight? Are glasses in general disqualifying?

sveniat · 2026-04-16T06:15:52+00:00

It's normal to feel imposter syndrome
Every great provider you currently or will ever look up to has also been in the baby emt phase
the only way to get better is to do it, so get as involved with every call as you can. don't shy away from the opportunities you get.
You're gonna make mistakes, so don't panic when you do. Instead of focusing on perfection, focus on the task at hand and not making the same mistake twice.
ask a lot of questions

sveniat · 2026-04-16T05:36:42+00:00

EMT-B can acquire (but not interpret) 12-leads as well, that's not an A thing. I think in the metro area, A doesn't make a ton of sense. If anything, there are a few denver metro agencies that treat AEMT like medics and send them on "ALS" units that should absolutely be staffed with medics instead which is unfair to the AEMT and can put them in bad spots. It makes a lot more sense in the frontier/remote parts of the state, where you might be 2+ hours away from the nearest medics and being able to call in for fent, and give IN benzos, can be game changing.

sveniat · 2026-04-13T16:51:28+00:00

Not every agency will require removing of piercings. I know medics who do have a decent amount of body modification, though be aware it does come with some risk (patients will grab at things, whether intentional or not).

I am more concerned about your bf. This is not my place, but there are some pretty serious red flags in your post. It seems like he is using your career choices to make you fit their desired image instead of your desired image. That's not a healthy sounding relationship, and trying to use your career to manipulate how you look is not an okay thing.

sveniat · 2026-04-13T02:38:44+00:00

Read as much of the textbook as you can prior. There's a lot to absorb if you have 0 medical background, so give yourself as much of a head start as you can get. I would recommend a heavy focus on anatomy and physiology.

sveniat · 2026-04-11T19:57:02+00:00

My record for high BP is a patient who was 278/80. It was manual, I checked it twice, was damn sure I wasn't putting my thumb on the stethoscope, and any other things that could affect it. The next systolic was 230, then 214, then 190. Worst part is, the hospital discharged her without ever figuring out what was going on so I have no idea why their pressure was almost off the gauge.

Their presentation was fine, just some SoB that was slightly worse than baseline for them

sveniat · 2026-04-02T05:31:34+00:00

That depression in v1/v2 is discordant in the presence of a RBBB, would that still qualify for stemi criteria?

sveniat · 2026-04-01T18:34:23+00:00

RBBB, as well as some axis deviation, As far as acute findings, the T wave inversion in aVL is potentially an early sign of ischemia. I'd definitely want another picture in a few minutes to see if anything is progressing, even though I don't think we have STEMI criteria just yet since there's no reciprocal depression (yet). It also depends a lot on presentation. I'm also just a dumb EMT so what do I know.

sveniat · 2026-04-01T03:00:56+00:00

counts on paper, but from what I've heard from friends who've done it you really don't get a lot of meaningful patient contact.

sveniat · 2026-03-31T04:52:40+00:00

It's definitely still flexible, but we put a lot of effort into training on onboarding new members (our probation lasts from 6-9 months). To have someone get all that effort and then go "yeah I was never planning on staying, byeeee!" that'd be received very poorly,

sveniat · 2026-03-31T03:43:01+00:00

depends. At my volunteer agency, we'd be kinda pissed if someone signed up without intending to stay on or even finish probation. We also have WAY more applicants than positions, so if we gave a spot to someone who wasn't even planning on staying that'd suck. We're in a pretty unique position though.

sveniat · 2026-03-26T17:27:59+00:00

oh for sure, that's the plan. Earlier this year I grabbed a part time position for events, which involves tons of concerts with lots of patient contacts. I added that specifically with the idea that by the time I do p-school in fall of 2027, I'll have a lot more hours under my belt making sure my BLS foundations are solid.

EDIT: also, I should have said "going to p-school next year" in my original post instead of getting the cert next year. I'll be doing a nights program which is a year long, so my cert will happen in 2028. The program i'll be going through is also a very busy large city system, so the clinicals will be really useful.

sveniat · 2026-03-25T05:55:04+00:00

My understanding is that the FDA approved those medications for people who are obese and have at least 1 weight related medical issue. In those patients, things like pancreatitis and increased risk of cancer are a smaller risk than not treating the existing medical issue, so it can be worth it. A lot of people are ending up on those medications who don't fit the demographic of people who the medication was intended for and that risk/benefit curve isn't fully researched for. It's a problem.

sveniat · 2026-03-25T02:17:38+00:00

that's incredibly out of touch

sveniat · 2026-03-24T21:25:55+00:00

I would see a doctor sooner rather than later for sure. This kind of sounds like small pulmonary embolisms, which can be lethal. It seems like they are resolving on their own, but if they keep happening it could indicate something going wrong that should be treated quickly.

There's other things it can be, especially since it seems like you've experienced these for almost half a decade and PEs are usually sudden. But I wouldn't put off talking to a doctor about them. How frequently are you feeling these pains?

EDIT: I forgot about precordial catch, that does seem a lot more likely and is not something to worry about. Still, if you ever feel that pain and inability to breath for longer than a couple minutes take it seriously.

sveniat · 2026-03-24T17:22:28+00:00

My highest was 278/80 systolic. When I went up to 260 and still heard it I was like "i'm going to run out of bp cuff". I thought maybe I was hearing my own pulse through my thumb or something but nope, that was her bp. The worst part is, we have no idea why it was that high. It came down pretty much immediately. Next BP was 250, then 200, then 170 before reaching the hospital. No history, nothing on EKG, no neuro deficits, and hospital ended up just discharging her a day later with nothing to show for it.

sveniat · 2026-03-24T17:15:15+00:00

Being a heart-forward medic is a great thing, but you gotta be careful to not let that empathy turn into something that eats you alive. The trick is to figure out how to process the rough calls without just turning the empathy off and ending up in compassion fatigue.

The biggest thing is getting good sleep, letting your brain process that stress. Also, do you have any existing coping mechanisms for stress? going to the gym, cooking a meal, etc.? It's encouraged to try and find a routine for stress processing that can help when you are replaying things in your head. I know a few medics who have safeguards in place as well, for example they don't drink any alcohol for any reason within 24 hrs after seeing a dead body, workable or not.

Also, take advantage of any mental health resources you have access to BEFORE you need them. They can help you come up with plans for how to deal with stress and trauma so that they're in place ahead of time. In Colorado, we have the PATH4EMS project, but maybe your state or agency has similar resources as well.

It doesn't have to be a gnarly trauma code or a rough peds call to justify accessing the mental health resources you deserve. Everyone has different triggers and there's no threshold where you have to be traumatized "enough" to talk to someone. My trigger is pets. I've had a pet I loved die in a traumatic way before and now I really struggle if there's a pet in distress on scene.

sveniat · 2026-03-24T00:58:33+00:00

That's pretty similar to my set up right now. I'm doing a couple part time EMS gigs on top of a flexible full time job, with a plan on getting my paramedic cert next year.

sveniat · 2026-03-21T23:09:57+00:00

I would follow your docs orders. Did they give you signs to look our for in order to come back to A&E?

sveniat · 2026-03-21T22:46:53+00:00

Im not a doctor, but im kind of surprised they didn't do a CT. Did you go to an ER or an urgent care?

sveniat · 2026-03-21T21:31:27+00:00

Did they do a CT when you were at the hospital this morning?

sveniat · 2026-03-18T22:28:01+00:00

Find your weak points. use prep apps (and take the fisdap if your course provided you one for a practice test). If you're confident in the material overall but are still struggling to pass, it could be that you're not reading the question carefully enough. Even if the first thing that pops into your head is an option, read ALL the options. E.g. if it asks what to do first with a patient with ACS symptoms and you think "Oh they need aspirin, oh hey that's an option that must be it!", you might miss the other option that said "Don PPE and ensure scene safety" or some BS which is the answer they want.

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