Why EMT?????

[TJ Carr]

Otay guys and gals I've got a question for you that was asked of me on another forum.

Why did/do you want to be a EMT???

Grab a beer and kick back cuz this is more than a mouthfull!!!

For me this is not something I've ever wanted or even thought about as I always though the medics were more than a tad strange:D

I'm career USAF Security Police on the stop loss program (no USAF cop could get out of the military since 9-11) but within the last 2 weeks the stop loss program has been lifted and due to personal reasons I submited my retirement papers (20 years enlisted) and am on terminal leave already and will be a civillian once again 1 Nov 02. (now this was not planed for or even expected so we're all still getting over the idea of my retirement and unemployment)

Now this past January I joined the local VFD (as a firefighter, not a medic or even wanting to be a medic) after working with a guy who was on the department. As of July 1st I've been able to respond and about 60% of our calls are medical related (we make between 500 & 600 responses a year, but this is a record breaking year for medical calls, fatalities and fires and the weather is not even bad yet)

My very 1st call was to a single motorcycle crash on the interstate where both the driver and passisinger were not wearing helmets and the orginal call was that CPR was being preformed on scene (and sure enough it was) . He died at the scene and she died a few days later. Now I was able to get gear off of the rig, backboarded them and such, but otherwise my military medical training was a joke and I just stood arould looking good in my bunker gear till the 2nd ambulance arrived.

Then we've had a rash of MVA's where we had more victoms than medics and again I've been unable to do more than assist and look good in bunker gear :( :( Normally we get a medic or two on every response, but the last few calls have been during the day when the vast majority of "normal" people work so we've been having a few FF's show up, but no medics and that aint good.

Fast foreward to last week when I submited my retirement papers. I found out another district was holding a BEC (40 hour) class and signed up for it so I would be able to do something worthwhile on scene instead of just being a straphanger.

Then I found out that a EMT class is starting the 3rd of Sept and I figgured "what the hell, it can't hurt and might just do some good" so I signed up for it. Not to mention the timming was excellent for me as with my old military job I'd never have been able to make the EMT classes. My CPR cert had expired a couple of years ago so last Saturday I spent 3/4th of the day going over so much CPR that my head hurt (VBG)

Now I do not have any desire to become a EMT in real life (do it for a living) but I do plan to do my damdest to become a professional EMT that gives a shit about his patents and strives to give them the best possible care.

Now I still want to be a fire fighter 1st and foremost, but when somebody calls for medical help I'll be able to assist them.

That's the readers digest version of why I want to be a EMT.

[Reasonable Rascal]

I have helped teach a lot of classes over the years from baby sitter what-to-do's to Paramedics. Aside from those who were taking the courses because they "were told to" the majority were there because of some event in their life that left them feeling helpless.

I dirrected a county-level hospital-based service for 10 years. When I arrived the service was basic EMT and there was no such critter as a First Responder anywhere in the county. When I left the service was staffed at the Paramedic level full-time, there were 6 defib-equipped First Responder teams stationed as far as 18 miles away, and the average FR was trained and certified to the EMT-B level. Many worked with the ambulance servive, one team was certified to operate at the Intermediate level, and two teams had Paramedics with them.

This was all in response to previous events as I say, and people coming forward and saying, in essence, "No one is willing to do what needs to be done, so I will."

These people, like you, were not career providers. They farmed, worked in stores, played volunteer firefighter in their communities, were housewives, an electrical lineman, a banker and others. What changed was the availability of classes locally, resources to make them happen, and some one making it known that that they - the local citizens - could provide for themselves.

One couple took courses after she suffered a heart attack. Their daughter and son-in-law also took them because the folks were. Between them two communities started on the road towards local emergency health care.

I'll warn you, once bitten you may remain infected and seekadditional training later. I saw students start with a community CPR class, progress to FR, then EMT, then Intermediate and wind up as Paramedics offering a couple days per week with the hospital service after they left their day jobs.

The rewards can be outstanding. The self-satisfaction can be better than any paycheck, and who knows, maybe you might find a new career as well in the long run.

RR

[asbestosman]

I was reading a lot of survival and prepardness info and realized I knew nothing about medical prepardness. I happened to see this site mentioned on another board and took a look. After reading a lot of posts and looking at links I kinda got the bug. the area we live in is almost all volunteer fire departments and first responders. our fire district doesn't have enough first responders and the ambulance takes 15 to 30 minutes to get here. I just happen to work with the emt instructor. He talked to 6 people at work and got 2 of us to sign up. one of his former students was our company safety man and he is taking the paramedic national next month. thats pretty much it in a nutshell.