Today I’ve scored another post by prolific guest author Sean Fontaine. Sean is a graduate of Regis University and a Firefighter / Paramedic for The South Metro Fire Rescue Authority. He lives in Denver, Colorado with his lovely wife Oz and their two sons Jonas and Axel.

This time out, Sean tackles an issue that all of us wrestle with, to one degree or another, whether we’re willing to own up to the fact or not. That issue is the fear of public failure.

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm”-Willa Cather

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear”-Ambrose Redmoon

Fear of failure and the quest for perfection go together like peanut butter and jelly, Lavern and Shirley…you get the point. However, while some people see the second two pairings as absolutely wonderful, fear of failure and the quest for perfection are often destructive.

Fear of failure can be a thoroughly paralyzing phobia, likely born from our reluctance to appear less than completely competent in everything we do, even in a skill we may have just learned minutes prior to performing it in the field. By nature of the job, most EMS workers whether fire-based, third party, or private ambulance, possess some degree of type A personality traits. Given our type A affliction, this personality trait doesn’t easily allow us to accept our skills as anything less than perfect. Here comes the wrench though, as I said in an earlier guest post, perfection doesn’t exist. Perfection is the medical equivalent of the golden city of Cibola that the Spanish conquistadors fruitlessly searched for and never found.

The concept of practicing medicine gets lost for many caregivers in the back of an ambulance. We’re expected to learn quickly, treat aggressively, and move on toward the next call. Physicians eloquently speak of the practice of medicine and yet, any one of them will likely have some ghosts in their past from their practice of medicine and the times when it veered onto the wrong tracks. Why do EMS workers forget about  this “practice”?  We, too, have all erred and caused harm in a misstep, no matter how temporary it was.  No one is perfect and every call has room for improvement.

Each of the two quotes above embodies how failure can be a great educator when looked at properly, instead of as the paralyzing fear many dread. In order for fear and failure to be our educators, I think there are three things we need to embrace:

#1 Acceptance of the fact that we will be afraid sometimes and we will make mistakes. Instead of fearing this occurrence, we need to move forward from it.

#2 Realization that confidence is a measure of skill, comfort, leadership, and the willingness to continue developing these traits – including through making mistakes and learning from them.

#3 Acknowledgement that perfection means the end of learning. This needs no further explanation or validation.

I know I once said that the presence of fear wasn’t a determining factor in your success. The real determining factor was where you put the fear. I’d like to know what you think about all of that. Do you agree with Sean’s assessment of the hurdles we need to overcome before we can progress in the presence of fear?

Thanks.

Steve

If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m talking about The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.

The NAEMT has been working had for you for a long time. They’ve advocated for you for over thirty years now. Today…right now, while you are reading this, someone from The NAEMT is working hard to make your career better. If you’ve ever thought to yourself that EMS needs a united voice and the local and national level, The NAEMT agrees, and they work to be that voice. If you’ve ever been concerned that EMS lacked the national representation that police and firefighters enjoy, The NAEMT agrees, and they are working to create that representation.

OK Steve, But What Does The NAEMT Actually Do?

We are an occupation of  type-A, action oriented, individuals. Lot’s of organizations talk about advocating for the street level EMT, but what does the NAEMT actually do? In short…they do a bunch. Here’s a more detailed list:

• They promote a pro-EMS legislative agenda through mail campaigns, political action and organizing large scale political events like EMS On The Hill Day. From improving the quality of EMS care to supporting military medics and honoring fallen EMS providers, there’s a long list of all of the legislation that the NREMT is directly promoting through one political action or another.
• They promote fair compensation and benefits, actively seeking pay standards and benefits packages that reflect the true responsibilities of an EMS professional.
• They create high quality EMS education programs that frequently become national standards for EMS training. These include Prehospital Trauma Life Support, Tactical Casualty Combat Care, Advanced Medical Life Support and Emergency Pediatric Care. Have you taken of any of those classes? Yeah…NAEMT did that.
• They teach the instructor courses for all of the above mentioned classes.
• They provide sponsorship and support for EMS educational forums like this one, EMS1 and EMS World.
• They recognize providers who go above and beyond to advance the cause of EMTs around the nation with awards of excellence.
• They hold a meeting every year (free for NAEMT members) to discuss the current state of EMS and develop goals and a plan of attack for the coming year. If you’d like to be a part of the largest group of EMS providers anywhere, coming together to support the cause of EMTs and EMS around the globe, you my want to look into becoming an NAEMT member.

What Does Becoming a Member Do For Me?

While there are a whole bunch of member only discounts and giveaways, the first and most important reason to join NAEMT is to be a part of the largest collective voice of EMS advocates anywhere. When you join NAEMT you demonstrate support for the association that supports you, the EMT. The NAEMT is a strong voice for change in EMS because of the stregnth of its membership. The NAEMT represents the power of thousands of EMT voices speaking as one. That association needs your voice too.

You’ll also receive a host of member benefits that are worth far more than the $40.00 that you’ll spend when you become a member. If you take advantage of even a small fraction of the discounts and giveaways that NAEMT offers, you’ll more than cover your membership dues.

I hope you’ll consider becoming a member of The NAEMT. They are big supporters of this blog and others like it.If you enjoy the type of information presented here at The EMT Spot, you should thank my partners at The NAEMT. If you’ve benefited from quality education, attended a good conference, read a great online blog, heard about some beneficial legislation being passed or taken part in a grass roots EMS effort, the chances are pretty good that the NAEMT had something to do with it.

You could put membership off another for another day or another year, but why not do what the NAEMT does for you everyday. Why not take some action right now. Join this organization. Your voice is powerful. Your action is necessary. You need the NAEMT as much as they need you. Click this link and join. I’ll see you at the next meeting.

This might be the most clever medical PSA I’ve ever encountered. The British Heart Foundation folks have figured out how to get ideas to spread in the 21st century. First, make them simple. Second, make them memorable and third, whenever possible, make them funny.

This is the kind of thing that people will post on their Facebook pages. Once they do that, you don’t need to distribute the idea any longer, people will do it for you.

Nice Job Guys.

See other videos:

It’s A Calling

Remember Two Things: Saying Goodbye

Passion: How Sam Able Makes a Photograph

Remember Two Things: Sepsis

What Motivates Us Really?

]]> http://theemtspot.com/2012/01/06/great-new-hands-only-cpr-video/feed/ 1 http://theemtspot.com/2012/01/02/new-emt-national-registry-phone-app/ http://theemtspot.com/2012/01/02/new-emt-national-registry-phone-app/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:42:57 +0000 administrator http://theemtspot.com/?p=4711 Here’s some good news for EMT’s studying for the National Registry exam. The development team at The EMT Advantage has partnered with the phone app design folks over at Code3Apps and put together a phone app that will let you simulate the NREMT Basic exam right on your cell phone.

Using the same authors that write the actual questions for the Registry exam, the NREMT Simulator allows students to simulate what it looks and feels like to take the National Registry exam. The simulator is different from other Registry study tools in a bunch of ways that EMT’s preparing for the exam will find insanely useful.

The phone app includes:

• Questions pre-calibratd to National Registry passing difficulty
• Subject matter that spans the entire National Standard Curriculum
• Questions developed by the same individuals who write the Registry exam questions
• Pass / Fail estimations in each of the six Registry subject categories
• Detailed post-test feedback on user results with question break-down

You can pick up the NREMT Simulator for your Android  smart phone in the Android marketplace right here. You can also find it on your droid by searching the marketplace for NREMT Simulator.

Iphone users can get it at the iphone store right here, Or search for NREMT Simulator in the iphone store.

There is also a version available for the Kindle Fire. You can download any version of the app for $4.99.

Do you want to know if you’re ready to pass the National Registry exam? When you think you’re ready to tear it up, download the app and find out for sure.

Become a fan of FireRescue1′s Facebook page.

Share the promotion.

Win some prizes.

Enjoy your stuff.

Thank me later.

We owe it to them to stand vigilant against those that wish us ill.

And we owe it to them to move forward.

Justin has a sharp wit that certainly comes through in his writing style. Categories on his blog include A Musical Interlude, Letters in the File and The Angry Captain.

With a keen eye, Justin looks at the current state of EMS in America (and the world) and points to what we can do to make it better. He also has an uncanny ability to find himself in the middle of some of the most create endeavors in EMS today, including The EMS Garage, Beyond the Lights and Sirens, A Seat at The Table and the EMS 2.0 movement. If you aren’t sure what any of those things are, you need to stop by www.thehapymedic.com and take a look. (Warning: whatever you had to do for the next 3 hours may have to wait.)

Why you should read it:

Justin has always been willing to put himself out there for the things he believes in. I admire that. Whether it’s putting a camera in the back of his rig and filming himself running calls or sitting at a table, challenging some of the biggest names in EMS to answer difficult questions, Justin acts boldly and he never flinches. When you read Justin’s blog you see exactly what a blog should be, one persons mind, poured out without reservation or cliche. Justin tells us what’s going on, and then he will tells us what he thinks about it. Whether you agree with his thoughts or not, he is always insightful and thought provoking.

I’ve read Justin’s blog regularly for the past three years and I’ve come to consider him a friend. When I’m mulling over current issues, I trust Justin’s insight. I hope you’ll add him to you list of trusted EMS resources too.

The home page for EMS World can be a little overwhelming. It’s a little like the old Yahoo search engine page circa 1992. It’s a bit of a collage. Everything EMS in one place. But it’s also a gold mine of EMS information. If you’re willing to dig in, EMS World is exactly what the new name promises. There are articles, news updates, forums, continuing education, videos, blogs and podcasts.

Why you should read it:

EMS World is the content king of EMS magazines. They always strive to have the most useful content out there. While other EMS magazines and resources have sold their soul to advertising, EMS World has alway maintained a decent balance of advertisements and content. They don’t dress up product ads like “real” feature articles. They put out solid infomation and they have since I was a fledgling EMT over two decades ago.

I grew up reading this magazine and they continue to influence my medicine to this day. They’ve been a trusted friend for my entire EMS career and they can be the same for you too.

I’m not trying to brag, but I’ll put my snip-and-rip technique up against anyone with any technique for getting the patient uncovered fast. OK, make that any technique…with one exception. I’ll admit it. I can’t compete with Rip Shears.

Rip Shears have taken the snip-and-rip technique to a whole new level. If you haven’t seen these things yet, let me tell you about them.

The folks at Rip Shears came up with a unique idea to adapt the standard trauma shears with a cutting tool that can take over where your run of the mill trauma shears leave you hanging . Once you blot on the Rip Shears blade you’ll have a second blade that can do the ripping portion of the job as well.

The Rip Shears blade allows you to start the cut with your shears and then finish it with a sweep of the blade. T-shirts, jeans, boot laces, bunker gear and wet suits shred like butter with the Rip Shears blade.

Even with the best snip-and-rip technique, once your trauma shears have snipped the cuff or hem of the clothing, you’ll need to grab the fabric on either side of the cut and clumsily rip the garment with your hands. (If you can.) It takes time and can be painful for the patient. The Rip Shears are a clever little second blade that you can use to hook and rip the clothing after you’ve made the snip.

I know, it sounds complicated. It isn’t. Here’s a video:

When I saw this video I immediately wanted to try these out for myself, so I asked the folks at Rip Shears if I could take a pair of Rip Shears for a test run. I probably should have warned my partner that I had added a Rip Shears blade to my normal trauma shears. He was taken back for a few seconds the first time I tore through a patients jeans with them. When you use them, expect that you’ll raise a few eyebrows.

I can say first hand that these things work. They work just like you see in the video. Give the Rip Shears a try and you’ll be impressed at how fast you can strip a trauma patient. You won’t want to ever carry a pair of trauma shears without a Rip Shear blade bolted on to them again. I know I won’t.

You can see more videos from the Rip Shears folks here.