6 Reasons Why You Should Be a Better EMT

Sure, this site isall about being a better EMT, but perhaps you’ve asked yourself, “Why?” OK, granted, it was probably one of your more cynical moments. Perhaps you had a bad day, a couple of frustrating calls or a less than optimal interaction with a patient, your partner, another agency, your boss … or perhaps all of the above.

Then you went out and threw down your stethoscope. Or maybe you didn’t throw it down because you remembered it was a Littmann and a gift from your aunt, but you raised it over your head and thought about it. And while that stethoscope dangled over your head in your clenched fist you thought, “Why? Why do I work so hard to try to be better at a job that pays so little and offers so little in return?”

“Why?”

We’ve all had these moments. Moments when we contemplated, “Why don’t I just phone it in? The bad EMT’s make the same amount of money as the good ones. I clearly already meet the minimum standard. Nobody’s really pushing me to be any better. Nobody seems to recognize my growth or effort. So why do it?”

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Ten Things You Can’t Learn About EMS

                                        From Your Computer

As you might imagine, I’m a big fan of E-learning. I also have a soft spot for the social media craze. But there are still a few things that you just can’t learn staring at a computer screen. OK, there are a LOT of things you can’t learn staring at a computer screen. Here are ten:

1.) You can’t learn pattern recognition.

If you’ve ever wondered about how experienced EMTs and medics can figure out exactly what’s wrong with the patient two steps inside the front door, it’s not magic. It’s pattern recognition. When you’ve seen what CHF looks like a hundred times, you can pick out the pattern almost instantaneously. Watch a hundred people have cardiac chest pain and you’ll be able to see it from across the room. But it doesn’t matter how many times you read those chapters in your books. You need to see it.

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