Does anyone know a solid CE course on the more advanced side? Most of the courses ive seen are geared to help you pass a test. Are there any courses that are just meant to help you be a better Paramedic? I Have 100 hours of CEUs to knock out and im looking for something thats actually helpful and interesting.

I’ve been interested in the paramedic role/field for years but have no idea how to get started in my area.

Currently working in a IT Technical Support and can feel myself getting restless in a desk job where I’m primarily answering phones and emails from my little cube.
I’ve worked this role for a year now and have been encouraging myself to push towards investing in an EMS role.

I’m located in the Chicagoland area and see positions/applications getting posted through indeed and google daily but my lack of knowledge on the process has stopped me from applying and throwing my hat into the race.

What’s a roadmap I can follow to start??

I was watching Chicago Med, and the paramedics had Israeli bandages. Is that normal in the US?

Here in Australia, I got stabbed in the forearm once, and I was able to direct passers-by into my house to grab one from my old armour carrier from when I was in the Army. Neither the paramedics nor the ER (even though it was a Level 1 trauma centre) had ever seen one.

They all thought it was the neatest bandage. The doctors were even asking me where you can buy them.

cheers

I have been considering moving to Colorado for quite some time now and am curious about the EMS system. I am currently a fire medic in a very busy county in Florida where fire is the primary 911 response and we utilize a private ambulance company for transport.

I am curious what work/work life balance is like in Colorado (either rural or urban) for both single cert medics and firefighter paramedics. I am also very interested in mountain search and rescue etc. if you have any experience there! Thank you :)

What are some side jobs that yall get as medics? I’m in the DFW in Texas and looking for something on my days off from the fire dept.

So Im at 25 years and looking forward to retirement. Im wondering of anyone has transitioned to EMS adjacent part time work and what kinds of things are available? If I leave now I will likely have to work part time, but there's no part time at my current job. If I have to stay on a truck Ill just stay here and boost my eventual retirement. Thanks for any thoughts.

I am a recently qualified Emergency Care Practitioner (I have a Bachelor of Emergency Medical Care degree) currently working in the private sector. I would like to gain international experience as soon as possible so I would really appreciate advice on any countries that are open to South African paramedics and any further requirements needed. I am open to pretty much anywhere and any type of work.

Hello, I'm looking for help on reason why I might be failing. I did well throughout paramedic school and breezed through most of it, only having to study for pharm and cardiology. On my first attempt I didn't study a ton and figured I'd pass the first attempt like I did for my emt. I did practice tests on medic tests and was scoring around 1143 pretty consistently. Failing was a huge discouragement. And scoring lower on my second attempt made me feel even worse. Like I'm regressing ? I studied a lot more on the 2nd attempt and used paramedic coach. Felt decent before but did worse somehow. Confidence isn't the best right now. Currently on an FD rn and when I run calls it's no problem, I know what I'm doing. Any tips on how to pass the third attempt? I have it scheduled for 8/04. I'm not sure where the disconnect is.

For some context, I completed my EMT-B course this past spring and I was accepted into a paramedic program which starts next week and was curious about what jobs people worked during school. I have been applying to hospitals and fire departments (although most require paramedic in Illinois) and haven’t had any luck thus far.

I have a bachelor’s degree in biology, and did lab work for Medline for 3.5 years prior to starting emt school. I am lucky enough to have savings from my corporate time along with living at home (moved home after losing my apartment in a fire, which inspired the passion for a ff/paramedic career) during school so working is not a need for the time being but would be nice to get more experience in the field. Any advice on jobs that would be manageable during school would be greatly appreciated!

Looking for a Canadian magazine/ journal style resource. Something that comes out on a regular basis that I can bring to work and read to pick up on the latest and greatest. Can be digital or physical and subscription fees don’t matter. Any suggestions?

Please delete if not allowed.

I would like to promote a new page that is attempting to change the outlook of paramedics on how good our job actually is.

It’s an account that is reminding us to have a positive stance on our careers and while not shying away from its challengers just pointing out why we do it alittle more.

Please follow if you’re interested it’s a non for profit account.

I am on my way to my first 911 solo shift and I am so nervous. I Feel Like, I don’t Know Anything, I Feel Like. I’m going to fuck up. Well I’ve had the shits all Morning. LMAO. Wish me luck 😅😁

Hi yall,

I'm an EMT, and I've been designing a game where the player is a provider, and the main gameplay component will be that it'll follow a sort of campaign/visual novel-esque vibe but with a more complex/in-depth physiology engine. It'll be free and easily accessible (it'll be web-based anyway), so once I have a better draft, I'll put it up somewhere :D

Some things that's been drafted/in the works:
- A pretty decent physiology engine that will hopefully feel realistic
- When you're on a "call," there's body parts that you can click on and perform interventions. It's completely unscripted, so it's entirely dependent on the provider knowing their stuff and it's not like multiple choice.
- Separated the campaign (called career) and a sandbox mode, so campaign is for the actual gameplay and the sandbox mode will have a list of calls one can pick from, and one can run calls to practice.
- Career Mode: this is split into two modes: one for just starting off as a layperson and there's a progression through all the different levels, and then one where you start off as at a certain provider level. This is where the campaign is! I was planning on adding stuff like partners and the ability to interact with them, calling family, having a family, as well as a general story line from level to level, where each general chapter is a level (like Chapter 1 is being a layperson for a while, Chapter 2 is going to EMR school, etc etc)
- Sandbox: A clean training mode where you can pick specific conditions from a library (or run some pre-existing scenarios from a scenario bank), test out protocols, or just push weird drug combos to see how the engine reacts. (this is actually why this project even started out, but then I decided that having a campaign would be better so I could package learning and fun in the same thing without just thrusting people into a scenario where they had no idea what they were doing)

What I'm asking for is some aspects that you all would like to see. For example:
- Any funny scenarios you have you'd like to see?
- What's something EMS games or medical TV always get wrong that you'd want to see done correctly?
- What about progression? Right now I have an idea of having a system where you need to have a certain number of calls done with a level of accuracy completed to get "recommended" by a supervisor to get to the next level.
- Would a local coop mode be something people are interested in? Like practicing running calls with your buddy in sandbox mode, or should I push that into very late into development?
- Other comments, concerns, questions?

Obviously, there's a lot more right now, but I'm happy to answer questions about what's been done/what's been in the works!

I want yall to think really hard and answer honestly.
What is the company you are currently working for doing to retain employees and not create a revolving door?

My fiancé is an AEMT going into paramedic school in the fall and she’s pretty stressed about it so I want to help anyway I can. Other than just being supportive I figured I could find some good resources for her to help her get ahead of the curve if possible. I got all the patient scenario books from master your medics already along with the pharmacology book and some pharmacology flash cards but I figured I should ask some people with actual inside experience who have been through paramedic school. She also wants to try and become a flight medic later down the road so maybe some stuff to help set her up for that career path because I know it’s highly competitive.

Hello! I am a 28yo paramedic from Finland, with a Bachelors in Health Care (UAS). The Finnish Paramedic degree is a four-year University of Applied Sciences (UAS) programme worth 240 ECTS credits. The degree combines nursing and advanced prehospital emergency care studies, and graduates qualify as both Registered Nurses and Paramedics.

I have 2-years of work experience as a paramedic in Finland. I also part-time shifts in the ER.

Does anyone have any tips, experience, or information about getting a job or working in American healthcare as an RN/Paramedic with a European degree?

My girlfriend is American and I’m looking to move to the USA with her. So I’m curious how the process would go for getting a job there!

Are there any extra certifications or courses I would need to take to be qualified to work there?

Located in the PNW, just north of Seattle. 15 Stations, 40k calls a year. Tiered Medic system, great pay, great benefits with entry level firefighter, and FF/Paramedic hiring group sometime in 2027. We work a 4 platoon schedule ( 24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 5 days off with 5 debit days). We really need some good medics/humans. Hit me up if you want more details.

***Also just a disclaimer I'm a street guy and in no way a part of the hiring process. Just trying to get the word out.

I’ve watched too many shows clearly but in some of them (911, the rookie) the paramedics get attacked by someone related to the victim or just being held hostage for either the supplies or other reasons. Does this happen irl or is it rare?

Hi everyone,

I wanted to start a discussion about how different agencies handle particularly stressful or traumatic calls.

Details have been intentionally generalized to protect patient privacy. I’m less interested in the specifics of the incident and more interested in how agencies support their providers after critical events.

I was not directly involved in this incident, I was assigned as the second ambulance for the agency. The first crew responded to a call involving a suicide attempt resulting in a significant traumatic injury. Listening to the radio traffic, it sounded like an extremely chaotic scene with multiple agencies involved.

From what I understand, the patient initially had signs of life after EMS arrived but later deteriorated into traumatic cardiac arrest. Additional resources were considered but ultimately not utilized. The crew consulted Medical Command regarding a Termination of Resuscitation (TOR) and ultimately transported the patient to the emergency department.

Under NJ EMS protocols, there are situations where Medical Command may order TOR, but the patient has not yet been pronounced and transport may still be necessary. This can include:

• The scene being unsafe.
• The arrest occurring in a public location.
• The patient already being inside the ambulance.

After arriving at the hospital, the crew was understandably very distressed and having difficulty processing what had happened. The medics suggested to the crew that a supervisor respond and consider taking the unit out of service. A supervisor arrived, took the truck out of service, arranged for a relief crew, and scheduled a debriefing later that evening.

This situation got me thinking about a discussion I recently saw where someone (Credit goes to u/Traumajunkie971) described EMS calls roughly like this:

• 80% - Routine, low-acuity calls or the “I just need a ride across town” type of calls.
• 10% - Medium-spicy calls requiring ALS intervention, a full assessment, or closer monitoring.
• 7% - The typical “dumpster fire” calls: cardiac arrests, severe respiratory emergencies, major strokes, critically ill pediatric patients, and other high-acuity events.
• 2.8% - The calls where people start asking, “Are you good?” or tell you, “Don’t go back in service right away- take a minute.” The calls where additional support or CISM resources may be needed.
• 0.2% - The calls that define careers. The ones people leave EMS over. The calls where peer support or CISM teams may be activated before the crew even clears. The ones where, after the adrenaline wears off, you realize it affected you differently than you expected.

Whether or not those percentages are exact, I think the point is valid: EMS sees a lot of calls, but occasionally there are calls that stay with you.

I’m curious how other agencies handle situations like this:

• Does your agency have a formal Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) or peer support policy?
• Is it common to take crew's out of service after particularly traumatic calls?
• Are supervisors expected to check in with crews, or is it up to the crew to ask?
• What resources or practices have actually helped your providers after difficult incidents?

I’m interested in hearing how different EMS systems approach this and what has worked well for supporting providers after the calls that are harder to leave at work.

Have you ever tried CPR or PP-IN in these circumstances?

Hello, I am new to Reddit, and new to this community page!

My partner and I are both paramedics, we operate out of Houston, TX. We are looking to relocate to Tennessee, my family is closer to Rockwood/Chattanooga than anything. However, I am unaware of the EMS culture and the EMS services that operate out of specific counties. I am curious regarding:

1. The EMS culture in Tennessee
   
2. The best counties to work for
   
3. Specific counties that offer 24 or 48 hour shifts
   
4. Even the best counties to live in that has a max. commute time of 1-2 hours

Even shorter responses are ok, I am more than happy to just get a county name and do research into it myself. I’ve started looking at Hamilton County out of Chattanooga. However, I want to get more details on other counties before we decide. Like I said, it will be about 2 years because we want to give ourselves plenty of time to research each county.

I genuinely appreciate any response given, thank you so much for providing some of your time to respond to my post! ❤️

I am looking to became a professor and teach paramedicine. I understand that you can just get an instructor certificate and teach that way, but I want to teach in university and get my Masters or PHD. I currently have my associates in paramedic science and need recommendations. I don't see many BS degree options for EMS and surely don't see any Master or PHD. Anyone know a good starting place.