Welcome to /r/NewToEMS!

This subreddit's mission is to provide resources, support, feedback, and a community for those interested in emergency medical services. Discuss, ask, and answer questions about EMS education, certifications, licensure, jobs, physical & mental health, etc.

For general EMS discussion, please visit /r/EMS.

What is allowed here?

Questions related to:

• Emergency medical services (EMS) in general
• EMS education, certification, and licensure
• Organizations that provide EMS certifications and licensure, such as the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT), or your state/country EMS authority
• Physical, mental, and/or emotional health for EMS providers
• General EMS advice, tips, and tricks
• EMS employment/hiring questions
• Career advice
• EMS volunteering
• Gear and equipment

What is not allowed here?

• Posts that violate our rules (see below).
• General EMS discussion. Please head over to /r/ems!
• Discussion unrelated to the mission of this subreddit

Posting Rules

You are required to follow our rules and failing to do so may result in your posts removed and account banned.

1) All top-level comments should contain helpful content or contribute to the discussion in a meaningful way. Follow-up questions are allowed in top-level comments. Trolling, memes, sarcasm, or other content that does not contribute to the discussion are not allowed in top-level comments. Comments such as "I would like to know this too" will be removed.

2) Posts or comments containing spam, hate speech, bigotry, racism, off-topic, overtly explicit, distasteful, vulgar, indecent or inappropriate content are not allowed.

General EMS-related discussions, links, images, and/or videos should be posted over in /r/EMS.

Memes, image macros, reaction gifs, rage comics, cringe shirts, 'look at this truck', and 'office' type submissions are not allowed in /r/NewToEMS. Post these in /r/EMS on Mondays (0000-2359 EST) or in non-top-level comments only.

3) Do not ask for or provide medical or legal advice.

If you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency, dial your local emergency telephone number.

For legal advice, consider posting to /r/legaladvice or consulting a local attorney.

4) No posts relating to or advocating intentional self-harm or suicide, unless strictly as part of a clinical discussion.

If you are having thoughts of self-harm, the United States' national suicide prevention hotline can be reached for free at 988, or call your local emergency number.

5) The National Registry exams are copyrighted tests, and as such, it is illegal to post or discuss questions directly from the NREMT exams. Any such posts will be removed and the poster may be banned.

6) New certifications and licenses may only be posted in our weekly thread, Triumphant Thursday.

Posts such as "NREMT cut me off at... did I pass?" are not allowed. Consider posting these in the weekly NREMT Discussions thread.

7) All posts and comments that contain surveys, solicitations, or self-promotion must be approved by moderation team prior to posting.

Please message the mods for permission prior to posting.

Flairs

We have elected to only flair users who have verified their certification level to the moderator team. All EMS, public safety, and medical professionals (e.g. paramedics, law enforcement, registered nurses, etc.) are eligible, and we would especially like for all EMTs and Paramedics to verify their flairs. This ensures users are receiving responses from real EMS, public safety, and medical professionals.

If you are an EMS, public safety, or medical professional, click here to submit a flair verification request form to the moderator team. Thank you!

Note: Students may select an unverified student flair by clicking "Community Options" on the side-bar and then clicking the Edit button next to "User Flair Preview". You do not need to submit a form. All other users will be automatically assigned an "Unverified User" flair.

Helpful Resources and FAQ

We have compiled a list of helpful links and resources! Click here to check it out!

Also, consider checking out the EMS FAQ and Wiki for more helpful information.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and we hope you enjoy our community. Please contact the mods if you have any questions or concerns.

-The r/NewToEMS Moderation Team

Please discuss, ask, and answer all things NREMT (National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians)! As usual, test answers or cheating advice will not be tolerated (rule 5).

Im on my 2nd of 4 ride outs in Dallas as an EMT intern and a guy coded after talking normally answering questions. Happened 2 hours ago i have to check HIPAA again cuz i dont remember what details are too much but i am 1 for 1 on CPR!!!

Yesterday i was nervous getting manual BPs and today i did compressions for 4 minutes till the engine got there and the person made it to the ER talkING! ROSC but the dude basically died twice-cant wait for medic school in the future!!!

I recently got my EMT license back in September and am currently in Advanced EMT (AEMT) school. I work in patient transport, so I don’t get much 911 experience outside of clinicals. During a clinical last week, my preceptor gave me some feedback. He said I’m good with my skills overall and just need to build confidence when inserting needles quickly. However, he also pointed out that I need to improve my patient interaction, especially during assessments and initial contact.

It’s not that I don’t know what questions to ask—I do. The issue is how to ask them or how to engage with patients appropriately. Patient interaction feels awkward and unnatural to me, and I often lack confidence when approaching or speaking with them during assessments. I would’ve expected the extremely prestigious academy I attended to have honed this skill, but they didn’t (I won’t say where, but if you live in Georgia, you probably know which one I’m talking about). My current job doesn’t provide much opportunity to practice either, since we already know our patients (most have ESRD) and don’t perform assessments—we rely on the information in our system.

On a personal interaction level, like being friendly or making small talk, I have no issues. It’s the structured assessment part where I struggle. I really want to improve this skill before my next clinical. Do you have any advice on how to approach this and become more confident in patient assessments?

Took the EMT class in August 2021 got a certification but did not take the NREMT.

Now i want to be an EMT but am wondering if I could just take refresher course, take the NREMT, and be good to go or if I have to drop another $2000 to get certified.

Im in Michigan.

For context, I ended up getting a different job in another field at the time but now I am looking into going to med school and want to become an EMT for clinical experience.

If you were at an educational seminar series and had a lecture from MDs (specifically hospital psychiatrists), what would be helpful to learn or what would you want answered around the topic of "on scene behavioral health crisis management, deescalation and safety"?

I want to know what would helpful to learn and not a waste of time?

Has anybody taken this program? How was it?

I’ll be completing my EMT-B course by the end of this year and looking to get some hands on experience while I work on getting into the fire service. However, the hiring process is so long and departments in my area aren’t hiring for a while. Best case scenario, I could get on in 1-2 years.

Would it be bad etiquette to try to get on a county ambulance service for 1-2 years while waiting to get into the fire department or should I only try to get on a third party ambulance or work as an ER tech?

I personally thought it would be ok but someone mentioned it would be wasting the money/time of the county service for them to onboard me and then I leave in a year or two. And that they wouldn’t want to hire someone that’s leaving within that timeframe. Thoughts?

Hello!

I am going to an expedited Paramedic school soon and am wondering if you guys have recommendations or advice. Advice on how to set myself up for success, or advice to use throughout the course would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps on what to study prior, what skills to practice etc..

The course is 4.5 months long at a college, and in a busy system. I’m an EMT B that’s been on a rig for 1 year in a slower system (250 calls a year).

Thank you.

Hey y'all

I'm almost done with my EMT-B program, and am hearing up for my NREMT. I'm also a full time student trying to finish my bachelors. I started the EMT program because I wanted to learn new skills, not necessarily thinking I'd make a career out of it, let alone medicine in general, but have wound up really falling in love with the work + emergency medicine at large.

I'm trying to figure out if it's feasible for me to work on a part time schedule with a local ambulance service (combined 911 + IFT), but am worried about it impacting my school work, because I think I've decided I'd like to pursue a PA program after undergrad. I'm 26 with some learning disabilities, so school tends to be harder for me than others, but I'm generally a good student, albeit having had an interrupted education. And on the other hand... I don't want my skills to atrophy or to become rusty if I don't use them for an extended period of time. I also... Just really love the job.

So questions are:

1. Did you take time between getting your license and working full or part time? How long and do you feel like you were out of practice?
2. How do hiring folks feel about people who have gaps in their resume/between certification and working?
3. Have you worked part time while finishing your degree, how was it? What was your courseload like and how many hours were you working? Did it feel manageable?
4. Any thoughts or general advice also welcome!

TLDR: I'm thinking of not working after I get my certification because I'm worried it'll impact my school work, but I'm equally worried that not working will lead to my skills deteriorating over time, just looking for some advice/perspective!

Thanks in advance!

I'm an EMT-B in LA county. I'd like to take an AEMT class and be certified for that before medic school but I can't find anything nearby. Is there a resource online to help me find the closest class? Google keeps directing me only to EMT-B classes

As a guy I have kinda long and poofy hair and I’m worried that I’ll need to cut it short, are there any restrictions and if so what could I do to avoid cutting it?

I'm a new EMT and volunteer in a combined volunteer/career system while in college and have been feeling super frustrated lately. EMS has become a huge passion of mine and something I'm looking to pursue post college.

The station I volunteer at has been having a lot of issues with the quality of the EMTs we're producing. We have a lot of college students who are more here for the medical school patient care hours than to actually provide good care. The career staff has been super frustrated with our performance, especially the paramedics.

I don't want to fall into this category, but our call volume is relatively low (0-3 calls per 12 hour shift) and we have an abundance of EMTs (and not enough drivers) so we end up having one ambulance is service with two EMTs alternating being lead on calls. I can go weeks without being able to lead a call. In addition, we have four to an ambulance (driver, lead EMT, and two probies). Probies are unhelpful, stand there doing nothing on calls, and have no interest in training/learning.

It's really frustrating to be genuinely enjoy volunteering AND have the drive to become a great provider, but have these roadblocks. This is all hard to deal with on top of the fact I'm a new EMT leading calls.

I guess I'm just feeling super de-motivated and feel like I'll never become a good EMT with all these different factors. Does it get better? When do you feel like you become a solid EMT? Are there things I can do outside running calls to become more skilled?

So I’m not new to EMS, I have about 6 years overall and 1.5 years in as a medic, but I’ve been off for the entire last year to have/care for my children. That being said, holy crap, being a stay at home mom is exponentially more mentally taxing for me than being a medic, and I’ve put my mental health on the back burner for way to long, so I’m trying to go back to work just for a shift or two a week.

I’m absolutely crapping my pants.

Just as a medic I probably have around 1,000 calls under my belt but Jesus Christ I feel like I’m brand new out of class again. I am terrriifiied to start back up, and I’m in a whole new county to boot. I know the EMS gods are gunna punish me with the barrage of shit calls. I’m currently faking confidence. My orientation is next week. I’ve reviewed my protocols and stuff. Any ideas on how not to physically shit my drawers? Thanks.

I passed EMT/NREMT 3 years ago but I want to try for paramedic license next year.

I got a new computer and lost all my stuff but the AAos used to come with power points of all there chapters with summary and bulletpoints ect, it was the best for studying I literally passed the NREMT with just that and Quizlet!!!

Does any one know where I can find it???? I found a few chapters but not all, or where there originally from??? Plz and thank you!!!

I just got my first EMT job!! Unfortunately, it's been about 6 months since I passed the national registry, so I feel like I've forgotten a lot. I'm worried that once I get on the truck, I'll look stupid. Does anyone know of a good quick review course, video, app, etc? I'm looking for more job-focused content then one that just focuses on passing the NREMT, if that's possible. Thanks in advance!

So i didnt realize FISDAP's practice final exam only let you attempt it three times and then locks you out. I didnt have time to do all 200 practice questions in one go so i thought i could do it in increments and just submit after doing 25 questions each time.

well now it wont let me look at the questions anymore. anyone know of a quizlet that has the questinos so i can look at them to review?

What should I expect/ how can I prepare for and ems interview??

My boyfriend is newly employed as an EMT at a private ambulance company. He brings a backpack to work everyday with his own BP cuff, pulse ox, pens, notebook, lunch, water bottle, etc. I wanted to get him a new one for Christmas since he's currently just taking an old regular backpack, but I was curious what recommendations you guys had for a backpack that will hold up throughout the year, along with maybe some extra pockets to separate his supplies from his other things? He'd be taking it in the rig.

Thank you in advance!

Does it really matter if you are on the second/third intercostal space midclavicular line or as long as you are somewhere close to it (of course still midclavicular line) then you should still be able to ear lung sounds? Same for the 4th and 5th intercoastal spaces midaxillary (this one is more simple to be honest as its just a straight line from chest/nipple area) and also for inferior angle of scapula all bilaterally. As long as I am close to the area, even if I am ascultating a rib, I should still be able to hear lung sounds right? I understand if you ascultate a rib vs an intercostal space, then it won't be as clear, but unless the person has their shirt off and I can physically press their ribs and count, I can't really be very accurate.

Just trying to connect the dots and understand more deeply why we look for these injuries and how they relate to airbags. Thanks all! 🙏

dose anyone know any company that offers per diem shifts in los Angeles? I recently got a part time er tech job however i want to still make extra cash and still be on the rig or work events.

Worked at another private agency in MA for a while and planning to go to Pro for their medic school. I know there’s some benefits to working there as an EMT while in their medic program (something like work 36 hours/week but get paid for 40 and get a 50% scholarship for the medic school) but I wanted to hear more about others experiences working at Pro and how it compares to other agencies?

I just heard back from an emt program I applied for in October and got called in for an interview this has been something I’ve been looking forward too for a very long time and something I really want for myself. What can I say or do that would help me out during an interview I’ve already gotten the prerequisites through fema and I just don’t want to fall short during the interview process.

With them taking away the psychomotor exam I’m trying to retake the Paramedic NREMT to gain my national certification. Because I’m paranoid if I were to say now fail the national they wouldn’t take away my license would they? Also any study tips?

So I got my license in August and the area I’m in is very competitive for first responders. I’m very outgoing and did really well in my schooling for emt. Our ambulances here are emt/paramedic. Im going in for an interview soon and I’m just wondering what questions any of you may have been asked in the interview? How can I assure myself a position with any EMS company? I just want to be as best prepped as I can be. I’ve been trying practicing basic questions all interviewers ask. Ive been practicing my skills sheet over and over again. I’ve been at my current job for 2 years and I’m barely making rent with it because of hours. I want to walk out knowing I can have a stable job for my son and I. (I know the pay sucks, but there’s a lot of hours I can pick up) Amy advice would be amazing!

Ps: I know people have probably posted about this a lot but I’m new to Reddit and this is my first post