I still have about a week until I have my interview with presently-unnamed ambulance company (not sure about revealing names on here, we'll wait and see). But as the title states, I'm not entirely jobless at the moment!
After the BU EMT class here finished, I emailed the program director to see how I could go about becoming a paid instructor. I didn't expect it to happen for a while, since I only started assisting this semester. An email from one of the instructors reaffirmed my assumptions. However, I also received an email from the head director, asking when I could come in to sign papers. I made an appointment, went in, and asked what I needed to sign.
"Employment papers!"
I worked their extrication/practical exam prep day on Saturday, and look forward to doing this for the rest of the summer and next year when they're at Brandeis again and even during the fall, if I can get to BU. I'm excited--my summer of EMS is coming together.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Good news so far!
So, I've had a good week recently, and quite of bit of it is EMS-related.
1. I've been promoted to secondary in my EMS organization! Starting in May, I'll be taking down patient information and using the stair chair. I'm also excited to get a second uniform shirt, so I won't have to wash the one that I have all the time.
2. I have a job interview with a local ambulance company in a week! They didn't immediately say no to the idea of me working full time in the summer and per-diem in the school year, so that's a good sign. If anyone has tips on interviewing with ambulance companies, let me know, please.
3. This has nothing to do with EMS, but I was accepted to the performance track of the music major--I'll be giving one recital a year for the next two years. I'm excited.
4. I'm considering going to PA or nursing school after I get my bachelor's degree. I had been planning to go into counseling or clinical psych for a while, but having done some counseling, the passive approach to problem solving just wasn't sitting well with me. I'm not pre-med now, so I'd need to take a few years to get my bio/chem/anatomy/physiology requirements done, but I'm prepared to do that. If anyone has experience as a Physician's Assistant or as an RN and are willing to chat about it, please comment or send me an email (msh2012@brandeis.edu)
That's where I stand right now. Things are changing but I feel good about them.
1. I've been promoted to secondary in my EMS organization! Starting in May, I'll be taking down patient information and using the stair chair. I'm also excited to get a second uniform shirt, so I won't have to wash the one that I have all the time.
2. I have a job interview with a local ambulance company in a week! They didn't immediately say no to the idea of me working full time in the summer and per-diem in the school year, so that's a good sign. If anyone has tips on interviewing with ambulance companies, let me know, please.
3. This has nothing to do with EMS, but I was accepted to the performance track of the music major--I'll be giving one recital a year for the next two years. I'm excited.
4. I'm considering going to PA or nursing school after I get my bachelor's degree. I had been planning to go into counseling or clinical psych for a while, but having done some counseling, the passive approach to problem solving just wasn't sitting well with me. I'm not pre-med now, so I'd need to take a few years to get my bio/chem/anatomy/physiology requirements done, but I'm prepared to do that. If anyone has experience as a Physician's Assistant or as an RN and are willing to chat about it, please comment or send me an email (msh2012@brandeis.edu)
That's where I stand right now. Things are changing but I feel good about them.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
A Day in the Life: Take Two
1640: Paul asked me if I would help put the bags back in the truck, since we take them all out when we go out of service.
1644: We cannot find the keys. They are in Dispatch. Paul goes to start the car.
1700: The truck will not start. I stay in the office and sign in and chat with Charlie while Paul, Dan, and the supervisor try to fix it.
1720: The truck works! Something is wrong with the supervisor vehicle, though.
1730: Back in room. Waiting for Matt to call me back about dinner.
1800: Matt should be here soon. Reading a book for class.
1810: Call Matt to see where he is. He tells me that he's leaving now. He's rather slow at getting places.
1830: Went with Matt to Usdan, got burritos.
1854: in the C-store. Pager goes off. I mistake it for the bad music, then, realization dawns, and I go off. Crew splits to a second call. Mine is for a wrist injury, and it looks pretty bad. We treat and the pt is transported. Back to the office for write-up. Paul insists that the truck not starting earlier was a bad omen, and that we're in for a long night.
1959: Back in my room, I receive an e-mail stating that I have exceeded 15 GB of bandwidth. It's ridiculous, because there's no way that it actually happened. All I've done today was stream an episode of Trauma. Maybe the people in charge realize that it's terrible and are determined to keep me from watching it in the future. Highly doubt it, and will continue to watch Trauma in secret.
2133: Still reading "Stone Butch Blues" for class. Thinking of heading down to see how Matt's doing soon.
2150: In Matt's room. I do some readings, he playing video games. We watch "Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers" and I relive my childhood. He's been sick, so we cuddle for a while (mostly upon my request).
0030: We go to Einstein's for food. Mango bar!
1020: Leave Matt's. He's not feeling well at all, and didn't go to work today. =( I stop by the man in charge of the internet here, and he told me that he'll look into why I exceeded bandwidth. Back in my room, I have a hard time getting any wireless. I had a dream last night that I was transported to my home in an ambulance, standing. It was more of an RV than an ambulance.
1200: Went to class.
1318: Back in room, have a smoothie. Bringing lunch down to Matt before my next class. He's still sleeping =/
1700: Back in the office. Hand off to Mike, hang out for a few minutes, decide to go to Stats even though it's boring. Had Chamber Choir in the hot recital hall (it's 87 out and I'm in long pants) and in Theory we listened to atonal music. I don't get it. Not a bad shift, but I feel like such a whacker for craving more. Experience can't come fast enough.
1644: We cannot find the keys. They are in Dispatch. Paul goes to start the car.
1700: The truck will not start. I stay in the office and sign in and chat with Charlie while Paul, Dan, and the supervisor try to fix it.
1720: The truck works! Something is wrong with the supervisor vehicle, though.
1730: Back in room. Waiting for Matt to call me back about dinner.
1800: Matt should be here soon. Reading a book for class.
1810: Call Matt to see where he is. He tells me that he's leaving now. He's rather slow at getting places.
1830: Went with Matt to Usdan, got burritos.
1854: in the C-store. Pager goes off. I mistake it for the bad music, then, realization dawns, and I go off. Crew splits to a second call. Mine is for a wrist injury, and it looks pretty bad. We treat and the pt is transported. Back to the office for write-up. Paul insists that the truck not starting earlier was a bad omen, and that we're in for a long night.
1959: Back in my room, I receive an e-mail stating that I have exceeded 15 GB of bandwidth. It's ridiculous, because there's no way that it actually happened. All I've done today was stream an episode of Trauma. Maybe the people in charge realize that it's terrible and are determined to keep me from watching it in the future. Highly doubt it, and will continue to watch Trauma in secret.
2133: Still reading "Stone Butch Blues" for class. Thinking of heading down to see how Matt's doing soon.
2150: In Matt's room. I do some readings, he playing video games. We watch "Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers" and I relive my childhood. He's been sick, so we cuddle for a while (mostly upon my request).
0030: We go to Einstein's for food. Mango bar!
1020: Leave Matt's. He's not feeling well at all, and didn't go to work today. =( I stop by the man in charge of the internet here, and he told me that he'll look into why I exceeded bandwidth. Back in my room, I have a hard time getting any wireless. I had a dream last night that I was transported to my home in an ambulance, standing. It was more of an RV than an ambulance.
1200: Went to class.
1318: Back in room, have a smoothie. Bringing lunch down to Matt before my next class. He's still sleeping =/
1700: Back in the office. Hand off to Mike, hang out for a few minutes, decide to go to Stats even though it's boring. Had Chamber Choir in the hot recital hall (it's 87 out and I'm in long pants) and in Theory we listened to atonal music. I don't get it. Not a bad shift, but I feel like such a whacker for craving more. Experience can't come fast enough.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Back to High School: EMS Style
1 April, 2010. 1432.
I’m applying to Paramedic school!
Happy April, everyone. Yesterday, I did something kind of fantastic. I talked to a few classrooms of high schoolers about EMS. When I was in high school myself, I took the sports medicine class because I needed another gym credit and didn’t want to play dodgeball for another half-year. In the class, we learned basic anatomy, cranial nerves, GCS, basic treatment of minor injuries (RICES, etc), CPR, splinting, and about electrical stimulation therapy and massage therapy. We also watched a lot of Man vs. Wild and Survivorman and videos of people getting injured on YouTube. While we had a lot of fun, we actually did work—I recall writing a paper about bleeding disorders and sports and reviewing an article about hypothermia as a treatment for spinal injuries.
When I was in EMT school, I found that knowing basic anatomy was really helpful in the first few lessons—I didn’t need to focus on memorizing which was way prone and which was supine and what the anatomical position looked like. I emailed the teacher, Mr. Scott, over the summer to thank him, while I was still training.
The other day, maybe two weeks ago, I had the idea to ask if he would be interested in having me come to talk to his classes about EMS. He thought it was a great idea, I made a powerpoint, prepared a presentation, got props from Dan, and went to the High School yesterday.
For 7:30 and 9:50 in the morning, the students paid attention. The second class even asked me questions—some were about how we don’t transport, many were along the lines of “what’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen?” but it showed that they were paying attention. My wonderful brother and sister, Matt and Rae, went to my presentation, which made me really happy.
I explained how I got into EMS, explained our scope of practice and listed some key BLS skills, talked about the training process, levels of certification and ALS/BLS differences, where EMTs work, and what meds we can give. I talked about BEMCo as well, since that’s where my experience is—how we operate, roles of each member of the crew, showed the inside of the truck and the inside of my jump kit, and then walked through a mock call. The call was for difficulty breathing with urticaria and angioedema. I walked them through the process of responding to a call, importance of BSI, the initial assessment, administration of an Epi-pen, SAMPLE history, vitals, physical assessment, and transfer of care to medics. I felt it was comprehensive but not too detailed. I had a lot of fun writing the presentation, and I realized as I was writing it that I didn’t need to make presentation notes for me to look on with—I knew what I wanted to say for each slide, and there was no way I was reading off of the slides. For props, I had a copy of one of our run sheets, vomit bag, gloves, CPR shield and mask, my scope, and my watch (I realize my watch is not a prop, but I made the point that much of patient assessment can be done by listening to the patient, touching the patient, and getting some basic vitals.)
My presentation lasted about an hour, which was perfect, as it left 5 minutes for questions, which was just enough time to keep them interested. If I could have done anything differently, I would have taken a moment to stress that it is not all lights and sirens, that it’s not all about being the hero—I talked about working transfer, but I wish I had emphasized that even if we’re not doing intense treatment with CPR or Epi-pens or using the LSB, we’re still helping someone to feel better.
I really like teaching—it’s a challenge and it reminds me of what I know. I wasn’t asked any technical questions, but I felt that any question that a student could ask me, I would be able to answer. That’s a good feeling. When the teacher asked at the end of my presentation what I want to do when I graduate, though—I have no idea. I didn’t plan on falling in love with EMS.
If anyone wants to see the powerpoint I made and used, let me know and I can send it your way.
I’m applying to Paramedic school!
Happy April, everyone. Yesterday, I did something kind of fantastic. I talked to a few classrooms of high schoolers about EMS. When I was in high school myself, I took the sports medicine class because I needed another gym credit and didn’t want to play dodgeball for another half-year. In the class, we learned basic anatomy, cranial nerves, GCS, basic treatment of minor injuries (RICES, etc), CPR, splinting, and about electrical stimulation therapy and massage therapy. We also watched a lot of Man vs. Wild and Survivorman and videos of people getting injured on YouTube. While we had a lot of fun, we actually did work—I recall writing a paper about bleeding disorders and sports and reviewing an article about hypothermia as a treatment for spinal injuries.
When I was in EMT school, I found that knowing basic anatomy was really helpful in the first few lessons—I didn’t need to focus on memorizing which was way prone and which was supine and what the anatomical position looked like. I emailed the teacher, Mr. Scott, over the summer to thank him, while I was still training.
The other day, maybe two weeks ago, I had the idea to ask if he would be interested in having me come to talk to his classes about EMS. He thought it was a great idea, I made a powerpoint, prepared a presentation, got props from Dan, and went to the High School yesterday.
For 7:30 and 9:50 in the morning, the students paid attention. The second class even asked me questions—some were about how we don’t transport, many were along the lines of “what’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen?” but it showed that they were paying attention. My wonderful brother and sister, Matt and Rae, went to my presentation, which made me really happy.
I explained how I got into EMS, explained our scope of practice and listed some key BLS skills, talked about the training process, levels of certification and ALS/BLS differences, where EMTs work, and what meds we can give. I talked about BEMCo as well, since that’s where my experience is—how we operate, roles of each member of the crew, showed the inside of the truck and the inside of my jump kit, and then walked through a mock call. The call was for difficulty breathing with urticaria and angioedema. I walked them through the process of responding to a call, importance of BSI, the initial assessment, administration of an Epi-pen, SAMPLE history, vitals, physical assessment, and transfer of care to medics. I felt it was comprehensive but not too detailed. I had a lot of fun writing the presentation, and I realized as I was writing it that I didn’t need to make presentation notes for me to look on with—I knew what I wanted to say for each slide, and there was no way I was reading off of the slides. For props, I had a copy of one of our run sheets, vomit bag, gloves, CPR shield and mask, my scope, and my watch (I realize my watch is not a prop, but I made the point that much of patient assessment can be done by listening to the patient, touching the patient, and getting some basic vitals.)
My presentation lasted about an hour, which was perfect, as it left 5 minutes for questions, which was just enough time to keep them interested. If I could have done anything differently, I would have taken a moment to stress that it is not all lights and sirens, that it’s not all about being the hero—I talked about working transfer, but I wish I had emphasized that even if we’re not doing intense treatment with CPR or Epi-pens or using the LSB, we’re still helping someone to feel better.
I really like teaching—it’s a challenge and it reminds me of what I know. I wasn’t asked any technical questions, but I felt that any question that a student could ask me, I would be able to answer. That’s a good feeling. When the teacher asked at the end of my presentation what I want to do when I graduate, though—I have no idea. I didn’t plan on falling in love with EMS.
If anyone wants to see the powerpoint I made and used, let me know and I can send it your way.
Monday, March 22, 2010
What We Do
1702: After realizing that it takes far more time to get from the music building to my room to the office than I anticipated, I sign in. Text the primary to compliment his miraculous parking job.
1710: Back to my room, get my things for class. Head to Stats for all of 20 minutes.
1730: Back to room again, to get my jacket. Head to a movie screening for my Queer Studies class.
1836: Get a text from Matt during the movie and I can feel my heart rate go up. No matter. He asks if I want dinner. I do.
1916: Back in my room again. Update this. Get my things together to go to Matt's place.
2259: After doing many strange things, including sharing a bowl of frozen yogurt and having yet another playfight with Matt, I am back in my room. Supposed to do work, will likely watch House or Trauma and read case histories for abnormal psychology. Apparently my blue long sleeved shirt is not uniform (gray or white).
2334: Watching House from last week. Not doing homework. Sleep soon.
2352: Totally checked my pager when pagers went off on House.
0108: Going to bed in fifteen minutes or so.
0236: Going to read case studies for Abnormal and going to sleep after.
0400ish: Matt arrives, I continue sleeping.
0840: Wake up, think about going to class. It's raining, and I'm sleepy, so I go back to bed with that Matt boy who I'm dating.
1010: Matt gets up to go take an exam.
1050: I finally wake up. Put my work clothes back on, take my meds, wait a few minutes, update this, and find breakfast.
1115: Sign up for Research Methods, go to Usdan, check my mail, get food, chat with a secondary and a primary and read the April fools issue of "The Justice."
1212: Mom is here, I pick up meds and things from her, go to Epstein for a talk.
1332: "Demystifying the Digital Collage" was beautiful and interesting, but the audience was entirely older white women. Got to see Mom =) Back here. Didn't have to respond to any calls from Epstein, very happy about that.
1408: Went to Usdan with Matt to buy him lunch--after all, he bought me dinner last night. Head over to office hours with my Queer Studies teaching fellow, told her about BEMCo when she asked what my jump kit was.
1520: Back at room, going to Shapiro with Matt to see some avant-garde art.
1540: We are starting to think that the avant-garde performance is telling a bunch of people that there will be art and then having nothing happen. But the performers showed up and it was very strange and they put makeup on each other in the Atrium.
1629: Back in my room, thinking about starting the paper before shift change.
1710: Back in my room after shift change. Don't know when my next shift is, sometime in April, though.
Well, it appears that I chose to quietest shift possible to blog about. I'll post a similar entry like this when I have another shift--in the meantime, I'm looking for employment, TAing the class, and possibly getting into a movie with the Corps.
1710: Back to my room, get my things for class. Head to Stats for all of 20 minutes.
1730: Back to room again, to get my jacket. Head to a movie screening for my Queer Studies class.
1836: Get a text from Matt during the movie and I can feel my heart rate go up. No matter. He asks if I want dinner. I do.
1916: Back in my room again. Update this. Get my things together to go to Matt's place.
2259: After doing many strange things, including sharing a bowl of frozen yogurt and having yet another playfight with Matt, I am back in my room. Supposed to do work, will likely watch House or Trauma and read case histories for abnormal psychology. Apparently my blue long sleeved shirt is not uniform (gray or white).
2334: Watching House from last week. Not doing homework. Sleep soon.
2352: Totally checked my pager when pagers went off on House.
0108: Going to bed in fifteen minutes or so.
0236: Going to read case studies for Abnormal and going to sleep after.
0400ish: Matt arrives, I continue sleeping.
0840: Wake up, think about going to class. It's raining, and I'm sleepy, so I go back to bed with that Matt boy who I'm dating.
1010: Matt gets up to go take an exam.
1050: I finally wake up. Put my work clothes back on, take my meds, wait a few minutes, update this, and find breakfast.
1115: Sign up for Research Methods, go to Usdan, check my mail, get food, chat with a secondary and a primary and read the April fools issue of "The Justice."
1212: Mom is here, I pick up meds and things from her, go to Epstein for a talk.
1332: "Demystifying the Digital Collage" was beautiful and interesting, but the audience was entirely older white women. Got to see Mom =) Back here. Didn't have to respond to any calls from Epstein, very happy about that.
1408: Went to Usdan with Matt to buy him lunch--after all, he bought me dinner last night. Head over to office hours with my Queer Studies teaching fellow, told her about BEMCo when she asked what my jump kit was.
1520: Back at room, going to Shapiro with Matt to see some avant-garde art.
1540: We are starting to think that the avant-garde performance is telling a bunch of people that there will be art and then having nothing happen. But the performers showed up and it was very strange and they put makeup on each other in the Atrium.
1629: Back in my room, thinking about starting the paper before shift change.
1710: Back in my room after shift change. Don't know when my next shift is, sometime in April, though.
Well, it appears that I chose to quietest shift possible to blog about. I'll post a similar entry like this when I have another shift--in the meantime, I'm looking for employment, TAing the class, and possibly getting into a movie with the Corps.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Standing By
14 March, 2010. 1228.
Last night, when I went to the office to get the gear for the standby, I was well into mentally preparing myself for the night ahead. I had vomit bags in my back pockets, ready to be pulled out, two sets of gloves in my front pockets, a little notebook in my other pocket with a pen, so I could take down patient information on the go, I had a snack in my jacket, tic-tacs for if the smell of drunk partygoer vomit got too intense—I was ready for a long night of introducing myself over the music and attempting to get the minimum of information before we transport (name, age/birthday, meds, allergies. A set of vitals if we can).
Instead, I spent the next four hours sitting at a table in the lobby, bonding with the secondary, dance-attacking the primary and supervisor with said secondary and telling people that, no, they couldn’t leave their coats at the BEMCo table. We needed the space to, you know, care for patients.
Our one patient was not even that—we gave them band-aids and an alcohol swab.
My duty, as the sole female on the crew, was to periodically patrol the women’s room and make sure that no one was slumped over on the toilet/sink/floor/dividing wall. The first time I did this, I received the response of, “Hey, you’re a man—never mind.”
I’m well aware of the fact that I often appear less than female. With short hair and a uniform that still manages to be too large on me, it’s understandable. I ought to use this little talent for my own benefit—evading long women’s room lines sounds like a good plan.
Now, the reason for our lack of patients was not that people decided to be responsible and not consume a week’s worth of alcohol in one evening—no, they were just leaving and going to their rooms before they went to us. The main crew split to three calls at one point, there were more, I think. Meanwhile, the three of us sat at a table and bounced around condom balloons.
After it ended (four hours later, technically five with the time change) the three of us went to CVS to get some food and returned to our places of residence. I crashed, rather unexpectedly, after removing my completely drenched clothing. To the crew that’s still on now—I hope you are managing to stay somewhat dry.
I’m a little disappointed at our lack of people—I was hoping to get some decent experience out of this. But you know, getting paid to hang out with friends for four hours isn’t too bad.
Last night, when I went to the office to get the gear for the standby, I was well into mentally preparing myself for the night ahead. I had vomit bags in my back pockets, ready to be pulled out, two sets of gloves in my front pockets, a little notebook in my other pocket with a pen, so I could take down patient information on the go, I had a snack in my jacket, tic-tacs for if the smell of drunk partygoer vomit got too intense—I was ready for a long night of introducing myself over the music and attempting to get the minimum of information before we transport (name, age/birthday, meds, allergies. A set of vitals if we can).
Instead, I spent the next four hours sitting at a table in the lobby, bonding with the secondary, dance-attacking the primary and supervisor with said secondary and telling people that, no, they couldn’t leave their coats at the BEMCo table. We needed the space to, you know, care for patients.
Our one patient was not even that—we gave them band-aids and an alcohol swab.
My duty, as the sole female on the crew, was to periodically patrol the women’s room and make sure that no one was slumped over on the toilet/sink/floor/dividing wall. The first time I did this, I received the response of, “Hey, you’re a man—never mind.”
I’m well aware of the fact that I often appear less than female. With short hair and a uniform that still manages to be too large on me, it’s understandable. I ought to use this little talent for my own benefit—evading long women’s room lines sounds like a good plan.
Now, the reason for our lack of patients was not that people decided to be responsible and not consume a week’s worth of alcohol in one evening—no, they were just leaving and going to their rooms before they went to us. The main crew split to three calls at one point, there were more, I think. Meanwhile, the three of us sat at a table and bounced around condom balloons.
After it ended (four hours later, technically five with the time change) the three of us went to CVS to get some food and returned to our places of residence. I crashed, rather unexpectedly, after removing my completely drenched clothing. To the crew that’s still on now—I hope you are managing to stay somewhat dry.
I’m a little disappointed at our lack of people—I was hoping to get some decent experience out of this. But you know, getting paid to hang out with friends for four hours isn’t too bad.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Titles and Teaching
Dates and times, while beautifully simple and clean, give no information about the following post. From here on out, entries will have titles. Most likely alliterative titles or silly ones and clever ones.
So, that covers the "titles" part of the title. On to "teaching."
BU has been teaching the EMT class here at Brandeis since the beginning of the semester, and I have been volunteering as a TA assistant (A teaching assistant assistant? Sort of!) Basically, the class is divided into lecture and lab: lecture is, well, lecture. "This is glucose. This is how you administer it. This is when you administer it." Lab is learning how to use the skills learned in lecture as part of patient treatment and assessment. In some labs, it's very hands-on (O2, CPR, trauma, splinting, etc) and in others, it's mostly talking through a call.
As an assistant TA, I work with a lead TA, someone who has been leading lab groups for a while and knows what to do. We get a set of scenarios and talk the students through it. "You are dispatched to a 38 year old female who was in a car crash on the highway at 8 AM. Go."
It's interesting being in the teaching position so soon after having been in the student position. When the students completely didn't know what to do in their first assessment lab, I remembered what it was like on that lab--I was the kid who didn't know what the instructor wanted to know. "I don't know what you're asking--I just want to know about the pulse."
They're learning the little acronyms for things and sure enough, a few assessment labs later, they're no longer struggling to remember things like "color, temperature, condition" and "rate, rhythm, quality." It's also very reassuring for me--as someone with very little field experience, I haven't had the opportunity to do most of the things I learned about--but the lead TAs tell me that I know my material very well. My only problem TAing? Telling people when they're doing something correctly. I ought to write "COMPLIMENT SANDWICH" on my hand next time.
It's fun, I get CE hours, I'm technically getting job training.
(Also, EMT students: "Common complaints" ARE NOT THE SAME AS "pertinent negatives.")
So, that covers the "titles" part of the title. On to "teaching."
BU has been teaching the EMT class here at Brandeis since the beginning of the semester, and I have been volunteering as a TA assistant (A teaching assistant assistant? Sort of!) Basically, the class is divided into lecture and lab: lecture is, well, lecture. "This is glucose. This is how you administer it. This is when you administer it." Lab is learning how to use the skills learned in lecture as part of patient treatment and assessment. In some labs, it's very hands-on (O2, CPR, trauma, splinting, etc) and in others, it's mostly talking through a call.
As an assistant TA, I work with a lead TA, someone who has been leading lab groups for a while and knows what to do. We get a set of scenarios and talk the students through it. "You are dispatched to a 38 year old female who was in a car crash on the highway at 8 AM. Go."
It's interesting being in the teaching position so soon after having been in the student position. When the students completely didn't know what to do in their first assessment lab, I remembered what it was like on that lab--I was the kid who didn't know what the instructor wanted to know. "I don't know what you're asking--I just want to know about the pulse."
They're learning the little acronyms for things and sure enough, a few assessment labs later, they're no longer struggling to remember things like "color, temperature, condition" and "rate, rhythm, quality." It's also very reassuring for me--as someone with very little field experience, I haven't had the opportunity to do most of the things I learned about--but the lead TAs tell me that I know my material very well. My only problem TAing? Telling people when they're doing something correctly. I ought to write "COMPLIMENT SANDWICH" on my hand next time.
It's fun, I get CE hours, I'm technically getting job training.
(Also, EMT students: "Common complaints" ARE NOT THE SAME AS "pertinent negatives.")
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