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RE: Tales from an Ambulance: Episode 1 - D.O.A.
We (me being the intern still) had a similar call. When we came around, some guy from the professional firefighters arrived too. (It's them who usually do door openings in scenarios like that.) He said something about being countermanded so he did not come with us but we had no newer information yet just to find an elderly man telling us everything was fine and that it was some misunderstanding. He felt really sorry.
I don't always have 2 pairs of gloves with me but it really pays off.
The worst part was that I had the gloves in my pocket! I just didn't have the presence of mind to put them on, hah.
Here in the USA every town/jurisdiction is different. Some places the firefighter would be on scene every time no matter what. It just depends on where you are working.
Glad you stopped by! How is your training going? When are you done?
My last intership shift will be someday in August I guess. Then there will be 2 more weeks in a hospital I'm looking forward to. Can't believe it might be really over afterwards. I never intended to do that for a living and being late with my internships I have to attend the classes again too. I had attended the classes already in 2014 at a school I payed myself - now I lack the money to do it with them again. I'm fond of this school actually. There are two other schools which cooperate with the Red Cross for training but I heard varying feedbacks about them. So it's undecided right now.
I'm already emotional about having that time coming to an end.
I’ll bet! That’s exciting for you though. It can be really rewarding as I’m sure you’re aware. It’s also a job you can be proud of, which counts for a lot.
Do you have any kind of final exam or assessment? We had a practical exam with 6 stations as well as a written multiple choice exam.
We had an exam for the basic course as it certifies you to do transports already too. It was a multiple choice test and a practical exam of two cases which we had to work on as a team of two, each one of us also being the head in a resuscitation scenario. This is the least qualified medic certificate you can get for professional use. The most qualified (the German term is "Notfallsanitaeter" = emergency medic) is now obtained with a three-year apprenticeship and I guess the final exam is quite complicated. I feel too old for that. :/
Oh ok, nice. Yes here in the US the highest emergency provider certificate is “paramedic” and that requires 2 years of school with a few hundred hours of ride time (shadowing/apprenticeship) during your coursework.
2 years have been common for a long time too; still, the former highest certificate ("Rettungsassistent") could also be obtained in a weekend course of approx. 1 year (1200 hours at the school followed by an exam) and another 1600 hours practical training on an ambulance (maybe partially in a hospital also). Those people also could attend an additional training later to qualify for assisting in anaesthesia and intensive care. Knowing that now I'm a little unhappy not to have started just before the change from 2 to 3 years came.