Time management crisis for EMT student....HELP!

[wvd1979]

Hello folks. I'm an EMT-B student in Maryland. I'm about halfway done with the class but I've been having some time management issues that I need advice for. Normally I can sit down and use logic/reason to figure out dilemmas, but this is a case where I could sit for hours and not make a decision.

I've been debating for weeks on whether or not to drop EMT class. Here's a little bit of background on my situation. I belong to a rural volunteer fire department that recently put an ambulance into service in August. Prior to that we had a first responder unit and I had no EMS training. I was living in our first-due area with my parents at the time and I decided to take the EMT training so that I could help my department staff the ambulance.

I work midnight shift Monday through Friday. (11:30 PM to 8 AM) EMT class is on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 7-10 PM. This means that with work and class I have two 16-hour days with no down time except for a couple hours to eat, take a shower and commute around. Back in November, I moved out of my parents house to another town 15 miles away. I did this because my parents were renovating and I could not sleep during the day when I had to. I couldnt' move closer because there are NO rental properties in our first-due area except for $1200/mo. houses.

So now I live out of the first-due area which makes it hard to get ambulance calls or even fire calls for that matter. I could spend the entire evening at the firehouse and get no calls. But as soon as I go to work we'll get four calls. Our fire station has no bunk room, so sleeping there is almost impossible to do. Even if there was a bunk room, somebody would come in and wake me up anyway. This presents a problem because it is a requirement that I have to do five patient assessments with transport. Each transport requires someone to sign off as my "field training coach". I've only gotten two assessments done and I only have a month left until the end of class.

Now some people have suggested I join the fire department in my new town for running calls. This is not a bad idea, its just an impractical one. Joining a volunteer company takes time and energy to get voted in, socially accepted, and get your pagers/turnout gear. I'm sure they're nice people, the timing is just not good for that. On Saturday, I spend time with my girlfriend since that is the only day of the week that I can really see her. I will not budge on this. I care about her too much to not spend time with her. Sundays are difficult because I need time to but groceries, do laundry, pay bills, do cleaning, etc. Plus I simply need time to relax and do nothing. It IS important for morale. Then, Sunday evening I have to get a nap before work or I will not be alert and productive like I need to be. (Anybody who works graveyard shift will understand this) .

So to sum it up, there are only seven days in a week and 24 hours in a day. Between class time, studying, housekeeping, cleaning, commuting, working graveyard shift, and trying to have a social life I am totally torn between my enjoyment of the volunteer fire service and trying to have a life. What's ironic is the fact that my EMT class is hindering my ability to help the fire company. Plus, even if I did get EMT, I don't know if I could run enough calls to get proficient at my skills or be of any real help. I'm sorry about how long-winded this message is, but any input would be appreciated.

[btroutm]

Let me see if I got this right... Your problem is that you're not getting enough calls when you do ride time with the volunteer department that you're a member of. Is that right? If that is the case, then do ride time on another department. If your problem is that you don't have enough time to do ride time in general, then make the time or drop the course.

From the sound of things, you can make the time but you're not willing to sacrifice a few days to do so. You said that you won't do ride time on Saturdays (I think she'll understand if you miss seeing her one day) or Sundays (it's not a morale issue; we're talking about a couple of shifts not working 7 days a week for 6 months straight... besides, you have Saturdays off). If you're not willing to make a couple of minor sacrifices to finish the course, then maybe you didn't belong in the course in the first place.

Besides, with such a busy schedule, when were you planning on using your EMT skills. You've already made it quite clear that you're not going to run calls during the weekdays because you have work at night and you live too far. You're also not running calls on weekends. If you're not going to use the skills, then what's the point?

There's no special solution to your problem, and if you were just looking for sympathy, you won't find it here. I went to paramedic school while attending college full time and working full time. My advice, make some minor, temporary sacrifices so you can finish the course... or drop it. It's your decision. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[wvd1979]

Thanks for your reply and insight. I decided to withdraw from the course. Even though I feel guilty about it to a certain extent, I would feel worse if someone lost their life because my EMS skills were rusty from lack of use. Throwing water on a fire is one thing, dealing with a human being is another.