EMT-B Practical Skills...Suggestions?

[Co11FireGal]

Well, I didn't think I'd make it this far with my sanity intact...BUT, here I am, 4 classes left until my National Registry test...

I've had great instructors, but there's a problem with that...instructors...plural... .more than 1 instructor...and all have had a different opinion on what to do with our skill sheets. One lady told us they were about as good as toilet paper. "Don't use them," she said, "just do what you know and you'll be fine." Then I have an instructor that tells us "Do the skills EXACTLY how I'M showing you." His methods are about half on the skill sheets, half off. Then yet another instructor told us to memorize the sheets...
One guy tells us go volunteer with a squad and that'll help things come together, and another says, "NO! Stay away! I don't want them ruining you with bad street habits!"

They can't ALL be right. Opinions? Suggestions?

~Courtney :confused::confused:

[Firefighter2230]

my opinion is do what the national registry will look for to pass you off on the skill which probably means whatever is on the sheet that you have.
And then once you get the cert. and if you work somewhere or volunteer somewhere the "it isn't always done how you learned it" comes into play.

Hope that helps

[pvfire424]

Two schools of thought at work here. Right now you are in school 1 ( in school). Untill you have your card and are running on the street, use the skill sheets. Right now it is much better (as a student) to learn your skills, by doing it a specific way, the same way each and every time. Practice, practice, practice, then take the skill you are most nervouse about, and do it twice as much as the others.

There is no need to worry about how it would be done in the "real" world yet. When you are done with school, and have your card, then you should worry about how it will be done on the street.

Hope this helps!

[N2DFire]

I'm having this very same discussion with my g/f and some of her fellow students who are testing NR Medic in about 2 more weeks.

You have to remember that when testing (written or skills) you are in Fantasy Land not the real world.

Having set on both sides of the fence (as a student and an evaluator) - my suggestion is to follow the skill sheets - that is what your evaluators will be using to judge your performance against so you should take advantage of it.
In simplest terms they have developed a test and said here are the answers - read them back to me.

I do have 1 caveat to this theory - you have to be flexible in how you follow the "flow" of the sheet.

Ex. Trauma Station - let's say you have a Pt. with a GSW to the upper torso area - once you discover the injury on the chest (which really should happen during your ABC's aka Rapid Assessment) you need to immediately roll the Pt. to check for the matching wound (Entry/Exit pair). As long as you have them up on their side you may as well "skip ahead" and check the neck, back, and back of the legs, fully expose, place the back of your c-collar and roll them back on the FBB when you're done treating any wounds you find.

If you're just so ingrained to follow the pattern on the sheet then they can't fail you for log rolling twice (once to look early and once to package later) but it just makes the whole thing flow faster to do it once.

As for some other test taking tips:
- Don't worry about time limits even the worst students I've had managed to *complete* the station w/in the alloted time.
- Know the "protocols" you will be tested under - esp. if they vary from those where you work/volunteer.
- Repeat any information the evaluator gives you out loud. This will not only help the evaluator know you heard (and hopefully understood) what was said - it will also help you remember it and force you to take the time to *process* what was said.

- And lastly - relax. Every one of your evaluators has been where you are to get where they are.

Other than that - good luck.