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Quick Thinking First Responders Emergency Medicine Emergency Situations Related Questions

Survey Question Career Advice

How many years of school does it take to become a
How did you learn to think on your feet in an emergency radiologist?

situation? How long did it take you to become good at it? How long does it take to become extremely good at
something?

How long does it take to learn how to become a

5 Answers network administrator?

Lavonah Welsh, Paramedic, Training Ocer, EMS supervisor How long does it take to become good in squash?
Answered May 22, 2015 ("national level" good)

You personally may never actually feel like you get the hang of it because you learn as you How long does it take to become a pro bowler?
go, but one day you'll just find yourself knowing what to do in most cases. But there is
always something to learn. Honestly, you can't rehearse for every thing you will be faced How long does it take to become rich?
with. But here are some tips:
I feel like a failure and so afraid of what I might
become. I couldn't get a good job. How to take
Work on thinking outside the box, approaching problems from dierent angles. control of this situation?
Find a mentor, someone you respect, admire, and trust, and run your questions by
How do I become really good at programming?
them. Say "hey, I had this the other day, I did this, would you have done the same
thing? What would you have done?" As a paramedic, I still do this. How long does it take to become a plumber?

EMS is the kind of field where there is no one right way to do it. When I was going How long does it take to become a judge?
through medic school, we had a saying "if it's stupid but it works and it doesn't hurt
the patient, then it isn't stupid". Sometimes it's all about trial and error.

Learn from your mistakes. I can't emphasize this enough. Look, none of us want
to screw up. All of us want to save the day. But all of us screw up. If you find an EMT
or medic who has never made a mistake or a bad call or has never thought they
could have done it dierently, they're lying to you. The dierence between them
and someone who is a good provider is the willingness to admit you are fallible and
don't know everything, swallow your pride, ask for guidance on what to do right
next time, and then do it!

Take classes, both at your level and advanced (sometimes you can get special
permission to attend). Attend conferences. Read journal articles. Read books. Many
services oering continuing education free of charge or for a nominal fee. Take
advantage of this. And make sure to participate in classes, discussions, etc, with
live, real-time participants. There is a lot of storytelling that happens in EMS but
you can learn from anecdotal examples as well as book examples.

(About mentors: Look for someone who has a good attitude about being in EMS, who loves the
job, and is humble/realistic about their own skills. You do NOT want a jaded, cynical, angry
provider who thinks they know everything about EMS as your mentor.)

461 Views 5 Upvotes

Related Questions More Answers Below

How many years of school does it take to become a radiologist?

How long does it take to become extremely good at something?

How long does it take to learn how to become a network administrator?

How long does it take to become good in squash? ("national level" good)

How long does it take to become a pro bowler?

James Pearson, Firefighter 25+ years, fire instructor, AEMT 18+ years
Answered Mar 6, 2016
One of the reasons you have to do clinical rotations and ambulance ride-along time in the
EMT class, is so you don't have to face your first emergency situations alone. You will be
placed with an experienced EMT and will see how they handle things.

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questions. Remember the acronyms they teach you for assessing patients, use them like a
e feel of dealing with a patient. That patient is looking at you as a
Related Questions n't know whether you're new or have been at it for a little while. Several
nt assessment notebooks like this one:
How many years of school does it take to become a
radiologist?

How long does it take to become extremely good at

something?

How long does it take to learn how to become a

network administrator?

How long does it take to become good in squash?

("national level" good)

How long does it take to become a pro bowler?

How long does it take to become rich?

I feel like a failure and so afraid of what I might

become. I couldn't get a good job. How to take
control of this situation?

How do I become really good at programming?

How long does it take to become a plumber?

How long does it take to become a judge?

These little notebooks help remind you of what you're looking for, and keep you
organized. Make up a little card for an assessment flowchart and tape it in the notebook.
There are apps for tablets that do the same thing. These are a crutch, (more like training
wheels really) and in time, you'll find yourself not bothering to use them because you gain
confidence and develop a routine with patients.

If you walk into a situation and freeze for a second, that's okay, as long as you can push
yourself to get back in motion. A lot of us have to stop for a second on an emergency scene
just to figure out what the hell is going on. Take a deep breath, tell yourself to get moving
and dive in. If you are faced with a bad injury to splint or dress, tell your partner to give you
a hand, there's a reason we work as teams.

It took me a while to feel like I got "the hang of it". Sometimes I still get calls that make me
wonder if I covered everything. All EMTs have gone through this at some time. You are just
starting in what I think is the greatest job there is. Good luck and welcome.

245 Views 2 Upvotes

Leonard Ndinyo, Pub Health = Prevention, Hygiene, Exercise, Nutrition,

Environment, Ecosystem
Answered Mar 5, 2016
1. Train yourself to think out of the box. Step out of narrow mindedness and develop the
ability to look at issues from multi dimensional perspectives. You should be able to switch
easily from looking at the trees to looking at the forest. Be quick to compare, benchmark
and get analogies. Make holistic assessments of situations from multiple stakeholder views -
the technical, political, personal etc. This ability will increase your chances of picking the
right solution at short notice.

2. Exposure, knowledge & experience. Know what things are, how things happen, why
things happen, how things are done, what are the possible and impossible outcomes. Learn
from your failures and successes. History often repeats itself. Observe others and
empathise with their challenges. Figure out how you would handle the situation if you were

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they don't injure, kill or bankrupt you take them. Risky situations need
Related Questions , think yourself out of the challenges. At first you will fail alot. But be
se the thinking on your feet will become second nature. Managing fear,
er itovercoming
How many years of school does them
take to become a through facing risky situations improves your
radiologist?

How long does it take to become extremely good at

ocessing power and emotional strength. Apparently when we expose
something?
ituations repeatedly our brains grow specific nerves and pathways to
How long does it take to learn how to become a
network administrator?

How long does it take to become good in squash?

("national level" good)
, Emergency/trauma nurse
How long does it take to become a pro bowler?
will learn the most when you are actually required to do something. I
How long does it take to become rich?can handle most that comes my way. The biggest challenge for
de and
ility to complete tasks so you can move to other tasks......and they stack
I feel like a failure and so afraid of what I might
become. I couldn't get a good practice,
job. How topractice.
take Eventually your speed will catch up to your fellow
control of this situation? be able to care and act in harmony. As an ER/Trauma nurse it took me
have to realize that you will always be attaining new skills. How you
How do I become really good at programming?
ractice and how you delegate to others in order to best optimize their
t patient care will be the key to your happiness.
How long does it take to become a plumber?

In restrospect
How long does it take Itodid someacontract
become judge? work about a year ago. From a skills perspective I had not
worked in one year. I was up to speed in two days. My lag as a result of inability to know
new technology and hospital procedure slowed my overall game; but by that time I knew
what had to be done for my patients. I worried about all the other crap once my patients
were safe! I was fully up to speed in that situation within 5 shifts.

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