Sunday, April 22, 2001
So I'm half an EMT now! Mark the day, Saturday, April 21, as being the day of tremendous release of stress and anxiety... the New York State EMT practical exam. Consisting of six stations, each candidate must perform skills to a precise format designed by the State EMS organization. If you're interested you can take a glance at the skill sheets (in PDF). The skills are either worth 1 point, or a "C" point, which means if you fail to verbalize or demonstrate that skill, then you fail that station.
Station 1 is Trauma Patient Assessment, where you either demonstrate or verbalize absolutely everything you would do for that patient from the moment on scene to arriving at the hospital. In my scenario, the patient was ejected from a vehicle, lying unconscious in the roadway. Station 2 is similar to station one, but is a Medical Patient Assessment. Much of the skills are similar, except now you throw in the need to communicate with a conscious patient. My patient was a "57" year old male with chest pain. In this case, you must administer appropriate medications if necessary. My patient was an eligible candidate for nitroglycerine, but he had taken one dose 15 minutes earlier, and his systolic blood pressure was under the NY state protocol of 120 (mm Hg).
Station 3 is cardiac arrest management with an AED (defibrillator). The scenario is always the same--you arrive on the scene of a full arrest, and a primary rescuer is giving CPR. Station 4 is called Bag Valve Mask for an Apneic Patient... in English, that means Funky Bag Squeezing for someone who isn't breathing. We do that on a manquin, not a real person, and the trick to that station is the requirement to get exactly 800 cc of air into the lungs for each ventilation, for 30 seconds!! Station is spinal stabilization, randomly chosen by the candidate to be either a sitting or supine (lying down) patient. I chose sitting, so I applied a KED (see March 7) to the victim in a chair.
Station 6 is a random station, where the candidate is assessed on one of many basic patient management skills (the sheets explain each one). I chose Bleeding and Shock Management... remembering direct pressure, elevation, additional dressing, pressure point, bandage, and shock management, the station was moderately easy.
After completing all stations, we sat around for what seemed like the Hour of Judgment, where they compile your skill sheets then finally meet with you to discuss your fate. I managed to pass all stations the first time, but there were a couple discrepancies over points that I received for skills I did not remember verbalizing. It happened to be in my favor (called luck), since similar situations were reversed for some of the other students which resulted in either the need for a retest or worse.
If you fail three stations, you are finished. They send you home, and you must complete an EMT refresher course prior to taking another practical exam. Sadly, there were a couple of very capable students who will face this situation, and will not have the opportunity to take the NYS written exam in May.
My last EMS shift was on Friday from 7-11pm. We attended the Spring Fever concert, an annual event by Cayuga's Waiters, one of our many a cappella groups. The evening attracts at least 2000-3000 students, staff and faculty (and that weekend also visiting parents and pre-frosh). This is the 27th annual Spring Fever, and they happen to be the oldest and one of the more popular a cappella's on campus. As sad as it is, we could not stay for their whole rendition of The Thong Song (including dancers.. yes, dancers) since we got a call to the Hotel School for a severe finger laceration (lights response). Severe it was, and although the bleeding was controlled well, it was a good idea for him to be transported to the hospital. Half an hour later, we made it back to the concert to watch the rest of the show!
Nothing huge coming up this week... Just one Math exam on Thursday! Have a good rest of the weekend. Only nine more days of school remaining.
Aaron
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