Wednesday, September 3, 2008

A Good Question

I have a question that needs to be answered.. and seeing as it's EMS related, I figured this would be the place to go. My question is, do you think that some people are meant to be great EMT's? Like it just runs in their blood? Something I have lacked my whole life is self confidence. And whether everyone agrees with me or not, confidence is something you need when you're on the rig. I guess that's why I am my own worst enemy.

No matter how many times I try and convince myself that I can get on the rig, and get the job done, it never works. I love being on the rig. Love having the ability to help someone and feel like I have made a difference, no matter how small it is. But lately I find myself avoiding getting on the rig, and avoiding sitting in the dreaded passenger seat.

Recently, I opened up the good old EMT book I got while I was going through class. I flipped to many sections, reading many paragraphs until I realized something. What do you do when you are weak in virtually every aspect of being an EMT. How can you study and try and improve on that? Believe me, I ask questions on the rig when I have them. But sometimes the answers are ones I hate hearing... "it depends". Every single call is different, which means you handle things different. Sometimes I just wish there was always one clear cut answer. One clear cut solution to every call.

3 comments:

Diana said...

Sounds like it a self-confidence thing, which will come with time on the job. This is true of any "on the fly" kind of job. We're just fish floundering out there until we learn the currents.

Give yourself time & patience, and keep loving what you do. It's an exciting time in your life!

.. said...

I have found that my confidence ebbs and flows. Some days I am the Queen of the world and all that I do is golden. Then there are the days that I have the thumb of death. Unfortunately, if you want a clean cut answer every time, you should probably look into accounting but from the sounds of it, that isn't what YOU should be doing.

It is hard being an EMT. We are not God, we can only do the best we can and try to accept the outcome. That can easily lead to doubting of our skills and our acilities.

If you are not comfortable, say so. If you are, take the lead. Keep an open mind and consider all possibilities no matter how rediculous they sound.

The comfort gets better with time and experience. And even when you are a "veteran", sometimes you just sit there and scratch your head.

Unknown said...

I agree with Bernice 100%.

Don't avoid calls, though, because that is where you will gain your confidence. My hero in EMS always says to tell yourself you can do it before you start. It sounds cheesy but sometimes you are your only cheerleader.

Good luck!