EMT
(Female, Age 31) from Minden, LA
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 31 who works as a EMT in Minden, LA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.
At a Glance
Current Job
Basic data on your current job
Job Title | EMT |
---|---|
Salary | $32,000 |
Other Compensation | None Set |
Hours/Week | 80 |
Company Size | (not answered) |
Location | Minden, LA |
Years Experience | 5 years |
Career Ratings
Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)
Years in Career | 0 |
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Education | (not answered) |
Income Rating | 0 / 10 |
Interest Rating | 0 / 10 |
Work-Life Rating | 0 / 10 |
Fulfilment Rating | 0 / 10 |
Current job Q&A
Describe the type of organization you work for.
I work for a for-profit EMS company in North Louisiana. We provide 911 services to 6 parishes. There are also branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Each ambulance is staffed by a paramedic and an EMT.
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Provided 911 services, standby at fire and hazmat scenes, Special Response Team for tactical and disaster life support.
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
Medical, dental, paid vacations and sick/personal days.
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
Under compensated on the very busy days when we get no sleep or no time to eat healthy.
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
You have a paramedic partner, it varies on full-time staff whether you will have the same assigned partner. When we are short handed, you can work with at least 3 different medics in a 72 hr shift. You have to try and learn what each medic likes and dislikes because you are ultimately helping them save lives.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
It is a station in a small town, have your own bedroom. It is basically like being at home, all the amenities.
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 1
Benefits: 2
Hours: 4
Co-Workers: 3
Supervisors: 6
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 5
The Actual Work: 7
A day in the life of…
Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:
5am to 6am | |
6am to 7am | |
7am to 8am | We begin our shift at 7am. As soon as I get to work, I have to manifest(check) the ambulance, supplies, and equipment to make sure everything is ready for an ambulance call. At 7:30 am we have radio checks. The control center sends out the tone page to every unit and we must respond an state who is working on that unit.
After the manifest is done, I fax it to the Support Services manager. |
8am to 9am | Whenever we are not on a call, we have down time to do whatever we want, like wok on our computers, watch TV, read, or even nap. I usually nap because 4 out of 5 nights we work, we are up the majority of the night. |
9am to 10am | We went on a call to a Nursing Home for a patient that has fallen. We put her on a backboard and c-collar for precautionary spinal injury. We transport the pt. to area hospital for X-rays. |
10am to 11am | Leave the hospital enroute back to the nursing home, Pt had no fractures. |
11am to 12pm | No calls, ate lunch. Worked on some items on my computer. |
12pm to 1pm | We are dispatched to a posting assisgnment, that is when we go to a point halfway between our coverage area and another to help cover the other area while that ambulance is on a call. |
1pm to 2pm | We are still at post. Waiting on other unit to come back into coverage. |
2pm to 3pm | We finally leave post, on the way back we get a call for altered mental status at a nursing home. Respond and transport pt to hospital for evaluation. |
3pm to 4pm | Clean equipment used, Leave hospital, return to coverage area. No calls in this hour. |
4pm to 5pm | Dispatched to an unresponsive patient. Upon arrival we perform several procedures to try and determine the cause and discover the patient has a low glucose level. We treat the patient with IV therapy and medication to help raise the level and transport to area hospital. |
5pm to 6pm | Cleaned equipment used, Left hospital and returned to coverage area. No calls this hour. |
6pm to 7pm | We ate dinner and then returned to station for more downtime. Sometimes it is realy busy and other times not. |
7pm to 8pm | Watched television, worked on computer. |
8pm to 9pm | Dispatched to a call for an MVA(Motor Vehicle Accident) on the interstate in our coverage area. Upon arrival we observed that the pt. had been ejected from vehicle. This is one of our mechanism of injuries that we automatically launch our helicopter for transport to Level 1 trauma center. |
9pm to 10pm | While waiting for helicopter we start IV therapy, spinal packaging, managing wounds. When the helicopter arrives we turn over pt care to a flight RN and a paramedic. Pt is transported via air. We return to our station and clean our unit and all equipment used. |
10pm to 11pm | We call control center and let them know we are back in service. No calls this hour. |
11pm to 12am | Took a shower, got ready for bed but I dont expect to sleep all night, it rarely happens. This is only an account of 17 hrs of duty, we work 48 and 72 hour shifts so the call volume and activity is much more than this. This was considered a slow day in our area. |
Table of Contents
How you got your job
How did you get your current job?
Started off being an EMD(Emergency Medical Dispatcher) with this company and gradually made my way to working on the ambulance.
What was the application process?
Application, drug screen, background check
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes, had to discuss in detail how I would handle different situations or people.
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
How would you handle a scene with a death involved, child abuse involved, child death, spousal abuse, cardiac emergency, respiratory emergency, childbirth emergency.
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes, you have to do a 3 weeek ride along before you are allowed to work.
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Yes, I had to complete a 3 month course and get certified by National registry of EMT’s and with my state bureu of ems. Have to have continuing education credits to be able to re-certify every 2 years.
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes, I had initialy pursued a career in the medical field taking several collge courses.
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
Yes and no, you learn the basics of what you need to know, but at the same time nothing can prepare yu for some of the things you will experience.
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
You have to complete a 3 month EMT course and get certified by the National Registry of EMT’s and with the state you will be working in. Have to pass a written exam and 8 practical stations.
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
Should be level-headed, doesnt stress out to easily, quick thinker, good general health, ability to understand medium level medical terminology and facts.
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Not really, you are taught what you need to know in your course and the ones who are not going to do well get weeded out very quickly.
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Know what you are getting in to. This is a highly stressful job with long hours. You will have to deal with things that most people dont see. If you have a problem with seeing death or child abuse this is not a job you need to pursue. Those are just 2 of the many difficult situations you will deal with.
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
No, Once you have children the hrs you have to work are not good.
What are your current career goals?
To find a nice, secure, 9-5 job that has good benefits and pay.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
It is hard, but it can be fulfilling. Only some people can make it. If you dont like it from the start, you will never like it.
Prior work history
Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:
Title | Length | Salary | Description | |
Prior Job 1 | Master Sgt. | 3 yrs | 28000 | Was a correctional officer. |
Prior Job 2 | sales | 1 yr | 33000 | Salesperson for Directv. |
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:3.8
GPA | School | Degree | |
College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
3.6 | BPCC | Physical Therapy/ Criminal Justice |
Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
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