It's offical!

[Unforgiven]

I got into the program! Now, only in one long, grusome, hair pulling year and I will be "offical" offical. Our graduating class may also be making history this year. It's been proposed to the state board that we (Paramedics) will be licensed like doctors and nurses. In the state of Arkansas, we are only certified, EMTs, and Paramedics alike. Being licensed won't effect how we render treatment but, it will effect how we handle our continuing education. Holding a certification, you have to recert every two years and if you let it lapse, you have to take the national registry test again (which is a b*tch to pass. I passed if the first time, but it was the hardest test I have ever took). With a license I will be a Paramedic for life. If I decide that I don't want to do this for some reason and want to pick it up 15 years from now, all I have to do it take some classes and pay my dues!

[Publius]

Congrats, Unforgiven!

[Yojimbo]

I got into the program! Now, only in one long, grusome, hair pulling year and I will be "offical" offical. Our graduating class may also be making history this year. It's been proposed to the state board that we (Paramedics) will be licensed like doctors and nurses. In the state of Arkansas, we are only certified, EMTs, and Paramedics alike. Being licensed won't effect how we render treatment but, it will effect how we handle our continuing education. Holding a certification, you have to recert every two years and if you let it lapse, you have to take the national registry test again (which is a b*tch to pass. I passed if the first time, but it was the hardest test I have ever took). With a license I will be a Paramedic for life. If I decide that I don't want to do this for some reason and want to pick it up 15 years from now, all I have to do it take some classes and pay my dues! Congratulations, Unforgiven! Having worked in a major hospital here in Los Angeles, I came to realize that while Physicians get all the glory and prestige, it is nurses and paramedics who really do all the work and save lives. Yours is a difficult - and sometimes thankless - field, but not without rewards. I have heard that a good EMT, like nurses, can basically write their own ticket and go anywhere in the USA (even Hawaii!!!) and find that they are in high demand. Cheers to Unforgiven!!!

[Mike70]

congrats to you. i hope everything goes smoothly and you become "official" official.

[Unforgiven]

Congratulations, Unforgiven! Having worked in a major hospital here in Los Angeles, I came to realize that while Physicians get all the glory and prestige, it is nurses and paramedics who really do all the work and save lives. Yours is a difficult - and sometimes thankless - field, but not without rewards. I have heard that a good EMT, like nurses, can basically write their own ticket and go anywhere in the USA (even Hawaii!!!) and find that they are in high demand. Cheers to Unforgiven!!! Oh, I bet you have seen some crazy s*hit in Los Angeles! I love it! Trauma is good with all the guts and gore, but a real "medical" call I love. A diabetic call is a normal medical call for us (We're a small community), where you push a little D50 and they perk back up but, there is nothing like doing CPR sliding around on your knees from traffic and your having to peer through lesser light due to the pull of power from the battery to light the beacons and the only thing that you can hear is the siren. I've been an oxygen caddy for 2 years now, and I'm tired of the grunt work. It is true that Medics get little praise but, truth be known: a paramedic is there to save your a*s, and an emt is there to save his. This is a picture from a wreck I snapped after we loaded the patient onto a helicopter for transport. The patient suffered from a severe head injury. He weighed between 250 and 300 pounds. My job was to ride him like a bull to keep him from injuring the rest of the crew on scene that day. That's not an easy task for someone that is out weighed by about 90 pounds! I'm a stout woman, but that sh*t was hard. In the end, the neurosergon at the trauma center told the family that if he hadn't had gotten there when he did, he would have bled out and died. They relived a blood clot on his brain, cleaned it up and had a C1 and C7 fracture. Well hell, I guess I love the trauma too!

[Bub666]

Congratulations,Unforgiven!

[Yojimbo]

This is a picture from a wreck I snapped after we loaded the patient onto a helicopter for transport... In the end, the neurosergon at the trauma center told the family that if he hadn't had gotten there when he did, he would have bled out and died. Unforgiven, you are a badass. Good job! Yojimbo nominates Unforgiven as HPOTD's greatest superhero!

[Kaos]

Unforgiven, you are a badass. Good job! Yojimbo nominates Unforgiven as HPOTD's greatest superhero! I agree, Yojimbo. Welcome back, Unforgiven.