Thirty years ago, I began my career in Public Safety as a police officer, starting in uniform patrol before taking the tactical path and becoming a SWAT officer.
Eleven years later, post 9/11, I made the jump to the fire service where I have continued to serve my community for nineteen years as a firefighter paramedic.
The majority my career has been in special operations in both police and fire.
For ten years I have served on our air rescue helicopter responding to primarily trauma calls, wildland firefighting, and search & rescue (SAR) missions affecting rescues from sinking vessels, cruise ships, airboats, kayaks, and hikers who have lost their way in our vast swamp region.
Through this channel, I hope to highlight the possibilities as a first responder, whether it is police, fire, or EMS. I would like to motivate aspiring or new first responders to set their goals high and share how we do things in our day-to-day operations. 🤙🏻
Hi, I work for a fire department in Texas where we have a SWAT team with medics from the fire department. My question for you is, are the medics that go through the police department training, licensed peace officers at the end of the program training?
Yes. In our program after they complete the three week SWAT selection, the attend a 13 week Auxiliary Police Academy. Once they complete that, they sit for the state exam and upon successful completion they are certified as Auxiliary Police Officers. We went this route to make them capable of being armed the “right way”. There are some laws now that allow medics attached to tactical teams to carry. Both departments felt that having them go through the whole academy process was more legit. That was a long-winded answer but I hope it answered your question 👊🏻
I do disagree with some points. Answering doors, phones all that is not the students responsibility. It’s not their house and wouldn’t want them to potentially give wrong info or something like that. 100% agree, get there early, be presentable and in uniform, introduce yourself, if it’s your first time at that house bring some donuts or something. Be active in the truck check, learn where everything is and get on a 1-1 with the medic crew and ask what’s expected and what skills they know and need to work on. I would expect a student to make sure the medic is clean, but I don’t expect them to dive into station chores. It’s not their house and I’d rather they be studying; however; if they offer, give them a small job such as sweeping or something. Studying and training is what I expect and for them to work when the tones drop are what they’re learning to do.
I also put a little fold at the running end of the material, acts as a good grab point and will not allow the end to slip thru the buckle. I also fully extend to make a big loop, then fold it all back up 2 or 3 times, It will go over the biggest boot. I have to pack them in a bigger t-holder because I could never get them back into the plastic belt holder. I keep 3 or 4 in the truck, one is in the door cup holder with no bag or case, just there ready to go. Got to replace that one, been there a little while.
“First responders”, ems and fire fighters have been performing law enforcement tasks lately from assisting with the deadly raid by atf, to restraining people and administering narcan at the whim of police. So don’t be surprised if there’s now distrust or animosity towards ems and fire fighters.
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No. 11, 100%. Debrief with your peers. Vent, use the dark humour, cry. I'd add that the thing that hits you hard may not be what you think. You can suck up some things and then what may sound petty when describing it breaks you. Ask for help.
This is so true I just finished school and on my rides I had my first call be a DOA as a lead. During my time I had some pretty rough kid calls, and a hypoglycemic call. My paramedic was a real good at helping me with the aftermath
Great post - appreciate all first responders more for being a human being underneath all that heroism. Thank you for being strong and gutsy to want to save lives. A saved life is the best gift on both sides of the bloody encounter.
In the process of checking out a county job w/ ride alongs. I’m almost done with a hybrid course for EMT-B and trying to decide on day or night shift preference because I have a wife and son… Although unrelated, I feel like this video describes what may be the biggest benefit of working night shifts: trauma calls. Not sure how involved a basic would be in those, but a couple first shift workers anecdotally stated that day shift had less trauma calls. Sorry for being long winded, but thanks for the video.
Believe it or not there’s a lot of BLS that can be done on trauma calls. Where we work, yeah, the old adage of “nothing good happens after midnight” is still a thing. But there’s a TON of trauma calls while the sun is out. Best of luck!
"Stay Frosty" My Brother was a 1st Class Sgt. Army Calv. Unit, moved to volunteer on the ambulance for his local fire department, he was a good man. He would say that phrase all the time. Thank you for sharing.
Brother liked and subed! As a Navy Corpsman served with Infantry and Reconnaissance Marines (Garrison/Combat) + Security Protection your videos are on point! Your testimonies are heartfelt Keep up the great work, you have carried your duties well. Peace be with you.
Damn, thank you brother means a lot coming from someone with your experience. Peace be with you, too! Stay safe out there and thank you for your service.
Congratulations on clicking up so many years. I did 11 years policing before joining the ambulance service. Now into 26th year. Question from an Australian Paramedic; what is "EMT School" and what qualifications does that give you? We don't have EMT level here; to work on an emergency ambulance you need to be a registered paramedic, which entails 3 years of university then a year as an intern.
For us here in the states, EMT is the starting point. It is about 4 months of schooling, and limited modalities that the technician can perform. It is the prerequisite to becoming a Paramedic here. Paramedic school here (depending on the school) can be 1-2 years. So, for an aspiring Paramedic in the states, they usually start working as an EMT on an ambulance alongside a Paramedic while getting experience, and then continue on to Paramedic. At least that’s how it is in my neck of the woods. Others may be able to add more insight.
@@goodmedicineinbadplaces So it sounds like EMTs work under the supervision and guidance of the paramedic. Similar to here where the grad paramedic operates under the supervising paramedic's clinical authority. Interesting too to hear about different US paramedics. In my state at least we have five types of paramedics; your advanced care paramedic, which is base level and on every ambulance. Then you have critical care paramedics who back up AC paramedics (greater scope of practice/drugs etc.). Then in two cities we have High acuity paramedics (HARU). They're handpicked CC paramedics who spend a further six months in operating theatres etc. before hitting the road. Like CC paramedics they respond in SUVs and are trained in field limb amputations, RBC infusions to name a couple of extra skills. They attend major trauma jobs as well as AC and CC paras. Then we have flight paramedics, again handpicked from a competitive pool. Trained in flight medicine and winch rescue. Then we have Low acuity paramedics (LARU) who respond to low acuity cases and perform minor procedures normally done in an ER; suturing, wound and minor burn management, prescribing ABs etc. Your AC paramedic is 4 years training (3 at university, one as intern), after 2-3 years you can apply to be a CCP which is another year doing your Grad Diploma. HARU and FP can be applied for after a further 2-3 years as a CCP. Being owned by state governments, the budget for training, personal development and equipment is pretty good. We've also started a marine paramedic team, who basically just do a boating course. Some states have their own ambulance aircraft; we just have a fleet of choppers. For localities beyond the range our AW139s we use Flying Doctors 9RFDS) to fly the patients out in their Pilatus PC-12s or Beechcraft King Airs. I think we have about 3,00 paramedics and 209 stations.
Hey man! Actually just came back to your channel because I’ve been struggling a little bit with the fear of experiencing some crazy shit when first responding to a scene. Already had a few guys in my EMT class tell me some pretty insane stories about trauma calls and I’ve gotten pretty nervous about how I’m going to react to my first experience of death. I’ve been trying to find videos on RU-vid about it but there’s no vids. What I’m wondering is, how do you deal with experiencing death? What’s your initial reaction when someone dies in front of you and how do you stay focused? Also, how do you develop the courage and bravery to visually see some of the worst of the worst things and not have them haunt you? Maybe I’m overthinking it but thinking about seeing the really traumatic calls is making me nervous. I wish I had someone close to talk to about this but I don’t know any first responders well enough for them to help me with this topic. Thanks again for everything. - Chris
Jiujitsu, actually, is what made me consider applying to EMT school! It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically. So humbling and fucking exhausting. I’m in the research/applied for school stage and I’ll take this video as a sign I’m moving in the right direction. Mother of 3 so I have my doubts but this video has been 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻!
I believe in serendipity so there you go mom. Don’t doubt yourself especially since you go out and train already. YOU KNOW how to endure tough situations you get caught in 👊🏻 The fact that you’re the mother of three, train BJJ and want to go out and save lives, says a TON about you. Let me know what else you want to see here. I’m here for you guys. I remember when I started in public safety. Before the internet. And way before social media. The only way to find out things was word of mouth. Best of luck 🤘🏻OSS!!!!!!
Serendipity…. Man, absolutely!! Coming out of a really tough “season” and GOOD GOOD things are happening around me and to me over the last week. The universe, karma, luck? So glad I stumbled upon this video. Thank you for your words. The whole video, up until you mentioned training I was thinking you sound like and have the cadence of my son’s BJJ coach. 😅🙌🏻 Training really did change my life. Allows you to be okay with broken fingers/toes/whiplash like you broke a nail. That translates mentally too. I love the perspective it’s given me! Anyway!! Enough babbling! 🥰 Video requests: how to first assess a patient as emt Story time: a hard call Story time: how jiujitsu has made you a better first responder Taking blood pressure (Maybe this is too basic but I know very little) Talk about balancing your family with the job Day in the life Watch a live call (does that exist?) and critique it I’m blanking now but I’ll be hanging around waiting to see whatcha got! 🤙🏻
Just had my first ride along last week and have my second one in a couple of days. I loved the advice in this video and agree that all student-status people in the firehouse/station should recognize and respect the fact that we are the bottom of the totem pole. We aren’t needed there, we’re being ALLOWED to be there. Doing everything you can to help the overall team effort will definitely show the full-time staff that you WANT to be there and are eager to learn and help and much as you can. Treating each pt with respect and dignity is also a huge part of the job that they didn’t talk much about in the classroom. My new goal for every call is to make the pt either laugh or at least smile while they’re en route, we had a pt go from hypoglycemic and combative to upbeat and hilarious after getting their BG up, it was such a cool experience and I can’t wait to get back out there.
That’s a great goal to have indeed. Treat everyone as if they were your family or how you’d want YOUR family treated and you won’t go wrong. Good luck. You have a great attitude.
We had a medic student ride out with us. She wore a spaghetti strap shirt under her polo and took her polo off half way through the day. Our LT had to tell her to cover up and be professional. She rode out a few times and we had an RSI one of our days. After taking the pt to the hospital on the ventilator, i asked if she had any questions. She told me no. She said she understood everything we had done. Go figure.
Yes, we’ve seen plenty of those riders as well. They are there for one or maybe a few days and are dressed inappropriately and start talking about things with the all male crew that maybe they shouldn’t. They rely on their physical attributes to get them through the ride. And then when asked if they need to go over anything, then say “no, I’m good”. The heck you are, you’re just starting. You should be full of questions.
Thank you Chad! I’m a newer EMT (for 1 year) at my local casino. I’ve learned a lot in learning how to talk better to people and asking questions. I’m hoping to become a PA eventually after school. I’m looking at working on an ambulance after I finish school before I go back for my masters to get into PA school.
As someone currently halfway through EMT school, I really appreciate you uploading this. I start my first ride alongs in 2 days and being able to hear this advice definitely has eased my nerves a bit. Thank you and I look forward to your future videos. - Chris
Chris, thank you for the kind words brother. I wish you nothing but the best. Don’t stop at EMT though. Go out there and learn everyday, get experience and continue on to Paramedic. Remember to take care of your mind and body. It’s a marathon not a sprint. 🤙🏻
Me too, about to be on spring break, then shortly after do my cpr certification then ride time. Majoring in emergency medical care also roughly halfway through as well.
some private schools have programs that are roughly 15 weeks. Best of luck to you. One piece of advice is don’t stop at EMT. Keep moving while you’re still hot. 👊🏻
So, we normally run with three (two at a minimum) so if it’s “my teams” op, I’m at the front door and one other on the one side of the structure and a third on the three side.
Use emts like a normal person you goober your kicking down some dudes door a couple blocks away from work your not pinned down on some FOB in the middle of Iraq you have a guy get hurt get him to the back of the formation out onto the street where its safe and get his ass to a hospital as quick as possible an ambulance full of emts and a team of surgeons are gonna be alot more useful than trying to do on the spot life saving procedures unless its absolutely required and even then the extent to what your gonna want and be able to ondo in that situation is slapping on a tourniquet and chest compressions not exactly something you need a medic for maybe just make sure a handful of your guys know first aid
If the building catches fire after they do their search and entry and burns up others personal property in another un warranted unit are the police liable and guilty of arson?
