EMT Help?

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Hi I have been diagnosed with AS and am curenty a senior in high school. I was wondering if being an EMT is withiin my reach? Because you need social skills to work that job and as you know people with AS have a hard timw with social skills. Any help would be appreciated.

I used to work in health care, and having AS, it was a huge mistake. But that's just speaking for me.

Ooh Ooh Ooh! I can answer this one!... I think...

The fact is, you're not socializing with patients and families much on busy scenes.
You do need to ask appropriate questions to help with figuring out what needs of the patient you can help with, and how fast they need to go to the hospital.

It basically breaks down into three groups:

MEDICAL: Diabetic emergencies, Respiratory emergencies, and other medical calls like that.

TRAUMA: Broken bones, Open wounds, Closed wounds, Bleeding, and the related Shock.

PSYCHOLOGICAL: Suicidal patients (unrestrained), emotionally disturbed individuals, patients with severe organic deficits of the brain (what we used to call ret*d).

As a basic EMT, you are the gopher, the driver, the bandager, the blood pressure taker (and other vital signs), the splinter, etc. You assist the senior crew member who is often an EMT - Special Skills (different names in different states), or the Paramedic.

You may ask the family or witnesses a few questions, but you're primary concern is the patient. You may talk with the patient some, but beyond necessary questioning for patient care, you don't have to chit-chat. In fact, you will often find plenty to keep you busy.

Now... the firefighters can get a bit chatty when they ride with you and the patient to the hospital.
The police usually aren't, in my experience... unless you're all just standing around the scene with no one to treat or transport.

Some places allow a family member to ride to the hospital in the front seat with the driver. On a two-man crew, you can expect that the vast majority of calls will have the senior partner in the back with the patient and you will be driving. Again, you don't have to be chatty... just polite. Strained silence can be quite uncomfortable itself though.

You will be talking on the radio either to dispatch or to the hospital. You learn the language.

On most scenes, the cops and fire fighters will be doing most of the interaction between non-patients so you can concentrate on the patients. In traumas or mass casualty incidents, you may have to take on some leadership roles when dealing with your own particular patient... then, you do need to be able to communicate well enough to give orders to the ancillary personnel (F.D., P.D.,etc.) or bystanders. You need to be able to make quick decisions and follow through on them.

If you take an EMT course (or better yet, perhaps start out with a First Responder class), you should get some idea of how hectic a scene can be... depending on how good your instructor(s) is(are).

btw... I have ADD/HD, so I cannot say whether an Aspy would do well. But judging from the amount of Aspies in the military thread, I can't see why not.
I have worked as an EMT since 1978... off & on.
I have worked with folks who didn't talk much, were very serious and focused on the scene (some are a little more relaxed), which might have caused me to think they were AS if I had been aware of it back then.

I started out in High School with a search & rescue volunteer group, then as a medic in the 82nd (Army), then three different EMS systems in Texas, used my EMT skills with a commercial dive company in Louisiana, hospital emergency room, and a few other things. Just so you know I'm not making this stuff up.

Funny thing... I forgot to say that being able to show a bit of empathy helps ease the minds of some patients and families... but then like I said above.. I've worked with some very serious individuals who never said much to the patient or family other than what was needed to get information or give information.

As if I haven't said enough... I keep thinking of more....

Alot depends on how your AS affects you.

You need to be able to recognize the small facial signs that indicate discomfort. It helps if you can recognize when someone might be lying to you about any illegal drugs they took prior to you getting there... sometimes if they see you are not buying into their story, they'll come clean and that can help you and your partner figure out treatment.

It can also help you to recognize when someone is about to launch into you and/or your partner, or their spouse/child/parent, so you can take defensive action to keep from getting hurt.

You need to be able to keep you vision wide open... what I mean is that you need to be able to control your tunnel vision.
This is especially true on hazardous calls involving...
-Hazardous spills
-MVA's (motor vehicle accidents)... especially on busy roads... One of my co-workers was run down (killed) at the scene of an accident. The drunk driver coming up to the accident didn't see RJ in his turn-out coat with HIGHLY reflective tapes and flashlight in hand with emergency lights from the ambulance flashing...
- Multiple casualty incidents... it's all too easy to concentrate on one patient and not realize there may be another one that was thrown from the car and is lying deep in the brush 20ft. away.
-Violent scenes... some folks might be amazed how often the emergency workers and firefighters are made the targets of the mob's anger... especially when you're working on someone the crowd thinks should die right then and there because he/she killed some little kid from the neighborhood. This is ESPECIALLY TRUE in family fights! Fights between spouses, parents and kids, brothers, sisters, aunts, the list goes on....

Last edited by wsmac on 15 Nov 2007, 1:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

I just knew I'd think of more...

You need to be able to keep your composure due to:
- crying, screaming, babbling patients and family members. They can really get in your face too! Children can cry/scream for the whole trip to the hospital. If you can't stand high pitched screaming/crying... you won't last long with these kind of patients.

- GRIEF! There is one call I made outside of Austin, Texas once... a suicide... and although the young man literally blew half his head off... what almost did me in was when the father was finally found at work and brought home. He came to the back of our unit where the mom was and... well... I can just say that I have never experienced grief like those people displayed that day. Although I finally quit suppressing my feelings over it... I still get choked up when thinking about it. This cured me of suicide, by the way.

- SNAFU! System Normally All f****d UP! When you arrive on a bad MVA with multiple vehicles and multiple patients... it can seem like things are so chaotic and frantic that you'll never figure out who/what/how. This is where a good firm foundation in your basic skills can help. If you can just turn into a machine (basically) and do the job without getting emotionally involved, you will sort it out okay.

- Body fluids, body parts, and trying to untangle bodies from objects like vehicles, buildings dark damp smelly and whatnot, etc.

- Domineering Law Enforcement (not all, just a few), 'good Samaritans' who just won't go away and leave you to your job.

- T.V. crews poking their cameras into your face or the face of your patient.

Depending on where you are or where you would end up working, you might not have all the glamour and glory of some EMS.

Some ambulance firms only transport patients from the nursing home to the doctors office or hospital.
Some companies use EMT's to fill the first aid stations.
Most EMS that I am aware of have areas of town where you may sit on your butt more often than not and only field 'Turkey' calls... the homeless guy who just wants a ride to the county hospital so he can sleep indoors tonight (but he knows how to act or what to say so you have to take him), or the teenage girl who had a fight with mommy and is hyperventilating and the parents don't know how to handle it.
In other words... lots of times you may not be handling true emergencies... but... when the call comes over to you... you need to be ready because until you get there... you don't really know what you're getting into.

Hehehe.... just upping the 'ol post count!

Naw... I'm just trying to keep this from being buried in my posts above.

I have known cities where you could request a 'ride-a-long' with the police department.
EMS generally do not partly bacause of the fact that there is limited space in the unit, they will likely be transporting patients, it's possible they will have their own trainees onboard or students of the local college E.M.T. course.

I would suggest you call the P.D. and E.M.S. and ask about riding along. You won't get to do anything but observe, but it could really give you an idea whether or not you could handle this type of work, since you'd be getting closer than normal to scenes and you could talk directly with the crews/officers.

Working as an EMT in a hospital setting is much different... close to the same skills being utilized, but you will be more likely to engage the patient/family in conversation in this setting.

Hope all this stuff helps you out.

Thanks for all your help. Anyone else had any suggestions?

You can do whatever you want to do with your life. Yes you have AS, but that isn't a deal-breaker. You just have to work around your weaknesses.