I was just like you! I was in high school, trying to decide what I wanted to major in once I went to college. I remember sitting in class one day, we were researching our career field that interested us the most and looking for colleges that we might be interested in.. Let me be the first to say, finding a big university that offers a Paramedic program is slim.. In my state, we have ONE. We have mostly community colleges and career and technical schools that offer Paramedic programs. I knew from a young age that I had an interest in EMS, after all my mom was a Paramedic so I grew up around ambulances and bloody conversations at the dinner table. Like any other kid, I weighed my options of dream jobs. That ranged from a killer whale trainer to a veterinarian, even at one point thinking about the military. The catcher here, as many vet camps as I went to as a child, anytime I was around an ambulance, I was in my comfort zone. I knew what it was, what most of the equipment was and even before I could walk, I was doing CPR on a plush Elmo toy that I had. I knew to call 911 before I knew my parents phone number and my own address. I wanted to make my family happy, even if that mean't attempting vet camps. They were fun and I loved every minute of them, but I really just don't have the balls to euthanize animals, so that option went out the door pretty quickly. I grew up knowing that if I saw an ambulance and my mom was working, there was a good chance she was on it.. I mean, ANY ambulance. I was 3 when 9/11 happened. I don't remember much, but I do remember clear as day thinking my mom was there because I saw an ambulance on TV and she happened to be working that day. My senior year of high school, I decided that EMS was my dream and I decided to go ahead and register for an EMT class. It was one of the hardest times of my life, my dad was sick and unfortunately passed away, a little over halfway through my class. I tell you that the only thing that kept me going was knowing how proud he would be of me, once I got my EMT and became state credentialed, so I did just that! I passed my EMT class, took my state test and passed, all before I graduated high school. In North Carolina, you have to have a diploma or GED, so when I graduated, I had my diploma and my EMT! Then came college, boy was that a change from what I was used too. Paramedic school will test you. I went from barely ever having homework to studying everyday. It will take your personal life away from you but it will be worth it, I PROMISE! Don't give up on your dreams...

The long hours, stressful clinical shifts and studying is absolutely worth every minute of stress! EMS is a calling and quite honestly you will have a love hate relationship for the rest of your career. It is normal to have days where you want to give up, we are only human... We have breakdowns and days that we struggle to get out of bed, it happens to the best of us... If it is what you dream of doing, you will push through it... Biggest advice I can give anybody in EMS, whether you are brand new or you have been on a truck for 30 years... If you are having problems letting go of the bad calls, talk to somebody! Your supervisors, training officers, and directors are there for you! They support you and want to see you succeed in your career or they wouldn't have hired you. Talk to them! Let them know what is going on, please please please do not sit around and sell yourself short. Like I said before and will probably say again,you are only human, you bleed when you fall down, just like the people you are called to help. If you are having problems, chances are you care for your patients so much that having something happen that is out of your control really hits home for you.. I have weaknesses to cancer patients because of my father. It just means you care about your patients, it in no way makes you a bad person for caring that much!

Next advice, always study. Refresh your memory on the protocols that practically collect dust in your protocol book from not being used, you never know when you may need that information.. Along those same lines, I have a saying that helps calm me down in hectic situations, " fake it until you make it". I am in no means saying if you don't know the information, make something up. What I mean by this is, if you arrive to find a patient that you have no idea what is going on with them don't let them see you freaking out. That will raise their anxiety more and could possibly make the situation worse. Just put a smile on your face, let them know that you are doing everything you can to help them, and continue your treatment as though you think it should go. Not only will you be helping reassure the patient that you are there to help them but you will reassure yourself that you got this!

The next advice and final advice I can give you is this... Never let anybody tell you that you aren't good enough, because you are! You put your heart and soul into making sure you were prepared for the day that you are the only difference between life and death of a patient. You went to school for years to get where you are. You are credentialed, you took the test and you passed. State certification tests are rigorous and challenging for a reason. If you are anything like me, you may struggle on tests but if you put me next to a mannequin, I will surprise you with the knowledge base that I have, I just somehow can't get rid of text anxiety. If you don't pass on the first try, go try again! Some of the best paramedics I have ever had the pleasure of working with took their test more than once. DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT! You can do anything you put your mind too! If anything, ask your instructor for ways to study and possibly even practice tests so you can prepare for what the questions may look like.

YOU WERE MADE TO DO HARD THINGS... BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING!