Time to study while on duty?

[Cowboy DO]

Maybe its an assinign question, I really have no idea. I'm thinking about signing up to be a volunteer, they pay for training, uniform all that stuff and I think it would be an awesome experience. I would be able to get some practical experience before I enter my third year of medical school. The thing is I don't know what kind of commitment they are looking for. I could definitely swing ~12 hours a week, and if there is alot of down time where youre just waiting for a call I could do alot more. That is until boards roll around then I plan on falling of the face of the earth.

Anyone know if this is doable? I mean its possible, since I'm not in it for the "long haul" They might not want to waste the training on me.

Oh and to the main point, I have no idea what the average shift entails. Is there down time, where you an study in a corner or something, or are you always out driving around or whatever...I have no clue.

Thanks

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[beanbean]

How much downtime you have on a shift depends on the call volume of the service you are volunteering with and what shift you are riding. I live in a fairly small, rural town and we average 4-5 calls per day - most in the day and early evening; the overnight shift is the most quiet. However, we have some days with no calls and some with 12 calls - that is the nature of EMS. There is of course a law in EMS that the more you need to sleep, eat , pee or do anything else important; the more likely you are to get a call.

Talk to the service you are interested in joining and find out what a typical shift is like. Also ask about the reimbursment policy - some services require active duty for 6 or 12 months before they will pay you for your training.

Deirdre

 

[OSUdoc08]

For a volunteer service, you can sit at the station and study for hours. There are no more distractions then you would find at home. Volunteer services always have a lower call volume, so you will always have time to study. So, it is certainly doable if you want.

 

[12R34Y]

It is highly variable.

OSUdoc is correct if it is the typical, middle of nowhere, USA country EMS station.

However, I have worked in a county with multiple volunteer/paid and purely volunteer services and you may get saddled with many duties throughout the day like 8a.m. wash the rig and inventory it. 10a.m. vacuum, mow the lawn and weed eat. then lunch and then 1:00p.m. go visit local school and talk about EMS or blah blah whatever.

Some departments can be very anal and military like because some of the chiefs kind of want to be in the "big game".

Just find out what the services "extra duties" during a typical day entail.

I worked at a busy EMS service and still have many down times to study. It is just dependant on the day.

If you ABSOLUTELY need to study then you will be guaranteed to get calls ALL day long.

if you just finished a test you will probably get none.

laws of EMS.

later

 

[Cowboy DO]

Thanks guys