How It All Started...

It was three years ago this week that I signed up for my Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) course. Truth be told, I was never planning on joining the EMS industry, I laughed at the people who asked if I would ever work on an ambulance.  I guess those people knew me better than I thought. So why take my EMR??

Since I was in high school I wanted to be a police officer, so I took all the necessary steps: I volunteered at a number of places, I went on to get a post-secondary education, and was careful to stay out of trouble. Wanting to volunteer more, I decided to look into the local volunteer fire dept and the one requirement they looked for that I did not have was my EMR. At the time, I was working in the landscaping industry but due to some unfortunate incidents I was let go. Looking back, it was the best thing that happened to me since two days later I was signed up to take the EMR course in the city.

During the course, I was fascinated with the human body and how it works as well as the medical breakthroughs that allow us to assist others. The paramedic teaching my course passed along some war stories and I was hooked. It was then that I decided to look into becoming a paramedic. Looking into it, I realized that it was everything I looked for in a job. I would be able to help people in stressful and traumatic events. I would be able to always learn about the human body, the mind, culture, society, and the list goes on. I would also be able to get the excitement and variety I was looking for in a career.

So having decided to continue on in my medic education, I continued on and am currently working as an EMT. I have been working on car for 1.5 yrs. Working in the rural EMS industry, it is quite a bit slower than urban/suburban areas. I was finding myself stuck in a rut just going to work and spending time on facebook, watching TV, and playing video games over and above attending calls and doing base duties. A co-worker was talking about how he listens to podcasts to assist with his paramedic studies. Figuring this would be a good way to spend time while driving, I started the search. Starting with Itunes, I found EMS Garage, First Few Moments, GenMed Show, EMSEduCast, and the new podcast Pedi-U. After a couple of months of driving to and from work and listening to lots of podcasts (I had a lot of catching up to do and still haven't completely caught up). I noticed one trend with the podcasts in one word - Twitter. 

I joined Twitter and found a whole new world of like-minded people of what and where the EMS industry should go. I started to get excited about the possibilities finding many quality blogs, more podcasts and websites. Realizing that I wanted to share my observations and opinions with others and receive feedback, I looked into blogging but had initial reservations due to my lack of skill in the writing department. Thinking about it I decide that it doesn't matter as long as you the reader get the point that I am trying to get across... so here's to a new chapter in my EMS career...