EMTs Ever Look at You Like You're Dumb?

Specialties School

Published

I'm a new school nurse at a High School, and more than once I've felt that they look at me like I'm dumb. The funny thing is that the nurse who oriented me told that they do that (lol)

Earlier, they came in to take a student to the hospital to get checked out because his pupils were the size of the moon (suspected drug abuse) and he was non responsive, EMT asked me if I knew his history, I said no, he replied "Oh so you're not the nurse",

.... Uh yes I am, excuse me if I don't know the history of my 300+ students :nono::cyclops:

So yeah, I only know if I'm in front of my computer. Ugh. Plus I don't really know what to do when they come in, I just let them take over. Maybe I shouldn't ? Eh I don't know. lol

Specializes in kids.
Do you have the ability to update the emergency cards with pertinent school health happenings, during a period of relative calm? That way they would be accurate, right?

And maybe you could get parents to update them at least each semester with news from the home part of the students' lives.

Now THAT made me laugh right out loud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:roflmao:

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
akulahawk...I'm sure the school nurses would agree with you about assessing athletic injuries!! Fortunately, in my school district there is a certified athletic trainer at the High school and Junior high. Our Athletic department realizes this is a specialized area and the powers that be agree to fund it. A lot of other districts, however, don't fund that position so it's left to the school nurse.

I have an AT as well and she is my buddy. :)

Fortunately many school districts have learned that their insurance premiums go DOWN when they have an AT on staff so they hire an AT. Normally, to save costs, they try to find someone that's already teacher and is an AT, that way the only major cost above supplies is that of the AT stipend. At my High School, the AT was a biology teacher that specialized in teaching A & P as well as a very basic Sports Medicine course for the HS student trainers.

The field of Sports Medicine is just too specialized for someone without a specific education in it to grasp it quickly. Unless you already have an extensive education in orthopedics and physical therapy, there would be just too much of a knowledge gap for most nurses to bridge quickly. Without that education, and trying to do what an AT does, you would very quickly find you're in over your head. The reverse would actually be true too, and they know it.

For those of you that do have an AT on staff, make sure they're your buddy. Cultivate and maintain a good working relationship with your AT because they can keep you from pulling out your hair. If you do not do this, they'll function as a completely separate service from you and not communicate much about "their" athletes to you unless they see a reason to. It's kind of like what happens when you have a single patient being followed by pulmonary and nephrology services and neither talk to each other unless someone recognizes that both are seeing the same patient...

Oh, and believe me, I have given Paramedics that "you're dumb as a post" look too... when I was working as an AT. It's not that they're actually dumb/stupid/ignorant... it's that most just never learn to actually listen to what the AT says about the injured athlete because they don't know that the AT likely has probably very accurately evaluated the injury for what it is and is effectively telling the Paramedic what to tell the ER Doc so that the athlete can be appropriately managed.

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I'm an EMT working in a clinical setting- I'm the only medical personnel at my education facility, and so I do far more in terms of medication administration, processing, initial triage for incidents, etc.

If I ever have to send a student off-site, whether in an ambulance or with a teacher, I print out the student's health history/forms so that the EMT/paramedics have it en route to the hospital for treatment decision, and so that the hospital or treatment center has access to history, allergies, etc. until a parent arrives. In emergency situations, I record vitals and write them on a sheet of paper as soon as EMS has taken over control of the situation.

It's hard to hear, "Please treat this student... I have no information for you."I live and work in a tiny town and usually see the same response crew if we activate EMS, and I've been told multiple times that they appreciate my preparedness for them and that it makes their job easier. But, as we all know, it can also be hard to have the time to print out or make a copy of a student's history, and it's definitely rude of them to say that just because you don't have a kid's file right on-hand that you're not the nurse. Honestly, in that sort of situation, it's frustration for all parties.

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Specializes in School Nurse.

Usually after report I am then placed on ignore - which is worse idiot or ignored?

Great EMT story; in the summer I work as a camp nurse in the Poconos - Honesdale if anyone knows the area. Weekly trip to Wal-Mart (I believe the one that started "People of Wal-Mart" web sight). Pouring rain as another nurse and I are heading to the exit. We see a guy on his back in the parking lot at the entrance (knock-off Crocs - worn smooth). The other nurse has on a rain jacket and takes the lead. We can clearly see blood on the back of his head. There are now several people around him and my nurse looks up with an OMG get me out of here look. In the distance sirens are approaching. She gets up and we all scramble to our car. I ask what was that look about? She tells us a guy came up and said "someone write these numbers down - I am a paramedic" She's thinking "great, all's well - we have support here." 'Paramedic' holds injured mans wrist for a minutes and says "120/80":nailbiting: - we laughed ALL summer about this man and his finger blood pressure. We did x-rays, temps, & cat scans all summer with our 'magic finger.'

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Specializes in IMC, school nursing.
She tells us a guy came up and said "someone write these numbers down - I am a paramedic" She's thinking "great, all's well - we have support here." 'Paramedic' holds injured mans wrist for a minutes and says "120/80":nailbiting: - we laughed ALL summer about this man and his finger blood pressure. We did x-rays, temps, & cat scans all summer with our 'magic finger.'

He stayed at the Holiday Express the night before. The schizophrenic paramedic.

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I want to be placed on ignore when the EMTs get here! Like I said, get the deets from me, and I will get out of your way, talk to the parents, ensure an adult witll go with the student to the hospital if the parent is not there yet, etc.

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Specializes in LTC, Rehab.

Oh yeah. Another nurse who used to work where I do used to complain about that all the time. One time, when I told them that (among other things) the person I was sending out had low O2 sats, an EMT pointed to his concentrator and told me that the pt. wasn't on their O2. Really now! Wow, I hadn't noticed that! Or maybe we'd just taken it off because they were about to take them out.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Gastroenterology, School Nrs.

If the school calls me, I generally try and ask them who the student is and I ask for a brief description of what is happening so that I can get an idea of what I am walking into. I will normally ask the office staff to go ahead and make a copy of the student's emergency medical card and health history form right then, so that I can have it readily available when EMS arrives. Someone from the office will bring the info to wherever I am with the student.

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Specializes in IMC, school nursing.

I am in the process of loading student history on an iPad mini (my son's old one), to be in my go bag. I am used to unplugging the code cart on the floor, so I can remeber to unplug the bag.

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I am in the process of loading student history on an iPad mini (my son's old one), to be in my go bag. I am used to unplugging the code cart on the floor, so I can remeber to unplug the bag.

How come YOU get a code cart and I don't!? Hmph!

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Don't take anything personally, EMS people have their own way of doing and saying things ;)

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Specializes in School nursing.
I want to be placed on ignore when the EMTs get here! Like I said, get the deets from me, and I will get out of your way, talk to the parents, ensure an adult witll go with the student to the hospital if the parent is not there yet, etc.

Me, too.

And I WISH I had a AT on site. Everyone thinks I am an athletic injury guru. I am quick to remind them that I am not and I will refer them to someone with more expertise every time.

(That being said, since I am the only medical person without an AT on site, I'd love to get a little bit better trained on athletic injuries. I am looking into this - any info from those with the expertise is appreciated.)

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