Part of the reason I have not blogged in a while is the fact that I decided to return to the Field of Emergency Medical Services. It began innocently enough as a Dispatching position for my former FTO (See “That’s what you get for waking me up at 3am“) who had started his own private ambulance company. That snowballed into a management position and returning to school to re-obtain my Emergency Medical Technician certification. This chain of events led me back into education and I ended up teaching and becoming the program coordinator for a local higher learning institution.
(PSA: DO NOT let your certifications expire unless you are a bazillion time sure that you will NEVER EVER NOT EVER use it or need it again. In my case, I needed to take the entire course over again. I’ll get to that in future posts.)
If you really think about it, I am grateful in that cliche way, because I am loving where I am at right now. Remember that last post where I mentioned the ‘…fabulous pity party…. there was some wallowing, whining and a pretty damned good imitation of a hermit crab, but overall it was a wild, fun, annoying, hurtful, I’m not regretting it type of ride…”? It’s true.
I was cleaning out my hoard of handbags, bags, purses and wallets recently and came across an old thumb drive from my EMT class. Here is part of an assignment I had during my path to reclaim my place in EMS. Things didn’t change with my bebe…and 5 years after I conducted this interview, he has acquired a tact-filter of sorts. I highly encourage anyone to interview a child in this manner about any sort of career. Especially yours if you are interviewing your own child…
Interview with a 7 year old.
(I tried to write his responses exactly as he said them, so pardon the grammar.)
ME: What is an EMT? – A: (short silence.) I thought you knew because you work for an ambulance company and went to school to work on an ambulance again. They work on an ambulance.
ME:I have to ask you these questions for homework. Humor me. What do they do on an ambulance?–A: They go get sick people or people who are hurt real bad and take them to the hospital. Sometimes they have to get there real fast because there is an emergency or they are almost dead.
ME: What do you think they do for a person who needs to get to a hospital real quick?– A: Well, they put them in the ambulance, and they listen to their heart with a stethoscope and if they are bleeding they put bandages on them. If they are almost dead they take them really fast or they do CPR. They go Code 3 with their lights and sirens.
ME: Do you know when to call for an ambulance and who to call?– A; (After an awkward moment of silence and an “Are you kidding me?” stare.) You call 911 for an emergency, like if you are almost dead, you fell and cracked your head open after goofing around, you are choking or some emergency like that. If your life isn’t in danger but you are hurt or need to go the hospital and you don’t have a ride you call some other ambulance company not 911. I can’t believe you don’t know this. Isn’t it your job? (This is where I had to pretend I was sneezing so I did not break out into a laughing fit.)
ME: Yes, it IS my job. I told you. I have to ask you what you think as homework for my class. Why are you giving me a hard time? Remember when I answered YOUR interview questions? What do you do if you are a patient?– A: (Sigh). You do what the EMT and Paramedics tell you, and you tell them why you have to go to the hospital, because they are just trying to help you. Don’t be scared. You will have fun riding in the ambulance. Can I go now?
ME: Yes. Go. Thank you for your time (Child is long gone.)