Ask A Medic

Anytime. Again, advice given on here is not meant to substitute for real live medical aid or expertise.

 

I am now officially a licensed (unemployed) paramedic!! now to get me a job on the booboo bus!

 

Congratulations!

 

Congratulations!!!

 

okay had physicals for work these were the "negative comments I recieved maybe you can help me decipher what it means cause the doc seemed kinda like a quack

on a ekg i am bradycardic with a hr of 45 (i know what bradycardic is) and that I have mild early repolarisation, I run between 3-5 miles every other day and eat very healthy

the other thing was my mercury he said i should cut back on fish, the primary meat in my diet, however I eat mostly seasonal inshore fish and eat what i can freeze or get at the fish market in the winter.

also he said my bp was through the roof but the cuff didnt fit right and its usually low rather than high

 

You know your body better than anyone including any doctor. It's completely normal to have sinus Brady and early repolarization if you are fairly athletic.

I would be concerned with the mercury if your blood tests are showing high, maybe you should cut back on fish just a little bit. Maybe eat more chicken?

And as far as the blood pressure reading, if you are concerned go to CVS or something and buy a blood pressure cuff and monitor your blood pressure. Being fairly athletic I doubt you have any blood pressure issues, it was probably just the poor fitting cuff.

I have seen a lot of doctors and nurses do this quite often. They fall into the same rut we do sometimes and treat the monitor instead of the patient.

I went to the doctor one time for a routine checkup and the nurse kept on getting a high blood pressure reading. The systolic was up in the 160s. All of the nurses there were freaking out that someone was so young and had such high blood pressure,and I made several suggestions to try a different blood pressure cuff but they wouldn't listen. Finally the doctor came in to see what all the commotion was about and he made the same suggestion as I did, and what do you know my blood pressure was perfectly normal. The nurses were all pretty confused it was kind of funny.

I had similar issues at the same doctor when they were freaking out because my EKG said I had sinus arrhythmia. But in the medical community it is common knowledge that young people have a pretty high occurrence of sinus arrhythmia.

Now if these negative comments on your physical are going to affect your job in any way I would go to a different doctor and get a second opinion to show them.

 

We shall see if work says anything about it, but I'm sure the Bp is fine cause we got back to the station and it was low.

I feel great and am in the best shap of my life when it comes to cardio so I'm sure it was one of those treat the monitor scenarios

 

Anyone also a first responder? I am and feel that when I am in my first responder role I got to dumb myself down from being a paramedic. I still am trying to adjust to this. I am not trying to be a para-god, but it seems like people that work with me as 1st responders are now intimidated by me and that if I notice a mistake or have comments on something I can't really say anything because then I am being sort of stuck up.

 

Hows the job outlook in western Canada. This is aimed at you Krazie

 

Depends. Industrial? Plenty. Jobs everywhere. With Healthcare? Takes a while to get into. Since AHS is taking over, you essentially get on casual and work your ass off to try and get a full time gig. That's what I had to do, and it's the standard OP now.

 

Right on I am with an industrial company right now here but there is no work. and I have to wait till the next hiring process to apply for the provincial service which I heard is next spring. Need to look at my options elsewhere. Any tips for this green PCP??

 

Make sure you have your paper work and crap in order including your drivers license. I dunno if you have or will get a GDL once you get to Alberta. But winter is starting and the season is vamping up.

IPS is the biggest company here thus far. Other companies pay more, but they have all the contracts and thus more work.

 

Thanks, I was on the IPS website and there was an opening for an EMT-A. I know EMT-P is equivalent to ACP, but what level is EMT-A?

 

Fuck flu season. It has to be the worst time of year. Ran 16 calls yesterday (did a double) 10 straight calls were "I have a fever"

Common sense peeps. Its nothing new

 

back on preceptorship had 3 weeks of nonstop N/V calls. On a side note I really need a job so I have more stories than "back on preceptorship...".

 

PCP.

While in Alberta unless your equivalency is that of an ACP, do NOT call yourself a paramedic. You will be shit on, and you will have a very hard time of it.

 

Too good not to share. Might have already seen it floating on Crackbook cause that's where I stole it from.

 

Cooking at the station.

 

The station I did my preceptorship at was looking at making a deck in back and getting a grill and a patio set and what not. Dont worry wasnt gonna be with company money or anything.

 

thats pretty awesome...