National and State Tests

The Illinois state test is not too difficult.

Use the guidelines provided at the IDPH website to help you know how to study. A useful studying tool that is worth the money is at the EMT national training website. You can get online EMT and Paramedic Practice Tests. There are 1000's of sample test questions that can help you study. The questions are general and are not specific to any one state, nonetheless they are helpful.

If you are ever considering leaving Illinois I would suggest taking the National Registry of EMT's test. Taking a national test eliminates having to worry about state specific law questions.

If you do fail the Illinois state test you will get two more tries for a total of THREE attempts. After that you must take a refresher course in order to be allowed further attempts at the test.

Passing!!

I got an 88% on my final exam. This brought my overall grade up over the 80% passing mark. If you do not have a passing grade however, she will work with you. I am not sure what you have to do but if you are within a few percentage points she will work with you in order to help you pass the course.

The practical was straightforward. You arrived on a scene and needed to go through what you would do if it were an actual call. A couple of the bigger things they were looking for were that you made sure the scene was safe and that you used proper body substance isolation (basically that you wear gloves).

If you have any questions about the course feel free to leave comments!!

Finals and Tests

Today is the final for the entire EMT course. There are 150 questions covering everything from the book. We have had an in class review session and have had multiple opportunities to review old tests. There shouldn't be any surprises on the final, straight foward, simple questions.

The practical will be held Wednesday. This will cover all of the hands on things that EMT's are a part of.

We have also been signing up for State and National tests. The Weiss program helps you in the process of signing up for all the necessary tests that you need to take in order to be registered and certified in the state of Illinois. If you do not wish to be certified in the state of Illinois they also help you register for the national tests.

I'll provide more updates after the tests are done.

Typical Wednesday Class Day

Today was a typical day at Weiss Memorial Hospital EMT class. Here is what happened:
Arrive at 5:00pm
5:00-5:15 . . . Announcements. This is typically the time in which you will be given study guidelines for the test on the upcoming Monday. If you study what they tell you to review you should have no problem getting above an 80% (which is what you need to pass the course).
5:15-6:00 . . . Lecture.
6:00-6:30 . . . Break for Dinner. There is a cafeteria at the hospital where you can purchase a hot meal for a reasonable price. They also have vending machines with candy bars, sandwiches, drinks and other snacky foods.
6:30-7:45 . . . Lecture.
7:45-7:50 . . . Quick Break.
7:50-9:00 . . . Practical. This is the time in which you do hands on work that you would be doing as an EMT in the field. Today we did patient assessment/triage and bandaging.

Over 1/4 of the Way There

The entire course is broken up into "quarterly's". At the end of these "quarterly's" there is a test that is slightly longer than the weekly Monday tests. They are not more difficult, they only cover more material. Our class performed poorly on the first quarterly and she allowed for an optional retake (nearly everyone took the opportunity). Here are some highlights of what we have covered so far in this course.

• Airway's which includes (among other things) nonrebreathers, oxygen tank usage/setup, combi tubes, oral and nasal airway's and the like.
  
• Head to toe patient assessment
• How to take vitals (blood pressure, pulse, breathing rate, etc.)

This is by no means a comprehensive list of things we have covered but should give you a basic idea of what is being covered in the first part of this course.

2nd class 1/16/08 - Quiz 1 Review

The class started out with Trudy going over some of the questions that will be on the test. These are the exact notes that I took from her review session.

There will be 30 questions all multiple choice

Things to know for the first quiz:
-Standards of prehospital care
-What type of med direction do standing orders and protocols describe.
-terms to know: denial, anger, depression, bargaining
-communicable diseases
-simplest/effective method of preventing infection
-appropriate comments at calls
-who is responsible for authority for EMT's to perform emergency care
-What if: 75 year old dies and family blames you --> what do you do?
-What does CISD stand for?
-Who sets guidlines
-Sexual harrassment
-CEU
-define EMS
-What are your skills as an EMT
-Most effective strategies for handling stress
-Signs and symptoms for hepatitis
-Drug administration
-know about national registry
-What are potential causes for certification denial

Weiss EMT class Staff

According to the 2008 Catolog the following is a list of people Trudy Casey considers "School Officials". (In case you do not know it, Trudy is the head of this program. She is the person you must contact in order to get into the program. Her number (as of 1/17/08) is (847) 566-2828.)

Business Manager: Judy Zack

EMT Faculty: Trudy Casey, Gunther Kettenbeil, Adam March, Richard Wilford, Jeff Collins, Mike Goodman, Shirley Moncher

Medical Consultants: Michael Feingold, M.D., Ahmed Raziuddin, M.D..

EMS Resource Hospital: Advoacte Illinoi Masonic Hospital, Dr. Max Cronenberg, MD, PMD.

Auto Extrication: Lincolnwood Fire Department

Ambulance Companies/Ride Time: ATI - Blair Dietrich, MED EX - Jeff Collins

Training Location: Weiss Memorial Hospital