Wednesday June 05 1996 22:03, George Vaisey wrote to All:
 GV> Any tips for me as I take my Practical in 10 days & written in 15 
ays???
 GV> Thanks.
    For the written:  if an answer (multiple guess) says either "always" or 
"never", it can probably be ruled out as the correct
                      answer - very few things are either always or never in 
the medical field.
    For the practical: -  DON'T PANIC
                       -  Know your patient assessment better than you know 
the back of your hand.
                       -  Rather than memorize signs and symptoms for each 
disease/injury, study the pathophysiology of disease and trauma.  That way 
you can figure out what is                          going on (helps even more 
in the real world where                          patients stubbornly refuse 
to follow the procedure                          outlined in EMS textbooks - 
I don't think they even                          bother to *read the manual* 
before going out and                          getting sick or hurt.  Damned 
inconsiderate of them!                          };-)
    For BOTH: Remember, it is better to take a second to calm yourlself down 
and figure out what you are doing and why than to blindly rush ahead and do 
something just for the sake of doing something.              Odds are the 
examiner (or in the real world the patient/family/bystanders won't notice the 
brief delay, but they will definately get much better care.
            The 3 P's of CPR - don't : PANIC PUKE PASSOUT
Good luck.
Chris Ecclestone, EMCA
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