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The Road To The National Registry
Be sure to check out the NREMT Website @ www.nremt.org/
In just a few days, my fellow classmates and I will be heading off to take the National Registry Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate (NREMT-I) Examination. The examination will take place over two days (September 29 & 30, 2000), day one consisting of the written examination and day two consisting of the practical examinations. We are very excited to have made it this far, and we all hope to do well at the National Registry.
At this point, I need to give full honor and respect to those who have gotten us this far, Mr. Jim Weaver NREMT-P and Mr. Johnny Cowart NREMT-P, RN. Mr. Weaver, or B.U.F.F. as we affectionately call him, was our instructor for a good part of the first quarter of our training. B.U.F.F. was a good instructor, and our time with him will not be forgotten. He set us on the road, but then a new "driver" came onto the scene.
When the new "driver" (Mr. Cowart) came along, many of us weren't sure that we could survive the transition (especially me). Though I knew that we were getting a VERY knowledgeable instructor, it seemed that with his different teaching style we were going to have to re-learn everything that we were taught before (I was not happy). I thought that he was teaching us things that were not going to affect us in the "real world", and that it was a waste of our time. So, I did everything in my power to try and challenge him: from endless questioning, to believing that he had a "secret agenda' to make my life a living hell by letting everyone get a free ride to the National Registry but me (You see, he was the devil and I just knew that he was sending his minions out to drag me kicking and screaming into ultimate, humiliating failure). But of course, I was horribly and utterly wrong.
As the quarters came and went, I began to think to myself "Hey, I'm learning stuff here!" But still, I wasn't about to let go of the notion that he was out to get me. It seemed that no matter what I did, I couldn't "outsmart" him. I would get so frustrated at my seeming failure as an EMT-I student (not that I was failing out or anything), that I would consider dropping out of class at least on a weekly basis.
So, I felt that the class was being "driven" this way and that, and I would think "Can't we find a safer driver, one that won't make me car sick?" But I was imagining all of this. Now I firmly believe that he saw potential in some of us, and that's why he rode some of us so hard. I mean, he knew who wanted to be there and who didn't, and when the time came, those who didn't want to be there... just weren't.
In this last quarter, I realized that he wasn't the devil that I thought him to be, and I had learned so much, and for that I will be forever grateful. I learned that if I quit fighting, the information would come, and it would all make sense, and this information just might be applicable in the "real world". It was like my own private epiphany. I appreciate the way that he would prod me to try and do better (even though it infuriated me to no end). I would think "Do better? Do better?! What about those idiots who aren't doing nearly as well as me, but don't get told that they can do better! Do better...humph...I'll show him better!" But, I started to do better.
Now I have a wealth of information spinning around in my head that before I would have termed as "useless". This "useless" information will now enable me to give my patients the care and respect that they deserve- in spades! (My friends jokingly tell me that I'm a "Little Johnny" - that I'll be just like him one day - that used to really piss me off, but now I don't think that would be a bad thing at all!)
Thank you Mr. Cowart for inspiring me to do my best and for not allowing me to give up. Thank you for all that you have taught me. Thank you for your patience.
We were set on the road by one driver (Mr. Weaver), he pulled over to let another take the wheel (Mr. Cowart), he in turn drove us all over the planet...then he pulled over, got out of the car and handed us the keys and said "Drive"... and to our surprise, we knew how to do it! As we approach the National Registry exam in a few days, I for one know that I have been given the keys to start my EMS career and do well... and I will do so, because of what I was taught by my instructor.
Once again...Thank You.
Special Thanks
to my friends:
Appalachian Tech EMT Class of 2000
Amberly, Brian, Jenny, Kevin, Lee, Lynn and
Steve
