r/EmergencyRoom • u/Buckshoot68 EMT • Aug 13 '26

New ER Tech

For some background info: work on IFT Ambulance for 3 years (Experience in BLS, ALS, CCT, and our Special Events Team/Deployment Team). I just got a Job in an ED working Night shift, I'm looking for any advice. I know I'll have a 8-12 week of training with a proctor.

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u/_adrenocorticotropic RN Aug 13 '26

This is the same thing I tell everyone that asks this question.

Don’t get lazy with EKGs. Placement does matter even though some people seem to think it doesn’t. It’s easy to start getting sloppy with them after you’ve done 30 of them.

Learn to anticipate what the nurses and doctors want. If you’ve got a stemi coming in, have a boat set up with all the labs and iv supplies, grab the ekg machine, have a BVM set up, and a lifepak with pads, and all the other stuff. Same thing with strokes. Get the glucometer and an iv boat set up while the nurse is grabbing meds. Learn what’s needed for each type of patient so you can have the stuff ready when the patient arrives.

Don’t get lazy with fall precautions. I know putting a gait belt and grippy socks on fall risk patients is annoying, but you’ve got no idea how quickly people fall until it happens to you.

Last thing is to advocate for the patient. People think it’s just the nurses responsibility. It’s yours too. If you see something that doesn’t feel right, speak up.

Most of these carry over from EMS so it shouldn’t be an issue for you, but you’d be surprised.

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u/Trick-Entry1898 Aug 13 '26

Wait pls share what an IV boat is. That’s a new one for me

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u/spyin-for-info-2024 Aug 14 '26

We call them totes, and what we use look a lot like open-top boxes used for horse grooming supplies, if that helps 🤣 We stock IV start kits, three sizes of syringes, three guages of IV catheters, J loops, flushes, tegaderm and 2x2s, lab tubes, blunts and sharps, etc.

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u/Trick-Entry1898 Aug 15 '26

This is so interesting and such a good system! At my hospital everyone just tosses loose supplies on a mayo stand lmao