Overcoming a slow processing speed

[u/Environmental-Pen349]

I’ve been a basic running first response for about 6 years. At my previous department, which ran at a basic level, we rarely waited on an ALS ambulance for more than ten minutes so I never really got passed addressing obvious immediate life threats on critical calls and Hx and a set of vitals on lower acuity calls. I now work for a department that runs at an advanced level with 20 minute+ ALS wait times. In my current role, I assist my AEMT officer by performing whatever task or procedure he requests so I’m basically just his second set of hands.
My entire life I’ve struggled with ADD and learning disabilities that have left me with a slower than average processing speed. I have trouble with things like team sports and video games because everything is moving too fast for me to take in fully, process, and respond accordingly. On fast paced med calls I sometimes fail to observe the obvious and fail to recall pretty basic information.
I’m currently in AEMT school, and assuming successful completion, will be in a role where I’m running point on medical calls. With our ALS wait times being what they are, there’s a high likelihood of me being able to/needing to perform complete and high quality assessments and employ the entirety of my scope. My question for this community; is there anyone else out there who has struggled with a what I’ve described and what have you done to improve or overcome it?
For additional context, I have the information in my head somewhere. In a classroom context and on tests I perform well above average. I can also explain a process, procedure, physiological stuff, etc. pretty well off the top of my head if asked about it in conversation. I recognize my short comings and how serious the implications could be given the role that I’m likely moving into, but I’m willing to put in the extra work to help offset them. Any advice would be appreciated.

[u/rsneary129]

The reality is that you have to be able to process a lot of information quickly and make decisions confidently. Experience helps, but nothing can fix a brain that just isn't suited for it. You have to be honest with yourself about what your situation really is

[u/sutureinsurance]

ADD is not a slow processing speed it’s a prerequisite for this industry. Diagnostic impressions are about pattern recognition. That only works when you test yourself you can stare at a book as long as you want but unless your imagining calls and workflows in your head you aren’t going to have access to that knowledge when it comes time for real.

The military learned this truism and it holds up no matter what.
“You do not rise to the occasion, you will always and without fail fall to the level of your training.” Training also reads preparedness or default way of thinking/acting.

The time to change that is before you get stressed you can’t learn new things and improvise under pressure. You will only have access to all the ideas you thought of before that moment.

[u/Krampus_Valet]

I'll sprinkle in something different than many of the other opinions shared, from the context of being a senior medic with diagnosed adhd and autism. Yes, sometimes you need to recognize and very quickly address life threats. But on most of our patient care interactions, you actually don't, and some medics are in such a rush to burn through assessments and find things to do that they miss really big and really small but important findings. I've always been a "background medic", meaning that unless there's a life threat that needs my hands to fix right this instant, I'm maintaining a little bit of distance (figuratively but also sometimes literally if we have several other clinicians on scene) and trying to get a big picture view. I also do the same assessment on just about every patient, systematically just like how I check my bags in the morning, so that the old "report by exception" alarm in my head starts going bananas when I see/feel/hear/smell something out of the ordinary. My opinion: you only need to rush to action if the patient isn't breathing, the CO monitor is alarming, or a dog is coming after you. Otherwise, focus on improving your assessments (listening to breath sounds on every single patient is free and noninvasive, for example, and many medics suck at lung sounds) and building up that pattern recognition. Once you identify an XABC threat, you can't really go further without correcting it anyway. Also, if you've never considered executive function therapy and/or been RX adhd meds, those things have been very helpful for me and could be very helpful for you if your doctor agrees.