1

Sarah Babb – EMT Internship

My internship as a ride-along at the New Holland Ambulance Company started at the beginning of the year. The ambulance company has two stations, one in New Holland and one in Leola. On Mondays, I get to ride 1st due at the Leola station. “1st due” means that I am on the first ambulance that goes out. If the station receives a second call while 1st due is out, the 2nd due crew gets sent out. On Tuesdays, I ride 1st due at the New Holland Station and on Wednesdays, I ride 2nd in New Holland.

One of the things I do at my internship is patient care. When we pick someone up, they are usually in distress. One of my jobs is talking to the patient and walking them through everything that is going on. Another part of my job is taking the patient’s blood sugar. This is fun because I get to poke people with a small needle called a lancet and take a blood sample. One of the downsides to being an EMT is the relationships you quickly form with your patients but then you do not get to finish their care. Once you drop them off at the hospital you have no idea what the rest of their story is or even if they survived.

Whenever we are not out on a call, we get to sit at the station. The station is set up like a house so the volunteers who spend their nights there can feel like they are at home. I often sit at the counter and do work or listen to an audiobook. During downtime, we can also watch tv, play video games, and make coffee, and there are also bedrooms for sleeping.

There was an instance where I passed out watching an I.V. being put in at the station. However, I am glad I know passing out is a struggle of mine so that we can work on it. The staff said it is a problem they have come across before. Now that I know, I can work on creating a tolerance to needles for my future career.

Overall, this internship has really made me consider what I want to do in the future. While at the hospital, I get to see doctors and nurses doing their jobs and I get an idea of what I could be doing in the future. It has also made me think about what kind of nurse I want to be. For right now, I have been introduced to family, labor and delivery, and emergency room nurses. Additionally, as of right now I plan on taking the classes offered in January to become certified as an EMT so I can do EMT work throughout nursing school.