Being in the medical flight industry is stressful. And it’s particularly stressful when you’re just starting out as a paramedic in the field. Sure you’ve gone through thorough training and certification but when it comes to dealing with real-life patients, you get cold feet. It’s not because you don’t know what to do but more because you’re afraid of doing something wrong.
Being anxious about treating your patients is only natural. But it gets troubling when your anxiety prevents you from fulfilling your duties. So you’ll need to develop more confidence to provide correct and effective pre-hospital care.
How to Build Confidence as a Medical Flight Paramedic
So how exactly will you build confidence to do your job more effectively? Here are a few tips to help you out:
- Don’t forget the basics – Every medical scenario has a basic set of rules paramedics need to follow when assessing their patients and administering care. In your nervousness you may be prepared for the worst and your mind may be muddled with complicated steps and ideas. But instead of this, you need to focus on remembering the ABCs – the basic steps you should carry out for each scenario.
- Don’t focus on yourself – Of course your first few calls as a medical flight paramedic may make you reconsider your skills and competence. And an inner reflection of this may overwhelm you and only increase your nervousness about carrying out the task at hand. But you need to remember that this isn’t about you but about the patient.
Your focus should be only on the patient and what you can do to help them in each instance. What’s going on with them? What’s the possible reason for this issue? And what can you do to relieve some of the symptoms they’re displaying right now. Once you think of this, your mind will focus on taking action instead of just reflecting on your own abilities.
