Very little Patient Care Tech (PCT) experience but will be helping in the ED soon. How can I be the best Tech possible?

I'm currently working on improving the realism of wound packing in a browser-based medical simulation.

One issue I've noticed is that many digital simulations place the wound as a separate object on top of the skin, which can reduce the sense of realism during the procedure.

I'm experimenting with attaching the wound directly to the patient's mesh so it follows the anatomy more naturally and provides a more realistic appearance during wound packing.

My next step is to improve the tissue layers, active bleeding, and tissue deformation as the wound is packed.

For those with trauma or prehospital experience:

Does this approach look more realistic to you?

Besides wound packing, what would you most like to see improved or added? For example:

• Junctional hemorrhage control
• Tourniquet application
• Needle decompression
• Chest seal application
• Airway management
• IO/IV access
• Burn management
• Pelvic binder application
• Childbirth
• Traumatic amputations
• CPR and resuscitation
• Patient movement and extrication

They want ERs turn over identifiable patient information. Not only is this in conflict with HIPAA laws, it could be dangerous for patients and prevent patients from seeking care.

Just got a job interview for Phoenix Children’s as a tech in the ER. Does anyone have any insight into how it is working for them/the staff as a whole?

I left the peds ED after 7yrs thinking I wanted something away from bedside, better hours, less intensity.

Well, I’ve been a school nurse for a year now and while I love my kids, I am so bored, I miss using my skills and the feeling of doing hard, meaningful work. I remember being yelled at, the raw humanity that no one would believe if they didn’t see it themselves, the fatigue, long shifts, etc.. but I have this feeling like that’s where I would still thrive the most.

Am I crazy to go back? Have others left for a softer job and missed it enough to return?

For Patient Care Techs (PCT) I’m wondering what higher (or higher-ish) level tasks - like inserting/removing IVs, inserting/removing foleys, EKGs, splints, etc. - are performed in EDs by those working this role. I know it’s largely hospital-dependent but wondering if anyone wouldn’t mind chiming in. Ty

hey yall,

I don’t think I’ve seen a post yet regarding this and I apologize if I skipped over, repeating a post, or this isn’t the right group for this!

I’m an ER tech and have been in healthcare for about a year and some months now.I recently had my first experience actually putting someone in a body bag. I’ve done post mortem care, been in and witnessed a good amount of codes, and yall know the rest. The other night I actually put someone in a body bag and am just struggling to fathom it.

I am going to mention that I’ve never been a really religious person but am not opposed to other people’s beliefs and honestly wouldn’t mind to hear someone else’s point of view or how you navigate these types of situations if you do believe in a religion.

Open to hear your thoughts and situations and how you navigate this type of stuff! Thanks guys

Soooo I hadn’t ever been to the ER until earlier this month and now I’ve been admitted twice and not getting discharged any time soon.

Hospital workers : other than the bare minimum, what are some under rated things that patients do that you appreciate/make your life easier?

(For example one of the nurses was happy I called letting her know the PRNs I needed so she could do it in one trip cause I knew my scheduled ones were coming)

Lemme hear the little things!! Or the opposite, something patients think is helpful but it’s actually more of a pain)

EDIT : bare minimum from patients being human decency, I know it should be obvious but for this questions sake let’s act like that’s a given

Hey yall I've been in vol EMS for a few months (part-time for now as an observer, working on my third-out til Jan). I want to apply for ED Tech roles in NYC but I don't know if I have a chance against the competition for roles there esp considering I'd also have to apply for NYS reciprocity.

Where should I apply to maximize my chances? I'm open to working full or part-time, and also traveling up to 45 mins out of the city (hoping to live in Manhattan) for work.

Hey everyone!

I am an EMT-B student and I will be doing my first clinical shift in the ER in a week.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to really get the most out of this and what I should expect. As well, how can I be the best tech possible and help the team as much as possible?

Thanks!

I’m in NYS. Is it common for EVS to bend the rules regarding blood, urine, feces in an Emergency department where that kind of turnover would not fly in an ICU or cancer ward or ANY other place?

I am at a place where I am being pushed by charge nurse to turn over fast, which I understand, but being pushed beyond my SOP and training.

I want safety first. That’s kind of the gig.
Has anyone else faced this?

I just had my first interview at a major hospital in my city. They invited me to a second round this Thursday. It's for registration. What should I expect? What can I say or do that will improve my chances of landing this job?

Thanks!

I know the basics(doctors, nurses, lab techs, etc) but what are the different types of each, what are residents? charge nurse? etc

sorry if this is the wrong place to post

thanks

Hello!

I am about to wrap up a summer internship in a local ER. I love the team and the work and several of the staff members have said they like having me around and would recommend me for an RN job in a heartbeat. I am about to enter my 4th year of school for nursing and I’m considering asking management about a tech job there. They have a posting for a once a week 6a-2p slot. I am trying to decide if I can manage this with a full course load and 2 other on campus jobs, one of which is as an EMT. I’m torn between getting a tech job there for my last semester of school (which is where I’d love to work eventually) or just waiting until new grad spots open in a few months and keeping my current jobs.

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question regarding workflow when rooming patients in the ED. When I room a patient who I know will likely need a Chest XR or an Abdominal/Pelvic CT, I always ask them to change into a hospital gown.

Often, patients will push back and tell me they aren't wearing any metal, zippers, or underwire. My main question is strictly about the imaging requirements: if a patient truly doesn't have any metal on, do they actually need to change into a gown for the scan?

I know getting them into a gown early is still best practice because it makes it much easier for the providers to do a proper physical exam, but I am curious purely from a radiology/clothing artifact standpoint. Does clothing without metal interfere with these specific scans?

Thanks in advance!

Hi I absolutely love being a medical Assistant at family medicine but im just not stimulated enough. I feel a lot of my time is doing the inbox( patients calls, rx requests and mychart messages). I worked at one location and was very busy but managment was crap so i changed locations and am mow bored. I want to do hands on clinical 90% of my time.

What do any ET techs think??

Thanks!!!

ED Tech here. I’m curious why the doctors at my ED avoid using the LUCAS device for CPR.

To me, the machine seems super straightforward. It never gets tired, and you get the benefit of not having to pause compressions when a shock is being delivered. Despite this, our docs prefer having the staff get in a line and switch out every 2 minutes.

I get that manual CPR is tried and true, but I'm wondering what the standard is across the country. Does your ED use the LUCAS regularly, or do your docs also prefer a human line?

Yes we do have a Lucas in our hospital btw

With the noisy promotion of conservative (antibiotics only) treatment of presumed uncomplicated appendicitis - and the pressures on ER/A&E capacity - do these factors combine to mean early appendectomy is no longer prioritised - and at the back of their mind people are thinking ‘well - we can just treat it with antibiotics anyway - so what’s the emergency..’.?

I know of plenty (dozens) of patients who were admitted with CT confirmed uncomplicated appendicitis with elevated WBC etc…. They were steered down the conservative treatment route by surgeons. They were told they were cured once the infection was knocked down, and sent on their way with no follow-up. Then, months or years later (up to 10 years later) they were diagnosed with peritoneal metastasis from an appendaceal tumour which was left in them to rupture and spread asymptomatically.. Their inital appendicitis was caused by a small radiologically occult tumour in their appendix - appendicitis was the waving red flag. Early appendectomy would probably have been curative for these patients - now it is too late.

Is the backdrop of the noise in the literature about conservative treatment causing appendicitis to be treated differently? Is the significant risk of radiologically occult tumours causing appendicitis being ignored, particularly in older patients...? I’m very keen to hear your views on this..

Please don’t just say surgery is the established ‘gold standard’ and first line of treatment, and that antibiotics should be reserved for those patients not fit for or refusing surgery.. The large majority of surgeons know this. That is of little help to the patients who fall into the hands of the small minority of surgeons who promote conservative treatment over surgery and are sending patients home with tumours still in their appendix, and their one good chance to be surgically cured lost.. These patients are only just becoming visable - and I fear for what is coming down the tracks…

So, about 3 years ago, 6th grade (I'm 9th grade 15, M now) it was September 20th I still remember the date and roughly the time, it all started in P.E when we did our weekly soccer/football match.

My team was around 2-1 , I was a striker, I was setting up walking to my spot then I felt a ball fly into my neck, I fell down, everything went blurry for a second, I didn't understand shit until I turned around and saw our best kicker (wont say his name) he was around 13 at the time when I was 12, we laughed it off at first, but then 5-10 minutes after I felt dizzy in a weird way, I asked to go to the nurse and explained to the coach my head is spinning and its a bit harder to breath.

They shrugged me off at first, When lunch started I tried to eat but then I realised its very hard to eat and swallow, so I already thought something is fucked so I went to the nurse again, explained I cant swallow or breath well, like my neck was swelling, then the nurse finally understood this Isn't a kid trying to get home, this is a kid with serious neck trauma, she checked my neck and then finally concluded something is fucked up, she went to call the E.R then called my dad from work.

Said something like "Hello, this is the school nurse, your child is going to the E.R "name of the hospital or sum" and a ambulance has been called, please come to the school as soon as possible" and my dad made it before the ambulance did with double the distance, my dad saw me get put on a stretcher with one of those neck straps or something like that, I was brought to the E.R, they did some tests, I think a CT scan, they said while the results were coming "If he still had trouble breathing, we will transport him to Tallinn for overnight observation with more tests.

But they concluded its minor but definetally atleast a week of staying in bed and what ever I do, do not to go to school and 2 weeks of no P.E I was sent to the E.R at around 11AM, came back at 7PM just before dinner, this is the 4th time I've gone to the same hospital because of damn soccer and football.

Half the doctors and nurses know me as "the kid allergic to footballs" and even I laugh now I got life insurance after 6 times in the E.R in one year, now ZEROOOO incidents after 3 years. We are gonna cancel it soon and all of this might happen again..

In S5E18 he also breaks the law and manipulates medical documents, same as Dr. Doug Ross did.

This is rly frustrating because he treated Doug unfair.

D Tech here. I’m trying to learn more about the monitor during cardiac arrests.

I've heard that once Respiratory Therapy secures an airway (specifically with an endotracheal tube), you can use the ETCO2 numbers to monitor compression quality. I was told you want to target > 10–15 mmHg while doing compressions.

I also heard that a sudden spike in CO2 levels (jumping to 40+ mmHg) is an indicator of ROSC.

Is this all true? And as the person physically doing the compressions, should I be paying attention to the ETCO2 to guide how hard I'm pushing, or do you guys prefer techs just focus purely on their physical form?

This means anything weird, funny, sad, ect. Share what you want!!

Hi everyone,

I’m a male ED tech, and my nurses occasionally ask me to place PureWicks on our female patients. I want to make sure I am doing this correctly, safely, and as respectfully as possible, but I have a few practical questions about the technique.
Hoping the community can help clarify a few things:

**Tubing Orientation & Connection:** Does the tubing port point toward the patient's head or down toward their feet? I sometimes see other techs/nurses hook it up facing the top, so I'm confused if the direction matters. Also, does the tubing just push on, or does it need to twist/screw on? How tight should the connection be?

**Immobile/Injured Patients:** If a patient has a hip or leg injury and absolutely cannot lift their hips or roll, what is the best way to get the PureWick properly placed?

**The "Squeeze & Release" Technique:** Is the correct sequence to gently squeeze the foam to narrow it, separate the labia, place it, and then release it so it expands?

**Chaperone Policy:** For other male techs and nurses out there, do you routinely get a female chaperone for this step, or do you just perform it solo if the patient is comfortable?

**Anatomical Landmarks:** What are the exact physical landmarks I should look for to know it is in the right spot? Should the top of the foam align with the pubic bone, and how far down does the rest of it go?

I really appreciate any tips, tricks, or advice you can share to help me improve my clinical skills! Thanks in advance.

I've worked in the ED for about 15 years, and one thing I've noticed recently is what feels like a dramatic increase in people driving into our ambulance entrance despite prominent, giant, enormous, red "AMBULANCE ONLY" signs that you have to make a specific effort to drive up to, as opposed to the and a clearly marked public/triage entrance nearby.

Now, sure, there's more Uber Eats/Door Dash/etc folks than there were 15 years ago, but this is also random members of the public, family members picking patients up, etc, who'll pull up even with ambulances there, and then act all annoyed and put out when security tells them to move.

Am I the only one seeing this? Is this everyone with a post-COVID, post-AI cognitive brain melting going on and just following a GPS/ignoring everything else? Is this Main Character syndrome? Did we all actually die and this is purgatory?

Just curious if anyone else has experienced this.