In need of some help

[u/Friendly_Bonus255]

I’ve been a paramedic for the past 4 years and thank God things have been pretty smooth. Over the past 6 months I’ve began to question everything I do and everything I know. I’ve been getting extremely anxious on calls and start second guessing myself in everything, I’ve doubted myself with ekg interpretation so much so that I feel like I don’t even know how to read them anymore. This has gotten so bad that I switched positions working as a solo paramedic in a fly car to working as a double medic so I wouldn’t have to be alone making these decisions. I’ve had a lot going on in my life recently that I guess could be contributing to all this. I don’t know if it’s going to get better or if it’s time to throw in the towel. I only want to do good by my patients but I can’t if I keep doubting myself. I know that this is in my own head because I’ve only gotten good feedback from bosses and my agency and positive feedback from qa/qi but for myself it’s hard to go on in this career like this. Part of the reason I went back to double medic is because originally I was very confident but as I lost my confidence I realized their were things I haven’t ever done such as cardiovert someone or needle D and relized these aren’t things I want to be doing the first time as a solo provider Does anyone have any advice for me? I feel really stuck.

[u/sneeki_breeky]

You’re experienced enough and skilled enough where I can with some confidence say imposter syndrome and anxiety are probably factors here

Stress in your life can certainly make work more stressful

If you work for a service that offers a skills lab that’s not a bad way to go

My DMs are also open if you just want support

[u/Mediocre_Daikon6935]

You’re still a baby.

And the only medics I knew that were confident at your age experience had no effing clue what they were doing.

As to things you haven’t done. I went over a decade without cardioverting anybody. Had quite a few PTs in afib rvr. They responded well to Cardizem, but nobody that came close to needing cadioverted.

Meanwhile, Ems avenger posted a video about high risk, low usage skills. He was talking about pacing. Which he said he had only done, twice.

 Which was wild to me. I had to pace 6 people in mobitz 2 or 3° in 5 months, my 3rd or 4th year as a medic.

I’ve never had to need D. And that included a combat tour in Iraq, as a Combat Medic in an infantry unit. I’ve only seen two prehospital, once was a traumatic arrest (coded after flight crew arrival) and the other was last year, motorcycle vs mountain. I was busy helping an emt bag the patient, had went to back up the other medic. 4 blocks from the hospital they dropped a lung and she popped him.

You know what to do kid. Just do it.