Learnings as a college campus EMT
In 2023 I spent 200 hours as a volunteer college campus EMT.
- After having worked in emergency medical services, I feel like no amount of computer/knowledge work can stress me out.
EMTs are PMs/designers/needfinders/interviewers turned to 100. Designers interview their users to develop a deep understanding of their needs, brainstorm ideas, and create solutions that meet those needs, over weeks or months, in low-pressure settings where mistakes are part of the process. EMTs develop rapport with their patients to understand their symptoms, decide on an intervention, and administer treatment in minutes, in extremely high-pressure settings where mistakes can do serious damage.
Understanding people is about finding and following the story. We treated all kinds of patients, from college students to older adults, in high-stakes contexts. Treating each patient was about learning to ask the right questions in the right way until I understood the full story behind what: the 'line of questioning.'
Advocate for people by predicting their needs. At the emergency department, EMTs go out of their way to advocate for their patients to hospital staff to make sure their stay is as comfortable as possible, whether that's prioritizing the patient to get a bed sooner or requesting cold packs for an injury. "What can I do to make their experience better?"
Work where I'll have the most impact by reading my team's needs. Being part of a high-functioning team and advocating for people both require a high level of situational awareness and constant recalibration based on feedback. When four EMTs are all treating one patient, things can get hectic. I learned when to step back to take care of smaller details, and when to take on higher-level responsibilities if I noticed a gap in our care.
Practice feedback until it feels natural. Sometimes patients don't feel like they can give their honest feedback to EMTs and other medical providers, even and especially if they're in pain. Predicting their needs can help with this, but I also learned to proactively ask for their feedback. We also exchanged feedback as a crew after each call where we reflected on what went well, what could have gone better, and our goals for next time. I try to turn every interaction, whether a patient call or even a job interview, into a two-way conversation rather than a one-sided interaction.