My EMT

This summer I started needing 36 hours of continuing education hours for my EMT. I wanted to keep my EMT, but was not sure if I could do it.

And some of you know how much my EMT has been a blessing and a curse. You can look at my second blog entry to see one instance. It is a source of pride and obligation. An Identity that is not God. It at times is a competing identity with my identity in God.

So I prayed in May... "God if you want me to keep this please open the doors, if not please close all doors, until then I am going to do all I can to get it. I want this to be yours if I keep it."

So I started, online I easily got 24 of my classes after work and such.

Looking for the last 12 I easily found 10 of them.

Several classes were while I was in Italy.

I got back from Italy and one of the last 2 hours I was looking for got moved.

So crap, how am I going to get this. One of my instructors gave me the credit cause I helped him teach that section in his class.

SWEET.

I got all my hours, but it is mid-July.

I went to apply to my squad, and try to get them to agree to sign me off on my EMT once my hours cleared.

They told me I have not ridden enough and they would not accept me back because I was about to go back to school and would not be able to ride... all because by turning 21 I got kicked out of the Junior squad where I was a full member and could go on leave of absence. Nope not this time.

WELL CRAP!!! I have spent so many hours finding and taking classes, I could have slept, read or done any number of things with this time.

Now to keep my EMT I have to retest. The test has two parts a multiple choice section and a practical portion. I am a good test taker so I think the first part is doable, but the practical portion is going to be hard, I had a partner that I had practiced with last time and had been preparing specifically for this for 2 months last time. I don't know if I could pass that part again without more time.

So yet again I started to make peace with not being an EMT come the end of August.

Then I looked into it, if I take the test before I expire I only have to take the written portion.

Sweet, I can do that.

But there are only two dates I can make the test... 1 the day before I need to be back in Blacksburg in Richmond and 1 the Saturday before classes start in Roanoke.

The second would be during NSO, that would suck... but I am not sure I'll get my letter in time for signing up for the test. I need it in 5 days, and my last few hours have not shown up.

So I emailed the Office of EMS asking about it.

I call my Instructor for those last two classes, she knows the guy at the OEMS and will take up my hours personally in 2 days.

I called ODEMSA (the local EMS Alliance that runs the test site). They said since I only have to take the written part I have until 3 days before the test, that give me like another week!!!

Then I get an email from the OEMS guy and he called mt Instructor got my hours in the system and will email a copy of my letter to me and CC the test site by tomorrow or the next day!!!!

WOW. Now I have to study.

I am confident I can save someones life, but these details are hard to keep straight, for a test atleast.

I took the test, ironically the class I was working with (for my CEUs I helped the Instructor teach) was testing that day.

The test was hard, I had answers but never quite the same as my wording or thought process.

So for the third or fourth time I was preparing myself to not be an EMT.

Before classes started I got a call from my family... I passed.

I don't think it translated well here, but I kept having doors shut, nothing open, then right when I would hit the now or never point, a door would open that I could step through. Like a continuous process trying to break my EMT away from being an identity of mine and move it to an aspect of me, something nolonger competeing with God, but subservient to him.

Lets hope it stays that way.