A Paramedic’s Notebook

I can be surprisingly forgetful sometimes, so much so that I almost got fired.

For real, during my probationary period I locked us out of the truck three times in a month. And it was still running! Doesn’t look good on a new medic at all.

We fixed the issue by tying me to the truck keys so I couldn’t leave without them…

The other thing I did was buy a little notebook I could throw in my pocket. But not a pen. That’s what my EMT is for.

That little $3 notebook saved my butt more times than I can count.

And I’ve gotten better at using it. I’ve changed things around, made better systems, and got fancier with the notebooks I use.

Here are just a few reasons I use my notebook

• Making Lists
• Patient Info
• Quick Reference Guide
• After Action Reviews

So let’s dive in to how exactly I use mine and why every paramedic should pick up a pocket notebook.

Stick to the end. I’m going to cover why an app could never cut it as our personal carry notebook.

Making A List…And Checking It Twice

We make lists dozens of times per day.

You probably don’t realize how many times you do it. What equipment you used on that cardiac arrest. What you need to grab from the store for dinner. All the training that admin just rolled out at the last second and needs to be done by the end of the week.

Once you start writing it down, you’ll be surprised you don’t forget more.

So I like having a physical copy of any list I need to make. It’s easy having it as a quick reference whenever I need it.

Just make sure you write that list immediately after you think of it.

Right after your big respiratory call, write down everything you used in the back of the truck. Every airway adjunct, medication, IV catheter. By the time you get to restocking, some of those little details will have already slipped your mind. But the list never forgets.

As soon as you’re done with something on the list, just cross it out. It’s a quick and easy way to know you’re all done with whatever that task was.

The list can be anything, but this is what I use it most for.

I hate having the on-coming crew look through the truck and tell me all the things I forgot to restock.

Questions

Sometimes, questions come up on calls you weren’t prepared to answer.

It could be you forgetting the dopamine clock and this is a reminder to refresh yourself when you return to the station. It might be something weird you saw in a call that you want to ask another medic the doctor at the ER about.

Doesn’t really matter what the question is, write it down.

With the high speed and hectic nature of our jobs, those little questions get drowned in all the other information we’re taking in. By the time we make it home, we don’t even remember we had a question. Forget remembering what it even was.

And if we aren’t regularly asking questions, we aren’t growing as providers.

Medical Information

Here’s where we can break all HIPPA laws.

Okay, I’m kidding. If I can avoid it I never put HIPPA information anywhere someone could find it. I doubt it would come up but I like to cover my ass where I can.

This is where I write down anything that might be relevant to pass on at the hospital.

Medications, allergies, viral trends, it all goes in the notebook.

I can also use it to jot down information from crazy scenes. What the damage to the car looked like, condition of the house. Just things I want to remember later.

The more information you can get on your patient the better.

There’s a lot we aren’t going to do anything with in the field. However, the hospital might. A penicillin allergen doesn’t really help me at all, but the hospital staff better know before they start giving IV antibiotics.

Quick Reference

We pick up a lot of very specific information in our careers.

Sometimes, that information is only useful on certain occasions. So we forget it. No use memorizing something we run into once every three months.

But when we need to find it, we need to find it fast.

That’s why I use my notebook as a personal quick reference guide.

It has only the things I really need in it. That means I can keep it pretty short and sweet. It’s not for the general public, just so I have a little guidebook when I need it.

For example…

My district has some areas that our normal radio channels won’t work in. We don’t go there often so I tend to forget what channel to switch to and where to switch at. The back of my notebook has a whole little page dedicated to that.

And I always make these reference pages the back of the book.

I want to know exactly where it is. The back of the book just makes sense to me. And yes it carries over from book to book. Whenever I get a new notebook, I migrate all my quick reference info to the back of the new one.

As my career goes on the guide is constantly changing.

Sometimes it gets smaller. Not everything needs to stay forever. Eventually I’ll memorize those radio channels.

Or it gets bigger. I find new little things I think would be useful to have on hand.

It’s your notebook, fill it with whatever you need.

Tear Away Notes

Sometimes you need to be able to give away information.

Your patient has suddenly forgot how to Google the address of the nearest Urgent Care and expects you to do it.

Fine, you look it up.

But now you have to wait for someone’s grandpa to try and figure out the notes app on their phone. Nope, not today.

Just scribble that address on a blank page, rip it out, and hand it over.

Plus I will never, ever, just start sending people information from my phone. I don’t need my patients having any access to my phone number.

Flexibility

Nothing will ever be as adaptable as a piece of paper.

No app will do what your notebook can exactly the way you want it. That’s why I like the physical pen and paper notebook over the phone.

I can format vitals however I want.

I can jump to the next page and have a list of trainings to complete and equipment to restock. Or maybe it’s my workout log from the day.

It really doesn’t matter. You can set up your notebook however you like.

Just make it yours. Make it useful. And above ask else, make it easy. If you make this too complicated you’ll never actually use it and it’ll just rot away in your pocket.

RESOURCES

Our shifts are fundamentally unpredictable.

We can’t plan for what the day holds. That’s why most organization or productivity advice doesn’t work for us.

But if you want a really cool way to start using your notebook that’s super simple, try Bullet Journaling. I could never explain it as good as the guy who invented it so check out this video on Bullet Journaling below.

As for what notebooks to use, it can be anything.

These tiny softcover books are great, easy to carry, and super cheap. It’s what I started with.

Field Notes or Moleskine are what I use now. Field Notes are super easy to fit in your pocket but I kind of like the Moleskine quality.

Or choose something else all together.

Rite in the Rain has a great weather proof notebook you can pick up through Amazon. Plus it’s templated for vitals if you don’t care for the blank page.

So give it a try and let me know how it goes for you!

And you can find all our other recommended resources here.