The season of clinicals has begun. Tomorrow will be my last day without a clinical till the end of March (not counting spring break). So far, clinicals have been pretty good. The last few have been relatively slow, but the calls have been good ones, real head-scratchers, as it were. A diabetic with N/V/D who was extremely diaphoretic, whose 12-lead showed an inferior infarct. We gave him NTG, and it bottomed his BP from 170-ish/110-ish to 70-ish/40-ish. WOW! Yesterday I was at a station that was a block from the hospital, so we didn't do a whole lot of interventions, but we had 2 combative patients (one I had to put in an arm lock to keep him from punching me and the other providers), and an unresponsive.
So far the semester has been hectic. More papers, more homework, more quizes, etc have me running in circles. I'm actually kind of glad that the last few clinicals have been slow, since it gave me an opportunity to catch up on homework and get a little bit ahead. I almost feel like a single mother, what with the dogs and all, although I have the ability to leave a 1 year old and an 8 year old alone for 8 hours and the state won't lock me up. I have a whole new-found respect for my mother and Epi who worked, went to school, or both, with children who couldn't be left alone for hours on end. Luckily, I have a very good friend who works and lives not far, who is willing to swing by and let the dogs out and feed them when I am in class or clinical. Next week is EMS Today, which I will be at on Friday, and maybe Saturday morning. We have an assignment associated with the Exhibit Hall, so I won't be able to take any classes, but will be available for dinner and drinks after if anyone is interested.
In other news, the large amounts of snow we got are melting, and my yard has puddles all over it. The wind in the past few days has dried out a lot of it, especially since it came with a little bit of sun. The lilies are coming up, and I have to divide them as soon as they are up a bit more. C is planning a fence around the gardens, since Kaylee has found her way through the wire ones we put up last summer. The veggies that can be started inside are started, and the herbs are going as well. Most things are going in containers because we just don't have the space.
And now, I have to use the last few free hours I have today to go prune my roses and pull up some weeds. It's cold and windy outside, but the sun is a-shinin'.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
And so it begins...
First off, I have survived the epic snows of DC. No crashes, no roof cave-ins, all is well here. See pictures of my dogs and neighborhood here. Look under the Weather gallery, under Snowmageddon 2010. I haven't minded all the snow as much as some people (it kind of reminds me of high school in NEPA, when the snow actually stayed on the ground for more than 2 days), though it's been hell on my schedule. I had just started getting into the swing of classes again after winter break, and then we had a week off. Though I did get in some good hours at the fire house.
Secondly, perhaps in reaction to the large amounts of snow in my yard, I have started my seedlings for the spring. We are trying to have a modified veggie garden, in containers on the porch. We don't have very good soil, and we don't have the money to build raised beds. So, the herbs go in the bed by the house which is the oldest and therefore has the best soil, and the veggies will go in the containers, and we are co-opping with a friend for use of her porch as well.
Thirdly, we have started clinicals. I have to have 200 hours by the end of April, essentially. Thankfully, due to my schedule, I didn't have to make any hours up because of all the snow days we've had this week (haven't been to school since last Thursday).
The most interesting thing I've experienced at clinical so far is the lack of plowed roads in the county I was in on Friday. There were a lot of unplowed roads, and therefore a lot of patients that had to come out by Hum Vee. I've never had to do that before, and it was an experience. It also netted me my first ride in a Hum Vee (the story of that call will be told in a different post). The hospital clinicals have been cool, since I'm at Johns Hopkins. WOW!!! That's all I have to say about that. The doctors let me watch them do all kinds of stuff. The first time I was there I 'assisted' (as in, I helped the patient stay on their side, and handed the doc stuff) while the doctor drained an abscess on someone's side. This week I watched some surgeons drain some seroma from a patient's abdomen. Rather than send the patient upstairs, the surgeons come down to do the minor things. Very cool.
So far my schedule isn't too bad. I'm short one hospital clinical shift, and 4 medic unit shifts, but I do have a few open days I can use. And I can pull a hospital shift during the week (since I'm practically guaranteed to be able to leave on time. So I've got some time.
And now, to print out my clinical journals, and go to bed.
Secondly, perhaps in reaction to the large amounts of snow in my yard, I have started my seedlings for the spring. We are trying to have a modified veggie garden, in containers on the porch. We don't have very good soil, and we don't have the money to build raised beds. So, the herbs go in the bed by the house which is the oldest and therefore has the best soil, and the veggies will go in the containers, and we are co-opping with a friend for use of her porch as well.
Thirdly, we have started clinicals. I have to have 200 hours by the end of April, essentially. Thankfully, due to my schedule, I didn't have to make any hours up because of all the snow days we've had this week (haven't been to school since last Thursday).
The most interesting thing I've experienced at clinical so far is the lack of plowed roads in the county I was in on Friday. There were a lot of unplowed roads, and therefore a lot of patients that had to come out by Hum Vee. I've never had to do that before, and it was an experience. It also netted me my first ride in a Hum Vee (the story of that call will be told in a different post). The hospital clinicals have been cool, since I'm at Johns Hopkins. WOW!!! That's all I have to say about that. The doctors let me watch them do all kinds of stuff. The first time I was there I 'assisted' (as in, I helped the patient stay on their side, and handed the doc stuff) while the doctor drained an abscess on someone's side. This week I watched some surgeons drain some seroma from a patient's abdomen. Rather than send the patient upstairs, the surgeons come down to do the minor things. Very cool.
So far my schedule isn't too bad. I'm short one hospital clinical shift, and 4 medic unit shifts, but I do have a few open days I can use. And I can pull a hospital shift during the week (since I'm practically guaranteed to be able to leave on time. So I've got some time.
And now, to print out my clinical journals, and go to bed.
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