A couple of things in a quick drive-by post as I procrastinate doing things to prepare myself for my trip in 2 weeks.
Three months ago, my resting HR was up around 86 or so. The other day, my resting HR was 72. Still not breathing super well on my bikes and runs, but what do you want with asthma? I may not have lost any weight, but at least I have proof that SOMETHING good is happening from all this training.
I am sitting here with an ice pack on my left ankle. No real increased swelling, but the normal swelling is there. Lots of aching around the lateral malleolus, mostly under and behind it. Some pain around the medial malleolus, but not as much. My chiropractor has been 'popping' it back into place every few weeks (yes, I go to a chiropractor, but do not rely on him to diagnose any major health problems. He's there to readjust my back and shoulders, because my musculature and connective tissue pulls my bones in randomly strange directions, and it helps to have someone trained to put them back where they belong. Because, as one of my orthopedists have said, my joints are hypermobile, I'm too young for surgery to correct the most severe of them, so I just have to suck it up and deal.) Anyway, main chiropractor is on vacation, so stand-in chiropractor adjusts my ankle because it's really been painful lately. He asked what I had done to it, and I said I didn't know (because, really, I don't). I told him I rolled it a lot, with some pain that didn't last long. Lots of rebound tenderness around the medial and lateral malleolli (?) but I couldn't really trace it to any specific time. I mean, my ankle has been rolling around randomly since I was a kid. He suggested I go to an orthopod and get it x-rayed, and possibly an MRI, as he suspected a 'chronic sprain'. The conservative treatment for which is 2 months in a cast, followed by extensive physical therapy. Aggressive treatment would be surgery to fix the ligaments and tendons in place, prevented any sideways motion.
Yeah, no thanks.
He also suggested a more aggressive ankle brace. So I picked one up, to be used when I'm just walking around and hanging out. For fencing, running ,etc, I have kinesiology tape. (love this stuff, and no, they don't pay me)
In other news...I have been promoted to sergeant at my volunteer department. It's on the EMS side (there is a large division between fire and EMS). I'm not sure what my duties will be, other than pulling a duty week every 6 weeks or so, and heading up a clean-up crew. It has been hinted that I will be the one in charge of the duty calendar, but that remains to be seen. I will also be helping with drills and training, and will likely have one drill a month to organize and run. I have several ideas for drills, but if anyone has some ideas for drills they like for EMS folks) many of which have little experience, I'm all ears.
I find myself irritated with people who are in charge of things who don't let you know when something has happened. How am I supposed to meet my requirements by the deadline if I am not given the full amount of time/information until halfway to the deadline? I understand people are busy, but how long does it take to shoot off an email or something?
Which reminds me...I need to send off a few emails....
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Officially official, and other things
I got my disco patch in the mail the other week. I am now officially a paramedic. Now all I have to do is get my state certification.
In other news, I recently read this post by Rogue Medic. The part at the bottom about MD scaling back helicopter transports is what got me. Now, I have to say...when I first moved to MD, I was astounded at what patients they would view as needing to fly. Patients with a fractured femur who were less than 10 minutes from a Level II trauma center. Patient's who were alert and oriented appropriately, although drunk as skunks, who had not lost consciousness during the collision, who wanted to REFUSE TO FLY (the patient was talked into flying to a Level II center that was approximately 30 minutes by ground).
Since the crash of Trooper 2, the state of MD has 'cracked down' on the use of medivac flights, which I fully support. Way too many patients are flown without need. The problem we are seeing, however, is in areas that do not have close access to specialty centers. For example, the closest eye center to my area is over an hour away (I admit that this is not a hugely long distance for some, and indeed, when I lived in PA, I wouldn't have considered this an abnormally long distance). Some time ago I had a patient who had been struck in the face with some kind of broken glass, and the wound involved the eye. The patient was complaining of severe pain, and was unable to see out of the affected eye (there was also EtOH involved). I called for an ALS unit (technically we are not permitted to call specifically for pain management, but I do it anyway), and consulted with the eye center. The eye center accepted the patient, but would not authorize a helicopter to transport the patient because the vitals were stable. The medic was upset, given that the trip is about 1.5 hours one way, but to my mind, that was the correct call. (The fact that the medic only asked for and got orders to give the patient 4mg of morphine total is another post all together).
A more recent call saw a patient mangle their thumb on a table saw. There was significant involvement to the bone of the thumb, though the only portion of thumb recovered at the scene was the fleshy part. The medic who was dispatched (I was on the BLS unit) consulted with the local 'chop shop' hospital (they can't deal with more than the most basic of emergencies) and the hand center, which is about 1.5 hours away. Once again, the patient's vitals were stable, bleeding was controlled, though the patient was in a fair bit of pain. To be honest, I am unsure of what exactly was said on the consult (I was in the back of the ambo with the patient), but the hand center refused to allow the patient to fly (again, a decision I was perfectly comfortable with). Here is where things get sticky. Per our protocols, a patient with a full or partial amputation of any finger or thumb should be transported to the nearest specialty hand center (there is only one in MD actually). I classified our patient as priority 3, as he was stable, but he did potentially require 'time sensitive intervention' at the hand center (I'm no hand doc, and while I suspected nothing could have been done for the thumb, I have no earthly clue what they could have actually done). The medic on scene made the decision that the patient would go to the local hospital, rather than be driven the 1.5 hours to the hand center. And, as far as I was made aware, this was because the state protocols also state that if the trauma center or specialty center is more than 30 minutes away, the patient should be taken to the local ER. So the patient lost half the thumb, because this was not something the local ER was equipped for.
Again, I have no clue what they would have done at the specialty center. The remainder of the thumb was pretty mangled, but I have no idea what would have happened.
Which brings me to the point of this post. I am not in any way, shape, or form advocating more medivac flights. Not even a little bit. However, much of the state protocols are written for the areas that are closest to the main hospitals. Those of us who are father out from the specialty centers and trauma centers are left handicapped. We can't fly if the patient is stable and the doc at the trauma or specialty center says no, but protocols don't generally allow for transporting more than 30 minutes away. From some areas I run calls in, the closest Level II trauma center is more than that.
Another example, as relayed by a medic at my station (a medic who I would trust with my life and the lives of my family...she's GOOD), was a patient who was in a fairly severe motorcycle wreck involving wildlife. The patient was alert and oriented, but a bit combative, and complaining of severe chest pain, and had been thrown a good distance. The medic, who feels the way I do about helicopters, consulted with the closest Level I center (in DC), and the closest Level II center (about 40 minutes without traffic), and requested a helicopter (not sure of the patient's vitals, but I suspect she was concerned about chest wall and/or heart and lung injury), and was denied. She transported by ground to the Level II, but was contacted later by one of the state medical directors and was given an "atta girl." The hospital that refused the request was 'spoken to.'
Anyway, those of us in the 'wilds' of MD, away from the major hospitals and such, are being hamstrung if we choose to follow protocol exactly. I have no problems transporting my patient by ground to a specialty center if their situation warrants it, regardless of how far it is (most of them are about 1.5 hours away, without traffic), but not all EMT's and medics are so willing to do so. Especially in the busier areas where taking a medic unit out of the area for 4 hours or more is a hardship to the rest of the area.
In other news, I recently read this post by Rogue Medic. The part at the bottom about MD scaling back helicopter transports is what got me. Now, I have to say...when I first moved to MD, I was astounded at what patients they would view as needing to fly. Patients with a fractured femur who were less than 10 minutes from a Level II trauma center. Patient's who were alert and oriented appropriately, although drunk as skunks, who had not lost consciousness during the collision, who wanted to REFUSE TO FLY (the patient was talked into flying to a Level II center that was approximately 30 minutes by ground).
Since the crash of Trooper 2, the state of MD has 'cracked down' on the use of medivac flights, which I fully support. Way too many patients are flown without need. The problem we are seeing, however, is in areas that do not have close access to specialty centers. For example, the closest eye center to my area is over an hour away (I admit that this is not a hugely long distance for some, and indeed, when I lived in PA, I wouldn't have considered this an abnormally long distance). Some time ago I had a patient who had been struck in the face with some kind of broken glass, and the wound involved the eye. The patient was complaining of severe pain, and was unable to see out of the affected eye (there was also EtOH involved). I called for an ALS unit (technically we are not permitted to call specifically for pain management, but I do it anyway), and consulted with the eye center. The eye center accepted the patient, but would not authorize a helicopter to transport the patient because the vitals were stable. The medic was upset, given that the trip is about 1.5 hours one way, but to my mind, that was the correct call. (The fact that the medic only asked for and got orders to give the patient 4mg of morphine total is another post all together).
A more recent call saw a patient mangle their thumb on a table saw. There was significant involvement to the bone of the thumb, though the only portion of thumb recovered at the scene was the fleshy part. The medic who was dispatched (I was on the BLS unit) consulted with the local 'chop shop' hospital (they can't deal with more than the most basic of emergencies) and the hand center, which is about 1.5 hours away. Once again, the patient's vitals were stable, bleeding was controlled, though the patient was in a fair bit of pain. To be honest, I am unsure of what exactly was said on the consult (I was in the back of the ambo with the patient), but the hand center refused to allow the patient to fly (again, a decision I was perfectly comfortable with). Here is where things get sticky. Per our protocols, a patient with a full or partial amputation of any finger or thumb should be transported to the nearest specialty hand center (there is only one in MD actually). I classified our patient as priority 3, as he was stable, but he did potentially require 'time sensitive intervention' at the hand center (I'm no hand doc, and while I suspected nothing could have been done for the thumb, I have no earthly clue what they could have actually done). The medic on scene made the decision that the patient would go to the local hospital, rather than be driven the 1.5 hours to the hand center. And, as far as I was made aware, this was because the state protocols also state that if the trauma center or specialty center is more than 30 minutes away, the patient should be taken to the local ER. So the patient lost half the thumb, because this was not something the local ER was equipped for.
Again, I have no clue what they would have done at the specialty center. The remainder of the thumb was pretty mangled, but I have no idea what would have happened.
Which brings me to the point of this post. I am not in any way, shape, or form advocating more medivac flights. Not even a little bit. However, much of the state protocols are written for the areas that are closest to the main hospitals. Those of us who are father out from the specialty centers and trauma centers are left handicapped. We can't fly if the patient is stable and the doc at the trauma or specialty center says no, but protocols don't generally allow for transporting more than 30 minutes away. From some areas I run calls in, the closest Level II trauma center is more than that.
Another example, as relayed by a medic at my station (a medic who I would trust with my life and the lives of my family...she's GOOD), was a patient who was in a fairly severe motorcycle wreck involving wildlife. The patient was alert and oriented, but a bit combative, and complaining of severe chest pain, and had been thrown a good distance. The medic, who feels the way I do about helicopters, consulted with the closest Level I center (in DC), and the closest Level II center (about 40 minutes without traffic), and requested a helicopter (not sure of the patient's vitals, but I suspect she was concerned about chest wall and/or heart and lung injury), and was denied. She transported by ground to the Level II, but was contacted later by one of the state medical directors and was given an "atta girl." The hospital that refused the request was 'spoken to.'
Anyway, those of us in the 'wilds' of MD, away from the major hospitals and such, are being hamstrung if we choose to follow protocol exactly. I have no problems transporting my patient by ground to a specialty center if their situation warrants it, regardless of how far it is (most of them are about 1.5 hours away, without traffic), but not all EMT's and medics are so willing to do so. Especially in the busier areas where taking a medic unit out of the area for 4 hours or more is a hardship to the rest of the area.
Friday, June 17, 2011
It's official....
But not officially official,yet, if you know what I mean. I have been duly informed by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians that, with the passing score I earned on the computer test, provided I pass my psychomotor skills test, I will be granted the dubious honor of becoming a paramedic. Of course, I passed the skills test on June 4th.
Two years of my life, and countless hours driving back and forth to class and clinical, and I am done. The disco patch will soon be in the mail. There are times when I still wonder if I went the right route. If I should have stayed with the whole biology thing, and kept on looking for a job (usually those thoughts came when I got calls from biotech recruiters while in school). I realized with about a week or 2 left of school that I had made the right decision.
How did I know?
I stopped biting my finger nails.
For as long as I can remember, I've been a nail biter. Bored, stress, whatever...I bit my nails down to the quick and beyond. Nothing I or anyone else (read: my mother) did stopped me from biting my nails. Bribery, threats, funny tasting chemicals, tips, polish; all went by the wayside in my single-minded attempt to chew my nails down. Usually boredom was the problem.
So imagine my surprise when, with just a few weeks left till class, and theoretically the most stressful time I could be going through (finals, graduation, NREMT tests), I realized I had no desire to bite my nails anymore. I still am not biting my nails. And while I am still stressed (finding a job, state protocol test, etc) I am not biting my nails still.
Who knew that getting into a field you really liked would make such an immediate difference?
Of course, after playing a bit of frisbee with some of the kids at the station today, and breaking a nail, I realized why have longer nails is not such a good idea given my activity levels.
Anyway, I am now a NREMT-P. The card is in the mail.
May God have mercy on my souls (and the souls of my patients).
Two years of my life, and countless hours driving back and forth to class and clinical, and I am done. The disco patch will soon be in the mail. There are times when I still wonder if I went the right route. If I should have stayed with the whole biology thing, and kept on looking for a job (usually those thoughts came when I got calls from biotech recruiters while in school). I realized with about a week or 2 left of school that I had made the right decision.
How did I know?
I stopped biting my finger nails.
For as long as I can remember, I've been a nail biter. Bored, stress, whatever...I bit my nails down to the quick and beyond. Nothing I or anyone else (read: my mother) did stopped me from biting my nails. Bribery, threats, funny tasting chemicals, tips, polish; all went by the wayside in my single-minded attempt to chew my nails down. Usually boredom was the problem.
So imagine my surprise when, with just a few weeks left till class, and theoretically the most stressful time I could be going through (finals, graduation, NREMT tests), I realized I had no desire to bite my nails anymore. I still am not biting my nails. And while I am still stressed (finding a job, state protocol test, etc) I am not biting my nails still.
Who knew that getting into a field you really liked would make such an immediate difference?
Of course, after playing a bit of frisbee with some of the kids at the station today, and breaking a nail, I realized why have longer nails is not such a good idea given my activity levels.
Anyway, I am now a NREMT-P. The card is in the mail.
May God have mercy on my souls (and the souls of my patients).
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Halfway there
Graduation has occurred, though I wasn't actually there to experience the joy that comes from sitting in a hot room with 3000 of my not-so-closest friends while listening to boring speeches. Figured I'd already been there, and done that, so I skipped. The fact that I got back from Florida the day before, where I had approximately 4 hours of sleep over the course of 5 days, walked around the parks all day long, and battled feet covered in blisters was a large part in my decision to stay home that day.
The National Registry practical has come and gone. I passed with one retest on an oral board. Now I'm just waiting for them to send me my stuff so I can choose a testing site and date for the written.
So now I look for a job. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of departments hiring right now, thanks to the economy. I will be putting in again for the alphabet agencies, such as FBI, DEA, ATF, and Marshals. I'm finding in myself another case of wanderlust, the intense need to travel again; to uproot my life completely and move somewhere else. I have that restless feeling that occurs every few years. Working for one of the agencies would satisfy that need to travel. But that need to travel and go places is competing with the feeling that I get from being a firefighter and EMT...that I am a member of something that is important. That I am helping people and am part of something larger than myself.
I have a hard time explaining this to people. The Engineer particularly has a hard time with it. He's one of those people who has known what they were going to do since they were little, because that's what mom or dad did. He has no desire to move around, and travel more than for a brief vacation, and even then, he doesn't have much desire to do even that. He is not equipped to understand where I am coming from, and where my 'adventurous' streak (as he calls it) longs to take me.
So, yeah. I'm trying to find a job now, anticipating that I'll pass the written test in a few weeks. I'm attempting to curb my desire to uproot myself and my life (and my fiance) to get a job in a different state. In the meantime, I'm working out, my training schedule being derailed significantly by school, illness, travel and injury. I am running the Marine Corp 10K in October, and a sprint triathlon in September. Not to mention a friend's wedding in September, and my own in October.
The National Registry practical has come and gone. I passed with one retest on an oral board. Now I'm just waiting for them to send me my stuff so I can choose a testing site and date for the written.
So now I look for a job. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of departments hiring right now, thanks to the economy. I will be putting in again for the alphabet agencies, such as FBI, DEA, ATF, and Marshals. I'm finding in myself another case of wanderlust, the intense need to travel again; to uproot my life completely and move somewhere else. I have that restless feeling that occurs every few years. Working for one of the agencies would satisfy that need to travel. But that need to travel and go places is competing with the feeling that I get from being a firefighter and EMT...that I am a member of something that is important. That I am helping people and am part of something larger than myself.
I have a hard time explaining this to people. The Engineer particularly has a hard time with it. He's one of those people who has known what they were going to do since they were little, because that's what mom or dad did. He has no desire to move around, and travel more than for a brief vacation, and even then, he doesn't have much desire to do even that. He is not equipped to understand where I am coming from, and where my 'adventurous' streak (as he calls it) longs to take me.
So, yeah. I'm trying to find a job now, anticipating that I'll pass the written test in a few weeks. I'm attempting to curb my desire to uproot myself and my life (and my fiance) to get a job in a different state. In the meantime, I'm working out, my training schedule being derailed significantly by school, illness, travel and injury. I am running the Marine Corp 10K in October, and a sprint triathlon in September. Not to mention a friend's wedding in September, and my own in October.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Almost there
My paramedic program has several hoops for those of us hoping and wishing to get out and get on with life. In addition to the standard classes and finals and papers and so on, we have two comprehensive exams we have to take in order to be approved to test for national registry. One of those is a 'oral board review,' given to us by our medical director and some other person, sometimes a medical director, sometimes an experienced paramedic who is an alumni of the program. The questions were given to us at the beginning of the semester, mainly because the way our instructors made it sound, we had to answer these questions as if we were attempted to become board certified in some specific medical field. Questions such as 'What is the pathophysiology of cardiogenic shock? Include in your discussion the concepts of preload, afterload, right and left sided heart failure, systolic dysfunction and diastolic dysfunction. Also, describe the prehospital and emergency department treatments for cardiogenic shock.'
So yeah, there were 11 questions along those lines. We had to pick two numbers out of a box and those were the questions we would do.
To say that I was stressed out may be the understatement of the year. I cried on the way to school. Everytime I started laughing while talking with my classmates, I would start crying. I don't think I sat on the seat the whole time I was being questioned. And it wasn't nearly as bad as we were told it would be.
So the next stress point for me is the skills evaluation, which is next Monday. We use a Sim Man system, that breathes and everything. On Tuesday, I have my last final, and then I fly to Florida.
Because when I pass paramedic school, I'm going to Disney World.
Now if I can just kick this cold/allergies that is making me feel like my head is 3 sizes too big.
So yeah, there were 11 questions along those lines. We had to pick two numbers out of a box and those were the questions we would do.
To say that I was stressed out may be the understatement of the year. I cried on the way to school. Everytime I started laughing while talking with my classmates, I would start crying. I don't think I sat on the seat the whole time I was being questioned. And it wasn't nearly as bad as we were told it would be.
So the next stress point for me is the skills evaluation, which is next Monday. We use a Sim Man system, that breathes and everything. On Tuesday, I have my last final, and then I fly to Florida.
Because when I pass paramedic school, I'm going to Disney World.
Now if I can just kick this cold/allergies that is making me feel like my head is 3 sizes too big.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
So close I can taste it
Nearly there. Three more weeks until freedom rings...and I have to find a job.
Every thing I do at this point is a reminder that I am one step closer to that coveted and long-elusive paramedic card. Finished my paper, done with clinicals, took the practice test, last test in this class, last homework in that class...all a reminder that God-willing, I'll finally have my disco patch. Granted, it's worthless until I find a job, but the fact that I'll have it in my hot little hands is a good start.
Fifteen years ago I became an EMT-B because I wanted to make sure I could handle the stress of being a doctor. While in class I thought about becoming a medic, but would not have been able to handle the combined load of medic school (plus clinicals) on top of my 18-20 credit semesters for my undergrad. And the family wasn't happy about the EMT class...you can imagine what would have happened with the idea of medic school.
But the idea stayed with me. Through college, the failure to get into medical school (primarily a paperwork snafu that went unresolved, so that my applications were essentially circular filed), the failed attempt at nursing school, and several dead-end biotech jobs. EMS was the one thing I kept coming back to; the one thing that never bored me to tears or frustrated me until I wanted to totally quit and never come back. It was the one thing that made me "light up" as a friend said.
And on June 3rd, when I finish my practical test and am just waiting for them to send that card, I will have finally finished the journey I started all those years ago, when I was hoping just to gain a little extra knowledge before med school.
And the next person who says, "but you're so smart! You should be a doctor" will be shot.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Light!
My clinicals are officially over! I am that much closer to finishing. All I have to do now is finish my paper and the presentation that goes with it, pass my oral boards, 2 more tests and a final.
Hardly anything....*snort*
Hardly anything....*snort*
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sometimes you wonder...
So, my question was this: Is this how the alarm company sent it to dispatch, or did dispatch come up with this as a summary?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sounds
There are many sounds I hate. I now have a new one.
The sound of a mother crying over her 18 year old child's body.
She was the one who found him unconscious, not breathing, with no pulse.
Pierced me to the heart, it did.
No parent should have to bury their child.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Surprise!!! Your turn!
It really sucks when you walk into drill night and the person charge says "Hey, remember those ideas for drill we were tossing around the other day? Why don't we do one of those!"
This is especially hard when you were talking about scenario-based drills and you haven't had the chance to come up with any scenarios. Not to mention that aside from you and the person in charge of drill there are only 2 other EMT's and everyone else isn't in class yet.
Still, I don't think I did too bad. I threw together an MCI drill, giving people slips of paper with various injuries on them, and told the EMT that they were first on scene and only had 2 more units coming immediately available, and to triage the patients. They then had to defend their decision. It made a lot of people stop and think about what triaging is supposed to do. I think I need to come up with a set of cards with various injuries on them so we can do this again.
Also, I suspect that I will be called into action again to help with drills, so if anyone had any ideas for good, relatively short drills, mainly for brandy-new EMT-B's and those that are basically first-aiders, please share. Also, any good calls that you could share (without violating HIPAA of course) would be helpful in making scenarios to help train the new kids.
Surprise!!! Your turn!
It really sucks when you walk into drill night and the person charge says "Hey, remember those ideas for drill we were tossing around the other day? Why don't we do one of those!"
This is especially hard when you were talking about scenario-based drills and you haven't had the chance to come up with any scenarios. Not to mention that aside from you and the person in charge of drill there are only 2 other EMT's and everyone else isn't in class yet.
Still, I don't think I did too bad. I threw together an MCI drill, giving people slips of paper with various injuries on them, and told the EMT that they were first on scene and only had 2 more units coming immediately available, and to triage the patients. They then had to defend their decision. It made a lot of people stop and think about what triaging is supposed to do. I think I need to come up with a set of cards with various injuries on them so we can do this again.
Also, I suspect that I will be called into action again to help with drills, so if anyone had any ideas for good, relatively short drills, mainly for brandy-new EMT-B's and those that are basically first-aiders, please share. Also, any good calls that you could share (without violating HIPAA of course) would be helpful in making scenarios to help train the new kids.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
More BLS than ALS
So, I consider the system I've spent most of my time in to be fairly lP optimal. Sure, it's not perfect, but compared to the other systems I've experienced over the past 1.5 years, it worked pretty well. For the most part, BLS calls were handled by BLS crews and ALS calls by ALS crews. Any overlap was due to dispatch and patient reporting, which is normal.
Compare that to a nearby area in which I spend a fair but of time for clinicals. While their system is similar to the one I am most familiar with, they seem to have far fewer BLS units. They also have required every recruit class in the past several years to become medics (at the least, EMT-I's). This means you have a whole bunch of ALS units running BLS calls, and a lot of medics getting burned out quickly.
And a bunch of medic students who getting a poor ALS clinical experience. In my time in that county, I can count on one hand the number of ALS calls I have had, over at least 120 hours.
Now, I know it may seem counter productive to complain...after all, if they want to pay me for being a glorified taxi driver, then by all means. And I understand the desire to provide advanced care for as many people as possible. But in this day and age with budgets being what they are, it may behoove departments to remember that our call volume is generally 80:20 BLS:ALS. It might be a better idea to have more BLS units and strategically place the ALS units to a better advantage. You may find you have better, less burnt out medics, and more money in the bank.
Then again, I'm just a student...what do I know?
Monday, February 21, 2011
Of Lionfish and laziness
Ok, so I haven't been super forthcoming recently. I blame school, and a general sense of malaise about the whole school thing. No, I'm not burnt out (except on school), but I am getting heartily bored of going to clinicals and getting shafted as far as calls go. Not that I'm wishing ill on anyone, but someone has to get sick or hurt in order for me to garner enough checks in the boxes to make the NR-EMT folks happy enough to let me test.
So, over semester break, I spent a lot of time at my volunteer house. Didn't get too many calls (my white cloud-ness continues even there), but the few I got were interesting. I did get to look all smart and stuff when we got a call for a lionfish sting (there was an episode of Bones that involved a lionfish stinging someone to death). It was literally around the corner from my station, and I googled it on my fancy new Android phone as we were pulling up to the place. Luckily, the patient had also used superior google-fu (though I suspect it was the kids who did it) and was already treating things in the correct manner. The patient could have gotten to the hospital on their own, but they were newish to the area, and hadn't had the pleasure of needing our lovely local ER's, and were unsure of how to get there. So, we had a lovely drive down, where I continued to google 'lionfish stings' and found that what happened was not so uncommon after all.
I also had the pleasure of seeing a patient in SVT (going from sinus tach to SVT) and helping the medic push adenosine, which failed to have the desired effect, but the patient converted anyway. I swear I see more interesting things at my own station with the medics than I do when I am at clinical.
Point in case: at a recent field clinical (in a system where the medics run everything from hangnails to heart attacks, and I'll leave it to you to guess which is more common), all but one of our calls was a BLS call. I did get the hard IV stick when called on, so the day wasn't lost completely for me. However, the last call took the cake, and was so ridiculous I couldn't find anything to warrant writing it up to count. The patient called because they had been constipated for several days and their back hurt. The patient had actually gone to work earlier in the day, and a family member was kind enough to ride to the hospital with us, leaving their perfectly good car at home. REALLY?????? Just when I think people can't amaze me anymore, I am proven wrong.
In other news, I've been busy training. Not just for paramedic school, oh no. Because I don't have enough on my plate right now, what with finishing school, attempting to graduate, studying for the NREMT-P tests, and planning a wedding, I have decided that it would be an excellent idea to begin training for a triathlon. this from someone who is woefully out of shape and has a hard time running up the stairs. I have started a Couch to 5K program (C25K), have a cheap, beat-up road bike on a bike trainer, and have been swimming at the pool on campus. Thankfully, my class schedule this semester allows for a bit more time in the mornings, which I take advantage of. It also gets me on campus earlier so I can get a good spot.
So I am looking at scheduling a mini-sprint triathlon locally. It's at the end of March, and is a bit backwards so no one freezes (generally the routine is swim, bike run...this one will be run, bike swim), with small distances (1.4 mi run, 4 mi bike, 250 m swim) that I think I can do without killing myself. The bad part is right now I have what I think is tendonitis in my right knee. My yearly physical is conveniently on Thursday, so I will be able to ask my doc what she thinks.
The general plan is that not only will the triathlon training get me motivated enough to keep working out, thus losing weight for the wedding, but it will also get me in sufficient shape to test for a fire department over the summer. At least, that's the plan, should any departments in the area actually scrounge up funds to hire a class.
So, over semester break, I spent a lot of time at my volunteer house. Didn't get too many calls (my white cloud-ness continues even there), but the few I got were interesting. I did get to look all smart and stuff when we got a call for a lionfish sting (there was an episode of Bones that involved a lionfish stinging someone to death). It was literally around the corner from my station, and I googled it on my fancy new Android phone as we were pulling up to the place. Luckily, the patient had also used superior google-fu (though I suspect it was the kids who did it) and was already treating things in the correct manner. The patient could have gotten to the hospital on their own, but they were newish to the area, and hadn't had the pleasure of needing our lovely local ER's, and were unsure of how to get there. So, we had a lovely drive down, where I continued to google 'lionfish stings' and found that what happened was not so uncommon after all.
I also had the pleasure of seeing a patient in SVT (going from sinus tach to SVT) and helping the medic push adenosine, which failed to have the desired effect, but the patient converted anyway. I swear I see more interesting things at my own station with the medics than I do when I am at clinical.
Point in case: at a recent field clinical (in a system where the medics run everything from hangnails to heart attacks, and I'll leave it to you to guess which is more common), all but one of our calls was a BLS call. I did get the hard IV stick when called on, so the day wasn't lost completely for me. However, the last call took the cake, and was so ridiculous I couldn't find anything to warrant writing it up to count. The patient called because they had been constipated for several days and their back hurt. The patient had actually gone to work earlier in the day, and a family member was kind enough to ride to the hospital with us, leaving their perfectly good car at home. REALLY?????? Just when I think people can't amaze me anymore, I am proven wrong.
In other news, I've been busy training. Not just for paramedic school, oh no. Because I don't have enough on my plate right now, what with finishing school, attempting to graduate, studying for the NREMT-P tests, and planning a wedding, I have decided that it would be an excellent idea to begin training for a triathlon. this from someone who is woefully out of shape and has a hard time running up the stairs. I have started a Couch to 5K program (C25K), have a cheap, beat-up road bike on a bike trainer, and have been swimming at the pool on campus. Thankfully, my class schedule this semester allows for a bit more time in the mornings, which I take advantage of. It also gets me on campus earlier so I can get a good spot.
So I am looking at scheduling a mini-sprint triathlon locally. It's at the end of March, and is a bit backwards so no one freezes (generally the routine is swim, bike run...this one will be run, bike swim), with small distances (1.4 mi run, 4 mi bike, 250 m swim) that I think I can do without killing myself. The bad part is right now I have what I think is tendonitis in my right knee. My yearly physical is conveniently on Thursday, so I will be able to ask my doc what she thinks.
The general plan is that not only will the triathlon training get me motivated enough to keep working out, thus losing weight for the wedding, but it will also get me in sufficient shape to test for a fire department over the summer. At least, that's the plan, should any departments in the area actually scrounge up funds to hire a class.
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