Starting in 7 weeks...

I am getting very excited to begin the paramedic program, now less than two months away. I have secured my little apartment near the college, have started to pack and am starting to get all the orientation information. It sounds like a busy first semester, I have 8 courses! In university, the max I ever had was 5, so that worries me a bit. Here is an overview of my courses and my thoughts on them, since I've been fighting bronchitis for the last 2 months and haven't done anything remotely exciting in the field.

Writing Skills
Not too worried about this one, I think I know how to read and write very well. I've read hundreds of journal articles and written reviews of them, done presentations in front of scads of people and have written massively long reports and essays. I think I should be ok in this course.

Phys. Ed
This concerns me the most of any course, actually. I've been sick for 2 months and hve done very little physical activity, my lung capacity is next to nothing and my muscles have all but atrophied. It will take some hard work, but I know I can build my strength and cardio back up and become a red-headed powerhouse again. ....I hope.

Assessment and Treatment Skills
I am looking forward to this, I love patient assessment, I love learning about the body and everything that can go wrong. I think my enthusiasm for this course should serve me well and it won't be too difficult.

Patient Care Lab
Hopefully my volunteer experiences in patient care will give me an edge here, but I know I have a lot to learn to enhance my skill set. There is a 190 lb lifting portion to this course that I will have to work on, but I can do it.

Medical Legal
This course studies all the regulations governing ambulances and paramedics in the province, especially concerning patient care and privacy. I wonder where this blog fits into that....?

Intro Psychology
I've taken several university psych courses, but I'm interested to see the slant towards paramedicine that will happen in this course. Shouldn't be difficult, given my background, but it will be fascinating.

Clinical
AWESOME!!! I can't wait for this, I want to be out in those trucks right now! Haha, I'm not eager at all...

Anatomy and Physiology
Cells, tissues, organs, microbiology and diseases, bring it ON! My favourite course in university was an amazing A&P course in 2nd year, the prof was amazing and I learned a lot. This course should be great, I'm looking forward to it as well.

Well, there is an overview of everything I'm doing in 7 weeks...not that I'm counting, or anything. ;) Basically, I'm a little worried about the physical portion, not too worried about the academic portion and awesomely excited about it all. Now I just need to spend 800 bucks on textbooks and hope my 8-year old computer doesn't fry. Gotta love school though!

Fresh Eyes

My feet are sore, my muscles are aching and I'm exhausted....but I wouldn't trade it for the world. The festival today was a lot of fun, I had great partners, great calls and great food, not to mention very cute cops. I've really moved into a teaching role lately, mentoring the new members like John did for me is very rewarding, although sometimes very hard work.

One new recruit is my particular favourite, a spirited and lively girl that we shall call Katie. She is all excited over benign calls, she loves to jump on the radio first - just so she can use it, and she is incredibly eager to learn, taking instruction and criticism very well. She reminds me of how I was a few years ago, she's a lot of fun. One of my favourite new members, although a seasoned responder, is Carlos. He is excellent with patient care, one of the best in the division, and always kind and sweet with a ready smile and quick joke. Working with the two of them is a dream.

After sending two patients out with ems, one super drunk/altered LOC and one drunk/seizure and were wandering around the beer area. Carlos, Frank and Katie went to check out Joe, who was drinking but saying he shouldn't be because of his heart meds. I was watching them work, flirting with talking to the cops, when I heard Carlos raise his voice, "Joe! Joe! Joe, open your eyes!" I glance over and see the man slump in his chair, his body beginning to jerk and convulse. Carlos grabs his top, Frank grabs his bottom and I remove the chair as we lower him to the ground.

I stand back and watch as they treat, hooking up oxygen, grabbing the suction, writing down vitals, all the necessary but extra stuff, and let my responders work. Carlos is excellent, Frank and Katie are learning fast and are very eager, Joe is in good hands. My new cop friends call ems for us and in no time at all, we bundle him off to the hospital to get checked out, told the same thing as last time, and booted back onto the street to get stupid drunk again.

Katie is so excited she can't stand still. She goes over the details of the call, what we did, how we did it, picking apart everything. She is ecstatic at how many "awesome" patients she had tonight (count: 3 - all in various stages of drunkenness), and how she is totally in love with this job. I watch her excitement and grin, feeling my own love for this coming back. It's easy to forget how much I loved it when I first began, sometimes it takes a fresh-eyed, eager young member to remind me.

Drowning in Paperwork

In 3 months I start the paramedic program, and I'm starting to get quite excited. There are a lot of very big, very fast changes going on right now, and I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get it all done. In the span of a few months, I'm graduating university, buying a car, getting my own apartment, moving to a different city and starting the paramedic program.

As well, before I start the program I need to track down all my immunization records, possibly getting a few to get them up-to-date, get a police check, a TB test, a mask fit and collect proof of all my current certifications. Sometimes it seems like I'm drowning in paperwork to try to get everything done!

I am looking forward to September though, it's going to be a wonderful switch from university - which has been almost entirely theory based. I'm excited to start clinical placements and actually apply what I've learned. It's going to be hard work, but I can't wait to start it.

You killed Fluffy!

I was teaching a lesson on head injuries a while back, ending with scenarios, as usual. The scenario I came up with involved a person riding their bike, swerving to miss a cat named Fluffy, and hitting a tree. One of the members had brought her small son with her, who was sitting quietly in his corner and raptly watching Mommy treat the patient. She called me a few days later to tell me the following story...

Driving home down a country road with Kenny in the back seat, I noticed a small rabbit jump out of the ditch just in front of the car. "Oh no!" I thought, "It's Fluffy, and if I swerve I'll hit a tree and get a head injury!" With the scenario from training in my mind, I stoically held course, hitting the rabbit but staying on the road and away from the trees. Hoping Kenny hadn't seen anything, I kept driving as if nothing had happened.

Childish laughter from the backseat surprised me as Kenny spoke up, "Mommy, it was Fluffy! You killed Fluffy!!" He got a kick out of it, but I had to open my big mouth, "No, honey, Fluffy was a cat, that was a rabbit." So much for making it better, the laughter stopped and his eyes welled up in tears, "You killed the Easter Bunny! Mom, you killed the Easter Bunny!" Now he was bawling his little eyes out, "Good move", I thought, mentally kicking myself. "No, no, honey, that was way too small to be the Easter Bunny, he's much bigger!" This thought placated my crying son, and he turned off the waterworks, only to start giggling again. "Mommy killed Fluffy! You did, you killed Fluffy!" Apparently hitting a cat is funny, but killing the Easter Bunny is a horrific crime.

The Next Step

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." ~Confucius

I love volunteering; treating patients and being in uniform are two of the most enjoyed parts of my life. I love being on duty, seeing new things, meeting new people, facing challenges and always adapting to new situations. I would do this every day if I could, I can think of no other career I would prefer. This brings me to my next step, since I graduate university this spring.

I have been accepted to the Paramedic Program at one of the best colleges in the area, I will begin the 2-year process this September. I am ridiculously excited, I've been wanting to do this for a while. I know the job is not all fun and excitement, I've already been bled on, puked on, frozen in the winter, boiled in the summer, bored out of my mind and so exhausted I couldn't sleep when my shift was finally done. I just love it, I can't explain why or how, I just do.

My goal is to kick butt in the program, since everything that I don't learn will come back to bite me on the street. I know my degree will generally count for squat, I need to work my tail off to be good, nay, to excel as a paramedic on the street. Although I'm not giving up my volunteer position, this blog will inevitably begin to chronicle my progress through school and calls I get while on the road with my preceptors. I'm excited for the change!!

The call comes over the radio and Ryan and I respond to a fall in the front lobby of the hockey arena. An elderly woman has taken her walker down the escalator and ended up falling down the last few steps. I take the call and carefully start assessing her, the poor woman has a slight mental impairment, a host of medical problems and is frightened and shaking like a leaf.

I check her shoulders and neck, running my fingers along her collarbone to assess stability. I check both her arms, running my hands down the bones to feel for deformities or swelling, watching her face for grimaces or any other indication of pain. All I find is a tender bruise starting to swell up just above her elbow; pulses, mobility, sensation, grip strength and everything else is normal. I check everything, running through the full assessment just to be sure. As I release her from my care, I tell her all I found was the bruise on her arm, but to go to the doctor and get checked out later if anything continues to hurt. Completely confident in my assessment and treatment, I fill out my paperwork and contently return to our seats in the stands to watch the end of the game.

Two weeks later, she approaches me at another game, her arm encased in a very supportive sling. "You know my arm that you said was just bruised?" She says with a slightly accusatory tone, "It turns out I broke my collarbone. I went to the doctor and it hurt more than all of my surgeries put together." Slightly dumbfounded, I stammer out an apologetic response while trying not to second-guess my basic assessment skills. As we part, I turn to Ryan in shame, "I thought I nailed that call, I checked everything! She had no pain, no swelling, no deformity, no instability, no nothing!" I barely hear his consolatory response as I'm lost in my own embarrassed thoughts.

I know I wouldn't have run that call differently if I came across it again, but I still feel bad that I missed it. I thought my skills were oh-so-good, I was getting cocky, especially in front of the newer members. I guess we all need to be knocked back to earth occasionally, even if its by something as simple as a broken collarbone.

Discord

The performer revels in the adoration, the screams and cheers of thousands of fans. He hears them scream his name, sing every lyric of every song and raucously applaud everything he says or does. I hear the scream for help, the cry of a frightened fan with blood running down her face. I hear security shout for me as yet another person staggers out and collapses against a pole, or is carried out by anxious friends. I hear the same stories time and time again, from nearly every patient who walks through our doors.

He sees them jump up and down with excitement, he sees the wide smiles on their faces, the signs splashed with his name and his T-shirts on every body. He sees attractive young women winking at him and smiling suggestively as they bare much in their concert attire. I see the police hauling yet another obnoxious drunk out of the crowd, tossing him out before he creates yet another patient for me. I see the blood hit the floor, drying into deep red-purple stains, a surprisingly beautiful colour against the dingy tile. I see knees buckle as people collapse, their pale and sweaty faces showing fear through their weakness. I watch the crowd closely, picking out those who will soon join me, seeing potential patients in every corner. I see a scantily clad woman fighting to stay upright on huge heels as she stumbles around in a drunken haze, eventually failing miserably and hitting the floor in a pile of skin, makeup and beer.

He smells the smoke from the pyrotechnics mingling with the odour of alcohol and sweat from the massive crowd. I smell the fruity tropical drinks in the vomit my young patient is spewing everywhere, I smell the alcohol on the breath of every patient who stumbles in. I smell smoke and blood, beer and vomit. The inescapable odour permeates my uniform and my hair, searing itself into my very pores.

He feels the thunderous bass shaking the stage beneath his feet, he feels the touch of frantic hands against his feet, his legs, his hands. I feel the grip of a drunk young woman on my hand, her fingers locking through mine in a desperate attempt to regain stability. I feel the swelling grow in a broken nose, I feel my sweat on my forehead as I try to stem the ever-rising tide into the first aid post.

He sings of the glories of alcohol, I see none of it. The young women who came in attractively dressed now slump to the floor, skirts riding up and shirts hanging low, with no control over themselves. Men who come in quietly leave with an escort of blue, or stumble out in a cloud of profanity. I spend the entire evening treating what alcohol has done to these people, and can't help but realize the discord between my experience and the ones glorified in his songs.