I was driving home from my best friends house tonight after Grey's Anatomy, when I saw flashing lights in my rearveiw. Along with the flashing lights was the distinctive sound that I have grown quite familar with. As the ambulance went flying past lights going, siren blaring, I felt a twinge of want. I want so bad to be back. Even though our system is going through a real hard time right now. From what I'm hearing from my coworkers we are losing Paramedics on a daily basis. And the ones leaving are good paramedics, seasoned paramedics. Moral is at the lowest it's been since I have been there. Every day there is at least four to five open slots. Medics and EMTs are being called back into work, making them work 24-36 hours. They are exhausted, tired of working, missing thier families. And the more they are forced, the more people quit and then the more people we lose the more open holes, which starts the cycle all over again. And the Ivory Tower aren't listening to the street people so it's making it hard for everyone. The Special Teams like the TEMS and TRMT teams can't train because there is nobody to work for the team members. So in some ways I want to be back, but in others I'm glad Im out for so long.
Healing is boring. I got my staples out on Friday and Everything looksa good. I have most of the strenth back in my left leg and the numbness for the most part is gone. I do still have somepain in my hip and leg, but according to my Doc's PA thats normal. My nerve had been "squashed" (yes, he really used that highly medical term to describe my injury) for quite some time, and so I will have some pain for a while. But my surgeon is very optimistic that I will be back to work, in full capacity by the end of june. He was funny, the evening of my surgery, he can to my room and spoke to me and my Dad. He told me that he had to fix me becasue of the tattoo. I has a cadusas on my lower back, I got it after my last incident with my back, right before I started EMS. It was for protection. He said that he couldn't cut through the tattoo, because it would be "just wrong" so he cut perfectly around it. He told me he and his staff were insipred by the tattoo.
I fell better now. I'm still learning to remember not to bend over, and that I can't sit for too long. I look like an asshole driving because I have to have my seat leaned back so I'm not sitting straight up. If I can't lean back at at least a 45 degree angle I have to stand, so during poker night, I'm standing, during Lucky Number Slevin I'm standing in the aisle at the movie theater and during Sunday night dinner and TV at my friends house, still standing. It sucks, but until the scar tissue formed the disc can rerupture. And I want to see the back of an ambulance again. So good news though. The county has approved 17 new Stryker Stretchers. The elecrical kind. So next year we might be getting new stretchers which hopefully will cut down on injuries. well thats it for now. until next time...
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13 comments:
you've probably had this question many times from foreign paramedics but i'm curious about these horrendously long shifts you work. I gather its longer for the rural stations than the urban ones but surely there's a max number of hours you can work. presumably if they "call you back in" for shifts beyond that limit do they give you the rest of the week's shits off? just being nosey. get well soon by the way
I'm so glad to hear you are doing better. Keep taking good care of you. Don't worry about the organization until you can get back to doing something productive.
Oops. That last one was from me.
No
on rural trucks (these are 24hour shifts) your max is 48 hours on the city trucks (12 hour shifts) the max is 36 hours...which by the way is a killer...
Now as for being "forced" to come back in the above rules apply. However if you work 24 on a rural truck, then sign up for 12 OT in the city trucks 24+12=36hours and you get forced the night shift you can't work it, even if it is on a rural truck. that 12 city shift makes it so you can only work a total of 36. However, if you do the same thing but instead of 12 hours on a city truck, you did it on a rural truck, you CAN work the second half on another rural truck because you can hour 48 hours on rural trucks. okay...this is really confusing. I have a post back in January that kinda explains our shifts and also our response codes. It's titles "you ask...I answer.
b-
B-
stone me!
Im not up to date with my british slang :) what does "stone me" mean?
B-
its like:
"cor blimey guvnor, would you adam-and-eve it? stone the crows! anyway me old china, whats 'appenin dahn your manor then?"
you see? its simple. I think a rough translation is:
"well uhh gee buddy, those shifts are such a bummer dude. another brewski?"
I was wondering about the translation too...
No
Ah okay..another way to say. Damn, that sucks?
B-
Yeah that sounds about right. or i should say "sorted geeza! spot on my old son!"
OK. If I had a blog I would be making some lengthy comments about Grey's Anatomy of last night.
No
I think I shall start talking like that....okay no not really. I think it would sound funny in a southern drawl.
Oh and I am still forming my thoughts on last night Grey's. Hmmm.
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