Promotion

Well it's offical now. I am no longer an "acting" crew cheif. I have offically earned my Sargent stripe, whicch means I have gottan a pay raise, my own truck and the ability to say to pateints that don't meet our transport criteria that they can get the hellout of the back of my ambulance because there is no way I'm taken their dumb ass to the hospital for a broken toe. It also means that I have to keep up with the keys to the controled meds (I can barely keep up with my car keys what the hell are they thinking giving my the keys to the narcs), make sure my very sweet, but very green partner doen't get himself killed because he keeps getting out of the truck on the interstate without a traffic vest, and figure out how the hell I am supposed to get the 400lb inablilty to ambulate down from the third floorto my awaiting truck in the driveway. (How did you get up here, you're on the third floor?!? Why didn't you stay on the sofa in the huge open living room right by the front door?) Actually, it's not a bad gig. I learning to like being in charge. As a crew member, you can't really say much. You just take it. But as a crew cheif, if your CM gets out of line, you can take thier radio from them. Only letting them speak on the radio when you tell them they can. And when working with ParaGods, you can put them in their place if need be. Teach them they don;t know everything and when to ask for help is not a sign of weakness or stupidity. It's just smart sometimes.

HAHAHHAAHA!

This is...well listen...
http://gprime.net/flash.php/llamasong

had to share, welcome to earworm hell

Angel of Death

Angel of Death. Dr. Death. Double Oh Seven. These are just a few of the names I have earned because of yesterday. You know when you are on your third uniform, you have had a bad shift. When you come home wearing you bunker boots because your work boots are soaked through with blood you have had a bad shift. When the Fire Dept keeps a tally on how many full arrests you have worked you have a had a bad shift. Two full Arrests, One traumatic Arrest (GSW who bleed 2 units of blood all over my boots), and six DOAs (one Nursing home and 5 from a massive 4 vehicle MVA that burned up) is the offical death count. Tweleve calls in 24 hours. The AutoPulse batteries didn't even have a chance to charge back up. The Monitor batteries also didn't have a chance to charge. And of course the AC goes out in the box and of course its 122 degrees in the shade and OF COURSE it was 100% humitiy. Oh and the memory card from the monitor was lost along with my cell phone. Its been a bad day. Fucking Friday the 13th.

But I'm home now, with three days off. I have a big glass of wine. And I'm going to bed.

Babies and Social Work

So our EMS family got an addition last night. A Baby Girl. Pretty Little thing, (5lbs 9oz) with a pretty name of a southern belle, Grace. Now most day old newborns, I must say are pretty funny looking, all wrinkled and weird shaped heads. But Grace..Little Grace is beautiful. She had a whole paparazzi waiting on her. Kid's gonna have to get used to flash bulbs, being that this paramedic "aunt" is a photographer in her other life.

Today was Social Worker day. I was more of that than a Medic today. No life saving, just getting the gears in motion so that my patients today could get the help they so desperatly need. Terminal Cancer patients shouldn't have to spend the last few months on earth in dirty squalor. Geriatric couples should live out the rest of thier days not having to worry about what to do when they fall down and can't help each other get up because they live alone. So I played Social Worker today. It's time consuming, spending all shift on the phone with the people who help us take care of these particular type of problems.

But, I'm laerning my place in my new role. And these types of calls are some of the most difficult. I can fix Congestive Heart Failure, I can take pain away using Morphine, but these people need more than a paramedic. But we are the ones that start the ball rolling.