Genius, Just Genius

Okay, So eveyone by now has seen those commercials for Vonage, that broadband phone company, right? If you haven't the general premise of the ad is People do stupid things, like chop down a tree that falls onto thier car or they throw a bat through a plate glass window. And the theme song is this whoohoowhoohoo song (it was also a song used in Kill Bill). Okay, so today during monthly TRMT (technical rescue medical team, see "Dangling and hanging" and "I'm just a girl" posts for more info) We had a Vonage moment. See our training today consisted of "rescuing" a patient from a tree. They had to get the dummy hoisted up into the tree before we could rescue it, so they (and I use they because the genuis idea I'm about to illustrate was the boys' idea. Me and the only other girl on the team were only bearing witness to this madness.) decided that the best way to get the rope over a branch about 30 feet off the ground was to tie a large wrench to the end of the rope and toss it up and around the branch. So we all got our helmets on, I mean we are throwing wrenches up into the air. The other girl and I set up two lawn chairs and sat and watched as the boys hurled wrenches at this tree. We had a pot going on how many times it would take to get the rope around the tree. (I said 25 times, I lost by one.) Now this was some of the best entertainment I had in a while. Watching them as the huttled around each other like they are working out a football play or sometime. Even so often one would stop, toss it and miss, then they would all huttle around again figuring out the laws of physics this was going to require. After about 45 minutes of tossing the wrench, one stated that the rope was to heavy to heave up high enough, so they switched to several large sockets and a long peice of webbing. Finally getting it up there we were able to hoist the dummy up. We made our pully systems and it was now my turn to be pulled up into the tree. I get in my harness, which is most uncomfortable. And they hook me into the system and hoist me up. I then have to pick the 200 lb dummy and get him hooked into my harness, which in itslef is a feat. As they were getting me down they genuis boys wanted to change something on the gground so they kept me hanging for like an hour with my harness cutting up into my crotch (I am so glad I was born female) with my left leg stradling the dummy's neck and my right leg underneath my ass. I think it was position # 47 in the Cosmo last month. So I sat up there, took a nap and waited for whatever they were fixin to be fixed so that I could get down.

Clusters of Madness

Wow...We were busy yesterday. I did a shift switch with another medic, so I worked his shift yesterday, so I am off today. Thank god I'm off today I don;t think I could handle anymore people. 11 calls in less than 12 hours. And these people were sick. Actually sick. Well the first call they weren't however it was kinda humorous. I was 3 minutes late for work. I woke up at 0530 and hit the snooze button, what I thought was once, however when the alarm went off again it was 0640 and I had to get dressed and drive to work in 5 minutes, which was doable because the station I was working is two blocks from my house. But I had to pack up my stuff for the shift like I was moving in and get all my shower stuff together. So that took the extra 3minutes I had to spare after I got dressed. SO I get there and immediately get a call ( hurray for bedhead, I need a shower).. MVA...Car vs house....yep he was in the house alright, this particular house has been struck by a vehicle at least three times in the past six months. It's just in a bad place with no protection from the traffic flow. The car he hit first was slung through a fence and came to rest in a driveway, t-boning a parked truck, which had a man in it. We had six patients all of them High School students. And they kept wandering around the scene. I didn't know who I had treated and who I hadn't and then the parents started showing up so that distracted the kids even more. I finally got on the PA in the truck intructing "Anyone involved in the accident who wants treatment get over to the ambulance, NOW!" I finally got them lined up next to the truck and then the police officers started calling them over. I told then "STAY PUT! Don't go anywhere" Then looked at the cop and told him to "Give me just a minute to let me get vitals and information and then you can have them, But as of right now they belong to me."
"Yes'um"
"Thank you"
Damnit. We finished up with that cluster of a call, got back to the station, I got in the shower. Mid shower get a call. Go...Go again...And again...And again x5 more. Total of 11 calls and that was just the first 12 hours. The second half consisted of 5 more. All sick, most of them unconscious. Goddamn, I was happy to get off that truck.

Im sicker than you...

I gotta stop working so much OT. This is getting a bit ridiculous. I just worked a 36 hour shift with terrible allergies. I feel like crap. I think I was sicker than my patients this shift. Sneezing for 36 straight hours kinda works your nerves after a while. My nose is running and stopped up at the same time. Even the firemen that work at my station are like you look like shit, why don't you go home?. EH...All in a days work I guess. I think I would not be as bitchy if the patients we saw actually needed an ambulance. I worked nonstop the night before last and not one of then needed me. Two assaults, two "chest pains" and one "Shortness of breath with fluttering in chest". The shortness of breath was the last straw because...One the fucker lied to me...Two he wasn't short of breath and three it was at 0430 in the AM. If you're going to call me at o'dark thirty for an ambulance, don't lie to me when I ask have you been drinking or doing any illegal drugs. (he smelled of ETOH and had been doing cocaine all night) And a least PRETEND to be sick. Do not just sit on the stretcher and suck your teeth at me when I ask you questions. Show me the respect I show you, you lowlife. You called me REMEMBER! I'm getting fed up with the not sick and stupid...So that means a good call is coming. It's when I completely lose all patience that I get a call that reminds me why I do what I do. Why I put up with the bullshit and low pay. The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that somewhere, sometime I am going to get a call that puts it all in perspective. Until then I have to put up with teeth sucking, not sick, and 4am calls for nothing.


PS...anyone know of a good sites to get EMS related programs for PDAs?

On Being Green

There are several sayings in EMS, like "it's not my emergency", "never do anything you don't want to have to explain to the paramedics later", and my personal favorite "Paramedics save lives, but EMT's save Paramedics" My first crew chief taught me that one. She said it after a bad call in which I was able to catch something that she had overlooked. It was something simple, something in the Basic Life Support department. We, medics sometimes get so wrapped up it doing the advanced medicine that we sometimes forget the Basic stuff. One of my pet peeves is Paramedics who develop this god complex and think they are above their EMT partner. I recently worked with a Paramedic who spoke very harshly about one of newly hired Basics, who is very green, however very sharp and always asks a lot of questions. The Basic was my relief one night after working with this medic, and she asked me if she could vent a bit. As she spoke of being very nervous during calls and how she really didn't know her place, I was brought back to when I was first hired as a brand new EMT. I had the same feelings. I shook my way through my first calls, hell, even now, I still shake through some of the bad ones. I told her that my voice sometimes still cracks when I give an encode to the hospital, especially if it's a sick patient. Since she is a part timer, she has had to work with many different crew chiefs and she said that was hard for her not working with the same partner. She was worried because every partner wants things done different ways...Like some carry all the gear into the house, some just carry a drug box. She got all worked up because she has worked with some of the most asshole of Medics, she kept saying how stupid she felt. I calmed her down, telling her that even I get freaked out, I'm still a bit green myself. I showed her how to set up things like the nebulizer and the CPAP machine. I told her most medics expect the basic EMT partner to put the patient on the monitor. If she works with a good Medic, not only will they show her how to work the 12 leadEKG correctly, they will show her what they are looking it, especially if it's interesting. I told her to ask alot of questions if she didn't understand. And that eventually it will all come to her. She will be able to do it without thinking. I hope I made her feel better. I still remember my first days. It was the hardest two weeks of my life, not counting the 14 months I spent in paramedic school. (but that was hard for different reasons). I was constantly being yelled at about my driving. And running code, and not blowing through intersections without clearing them first. Everyone has their strenths and their weakness. My just happened to be driving the unit. Hey, I was used to driving a compact car....What can you expect from me?

calling out

I felt bad...literallt. However I also felt bad that I had to force someone. I called out sick for the first half of my shift. I had a killer migraine yesterday. One that forced me into the ER last night. The MD at the hospital gave me some strong pain meds, that basiclly keeps me unresponsive for many hours. So just a precaution I called out sick. And according to policy, if one does not come in for shift and it's not covered then whoever worked the shift before is forced to work. It sucks and I hate calling out sick anyways. In fact It's been such a long time since I've called out that I did not know who to call out to. See, our system has since added 2 new supervisor positions. So now we have three new districts that the three superviors seperatly take care of. So when it came time to call out, I had no idea who to call. I had to call dispatch and find out. Any ways, so I spend all last night doped up on Dilaudid and Tylox. What a wonderful way to spend an evening. I really can understand how people become addicted to this stuff.

Full Moon

Work sucks. Not really, but yeah kinda. I think its only becaue I enjoy what I do for the most part that I can tolerate it for as long as I have. Any other normal person would have already said "oh fuck this." The long hours, the low pay, the lack of respect from patients make the job hard. And since I'm dealing with a partner who I have a few problems with, it makes for long hours. And the fact that the problems arn't really something that one can really talk about, I mean you can;t just say "Just shut the fuck up and quit making lame excuses." At least without sounding like a compleate bitch. I have come to the conclusion that it's because he is very insecure with himself that he feels the need to keep talking about how much he has seen and done, so that you will be impressed with him. I really could care less if people, well people as a whole, are impressed with me. Yes, I have a few of my co workers that I want to, not impress, but think good about me and my practice of medicine. To think I'm a good medic, someone they would not mind if I responded to their family. I think every medic feels that though.

Last night was the night of crazy bitches. One who not only was a psych, but also a a victim of an assault. She would not speak to any males on scene, including the Police Officers. And at one point she quit speaking to me, only speaking to the female detective. I felt a bit helpless, I wanted to help her, however not knowing what she was going through, or really knowing the right questions to ask, it made it hard. I just was kind and held her hand when she asked me too. And I am not a hand holder. The next call was a psuedo-seizure patient with signifigant psych history who called EMS because she "felt like she was going to have a seizure." This was at 0330. Other than that it was a slow night.

Then I had inservice in the AM. It was short and I learned all about OB/GYN emergencies. I know child birthing is supposed to be a miracle and abeautiful thing. But have you ever seen a baby being born? It's gross. The thing is slimy and hard to keep a good hold on. But It's still kinda cool I will admit.

No more overtime for at least to weeks. I've been working too hard. I will spend my days off doing absolutly nothing. Just enjoing the weather and trying to stay out of an ambulance.

PS. Just as a side note the new truck's name is Tallula Belle.

the butterfly

beautiful isn't it?

too much

It's been awhile since I posted, for no other reason but that I have not much to really ramble about. Been Working way too much OT, but I have a big ol' car payment now so work is my life. However, I am taking the week off from OT.

I have a new partner while my regular partner is healing after geting struck by a car while riding his bike. He's fine, just going to be out of work for a bit longer than I had hoped. So for now I am working with one of those know-it-all Medics who has seen and done EVERYTHING and proceeds to tell me stories I could care less about on how at his last job he was able to do much more advanced procedures and how I am going to have to help him basiclly "dumb his medical practices down a bit" because he is so much more advanced than I. I think it is wonderful that you were able to fly in to New Orleans after the hurricane and save thousands of lives with just a peice of twine, a couple of bandages, and your over advanced wits. Medics like this drive me batty. I honestly don't really care that in your last system you worked in you were putting in chest tubes and sternal IOs intead of regular ol' IVs. And yes I think that being a flight medic is very cool and I hope to be able to do it someday, but I don't want to hear about from an over confident medic who thinks they can save the world all by themselves. I am a competent medic, I do my job and I do it pretty damn well. Don't walk all over my toes because you think that you are so much better than I am because you just spent the last year as a flight medic. I think you need to calm your ass down, and relize that its's not always about you.

In other news one of my good friend from High School is getting married and I get to be a bridesmaid...oh how exciting. In fucshia...and I've have been told that I must get a spray-on fake tan because apparently I am too pale ( I am Irish, I have china-doll skin, I don't tan and I look rediculas with one) and I have to cover up my tattoos with some stuff I've never heard of that I'm probally allergic to. But whatever, I'll do it to make her perfect little wedding go off without a hitch, however I will not be paying for any of it. Im going to have to buy a $200 dress that I will never wear again. So if she wants to turn me from the pale, tattooed white trash that I am into a barbie doll she can put up the funds. I'm waiting for the "you are going to have to lose weigh" speech. In which I will reply a big "What the Fuck?" Oh...and its a dry wedding. But My best friend , who is the maid of honor,and I have been coming up with creative solutions around that little problem.

Wow...Im realy hateful this AM...Sorry...No not really

Here she is...well part of her

I got her. Finally...I got her yesterday. She is beautiful and wicked fast. Now all that needs to be done is naming her. I'm open to any suggestions.

Strike one...Strike two...Strike three...And I'm out.

I've just gotten home from a long 48 hours. I have now figured out the four overtime shifts in a pay period (two weeks) is just too many. I can only take some much rudeness and stupidity before I lose all compassion. Now I will say the first 12 hours of the 48 was very nice one call. And it was actually somebody who needed an ambulance. I can't remember what it was, just that they were sick. Its been too much after that to recall the details of your first call of almost 20. People can however be extremely rude to EMSers, especially at 0330 in the am. Called to a 25 y/o pregnant woman at 330 in the morning, who by the way is one her SEVENTH pregnancy, for contractions. Now she called us because of the labor pains. The girl had already been to L & D once that day. She left AMA earlier because she was afraid they were not going to feed her. SO she came home instead of waiting. Now one...The L&D staff would not let her go hungry and two...I guess she forgot, SHE CALLED US. There is no need to be a nasty rude bitch to the paramedics. She refused to answer any of our questions, she just sucked her teeth at us. Look here bitch, I know your pregnant, I know your tired, but we have to know what the fuck is going on so that we can help you. YOU CALLED US, we didn't;t just decide to show up on your doorstep at o'dark thirty for our fucking health. Oh...And she had about seven Medicaid cards belonging to her six children and herself. Instead of just finding hers, she just threw the whole stack at us, saying "It's in here, you need it, you find it."

So that was strike one.

Strike two came at 2230 last night when the police called us for a psych at the Huddle House. The man was acting erratically, eating off of other patrons plates and refusing to speak. So with the assistance of the police and one of our street supervisors we were able to get him into the truck, restrain him, and transport. Now everything was fine until we encoded the hospital. The patient had an old hospital ID bracelet in his pocket, so he thought just to take him back to the hospital he came from. Well apparently that's not how it works, at least according to the hospital. Now EMS policy states that if the pt has no preference to take the patient to the nearest facility, however the ID bracelet clued us in to the fact he was a a patron of a certain hospital, so we took him there. When the MD answered the radio, he questioned why the patient was in restraints, why the police were no longer with us and why the patient was coming there. I answered all of the questions and when I asked it there was any orders I got dead air for like 5 min. They were ignoring me. And the longer they were silent the more angry I got. After asking several times if they had any more questions/ orders, they finally came back and bitched me out over the radio. And then again at the hospital. The only thing I said was "If you have a problem I can give you my superviors cell number and you can speak to him" to which I got the response "What the hell will that fix?"
Well not a damn thing tonight, but atleast it will go on record as being a problem that we bring patients to your hospital. As a side note the ER staff and security reconized him as a frequent flyer to that particular hospital. Even my mother who has been an RN at that hospital a short time, coming from the city's pediatric ER, knew who he was.

So strike two...

Now strike three was a thirty year old crack whore with CHF and on dialysis, She smoked $200 worth of crack rock and then became short of breath...Well DUH. However she was nice and polite so only the fact she is just stupid, and I had already had had enough for just two days is the reason she made my list.

Strike three and I'm out.

So now I'm going to crawl into my bed and sleep until 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

I've been working my ass off. 36 hours in uniform. My uncomfortable polyester uniform. Well at least until today when we were able to wear a cotton polo shirts as a summer uniform. But Oct. 1st marks the day that we have to go back to normal blue shirt with silver rank and name tag. So anyways...back to the post...I worked hard for 24 hours running 9 calls. Nothing really of note, except for a 19 year old who wrecked her car in a ditch. We pull up and she is laying supine on the ground right outside the car in the grass. I walk up and she looks up at me, " Uh...Can I get up now?"
"Well...do you have pain in your neck?"
"No."
"Do you have pain in your back?"
"No."
"Then yeah. You can get up off the ground."
"Cool because only my arm hurts."
As she gets up I see why her arm hurts. She has turned her left upper arm into hamburger meat. It was not abrated, it was not lacerations, it was chewed up....and bleeding hard core. She was completly calm, I guess the pain had not set in yet. We wrapped her arm up and took her to the trauma center and she was fine. So it was an uneventful night. Then Ispent 12 hours out on an outlaying truck. So I spent the day shift sleeping and watching Family Guy.

This was the first night in almost a month I was able to go out. So I went out drinking Gin until was could not walk and had to call a cab to drive my drunk ass home.

Untitled

This photograph has nothing to do with this post. I just think its a cool picture and I would like to share it. It's the Biltmore Hotel in Atlanta. I took it from Peachtree St.

I went to visit my Xterra at the dealership. She is red and shiny. I do have to trade in my little Carolla. I loved that car. I hope she finds a good owner, somewhat more kinder to her than I have been. I tend to drive her like I stole her and she has fallen prey to several mailboxes and one deer. But she was a good little car, took my abuse and kept on going. But it's time to move on. I have a big girl job, so I think I should have a big girl ride.

In other news...We have new Neighbors. Three new girls. My roommate and I were hoping for a house full of new men to corupt, however as long as these new ladies are as nice as I think they are, all will be well. They don't have two yipper dogs like the lady who lived there before, so already they have cool points. And as long as they don;t mind the parties we have ever once and a while...They tend to get out of control at around 0400, after many hours of adult beverages. The last one ended in a wretling match that let me with a black eye and another player with two broken ribs. Lesson learned: never wrestle with drunken paramedics. Also invite several police officers so when you get busted for the commotion you have back-up.

Dangling and Hanging

Last shift was very slow. I spent the AM dangling from a 6 story building trying to finish my Technical Rescue compentancies. I learned how to pass a knot in the rope while rappelling. Very scary stuff, at least for me being somewhat afraid of heights. And I am one of two girls on the team. The boys make it look so easy. I think sometimes they forget I don;t have the body strenth they do, but the boys on the team are very patient with me, so when I start freaking out they can quickly calm me down by telling me that I am attached to the wall by not one but two ropes and that I will not fall. Still I am nervous while hanging 50 feet off the ground. Then it started raining so we had to pack up early and I had to return to my truck for my normal shift.

So I spent my afternoon and nighttime doing not much of anything. It was a slow night. I have a new partner, well several new partner's while my normal partner is out on a injury. Just my luck I finally get a partner I like and enjoy being around and he goes and gets his ass hit by a car while riding his bicycle. He's fine, but he will be out for at least three weeks. So my partner last night was actually a street supervisor. A white shirt was my partner. This could be very nerve racking for a crew member, if he wasn't so damn laid-back. He not one to judge you or your medicine, was unless your medicine is completely screwed up. He misses the streets, so he sometimes picks up OT on an ambulance. Which I think is very cool, that he will sometimes hangs up his captain bars for a shift with the rest of the street medics. He has not forgotten when he came from, has not forgotten the way it sometimes is on the streets. That sometimes we have to push the envelope right to the edge, think outside the band-aid box. But there was no pushing of the envelope last night, no lives to be saved. We had two calls, both uneventful, run of the mill calls.

This AM was our inservice, long drawn-out boring. But a necessary evil I guess, as long as it keeps me from having to take Nat'l Registry exams over again, I will gladly go. When I took my paramedic practicals, I broke out in hives so bad my intructors thought I was going to need a dose of Epi. I do that during ACLS practicals. In fact practicals in general make me break out like a hormonal teenager. Embarrassing as hell. Thank god today was PEPP, or prehospital pediatrics. Like PALS, but aimed more toward Prehospital than in hospital treatment. No practicals, just a written test, which I can pass with my eyes closed, being that my mother was a Pediatric ER nurse and has passed on her knowledge of treating sick kids on to her own kid. I like dealing more with Peds anyways. With a sick kid, manage the Airway and it will most likely manage the problem. Unlike sick adults, which can be any number of things Cardiac, neurological, respiratory. So you must manage ALL of the problems before they get better. Kids are more honest anyways.

It's not my emergency.

Medics and EMTs as a whole are a clever group of people. Because of the nature of the job, the split-second life or death decision making aspect of our existence, we have come up with numerous acronyms to help us remember the right order of the right questions to ask. OPQRST for assessment, DCAPBTLS for trauma, SAMPLE for medical history, AVPU for level of consciousness, APGAR for birthing babies, ABC for initial assessment are just to name a few. Even ALS for Advanced Life Support (paramedic) or BLS for Basic Life Support (EMTs). There is even some that are used more for humor than real treatment, like CATS (Cut all to shit) FUBAR (duh), and DFO (done fell out). All of these are hammered into our brains from the first day of EMT school and they are repeated over and over through out our career. Its so when you get a fucked up patient you can quickly assess the situation and treat your patient. One of the first drilled into our head are the ABCs. Stands for Airway, Breathing, Circulation. These are the first three things that a medic needs to make sure your patient has. An Open Airway so that your patient can Breath so that they do not lose their Circulation (or pulse/ blood pressure) This comes immediately after your scene survey. It is the beginning because if your patient does not have those three things your patient will die.

So fast forward to me, last night, on a scene of an MVA (motor vehicle accident), Roll-over ejection, then run over by an unsuspecting commuter just driving down the freeway. We were called for mutual aid for another EMS system. They were there first. The patient was already on a LSB (long spine board) with a C-Collar around his next. He is unconscious and most moving. His Airway is filled with blood, and his Breathing is irregular and gurgling. The Medic from the other system is standing over him, screaming orders at the FD (fire department) and her EMT partner. I walk up to her and calmly ask "What do you need?" This after I see this man fighting to breath through the blood filled airway. The medic looks at me and barks "I need a cravat!!" (a cravat is a triangle shaped bandage used to splint arms and shoulders and is sometime also used as a make-shift restraint)
Now she needs a cravat like she needs a hole in the head. So just thinking ahead I give her a "what the fuck" look and ask "D you have a BVM (bag valve Mask, u)sed to assist ventilations) and an O2 tank?" She, flustered, gives me "What!?, BVM...uh...Yeah...Its in the bag...But really I NEED A CRAVAT!" and she then runs up to her truck I guess looking for a cravat. Leaving me standing by this barely breathing patient. I look through the bag on the road next to him, which happens to be a trauma bag, not an airway bag. No O2 or BVM to be found. She then returns to the patient with a cravat and ties his hands together with it. Well THANK GOD we got that done, can we NOW manage the Airway? Apparently not. He get swept up, placed on the stretcher and rushed off the the back of their ambulance, still gurgling without O2, without an open airway without suction, but he does finally have a cravat.

Now I am not saying that I am a brilliant Medic, who knows everything, with pristine medicine. I am by no means a ParaGod. I am just a simple medic. And I am not one to question another Medic's treament or medicine. Every one goes it thier own way. But like any job thier is a standard of care. Thats where the acronyms come in. It keeps everything easy and in the right order. But it is in no way carved in stone. Some medics get vitals before the SAMPLE history. Some load the pateint in the truck before doing a secondary survey. But no matter what the ABCs come first, you do this while walking up to the patient. You can assess these things before even laying a hand on the patient. Paramedicine is not hard medicine. Its cookbook. A trained monkey could almost do this job. Its made simple because a medic must be able to think on their feet, make quick decisions that could mean getting a live patient to the ER, not a dead one. Its hard work to keep a cool head in the middle of an emergency. One just has to remember the first LAW of EMS. IT'S NOT YOUR EMERGENCY.

Xterra

Working at breakneck speed for long hours is beginning to wear me down. Xterra, Xterra, Xterra. I have spent almost two weeks straight in a uniform for at least 12 hours a day. Xterra, Xterra, Xterra. I havent even bought a CD or DVD in at least a month, Xterra, Xterra, Xterra. I beginning to go through withdraws. I think the people at the local music store are going to forget my name and I will no longer get my "family discount". Diffrent priorities I guess, Less music, more new car right? I can give up one addiction, right? Well techniclly two.

I can't sleep, what a suprise. And on top of that I can't quit sneezing. So I sit up typing and watching Sex and the City. Taking a break from my normal late night insommnia routine of CSI: and a bottle of wine. So it's SATC and diet coke with lime. SInce I have to work in the AM I had to do the diet coke in lieu of the wine.

I am the ride

It was a long 36 hours. I worked all night, all day and then all night again. This earning extra money for a down payment on a new Xterra is really beginning to wear me down. But I trudge on with a picture of an Xterra on my bathroom mirror so that I'm reminded why I have been killing myself for the past month. I came home this AM and immediately crashed. I stayed down until almost 3 o'clock this afternoon. Was awakened by my roommates cat using my belly as a trampoline. That and the crashing that was my curtains on my bedroom window collapsing on the floor. They were just rigged up there anyways. I was warned that this job is a hard one. Sleepless nights, the death and sickness, the stupidity of people. My roommate tells me that I save lives. I always remind her that I don't really save them, for the most part I spend my days postponing the inevitable. I have been in EMS for close to three years, I can count on one hand how many lives I have ACTUALLY saved. Yes we can keep our patients alive for the 15 minutes we have them. I can CPAP a CHFer, I can administer Epinephrene to a child on anaphalytic shock, I can give Nitroglycerine to a man having an MI, I can lessen the pain of a Car crash victim with Morphine, but I cannot open a chest to give internal compressions, xray a neck to see it its broken, cat scan a head to know if the stroke is ischemic or hemorrhaging or thread an angiocath to clean a blocked blood vessel. I am the ride.

MIs and Crazy bitches

I was a busy 24 hours. We had 9 calls, only one really and truly needed an ambulance. He was an older gentleman mowing the grass in the hot South Carolina heat and began having chest pain. He had a long cardiac history, so my partner and I loaded him calmly in the ambulance and hooked him up to the monitor. Normal Sinus without ectopy, the 12 lead EKG showed the same. Nothing jumped out, no elevation in any of the leads. Now just a quick explanetion to my non medical people reading this. Normal Sinus is a normal heart tracing, ectopy is any unusal beats, like a PVC ( premature ventricualr contraction). And elevation on a 12 lead is elevation in the ST segment of a heartbeat. A Heartbeat is sperated into several segment. PQRST. the firts little bump is the P-wave which leads into the QRS that big pointy part of the beat and the last little bump is the T-wave. If there is Elevation in between the S and T wave it means basicly the patient is having a "cardiac event" or possible a heart attack (or Myocardial Infarction). If it depressed it means the Patient has already had an MI and it shows Cardiac tissue damage. Now a 12 lead EKG is like several cameras taking several diffrent pictures of the heart at diffrent angles at the same time. So there might be elevation in some pictures and not others. So not only can I tell that my patient is have an MI, but I can also tell where in the heart my patient is having one. This is hard to explain really w/o a picture of some sort and if one is so inclined check out Emergency EKG.com for further information. Okay back to story at hand...So we took a quiet ride to the hospital, gave the Nitrogylcerine, the asprin (yess the commercials on TV are true Asprin can help save your life during a Heart Attack) the oxygen. And dropped him off with the nurses at the ER. We came back a few hours later to find our that our patient had had an Inferior MI. Now that is just proof of everything our Med control Doctor drill into our brains at every inservice every month. "Just because you don't SEE the MI, does not mean your patient in NOT HAVING the MI. Treat every chest pain patient as if they are having the BIG ONE."

We also had a compleatly out of her head patient, who keep yelling and cussing at us. She kept screaming that the police "attacked her" and that my partner has assaulted her, which of course is not true. As I sat in the back with her she kept flinging herself areound the back of the box, refusing to let me touch her, eventhough she kept screaming That I was not doing a fucking thing. I should be "Like, doing a fucking physical exam or something!" Well you nutjob, I would if you would let me. But everytime I tried to talk she would scream "RAPE!" at me (I'm a female Medic, so I get the joy of riding in the lunatic females) so I just gave up at let her continue to scream nonsense and cuss. Now when I encodeed the hospital, she was still carrying on so I basiclly encoded softly, keeping the mike keyed up, so that the receiving hospital could hear the comotion going on the background. And then They asked me if HER VITAL SIGNS WERE STABLE?! I told them I think so by how many times she had dropped the F-bomb on me. I heard a chuckle from the staff and they told me to bring her on in. She then proceeded to scream Rape at the ER doc, then throwing a tray at the nurse.

I dont have the patience to think of a creative title

I just got home from the bar enjoying three gin and tonics with two of my closest friends. Three is a good number, buzzed just enough to be happy, not drunk enough to have a killer hangover in the morning. So I spent the day today cleaning my mess of an apartment. Taking two bags worth of crap to the local Goodwill. Five loads of laundry and about 412 coathangers later I can now see the floor of my living space. So now at 3am Im waiting for my last laod to dry. A load that includes all my sheets and blankets so I can go to bed until they are done. Now I do have several sets of sheets. However I have a touch of OCD and since they nolonger match the color scheme of my bedroom I can not but them on my bed. Plus several months ago I broke down an bought 400 count sheets, so 180 count sheets feel like sleeping on wallpaper. I even bought 350 count sheets for my bed at the station because I could not stand the sheets on the beds there. My partners think I'm nuts, however I like what I like. Judge me I dare you.

So I have had three days off instead of the standard 48 hours. Its because of the move. I'm not only going to a diffrent truck but to a diffrent shift. So instead of being at work tommorrow...or today technically I have another day off. So I guess I'll go to the gym...or not..whatever

100 things about me.

I have seen all these 100 things about me list. I like a challenge so I get here goes...

1. I live in SC
2. I have 1 sister who is in college
3. My parents are still married to each other
4. I have 1 roommate
5. I have a tail-less cat, well it's technically my roommates cat but whatever
6. I really don't like cats
7. I'm more of a dog person
8. I work as a paramedic
9. I love my job
10. But my real passion in life is photography
11. I got my associates degree in graphic design and photography
12. Paramedic school was the hardest time in my life
13. I have only questioned my line of work once
14. And the call the made me question it changed me forever
15. I don't believe I can save everyone, but I will damn well try
16. Math was and still is my worse subject
17. I can't spell either
18. I can restrain a combative person in less than 3min.
19. I'm claustrophobic and somewhat afraid of heights
20. But I'm on the technical rescue team, which deals with high angle and confined space rescue
21. My longest relationship lasted 90 days...They all last a max of 90 days
22. I have a theory that When it comes to my relationships, You are either on the 90 day plan, or the best friends forever plan
23. I have had the same 4 best friends since High school
25. And we all resemble a character on "Sex and the City"
26. I am Carrie with a Samantha twist
27. I can rattle off all the doses of all the drugs we carry in our systems drug box
28. And I can tell you exactly how many 4x4s we carry on the ambulance(75)
29. CSI is my favorite show on TV. I have all of them on DVD. Both LV and Miami and I can watch them over and over
30. I have a music addiction. I have about 500-600 CDs
31. I also have a bookshelf full of DVDs, ranging from "Finding Nemo"-"Fight Club"
32. My favorite movies are fight Club, Empire Records, Dazed and confused, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Garden state. I watch them over and over
33. I am also an avid reader. I have two bookshelves full of books
34. My mother is the most caring woman I've ever know, she has the patience to put up not only with me, but my father and sister
35. My Father is the smartest man I know. He can explain anything to me in a language I can understand
36. My sister is smarter than me
37. But I'm more creative
38. I paint when I'm angry and listen to Rage against the machine when I paint
39. I am the oldest child
40. I drink and tend to use the word "Fuck" excessively
41. I do not believe in organized religion
42. But do I believe in God and have faith that I am living by His plan
43. I do not like people who push their beliefs on me
44. I HATE the question "What's the worse thing you have ever seen?" when I tell people I'm a paramedic.
45. I don't sleep very well at night
46. I have chronic migraines that I take several medications for everyday
47. I have no patience for over dramatic bitches on calls
48. But I can fake compassion really well
49. Most of my friends are good looking guys That I see more as brothers than dating material
50. I have my wedding planned out in my head
51. But I don't know if I will ever get married (see # 21,22)
52. I have seen Dave Matthews band 5 times live
53. I have only feared for my life once. It was at Woodstock 99
54. My crazy patients love me. I think it's because I can relate to them
55. On the nights I don't sleep I watch forensic shows on A&E and Court TV for hours
56. I also call my mother who works nights at a local ER
57. Several nurses at the trauma center I used to work in think I should take up Forensic Photography for the Coroner's Office
58. Death no longer scares me
59. I have two tattoos. Both I drew, One a tribal design inbetween my shoulders and a cadusas on my lower back. I have two more drawn, the Irish words for artist and to heal
60. The TV character I relate to the most I think, is Abby on NCIS
61. I read can books over and over even though I know the ending if I like them
62. I'm a Scorpio, and have some of the characteristics of a typical Scorpio
63. I went to Mardi Gras last year and New Orleans holds a certain place in my heart
64. I have only flown on an airplane twice, once to Boston and once to New Orleans
65. I had a breast reduction three years ago. I went from a size E to a C
66. I am an excellent liar, but I save that skill for when I really need to use it
67. I don't understand why I have 12 supervisors
68. But I respect all of them
69. I can get frustrated easily
70. I tend to throw things when I get angry
71. I tend to speed and have gotten pulled over many times because of it , but (knock on wood) I have never gotten a ticket
72. I named my car, iPod, computer and camera ( Ginger Shanequia, Lola, Gidgit, and Julia respectively)
73. I'm a mess. My co workers and friends tell me that they know where I have been because I leave a trail. Much like Pigpen from the Peanuts comic
74. I can only cook like four things ( spaghetti sauce, fried shrimp, rosemary garlic chicken, and a mean bean salsa)
75. My guy friends girlfriends for the most part don't like me, and I have no idea why
76. I don't like bananas or artichoke, or asparagus
77. But everything else is free game
78. My friends call me a Music Snob. I will discover an off the hook band and in approach. 6 months the band will blow up. And I always say " I heard them first, damnit!"
79. I learned to swim when I was 3
80. I am in the middle of saving money for a new car ( Xterra), but my CD, DVD addictions make saving really challenging
81. I hate having my photograph taken
82. I do not understand why Pink Floyd is such a remarkable band. Their music puts me to sleep
83. But I think Jimi Hendrix was a bad ass and Led Zepplin is amazing
84. I own a few CDs that I have never listened to, or even opened
85. Same for a few DVDs
86. I wanted to be Annie Leibovitz when I grew up
87. I still haven't grown up
88. I still get choked up when I hear "What if God was one of us". It was the first song I heard after I learned my grandmother had died
89. I do not cry at movies
90. (ten more to go) One of my favorite photos from my childhood is the one of me and my dad at my parent's wedding. I was two.
91. I respect my dad more than most daughters I think, because he raised me as his own, with no questions asked.
92. I have absolutely no desire to find my real father. I have no use for him. I have a dad. And he will always be known as daddy.
93. My best friend saved me in High school, she helped me find myself which gave me the confidence I so desperatly needed at that time in my life
94. I have held a human heart in my hands, I also helped it to start beating again.
95. I pray silently for my patients who are dying when I know I can't save them no matter what I do
96. I talk to myself sometimes
97. I get nervous when I encode hospitals or have to do a refusal with a supervisor on the EMS radio
98. I also get nervous during practical exams for my job. I break out into hives. It's not that I don't know what to do its that I'm being watched.
99. I don't like to talk on the phone
100. (Fhew...done) I believe that my life is full and complete. I am happy.

Flat tires suck

I got off work this AM after a fairly uneventful shift of weak and dizzy, and Unconscious in a car to a flat tire. I got out of the parking lot of the county building I work in before I relized it. It was a bit of a delayed reaction. Like I felt the car driving funny, yet it didn;t register until I was out of the parking lot. So I first called my supervisor who was at the station I just left and then my father. My supervior helped me change my tire, well I mostly watched as he changed my tire. I then drove home very slowly because the donut I was driving on made it hard to steer. Once at home I unloaded the 12 gallons of water that was in my trunk. Yess 12 gallons, It was left over from the hurricane scare and according to EMS policy I needed 3 days worth of food water and clothing. So I had went to the local Walmart and picked up H2O for both me and my roommate. Anyways I figured I would get out of the hot uncomfortable uniform and take a shower before I took my car to the tire place. So it was about 0930 when I arrived at the tire store. I was greeted cheerfully and took myplace among the masses also waited for their car to be released back to them. I was told it would take about an hour. So I sat quietly in the corner read my book and waited...and waited...and waited...and then waited some more. 3 hours later I was told my car was finished. Free of charge. With a rose on my seat. So I feel I could not complain about the time I waited. Even though I was exsausted from having just gotton off work and almost fell asleep several times in the waiting area. I was almost the asshole.