All done!

I finished the academy today! The ceremony was sweet. We all had our family members there. It was so nice to meet the family members of the people we work with. Chad's wife and mom were so sweet. Kris' wife and kids were precious. My mom and dad came and since my uncle was in town he tagged along too. We had a nice lunch catered by City Bites and they even got us a GIANT cake.

My mom gave me a gorgeous necklace this morning. It's absolutely stunning. I love it so much.

I officially start work on Sunday and let me tell you, I am SO excited.

Today we were given "gifts". Well.....sort of. Pagers. We all thought they were pretty cool to carry around for a while......until they started beeping and vibrating every 15 minutes with shift information, post changes, schedule stuff, etc.

This way, "the man" can keep track of us. Gee, thanks.

Worn Out

Whew! I am worn out!

Today was a long, grueling day. Emergency Vehicle Operations Course. Basically, it's a cone driving course. You have to go through it without knocking over a single cone. IT's extremely difficult. You demonstrate brake and evade, straight driving, lane changes, 3 point turns, weaving between cones and then weaving between cones backwards. You can't drive at a snail's pace either. You have to be going at least 20mpg. It took me about 8 or 9 times to finally nail it, but once I did it, victory was sweet.

The driving was the easy part, the hard part was being outside all day and waiting your turn to drive again. Patience. I'm sure I'll sleep really well tonight.

Hazmat training was pretty much the worst thing ever. We spent most of the day learning what the colors of placards, pipes, warning labels, etc. Yuck. Never again.

I also got my shift assignment today. 1545 - 0345 on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The FTO I have is supposed to be great. Jason had her as an FTO and loved her. Plus, she lets you kinda do your own thing. She had Jason driving on his 2nd day! Sweet!

Well, that's it. I'm off to bed for an early day of mapping and geography tomorrow.

Night.

This week....

This time next week I'll be out of the academy and in the field on the truck. I am SO excited. However, I'm a little bit nervous! I'll be paired up with two partners and they'll teach me everything I need to know to be successful on my own. I'm ready to get out of the classroom and into the field. It will be very exciting.

I got my jacket on Friday just in time since it's been sooo cold in the morning!

What's on the schedule this week? Hazmat training? Maybe. Mapping and geography of the city. EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operations Course) which means.....learning to drive the ambulance! Wow!

Stay tuned.

People Care

We were given a book on the first day of work and they told us to read it. I finally sat down and read it yesterday. It's called "People Care" and it's basically about how people who have been in EMS after a number of years are calloused. They're harsh and they're (sometimes) mean. We meet people on the worst days of their lives and for EMS people to come in to their homes and be calloused is unacceptable.

A few things I learned....

• It's not intellectual power that will turn you into a top-notch EMT. It takes something more, you must love helping people. It's ALL about helping others, reaching out to them as friends and having them trust us to help them as much as we can on the worst days of their lives.
• What you (EMT's) do with your life is take care of people who are mostly poor, mostly anonymous and mostly uncared about by anyone at all. You will rarely get thanked when you deserve to be. And you'll never get rich. Aside from that, some people aren't very nice on the worst days of their lives. They cuss at you, they spit at you, they hit you and bite you and they say terrible things about your mom. However, you still have to be nice and tolerate them. It's part of the caregiver's job.
• Every EMT class should discuss the meaning of EMS in the following way:

The E in EMS stands for Emergency. Not ours, but someone elses. As a result, the emergencies we face will always be defined by their owners, and not by us.

The M in EMS stands for Medical. It doesn't stand for Me, and it has nothign to do with More Money for fire trucks, More political power or More public recognition. EMS is not just a public service, it is medicine. It needs to be driven by MDs and not MBAs.

The S in EMS stands for Service. It has nothing to do with self-esteem or any other kind of selfishness.

• Your responsibility on every call you handle is not to take care of the public. It's to come home safe to those who love you.
• Next time you are writing a patient care report, do yuor best to make sure it tells the whole story of your care. Then when you get to the part where you sign your name, imagine yourself standing in front of your patient, face-to-face and saying the following, "I did my very best for you."
• EMS will take everything you have to give, it will chew you up and spit you out, and then come up asking for more. The reason is simple. Nobody gets out of here alive. Everybody dies some day, not matter how good their paramedics are their EMTs are, and no matter how great their nurses and surgeons.
• When you find yourself in a position of responsibility for a really bad call, remind yourself of this: this is not your emergency. You're just there to help as much as you can, and sometimes what you can do to help will not be enough.
• Humility is an important tool for any caregiver. Ther came too that makes it possible to wash the feces off a stranger's body, or control your feelings after someone spits in your face, can keep your grounded in the fact that no matter how brilliant you are, you're only a helper.

There are a few more, but I think I'll dave those for later.

Hope you have a great weekend!

I've been a slacker lately....

I've been so busy with work that I've been slacking here. So sorry. :-(

Let's see...we ran trauma codes on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday we just did boring administrative stuff....SSM, working the toughbooks, Public Relations and dealing with the media. Today.....drumroll please......hazmat. So not looking forward to that. I've been through SO many hazmat trainings....2 in the ER, another during EMT school, during the protocol test and now again. Lucky me....not.

Better get going. Have a great day.

Tiring

Let me tell you something.

When I first got into EMS I didn't realize how extensive the training is for Emergency Management of disasters, (April 19th, Sept 11th, etc). I have to take several tests from FEMA about emergency management. Plus, I have haz-mat training too. I worked on these test for 3 hours and you know how much I got done? 1 and a half tests. Yea. Seriously.

I need a nap.

Mega Code

We did mega codes for the past two days. Mega codes are full arrests, v-fib, asystole, pacing, etc. I was really nervous. We were working on dummies and all, but we were delivering actual shocks to them. Plus, I'd never worked a code before. My promary job? CPR and ventilation. I worked with Gary (paramedic) and Coty(EMT) yesterday and Gary had us to CPR for 30 minutes on a patient in asystole. I could have killed him once we were done. My knees hurt from leaning on the floor, my arms hurt from the compressions and my hands hurt from them being locked during compressions. I was worn out. Seriously. I came home and crashed on the couch at 5:30 and slept until 8:00-ish.

Today the paramedics got tested on the mega codes and we EMT's were the support roles since we can't push drugs or anything. The best part of my day? 3 of the paramedics asked me to be their partner. Totally flattering, which means that they obviously think I'm pretty good. I could only work with 2 of them though, so I worked with Gary and Sherry. (Sorry Chad!) Everything went smoothly and I was able to remind them of things they were forgetting.

Don't forget to log that drug dose. Where is the pulse ox? Don't forget to check the blood sugar. After you drop the tube and have it secure, apply the c-collar.

All in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow we're doing PEPP (Pediatric Education for pre-hospital professionals). Should be interesting!

A long day...

Today was a long day at work. We started mega codes (full arrests, pacing, asystole, chest pain). Our first run through was with Gary as our paramedic and Tammy and I as EMTs. My job was to begin CPR and switch with Tammy every 2 minutes and ventilate the patient. Our first run through was pretty rough, but we knocked it out. I did a code with Gavin, another with Gary, one with Chad, another with Gavin, one with Lisa, etc. All in all, I think I ran 6 of them. My last one was killer, I was with Gary and Coty was the other EMT. We did CPR on our patient in asystole for 30 minutes. Yes, you read that right, 30 minutes. That was with Coty and I switching roles every 2 minutes. My arms hurt.

I came home and crashed on the couch until 8:00. I will definitely be going to bed early tonight.

Passed!

Passed my protocol test today with an 80. Yee haw. So excited about that. Only 3 people failed, but they still have 2 opportunities to re-take it. I'm sure they'll pass next time.

Off to bed. I'm such an old lady lately. In bed by 9:30....but then again, I'm up super early.

Night!

Protocol test today. I'm ready for it. Well, I'm actually more ready for it to be over with.

I felt nice last night and made home made chocolate chip cookies for the people at work. Yesterday was a funny day. Tim spilled ice water all over Chad's pants. Ice went in his back pack and all over the place. Since I'm such a great person I helped him clean up....then I made fun of him the rest of the day for peeing his pants. (See? I'm a nice girl, right?) Gary and I were in a weird/funny mood yesterday too. He loves to walk by me and scribble on my paper, or nudge my elbow while I'm writing. What he doesn't know is that I wrote "Holly is awesome" on about 15 of his flash cards while he was in the bathroom. I can't wait to go to work today and see if he says anything about that.

We talked about ECG's and more cardiology today. Heart blocks, bumdle branch blocks, reading 12-leads, etc.

Off to work. Wish me luck on my test!

Good Morning!

Academy Day 6: Back to work today....have I mentioned that I actually enjoy going to work now? Weird. *ha ha* Today we're learning 12-lead ECG's. I know how to do a 4 lead basic ECG, this is a more advanced one.

I bet we go over cardiology some more too. Tomorrow is the big protocol test. I read my protocols about 4 times this weekend. They are in a big thick binder and I'm guessing they have about 300 pages outlining patient care, radio communications, hazardous materials, mass casualty incidents, drugs, etc.

Brian is off today, Tuesday and Thursday and then Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday! Woo hoo! So excited to spend some time with him. I haven't seen him since Monday last week.

Well, I better finish getting ready for work. I need to grab my trauma shears and find my stethoscope.

In other news, we made pumpkin cookies this weekend and they are soooo yummy. I'll post the recipe on here if I can find it. Let me warn you, this is one cookie that you can't just eat one of.

I'm waiting for my paycheck to come from subbing. They mailed the checks on Wednesday and I still have not gotten my check yet. *Grrr!* Plus with today being Columbus Day, I won't get it until tomorrow at least!

Off to work.

A new look

Thought I'd change things up a little bit around here with a new image banner. I'm in the mood for fall, so I thought these pretty white pumpkins looked nice and classy.

Not much else for news or updates. Still reading protocols for work. There are a few funny ones in here, maybe I'll share those with you later today at some point.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Well hello there

The academy is great. So far at least. Wednesday we started going over our protocols and we finished those up on Thursday. Friday we started hitting cardiology.

Brian is sick. He didn't go to work last night or this morning. He was scheduled to work a double today but called in for the first shift and said he might make it for the second shift. I haven't spoken with him today so I don't know if he ended up going in or not. *poor thing*

OU/Texas was a giant dissappointment. We were robbed. The refs were making a lot of terrible calls against both teams. Boo. Texas sucks.

Off to enjoy my day and read some more protocols.

Day Two: Getting Personal

Before I started the academy yesterday I hadn't practiced EMS in 2 1/2 months. I felt like my skills were rusty. Well, today was the day for that. Skills Check Off Day. *eeeiiiikes!*

Car extrication using the KED.
Sling and swathe.
Long spine board.
Checking blood glucose.
Traction splinting for femur fractures.
OPA, NPA and suction.

I passed with flying colors, although, I was nervous. I skipped lunch today to stay in and go over my check sheets. I even had to call Brian for a little pep talk. "Rah rah rah, you can do it!" (Yes, those really were his exact words!)

And you know what? I did it. I was paired up with 3 guys in my group today. We were the "Mighty 4". They were all really great, have really fun personalities and are good people. I'm blessed to have such great people in class with me. We look out for each other.

We received our protocol books today. It's about 300+ pages of protocols and how the ambulance service operates. It's overwhelming. But I know I can do it.

I came home today and made dinner. The house was quiet (my parents went to see a movie). I read the protocols and studied hard. I had dinner ready for them when they came home.

The plan for tonight:
Read more protocols.
Watch the debate.
Bubble Bath.

First Day recap

The new job is great so far. There are 14 people in my academy class, 9 boys and 5 girls. We're pretty evenly split between Paramedics and EMTs.

Got all of my uniform stuff today. It's great. :-)

Did the usual first-day-of-work stuff.....finding the time clock, HR junk, benefits, 401K etc.

Tomorrow we get checked off on our skills.

As for tonight, Brian and I are going out. First we're heading to The Speakeasy to see his friend James' show and then we're going to Moore to the bar for Monday Night Football and such.

Good times.

First day of work....

Today is my first day of my new job with the ambulance service!! *squeels*

I've got my Paramedic pants on.
White polo shirt (for the first day, then they'll give us our shirts)
Black shoes and belt.

Not to mention a diamond heart necklace and my big ass pearl earrings and sport watch (set on military time, 'cuase that's how they do it in EMS)

I'm quite a vision.

Will write more later.

October, already?!?!

Wow. It's already October! That's crazy! Where has the year gone? I abolsutel love fall. It's my favorite time of year. It's only the 4th and so many things have already happened!

First, I spent this week substitute teaching in the elementary school, 3rd grade to be exact.
A one of my students said "I drew you a picture". I glanced at it quickly and set it down on the desk. Later, I get back to the desk and I look at the picture. Hey, wait a second. WHY am I riding a broom? So I called him to my desk and said, "Why am I riding a broom?" and he replied, "Becuase I drew you as a witch. But you're a very pretty witch"

Gee, thanks.

Thursday was my sister's Birthday so she came home, we showered her with prezzies and sent her on her way. I like visits with my sister to be like that (minus the part about giving her presents) Just keep the visit short and sweet and go home. *ha ha*

Friday night was her birthday party. After dinner of "Raisin' Cane's Chicken" and fondue for dessert, she wanted to make a gingerbread haunted house. We whipped up some orange and brown icing (and by WE, I mean me) and set to work. Drew decided it would be a grand idea to take a big spoonful of the black icing and eat it....yummy.

A work in progress. My sister and her boyfriend Wyatt were hard at work on their cookie house.
Today my mom had to work, so my dad and I decided to hit the Czech Festival here in Yukon. We had a great time. It was super crowded though.