"good luck, i'm a tough stick"

one more clinical down. And the immortal words of Steve Martin really are paying off! Be so good they cant ignore you.. or my theory works too, stay right on the nurses heels,get under their feet like a damn cat. No matter where the step,its on you! I have had a lot of great opportunities come up cuz of this theory! make yourself available to them and watch things start coming your way. And another gem I learned tonight, was IV skills; better lucky than good! IV placement is 80% luck and 20% skill. Its nice when a nurse who has been at this game for a long ass time gives up advice like that.

2 PBR's for $1.50!!

things are starting to get wild here,and I fell a little behind on the updates,but fear not,more are coming and it can only get wilder from here,so stay tuned folks

Ha! ever have a day end like this? I did! crazy clinical,and the car started at the end of the shift,so yeah! great success!

faceplant! brought to you today by Demerol....

Clinical #6 in the books. it was fun wasn't it Troy? We were able to sit in on a chest tube,and,I gotta say,
I have seen it done once before in the field, and with all the noise of the engines running and people chatting you  miss some of the subtleties of the process. the biggest detail I missed before was the incredible,very audible,rush of air escaping from the patient, followed by the almost immediate relief the patient feels. too bad that gem is out of my scope of practice.
 Later on in the day,I got to spend some time talking with a retired firefighter paramedic from Cali. (he wasn't the patient btw) This dude needs to write a book! He told me one story of when they got a call to a chicken cleaning factory. some poor bastards apron got caught in the separating machine,and when he reached in to try and pull it out, Boom! there goes his arm. clean off, right at the shoulder. He gets on scene and it for sure one of those shit and git type situations,the fucking guys arm is off!! So they scoop him up toss em in the back of the ride and start heading for the landing zone. his partner looks back in the side mirror and sees some guy,full on sprinting after them,carrying an ice chest....shit. forgot the guys arm.
I love talking to people because sometimes, they will surprise you. This guy was awesome, I would have been able to sit and listen to him all day, like a little kid listening to his grandpappys war stories. But duty called, I thanked him for his time and was on to the next one. before I walked out of the room he said." hey, you are gonna be a great medic" such a simple thing to say,but it made a huge impact on me.
This is why I always talk to anyone I can.Take some time every now and then and learn something about the people you are serving,even if you know you will never see them again. Not only will it make you more comfortable interacting with people,you just may hear exactly what you need.  be safe out there folks

mixed nuts...

So for some reason today an old call popped into my head...We got called for an ill person/med eval. we get on scene to find a very,robust,rotund patient sitting on the side of their bed. The conversation progresses as normal,why did you call 911 today,what can we do for you,etc... the patients only request is,"Im going to stand up, look under my ass and tell me whats there."my reply.."um,what?? hold on let me clarify what your asking, you are going to stand up right?"   right  "ok and you want me to look for??" well shit of course! what else would be there?! "oh ok, well then you go ahead and stand on up and ill let you know what i see ok?" ok here we go,see anthing?? "nope it looks clear, but hey there is a cashew" yup. a cashew. nestled snugly in a ass cheek divot. i would really like to say that this type of request was a one time deal, but no...the great thing about this job is never knowing what is coming next,even if it is just a cashew. 

Inspiration from unexpected places

Its said that a medic student will gain roughly 10-15 lbs by the end of the program...Lucky for me,whenever i have the urge for some disgusting,fat filled, yet glorious vittles from say,Del Taco or the like, THIS guy comes waddling out the door.I politely hold it wide open for him, greet him warmly,and walk my still fantastic ass back to the car. Thanks for the inspiration slim. call me when you need that watchband cut. 

wait...you did what?! where the hell is it now??

 The first 7 months or so are behind us. Mostly didactic and learning the skills needed to function as an actual Paramedic. I figured from here on out this is the stuff that people will actually be interested in. This is where the shit hits the fan. Welcome to the world of red eyes,energy drinks,parking lot naps,incredible survival,unexpected death,great friends,cold beer,late nights,early mornings,and God know what else.This is the clinical and vehicular phase of the Paramedic program. All of the info has been changed to avoid any sort of patient identification. So all these stories are either complete bullshit or God honest truth. Have fun guessing which is which. but one thing is for sure, people are strange. never at any point in your career should you ever say "Well now I have seen everything" because as soon as you finish saying it, someone will prove you very,very wrong! Personally I only have 8 years in the field,having spent time in private ambulance,and the greatest career ever,The fire service. I am fortunate in the fact that in this short time I have had the opportunity to work with and be instructed by some of the most well known and respected people in the field. And on this same note, something that most people don't realize is EMS/Fire service is THE definition of small world. Your name carries so much weight be it negative or positive. People will know you and what you do. And what you do will follow you your entire career. So in the immortal words of Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters, "stay sharp,keep fit,make good decisions."

 Welcome aboard and here we go...