Tired

So I work a regular job.  This week I escorted around a group from an African park, putting in tens of extra hours.  And on top of that, EMS runs requiring 3-4 hours round trip transport time.

Not too bad, got to actually attend a patient last night under the watchful eye of Mr. Medic. Crushing abdominal pain, diffuse over both lower quadrants.  Mr. Medic asked most of the questions and let me play with the equipment - setting up the monitor, attaching 12 lead electrodes, taking vitals.  Didn't screw too much up - aside from putting in the nasal cannula upside down...

So it's Sunday.  The Saturday night run lasted from 2352 - 0330.  Finally chilled out and got to sleep around 0430.  Woke at 0930 and ran around trying to do chores.  Called Mr. Medic around 1400 to arrange a time to meet and put together our new monitors.  He will meet me when he's gotten his drugs re-stocked at the clinic.  30 seconds later he calls for me to grab the ambulance - turns out he walked in behind a cardiac patient who needs to go to the hospital.  So I play ambulance driver once again.  Didn't get back home until 2000.  Trying to chill out again and get some sleep - gotta be to work at eight.  I think I might be too old for this.

My Winding Road

Just a quick rundown of how I ended up here.  You see, when I was a bit of a kid, all I wanted to do was raise and race sled dogs.  Then when I was in my teens (and the full sled dog kennel emptied out) I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian.  So off to college where I did very little studying for a year, then decided I was way too stupid to get into vet school.  Worked at a factory for a while and decided an education would be a very good thing indeed.  Became a career undergraduate student, where one of my last "filler" courses was Wilderness First Responder (WFR).  The only class I never skipped throughout my college education.  It was too much fun!  I didn't want to miss out on one day of the information.  Then I went off in the real world for internships and a steady, low-paying job mapping stuff.  I let my First Responder certification lapse, but took a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) class a few years later just to keep my skills up.

I pondered the Wilderness EMT course (EMT-B) but the cost and a full month off work kept me out of it.  And laziness too.  It just didn't seem to make sense to do all that work in 30 days - I don't know if my brain could handle that compact a schedule.

Anyhow, last summer I was out doing an outdoor writing/painting retreat when one of the older folks took a tumble down the trail and got a nasty facial laceration.  I handled the scene for 30 minutes or so until the ranger-medics arrived and did a wheeled-litter extraction out of the backcountry.  I stood there with bloody gloves and wanted more.  Wanted to be one of those attending and helping out.

So I contacted the EMS coordinator and asked what I could do - so happened they were planning a First Responder course over the winter and I could jump in.  After class I moved to the ambulance, helping out the EMS Coordinator and head medic by working on inventory, driving to the hospital (I know where every bump in the road lies), and attending when time, space, and the situation allow.

So what's next?  I definitely want to do my EMT-B, but there haven't been any classes in the area - meaning within 2 hours driving distance - so I started looking at online offerings.  Still not sure about that avenue.  Also unsure about whether Paramedic school is in my future. I guess just unsure about the road ahead in my EMS life altogether.

I'm at the tail end of my thirties and adding EMS to my life has been the best decision I ever made.  That's all I know for sure right now.

The Beginning

Why start another EMS blog?
A question I've been asking myself for the past few months while I read through other EMS bloggers' histories.  There's enough reading and podcasts out there to keep me busy for years, but it's the record - two years, three years worth of someone's life in EMS - daily musings both dark and light from all over this planet.  I enjoy their lives.  I actually feel like I know some of them pretty well, and I thought my stories might be worth sharing.

You see I live a different life than most.  I have a day job.  I make maps.  I'm working on my graduate degree online in pursuit of being better at my job.

But then there's this EMS thing.  EMS is my passion and addiction.  I work for a park in western North America and get paid (sometimes - more on that later) to go out and drive the ambulance or attend patients when we get a call.  I also just started as a volunteer for the local fire department/EMS.  'Cause I obviously have way too much time on my hands!

I suppose this blog is more for me than for you, gentle reader, who stumble upon it.  I need a place for this part of my life and I created one corner of the web for it.  It's for the EMS in me - my calls, mistakes, and my journey from First Responder to EMT-B to ???

The other aspects of my life might creep in from time to time, you will just have to forgive that as reality.  I like to brew cider and beer.  I like to travel (EMS World Expo in 6 weeks woot!)  I hike. I sketch. I read. I write.  I love my family and where we live.  I enjoy helping people.

Interested?

I'm going to plop my bedroll down and stay a while.  Hope you enjoy the ride.