What I really wanted for EMS Week
The Captain says it all - exactly the way I would if I had the eloquence to write.
And if you don't read the captain on a regular basis, you should.
Truth
Bleeding
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
'Mellow' update, call volume, and navigating certification
"Mellow Yellow" has been sent back to the Mountain District for some TLC from their expert mechanic - try as we could, Mr. Medic and I could not get the heat and power issues fixed. Our ambulance is set up. What do I do now that I don't have linoleum floors to sand down?
Calls have been sporadic at best - clusters on the weekends at either the Village Ambulance Service or ours. A few "real" calls, though - chest pains, abdominal pains, shortness of breath.
I have been putting together a checklist - "how-to" guide - to get certified in our service and in the Village Ambulance service. A good overview was lacking and I found out the method I had used was wrong! So, I think we've got it nailed down. Sent the final draft to Mr. Medic, the Pit Boss, and Tess for their review.
This example gives you an idea of the stupidity of national, state, and local certification:
(This is just for our little neck of the woods. And only for EMT's. This is relatively simple, compared to most!)
Calls have been sporadic at best - clusters on the weekends at either the Village Ambulance Service or ours. A few "real" calls, though - chest pains, abdominal pains, shortness of breath.
I have been putting together a checklist - "how-to" guide - to get certified in our service and in the Village Ambulance service. A good overview was lacking and I found out the method I had used was wrong! So, I think we've got it nailed down. Sent the final draft to Mr. Medic, the Pit Boss, and Tess for their review.
This example gives you an idea of the stupidity of national, state, and local certification:
(This is just for our little neck of the woods. And only for EMT's. This is relatively simple, compared to most!)
First Steps - Everyone
Pass EMT Class
Register with the National Register of EMT
website and create “initial entry application”
Pass NREMT Practical Exam
Pass NREMT Written Exam (Cost: $70 online, credit
card)
Our Service Certification
Talk to the Pit Boss or Mr. Medic about joining the Our EMS
crew – if you are not an employee, you will need to fill out volunteer
paperwork
Fill out the “EMS Credentialing Form” - contact
Mr. Medic to initiate this process:
o
Bring copies of NREMT and current Healthcare
Provider CPR cards
o
If you do not have a photo on file, you
will have to get a digital picture taken
o
This process gets you input into the ePCR, and
credentialed with the National EMS office
Attend Our Service EMS Endorsement (10 hours)
Schedule EMS orientation and ambulance driver
training with Mr. Medic
Attend weekly EMS training at Division Training
Center, Mondays 7:00-8:30 pm
State EMT License
State licensure is needed for those who
volunteer with the Village Ambulance Service or any other provider in the
state.
Fill out Village Ambulance Service Application
(Contact Tess for application)
Provide 2 copies of NREMT and current Healthcare
Provider CPR cards, one for VAS Application, one for State
Perform a Self-Query of the National
Practicioners Data Bank (Cost: $16 online, credit card)
o
You will need to fill out a form online, print
two copies, have one notarized, and send the notarized copy to the data bank –
be sure to check the box in your request to send a hard copy to your
address. DO NOT OPEN THIS COPY! Include with your State Board of Medical
Examiners EMT Application (next step)
Fill out State Board of Medical Examiners EMT
Application (Cost: $45 application fee)
Attend EMS training at Village Ambulance Service, 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month 7:00-8:30 pm
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
on faith and forgiveness
I admire people of faith.
How they can go about their lives, certain in the knowledge that there's ultimate good in the world. They seem keenly aware of their place, and where they are headed in this world or the next.
But that's not me.
I grew up in a semi-Mormon household.
Dad went to church a bit, but his folks didn't really integrate faith into their lives. He lost his mom early to lung cancer and dad just did not keep up with church-going. My mom's side of the family are the Mormons. Big time. My grandfather is not god, but he plays him in the temple. Really. (When the Mormons do their ceremonies to seal families together into infinity, they have people stand in as substitutes for those not in attendance, like dead people. Most temples use projected images, but there are a couple of "live" temples out there where people stand in. And my grandpa stands in for god.)
Flashing forward, my family wasn't altogether religious. We went to church sporadically, but didn't have family home evening or anything like that. My parents both worked. They only had a couple kids. The missionaries would visit from time to time to try and pull us further into the fold, but nothing much came of that.
I asked my dad once, what he believed in. We were standing out in the forest, scouting for the perfectly seasoned pine we could fell, buck up into rounds, and take home to stoke the wood stove. He looked thoughtful for a minute, smiled, and said, "This is what I believe in. Being out here in the woods on a hot autumn day. Or planting flowers with your mom in the back yard. Fishing. Being in nature. Working hard."
Yup, that's my pops in a nutshell.
And I've subscribed to that same philosophy most of my life. From the time I was eight and decided to live in a tent for the summer. Or the time when I was nineteen and hit the road in my pickup truck for a year. My decision to work in a national park rather than remain a well-compensated rat in a cubicle. We get paid in sunrises and sunsets, so it's said.
But I am sometimes jealous of that faith that others seem to have, that surety.
That thing, whatever it is, that has always eluded me.
How they can go about their lives, certain in the knowledge that there's ultimate good in the world. They seem keenly aware of their place, and where they are headed in this world or the next.
But that's not me.
I grew up in a semi-Mormon household.
Dad went to church a bit, but his folks didn't really integrate faith into their lives. He lost his mom early to lung cancer and dad just did not keep up with church-going. My mom's side of the family are the Mormons. Big time. My grandfather is not god, but he plays him in the temple. Really. (When the Mormons do their ceremonies to seal families together into infinity, they have people stand in as substitutes for those not in attendance, like dead people. Most temples use projected images, but there are a couple of "live" temples out there where people stand in. And my grandpa stands in for god.)
Flashing forward, my family wasn't altogether religious. We went to church sporadically, but didn't have family home evening or anything like that. My parents both worked. They only had a couple kids. The missionaries would visit from time to time to try and pull us further into the fold, but nothing much came of that.
I asked my dad once, what he believed in. We were standing out in the forest, scouting for the perfectly seasoned pine we could fell, buck up into rounds, and take home to stoke the wood stove. He looked thoughtful for a minute, smiled, and said, "This is what I believe in. Being out here in the woods on a hot autumn day. Or planting flowers with your mom in the back yard. Fishing. Being in nature. Working hard."
Yup, that's my pops in a nutshell.
And I've subscribed to that same philosophy most of my life. From the time I was eight and decided to live in a tent for the summer. Or the time when I was nineteen and hit the road in my pickup truck for a year. My decision to work in a national park rather than remain a well-compensated rat in a cubicle. We get paid in sunrises and sunsets, so it's said.
But I am sometimes jealous of that faith that others seem to have, that surety.
That thing, whatever it is, that has always eluded me.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Ambulance Rehab - "Mellow Yellow"
The fact that this ambulance is striped in orange does not make a difference - her name shall be "Mellow Yellow"
She's a two-wheel drive, mid-nineties model who has seen better days. When Mellow came to us, fresh out of "winter storage" - read: sitting out in the snow for 5 months - she needed serious love. Every compartment was a mess, and filled with medical/non-medical items. C-collars next to tire chains, vacuum splints in with the transmission fluid, etc. I should have taken "before" photos on this one.
Mr. Medic wanted to re-finish the floors and through a little research, we found out that linoleum can be sanded down...you see where this is going! A palm sander, dust masks, and a shop vac were dredged out of my garage and we worked many hours. The result? One very nice looking floor! Took about 10 years of grime off the surface and we followed that with three coats of polish. Should work well for the next inhabitants.
Clean, sort, organize, toss, clean some more, re-organize...this rig is set up differently than the rest so a few exceptions to our standardization needed to be done. But she's beautiful now.
Just a few "minor" issues left - no patient heat, not charging on shore power, then we can send her off to the Southwest district and bring in the next one!
She's a two-wheel drive, mid-nineties model who has seen better days. When Mellow came to us, fresh out of "winter storage" - read: sitting out in the snow for 5 months - she needed serious love. Every compartment was a mess, and filled with medical/non-medical items. C-collars next to tire chains, vacuum splints in with the transmission fluid, etc. I should have taken "before" photos on this one.
Mr. Medic wanted to re-finish the floors and through a little research, we found out that linoleum can be sanded down...you see where this is going! A palm sander, dust masks, and a shop vac were dredged out of my garage and we worked many hours. The result? One very nice looking floor! Took about 10 years of grime off the surface and we followed that with three coats of polish. Should work well for the next inhabitants.
Clean, sort, organize, toss, clean some more, re-organize...this rig is set up differently than the rest so a few exceptions to our standardization needed to be done. But she's beautiful now.
Just a few "minor" issues left - no patient heat, not charging on shore power, then we can send her off to the Southwest district and bring in the next one!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Response and responsibilities
Been too busy. Too busy to write, too busy to think.
Working on ambulances, running calls. Trying to study protocols. Trying to study for graduate school.
Trying to get excited about going to work at my 'real job'. Finding out that my responsibility level may increase there and having a hard time caring about it. My boss may get a temporary promotion, then I would be doing more of the stuff I hate about my job. Great.
Not getting much done. Becoming an expert in procrastination.
EMS is my escape. Escape from the drudgery of data management. Escape from monotone webinars and useless "FYI" email messages.
When I'm on a call, the rest falls away. I'm taking care of a patient, grasping desperately into the recesses of my memory, focusing on the actions, what comes next. I'm in the moment. I take care of the patient to the best of my abilities, deliver them to the hospital, clean up the ambulance, then I'm done. It's never easy. Never goes EXACTLY the way I want it to. But I'm getting better every call. Learning. Enjoying the comradeship of my fellow EMS peers.
But it's the 'real job' that pays the bills.
Unsure how to keep my happiness quotient stable at this point. Maybe it will come to me.
Will post on the ambulance work when I can.
Working on ambulances, running calls. Trying to study protocols. Trying to study for graduate school.
Trying to get excited about going to work at my 'real job'. Finding out that my responsibility level may increase there and having a hard time caring about it. My boss may get a temporary promotion, then I would be doing more of the stuff I hate about my job. Great.
Not getting much done. Becoming an expert in procrastination.
EMS is my escape. Escape from the drudgery of data management. Escape from monotone webinars and useless "FYI" email messages.
When I'm on a call, the rest falls away. I'm taking care of a patient, grasping desperately into the recesses of my memory, focusing on the actions, what comes next. I'm in the moment. I take care of the patient to the best of my abilities, deliver them to the hospital, clean up the ambulance, then I'm done. It's never easy. Never goes EXACTLY the way I want it to. But I'm getting better every call. Learning. Enjoying the comradeship of my fellow EMS peers.
But it's the 'real job' that pays the bills.
Unsure how to keep my happiness quotient stable at this point. Maybe it will come to me.
Will post on the ambulance work when I can.
Friday, May 4, 2012
EMT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)