Paid to do...
Work last weekend was the greatest. 20+ hours and only 2 patients, beautiful. On Saturday I was unwillingly sent to our sister company, based out of a local hospital. I don’t like it there. I have to get my narcs out of a pyxis, run calls with people I don’t know, hang out in a cramped team room, use equipment I’m not familiar with, and socialize with people who don’t like outsiders. But all was not lost. I knew my partner, who is awesome, and soon after our arrival we were detailed to standby for a lacrosse game. Nothing happened there, and one of my dad’s alma maters won the game. When we returned to our hospital base, we had one long, uneventful call that brought us to the end of the day.
The next day, I was indoctrinated into becoming a driver as my partner for the day was not old enough to drive, and there was no one else. It ended up that my partner never showed up and I was sent again to our sister company to help them out. So, I drove there, got my drugs out, did one call, put my drugs back, drove back, did nothing, drove to school, ate brunch, drove back, did nothing, clocked out a couple hours later. A seriously amazing day. Ellie running amok in an ambulance in downtown Baltimore. Getting paid to drive said ambulance to school and eat a lovely brunch. Having no partner all day and no hope of ever getting a one, what bliss.
Monday we had “oral boards.” They were originally to involve answering two ridiculously detailed questions involving cellular levels and such. It evolved into talking through a scenario and answering one of the aforementioned questions in a half-assed manner. What a waste of time.
Example questions:
Not kidding. Okay, so maybe that last one wasn’t on the list, but you get the idea.
Yesterday was the written for our national registry paramedic exam. Last year after my “I” test I felt like crap, so when I felt like crap this year I took it as a good sign. Instead of sulking in this let-down of a day watching movies and eating ice cream, I went kayaking instead. Much more constructive. We had a nice little run, benefiting from the rain we’ve had over the last few days. Afterwards, several of us went to cracker barrel and enjoyed some down home cooking.
The next day, I was indoctrinated into becoming a driver as my partner for the day was not old enough to drive, and there was no one else. It ended up that my partner never showed up and I was sent again to our sister company to help them out. So, I drove there, got my drugs out, did one call, put my drugs back, drove back, did nothing, drove to school, ate brunch, drove back, did nothing, clocked out a couple hours later. A seriously amazing day. Ellie running amok in an ambulance in downtown Baltimore. Getting paid to drive said ambulance to school and eat a lovely brunch. Having no partner all day and no hope of ever getting a one, what bliss.
Monday we had “oral boards.” They were originally to involve answering two ridiculously detailed questions involving cellular levels and such. It evolved into talking through a scenario and answering one of the aforementioned questions in a half-assed manner. What a waste of time.
Example questions:
-Discuss pathophysiology of shock from point of impact until exsanguinations and death from the cellular level to the organ and organism demise.
-Discuss the classes of prescription medications to treat hypertension. Explain the physiological effects of each medication, and how each may work to affect blood pressure.
-Epistemology is concerned with what knowledge is, how we acquire knowledge, and what it is to have good reasons for a belief. Does knowledge require certainty? If so, can we ever really be certain of anything, or is it always possible that we have somehow made a mistake? Epistemology also deals with the philosophy of science, what makes an explanation scientific and when is a scientific explanation sufficient?
Not kidding. Okay, so maybe that last one wasn’t on the list, but you get the idea.
Yesterday was the written for our national registry paramedic exam. Last year after my “I” test I felt like crap, so when I felt like crap this year I took it as a good sign. Instead of sulking in this let-down of a day watching movies and eating ice cream, I went kayaking instead. Much more constructive. We had a nice little run, benefiting from the rain we’ve had over the last few days. Afterwards, several of us went to cracker barrel and enjoyed some down home cooking.
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