1st epic ride

Sunday was the most glorious day! Perfect weather, perfect company, perfect list of things to do. C and I went to a christening and there I met a German paramedic. Talking to her was absolutely fascinating. I hope the feeling was mutual. Apparently in Germany, they cannot do anything to the patient without a doctor physically there. There are no such things as standing orders, or on line medical direction. Anything they do before the doctor gets there is their own liability. She said medics there get sued a lot, mostly because not all paramedic programs are accredited and there's no national standard curriculum. Imagine, an EMS system that is weirder than America! Imagine, a more litigious society than America!
They all (the good ones that is) get a year of training and a year of practical training under and experienced medic. They can do most all of our skills, but mostly assist the doctor, or directly carry out their orders. They do not intubate, but learn how to. She said that she also gets paid three euros an hour. Only a few minutes into our conversation I was counting my blessings.
She was fairly scandalized that we could do all sorts of skills and treatment without even consulting a physician. Their protocols, she went on to say, are one page long and basically say "Get there, get the patient out, wait for the doctor, go to the hospital." Wow. If I spoke German, I might make it my personal goal to improve their EMS.
After the baptism party, we went to one of my favorite local parks. It is good for everything: biking, kayaking, and hiking. We had thought ahead and brought our bikes and related equipment. I thought we might hit the trails for a few miles, but three hours and about 14 miles later we made it back to the cars. The trails were awesome, he took me on one I never knew existed and we went over a ton of rocks, roots, creeks, gravel, stones, dirt, and even a stretch of demoralizing grass. All the love of mountain biking I had came rushing back from the moment my tires hit the dirt. It was a challenge, I was scared of dying more than once and I hadn't had so much fun in a long time. He called it an epic ride. Next time I'll take some pictures. I was too busy this time trying not to break anything.
Needless to say I was overjoyed to see the cars again and we were both utterly spent. We drove back to my house and had a barbecue on the sidewalk. Last week I had gotten a firebowl that goes with my camping grill and I couldn't wait to try it out.
It worked great! We grilled chicken and some veggies and had a really nice evening. Above is a picture of the inaugural lighting of the firebowl. The perfect end to the day.