A Work in Progress

It’s been a while, and I’ve been trying to think of what I did over the last 10 days. I learned that 14 hours at work is about 14 too many. It’s a little scary, because now that I think of it, I can’t remember anything I did during my shift last week. I had a clinical. It started out pretty well with an asthmatic 12 year old whose wheezing I could hear from a cross the room, and an IV on the fly. From there it went to a car v. pole and eventually faded into absolutely nothing. At work recently, I transported 9 day old in withdraw, which was kind of scary. Other than that I had I had some good conversations. One with a spry Greek lady looking forward to Mardi gras, and a minister who had actually interned at my church back in the 70’s. Today I scheduled 183 hours of clinical time between now and the end of April, got the dates for the national registry exam (gasp, shock, horror!), and really made progress on this whole real life thing (don’t look now, but I may have made a decisi...

Today marks 99 days until graduation. To celebrate, I went kayaking in 35ish degree water and high winds. Note to self: water shoes and snowy trails = seriously cold toes. Somehow, putting my feet into a piece of plastic floating in freezing water helped. Other than that it was a nice little paddle. A good reminder for me to invest in nice neoprene gloves and boots, of course. Now we’re off to happy hour (I am happily DDing) to properly celebrate 99 days.

A Work in Progress, 1 year on. It’s hard to imagine it’s been a year since I jumped on the blogger bandwagon. But, reading through the 89 posts and seeing 3800+ hits, it becomes hard to imagine it’s only been a year. Here’s a reminder of a work in progress’ beginnings and, by the way, the offer to rent my diary still stands. As always, if you keep reading, I’ll keep blogging, or is it if I keep blogging, you’ll keep reading? Vicious cycle. Either way, the next chapters of my life will no doubt be preserved in cyberspace, and I can’t wait. Happy Anniversary, blog!

On Friday, I had a clinical, it was boring. Seriously, nothing exciting happened. On Saturday it snowed, finally. We all went out to dinner and I volunteered to drive, as I’ve been waiting for a chance to test my 4x4. Have I mentioned lately that I love my truck? Let me say now that 4-wheel drive is the greatest advancement in winter travel since the ski. I’m blown away by the fact that I can accelerate and brake in snow, and brake! Awesome. The testing of the 4-wheel drive of also consisted of ahem uh, doing donuts in the school parking lots. cough! You haven’t lived until you’ve driven sideways, on purpose . On Sunday we did all kinds of snowy activities. Ewing, CJ, and I went hiking in a nearby state park, down to a broken dam on one of my favorite rivers. The snow was pretty deep in places, and made for an absolutely beautiful trek through the trees. Between the light snow and the flowing, yet tumultuous waters, I found my Zen spot; but was knocked out of it abruptly...

Last week I reported a fire, was disappointed by the real world, learned a little rain goes a long way, had the best time kayaking ever, decided to find and then pull the reins of time, and learned something in class. I guess some of that deserves an explanation. We went kayaking last week, this time over a little stretch of the patapsco river. Just as we pulled up to our usual launch spot, Ewing noticed an abandoned semi trailer near the river was on fire. About an hour later we were in the water after calling 911, escorting the engine to our remote location, watching them put out the fire, and giving our names to the police. The kayaking was certainly worth the wait. It had rained the night before raising the water level at least 7 inches. Awesomeness ensued. We didn’t hit any rocks, played in some fun whitewater, and finished a usually 2 hour trip in about an hour and 15 minutes. The only downfall was that it was, well, February, and when the water splashed up to my chi...

This week has been more of a break than most of my break was. Ewing and I went kayaking on Monday. ‘Kayaking?!’ you might say, ‘In January?!’ Well, it’s far less impressive when you learn that on Monday it was 65 degrees out. Highly irregular. I think we’ll just keep the kayaks handy for when those polar ice caps melt and flood us out. It was a lovely trip, we saw some swans, and met a local do-gooder. The do-gooder kindly informed us that we couldn’t paddle the particular area we were in because their decoy ducks were tethered with weighted wire. I do fancy myself a skilled enough kayaker to navigate through 2 plastic ducks on strings. But, thank you neighborhood watch lady, duly noted, it’s safe to go back in your house now. Those rogue kayakers will be out of your way shortly. And if that’s not fast enough, feel free to enter the 40 degree water and give us a little push. Wow, that came out far more bitterly than intended. Other than that, winter kayaking is cool. As s...

Work has been…work. I have learned something though, thank God for fun partners! As my partners had been getting weirder and weirder, I noted that none of their weirdness actually yielded much quality entertainment. Last week I finally had a partner who was very entertaining and we were able to spend most of the day laughing about various mundane aspects of our jobs. This is by far preferable to bitching about the politics of the workplace, getting off on time, or why we’re running BLS on our ALS truck. (Which is what 90% of the employees talk about 90% of the time) I have been running an unusual amount of BLS calls this week, but many of them have yielded good conversation with the friendly patients or hearty amusement over the antics of the less than friendly patients. A fair amount of these calls have been patients described as “Pleasantly confused......occasionally combative.” My favorite. Until you read the second half of that description, it’s very nice. I’d love it for...

All’s going well, as soon as they change the law, the truck and I will marry immediately. Work is better. Nothing overly exciting to report, Although, if my partners get any weirder, I might have to throw myself out of the moving ambulance. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve all been awesome, but today’s partner was so chatty I couldn’t read my book or get my nap out, and you know how that is. And the insane, inane subjects that we got on were…well, insane and inane. For some reason he found that I was easy to talk to, and decided to divulge his most bizarre secrets to me. Whatever; it was pretty entertaining anyway. That’s preferable to the partner who doesn’t talk at all. Very unnerving. I’ve also been meeting other people at work, some interesting characters. Met one guy who’s MO is to say weird things. Okay, you’re not cool when you wish me a “Happy Easter” in January. Another crew I met and my partner yesterday had a whole conversation over the PA systems of our respective am...

Yesterday at work we got to bail out a helicopter. We got called to rendezvous with the helicopter team at the helipad of an unnamed Baltimore hospital. They had a patient intended to go to Shock Trauma, but the winds were so bad that they couldn’t get downtown. It turned out that the unnamed hospital doesn’t even have a helipad, so we watched them land on the front lawn. I was certainly glad I was on the ground as the helicopter was getting tossed around something fierce as it came in to land. We loaded the patient and the team into the ambo and drove them to the trauma center. So, I got to hang out and watch them RSI the patient and do other fun stuff, that doesn’t happen too often. Time to check on the truck again….still there. I think people get the ‘new car aura’ down here. On it’s first night parked at school, bizarrely, no one parked on either side of it. And, at work yesterday, no one parked next to it; respect, man, respect. I’ve learned that I can lock and unlock t...

Today, for the first time ever, I got paid to sleep. What bliss...

Yes, January 11th 2006 is national new car day (well, not really.) Either way, I’m getting a new car. My dream car in fact. A ’03 Explorer Sport Trac. My mom and I happened to see it on my cousin’s used car lot. The next day mom called and asked if we could drive it. I shouldn’t have driven it. I knew I wanted it as soon as I got in. Mom and Dad have made it happen, really. I’m indebted to them. No, really, I owe them money. So every day at work has become a car part. Like today, I bought a door, yesterday the headlights, etc. Thinking of work this way is very nice. It makes it much easier to say that I don’t mind staying an hour over. But all this excitement doesn’t mean that giving up my current truck will be easy. (although I’m keeping it in the family) Images of us together have been floating through my mind. Skipping through fields of wildflowers, walking along the beach at sunset, jumping in big piles of leaves, sliding on the ice and snow…that time when Mike and ...

Seriously, find me someone who doesn’t absolutely abhor being the new person, and I will…I’ll…well, I’ll be very surprised. As a newbie, you make mistakes today that you won’t make tomorrow, so a little consideration is nice. I’m blogging this for prosperity so when I’m working with a new person down the road, I can look back and remember that I should aim to break the cycle of seasoned employees being intolerant of new people. That aside, work is progressing nicely (haven’t killed anyone yet.) I only have to work one more day before going back home for a few days. Then, I only have to work about a million more times before school starts again. Endorsement of the day: I carry a space pen on the ambulance just in case we lose cabin pressure, run a call underwater or upside down. But, yesterday I washed it twice by accident, and it still writes, sweet! And, didn’t get ink all over my clothes, sweeter! Search term of the week: “Is taking naps good?” Short answer, yes. Long answer...

New years is a ‘holiday’ that I have a hard time getting excited about. To me, it could be any day of the year. What is it anyway besides a reason to buy a new calendar? A day to reflect on the past year, to make resolutions I won’t keep? But, as my cousin was saying “This year is gonna be so crazy, so outrageous that they had to give it a new name.” Ha Ha. Although, ’06 is a year I have been looking forward to for some time. a) I will graduate from college. b) Become a paramedic c) Begin my life as an independent, confident, frightened, confused, yet full-fledged adult. The future is constantly sneaking into my thoughts. Nearly everyday I find myself miles away, lost in my contemplations of the future. I’ll become worried about things like how decisions I make now will affect the lives of my non-existent children, how owning is better than renting, but that may tie me down, whether or not to buy a car in this state or in the one I may or may not be living in. Is this norma...

Christmas was lovely; we did all of the traditional things. Including, Chinese food on Christmas Eve, earning the right to get downstairs on Christmas morning, a stocking for the pets, lasagna, cranberry blush, completely overwhelming the children, and baking cookies, of course. One of my favorite things from Santa this year (among others) is a set of silver spoons that belonged to my great-grandparents. They’re engraved with the initials of their last name (also my middle name) and once I polished them up, they’re shiny and beautiful. Seems a bit silly, I mean, they are just spoons, but it's nice to have something special from that side of the family. But, don’t think that spoons are a sad choice for a favorite gift. It’s not like I chose to highlight the spoons out of an array of unusually mundane gifts, having to think to myself: “Well, what can I say was my favorite? The empty box, the spoons, the pack of lined paper, the sock, or the extension cord.” I received normal t...

Oh, how I’ve missed you these last few weeks. You; the curer of many ills, the bringer of needed energy, the generator of dreams, the decision-maker. Don’t get me wrong, naps are great now and then, but are no substitute for long, uninterrupted bouts of sleep. Many times I’ve found myself warm and cuddly wrapped in blankets, only to be brought out of sleep abruptly, unbidden. Alarm clock #1 shouts at me, alarm clock #2 tells me to get up, while I shout expletives at both of them. It seemed that this semester, it was only on the bright, sunny mornings that I didn’t have to get up early, causing sleep to elude me again. No matter, I have made up for it over the last few days. It’s been awesome! It’s all been very relaxing until I realize that I haven’t bought half of the Christmas presents that I need to. Yikes! Come to think of it, I still haven’t done that. Oh well, I’m easily distracted when it comes to these sorts of things…look! something shiny! I have also finally posted the first...

I survived my first day at work as a cleared ALS provider. It was a little weird, but felt great. We had 6 calls in 12 hours, two were BLS. I had my first ‘superstat’ which means that it’s a critical patient that needs to be transferred ASAP. It’s pretty much the only time we get to go lights and sirens in the private ambo service. Our patient was having severe chest pain and was on several drip medications. Once we got her packaged and loaded it only took us 4 min to get to the receiving hospital. In that time the patient gained 1.5 cm of ST elevation in lead 1. We took her straight into a cardiac cath lab where they discovered she had nearly 100% occlusion of the left main, wow! (basically, the patient was having "the big one" (a bad heart attack) and was within minutes of being beyond help.) Everything happened so quickly that the patient wasn’t even registered at the hospital before her cath was underway. When we went back out to the ambulance we were accosted by her dau...

Landing gear down, heat is off, 365 off, door off…wait. Aviation is so fascinating to me, yet I don’t understand it one bit. I feel accomplished just operating my headset and flipping the radio channel switches. Looking in the cockpit, I have no idea what all those gauges, switches, and pedals are for, but I’m glad somebody does. Yesterday I rode the helicopter again. We had two calls, neither of which I would have fathomed calling the helicopter for, but okay. The first was for a guy who fell in the bathroom, and the other was for a kid who had a little too much fun sledding, caught some air, and landed on his back. He was great, totally calm, adorable, and not even complaining that he was uncomfortable. “Can you squeeze my fingers?” “Okay.” (squeezes weakly) “Squeeze them as hard as you can.” (incredulously) “As hard as I can?” (as if to say: “Are you sure, because I don’t want to hurt you with my super-human strength.”) “Yeah” “Well, okay” (squeezes hard) “Ooh, That’s great! You’r...

Being on an ALS chase car is interesting and sometimes frustrating. We’d get a call, and then be cancelled on the way, another one, and be cancelled on scene. Get another call (but don’t get your hopes up) as we’re cancelled again. While we’re en route I’m thinking about treatment plans and drug dosages for the supposed condition, and then…well, nevermind. Chase cars are fun too, we got to meet different BLS crews and ride in some wacky ambulances. We had a patient; 9 months pregnant with contractions 3 minutes apart, and we were in probably the tiniest ambulance I had ever seen. I had to put my feet up on the seat just to switch places with my preceptor. Starting an IV was hard enough, thank God she didn’t start having the baby, I don’t know where we would have put it. We also had a diabetic, dehydration, CHF, and oh yeah, a moped accident involving kids 5, 2, and 20 months. How could three children be on a moped on a blustery winter day? Well, it involves a little neglec...

Yesterday my parents came down and we had a very Baltimorean day. We visited the American Dime Museum which features ‘memorabilia of the exotic and novelty acts of old” such as a mummified giant, shrunken heads, paintings done by monkeys, a two headed cow, a sea monster from the patapsco river and much, much more. (deciding what is real and what's not exactly real is up to you and half the fun!) It's called the 'dime' museum because these novelties were serious entertainment back in the day, and cost a dime to see. Unfortunately, the museum be closing at the end of the month. I suggest you go see this piece of American history while you still can (it’s worth every dime.) Afterwards, I was glad that we stumbled upon the mayor’s Christmas parade going down 36th street or “The Avenue”; it was great. The marching bands were playing Christmas carols, the drum corps were awesome, and Santa was there too! I enjoyed it immensely in spite of myself. We had dinner in Hampden a...

For two nights last week, I was in the city on what I think is the 3rd busiest medic. We were pretty busy and I couldn’t hear the radio at all from the back, so we’d be returning to the station and all of a sudden, we’re going to a mystery location, lights and sirens, like “surprise! we have a call!” Whatever, I like surprises. The calls I went on the first night sounded better as they were dispatched rather than what they actually were. For example, “Shot in the eye with a BB gun.” On the way out of the station, everyone was taunting: “You’ll shoot your eye out!” Little did they know, it wasn’t actually in the eye, but on the eye, therefore making it not so interesting. Also: “Pedestrian struck by vehicle.” True, she was hit by a car, but with no blood, no deformity, no crepitus, strong distal pulses, and no LOC PTA, in other words, very lucky. The second night, I almost missed CHF, forgot charcoal existed, and missed 2 IVs, but, I got to give charcoal (gross!), morphine, and nitro. I...