Pink Warm and Dry

A Challenge.

And God do I ever LOVE a challenge.  So from me to you…

This is more important than some story about some run.  No matter how spectacular that run was.

This is about not sitting back.  This is about not being a wallflower.

This is about doing something.

My people over at Chronicles of EMS have issued a challenge and it’s a must read.   And it’s simple stuff.  For my EMS people in particular.

So many of us have sat through CPR classes, over and over.  We know it backwards and forwards. Some of my medic school compatriots would go a step further and roll their eyes as we’ve just recently gone through ACLS and have had it driven so deeply into our already overstuffed (and slightly fragile) brains.  That being said, we know it.  We KNOW it.  But do they? Does your Mother?  Your next door neighbor?  Your Babysitter?

So here’s the challenge.  Hit the streets, as Happy Medic has said.  Find five people.  I don’t care who they are.  Find five people and TELL THEM HOW THEY CAN LEARN CPR.

Simple enough, yeah?  This is not rocket science.  Yet it’s so important. What if the victim was you or one of yours?

Let’s not just be passive.  Let’s not just talk about making a change.  Let’s do something that provokes that change.

CPR Illustrated

Where you can find a CPR class in NW Ohio

Where you can find a CPR class anywhere else

Do more than just talk.  Print out some numbers.  Do something that makes a difference.

And you know, if you tell me how this process went, or post at the Chronicles of EMS site about it, that’s fantastic.  If all you do is talk to someone about CPR and how important it is to know it, I’m FINE with that.  Just do something.  Don’t just sit back and hope that someone knows what they’re doing if God forbid that time comes.

This is for you.

I’m in.  I’m all in.  My challenge to you is, are you?

Cardiac.

The dreaded cardiac chapter is officially behind me.

I made it through.

And while my scores were marginally lower than they were the first time I went through the class (and I beat the crap out of myself for that), what I learned this time around far surpassed my experience at the last program.

Next stop is “Big Test #1″ on Wednesday.  It covers everything from day one through now, and it’s one of those “make it or break it” tests.

Another milestone.

Myself and my classmates are getting a little crispy, but once we conquer this next challenge I have a feeling a few of us will be able to breathe just a bit easier.

Proof.

That the kids are alive and well.

Well, one of them has a cold (care to guess which?), but for the most part they’re doing well.

Hell, they still are willing to pose for a pic together after two days snowed in together.

Pockets.

A few of my friends have played along and I really needed to do something mindless, so here goes.

After an ER clinical I decided to empty my BDU pockets, and GOOD GOD when did I start carrying so much crap?  I thought the longer you worked in EMS the LESS stuff you carry?  When I started all I carried was my drivers license, a pen and my cell phone.  Five years later, here’s what’s on me most days.

Key chain complete with O2 tank key (it’s there for a reason, at a former employer there was never a wrench to be found), keys to the pumpkin mobile and keycards to all of the local gas stations.  Gotta get my speedway points when filling up the squad ya know!

Change purse with cash and the DL.

Pens (I’m always losing them).

Carmex (don’t leave home without it).

Scissors (expose, expose, expose).

Ipod touch loaded up with various med apps.  Perfect for doing a little research in the downtime.

Rhythm strips from that shift.

ID badges to the clinical sites.

Roll of tape (that particular roll has an interesting story behind it, another post for another time).

Drug cards for studying and blank cards for taking notes.

Cell phone.

Field guide.

No wonder I feel like my pants weigh three times what they should.

Let’s Give ‘Em Something To Talk About!

I’m excited, folks.

And that’s saying something.

I’m a passionate girl, sparky and excited to do anything and everything to promote EMS to the level where it belongs. That being said, with each year that I do this, I feel like I lose a little bit more of that sparkiness. The problems we have here in NW Ohio are the same problems that you have everywhere. It’s a little rougher on the private service people, but the truth is that in essence, we’re all in the same boat.

But change is coming, folks. I can feel it. And that change starts with you and me. And three others like us, Justin Shorr, a Paramedic from San Francisco, Mark Glencorse, a Paramedic from Newcastle in the UK, and Thaddeus Setla, a Paramedic/film maker from the San Francisco area.

Just three guys with an idea who got together through the power of social media.  Blogs, Twitter, etc.  What they’ve come up with is extraordinary. Watch the video… I dare you to walk away and not be at least a little bit curious. It’s all about finding out about each others best practices. What works, what doesn’t. It’s about just getting together and talking.

It’s called Chronicles of EMS. Below is a just a taste, the premiere is Friday, February 12. Check it out.

Chronicles of EMS – Trailer (Premiere Feb 12th @ 5pm ChroniclesofEMS.com) from Thaddeus Setla on Vimeo.

Baltimore…

So there’s a pretty big conference coming up. In Baltimore.

In less than a month.

I’m making the drive, are you?

One More Step Forward

I know I’m supposed to be taking a break from the blogging thing…

And I am. Seriously.

Okay, cut a girl some slack.  It’s a Sunday night.  The Super Bowl is on for crying out loud.  I know I’m not the only student out there who put their big red book down in order to watch some football! (Or to write a quick post while watching some football…  GO SAINTS, btw.)

Friday was a big day.  Friday was the day our class (as well as half the company who happens to own my school), tested out for ACLS.  Not such a big deal for them, hell, they’ve been there before.  Some of them several times.

For us, for the students, it was a biggish thing.  It was a milestone.

The class started with a handout.

Yikes. As if I wasn’t nervous enough already. (Excellent article btw!  I highly recommend it.  I’m working on locating it online.)

It continued with me several times forgetting the importance of ventilation.    At one point I was ordered to “exhale” by a classmate because I was “paler than usual”. My hands shook, my stomach hurt, and basically, I was a train wreck.

I stumbled through my practice run.  I didn’t make any critical mistakes, but I did have issues with the print button on the LP resulting in a few two foot long strips. I was a little slow on one of the rhythms that I would have known without thinking about it any other day.

I feel like I’m right where I was the last time I did this, minus the dislocated and fractured bones.

I headed out for lunch on my own, just needing some time to clear my head and give myself a little pep talk. I thought back to a classmate who just three days before had slid a note in front of me that said “YOU GOT THIS!”

And all of a sudden, I realized that I did.

I got this.

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The switch was flipped.

No shaky hands, no forgetting to breathe.  (I was still a little pale though.)

My point is, I was focused, I wasn’t nervous, and *this girl* emerged with a card.  (And for my old school Medics out there, I realize what ACLS has turned into, but at this point I have to take every step forward as a victory.  I reject your reality and substitute my own!)

For those of you who coached me, or studied with me, or maybe a little bit of both, Thank you.

One more step forward.

A little kick in the backside…

For the students out there.

Courtesy of my Blogfather, Ambulance Driver.

Thanks, AD, for getting my head straight yet again   Now, back to studying.

Time is muscle…

Now before you yell at me, I’m just popping in for a second because I wanted to share a video with you.

This is a PSA from the UK that we were shown in class yesterday on the importance of not ignoring the signs of an MI. It’s good stuff.

Back to studying!

The Takeover.

P school is not easy.

And it doesn’t matter if it’s your first attempt or your third.  Nothing about constantly having your nose in a book, balancing work with school (and clinical time, and third rides) is fun or easy.

And it’s not supposed to be.

And then you hit the dreaded Cardiac chapter.  And even though you might have been through this before, you realize that you have to read the same paragraph three times to retain the information.  Information that you had down pat just a few years earlier seems to run away to the parts of your head that you can’t access at the most inopportune times.

You find yourself unable to remember what you walked into the kitchen for.  You start calling your four-year-old little girl by the wrong name.  Repeatedly.  And She’s less than impressed by this.  Then again she’s less than impressed by just about everything you do and at least it’s a name she recognizes…

The truth is that I’ve hit a brick wall.  And something has to give. Unfortunately for now that has to be my posts here.  For just a little bit.

That being said an amazing group of people have stepped forward and offered to takeover the blog for a bit. Some of them you’ll know, some you might not be as familiar with.  All of them are far better at this writing stuff than I am.

I’ll be back as soon as I’m through cardiac.

With that being said, I’m very honored to present you with our first guest blogger, Greg Friese.

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5 Things I learned in Paramedic School

In May of 2005 I completed a nine month paramedic program. Nearly five years later I can barely comprehend how I attended class two or three days a week, finished all my clinicals before the end of March, worked full-time, and welcomed our first child into the world eight weeks before graduation.

Along the way I learned a few things that I don’t recall seeing in the syllabus and as I look back may be the most important lessons I learned.

1. Everyone has advice, but that advice is not always for everyone. Lower the bevel angle. Who showed you to use such a low angle? Approach from the lateral edge. Plunge right in. Move real slow. Tension the skin here. That is not enough tension. That is too much tension. Start high. Start low. I could probably write a reasonably sized book with all the various IV insertion advice I received. Like most things there are many techniques, tips, and tricks. Once I focused on just doing it with confidence the cascade of advice dried up and my success rate increased.
2. I couldn’t learn it all. Not in nine months, probably not even in 24 months could I learn everything about being a paramedic. What I did get though was a foundation so I could keep learning and growing as a paramedic.
3. The people that smile a lot were always helpful. Kristen, an ER nurse, had an amazing smile. I remember pushing and pulling a recently deceased patient onto the funeral home gurney as she continued to explain and teach me about the code we had run an hour earlier. I gravitated to Kristen even though she was not my “official” preceptor because she was friendly with her patients. Her enthusiasm for being with patients and their families overflowed onto me and other students. Spend time with the people that genuinely smile the quickest when you enter the room.
4. Neonatal Advanced Life Support certification is way more information than any expecting dad should have seven days before their first child’s due date. As the Doctor explained the worrisome fetal monitor tracing, copious red vaginal bleeding, and weakening contractions I wished for ignorance. Instead my mind raced with things like placenta abruption, uterine rupture, and breach birth as the surgical team rushed into the room preparing my wife for an emergency c-section. Thankfully, less than an hour later a ten and half pound boy entered the world healthy and screaming and NALS worries drained away.
5. Priorities can change really fast when something big happens. There were several big events during my paramedic training – a large work project, a dramatic situation with a friend, and our first child. Each time something big happened I reshuffled the deck and came up with a new plan. I would love to tell you I studied as hard, listened as well, and read just as many pages in the last two months as I did in the first seven months. But there was no way I could hammer out another hour of studying when little Michael just needed to be cuddled.

Finally, stress and fatigue for me come in waves. Throughout paramedic class there were highs and lows. Then and now when I recognize I am at the peak of the stress wave I try to step out of it for a moment, reaffirm where I am going, eliminate any obvious clutter, and reenergize for the next manageable chunk of time and tasks.

Greg Friese is paramedic, educator, and online CE designer. His blog is http://everydayemstips.com and he co-hosts the http://emseducast.com podcast.