How Did YOU Celebrate St. Patrick's Day?
I made it to the station at about 5:40 Thursday night, which would usually leave me enough time to wash the truck, and check it off in plenty of time to be really ready to go at 6pm. Unfortunately, I hadn't considered the fact that the last people to use the truck would've left it looking like a decrepit troll's favorite hangout.
The outside was dirty to say the least, but that's not all that rare so I just started to wash it. When Blair arrived a few minutes later and opened the doors and exclaimed "Holy shit!" I knew that it probably wasn't just an external problem.
There was a layer of dried mud over the entire floor of the truck, and some weird greasy stains I couldn't even identify (Potentially icky in an ambulance). We literally used a hose on the floor of the truck, and then had to spend about 10 minutes scrubbing and wiping to get it clean.
Now we proceed to check off the truck, only to find out that it's missing a ridiculous amount of equipment. It's like nobody's replaced anything they've used for 2 weeks. There were missing O2 supplies, IV supplies, ice packs, linens, a backboard, an oxygen tank, just too much stuff.
We eventually manage to get the truck in order, and head over to the EMT class we're helping to teach tonight.
Blair asked me if we could go help teach this class while we're on duty because they haven't had a night of active, scenario based instruction in months. The guy that's in charge of teaching the class has literally been standing in front of them and talking about random tangents and showing movies for at least 6 weeks. When the class walks through the door tonight, their eyes automatically glaze, and I can almost hear their heartbeats slow down.
Don't get me wrong, lecture has its place in EMS education, but I'm a firm believer in the idea that the best way to learn how to do this job is to do it. Scenarios, and active participation keep people engaged, and let them put their hands to good work.
I ran them through scenario after scenario, stopping in between each one to fill in the places they seemed weak, and throw in the extra stuff they needed to know, but hadn't gotten yet because of the format of the class. 2 things made me feel great. The first was when one girl said "We've learned more in the last 2 hours than we have in the last 2 weeks" and the second was when my boss, SuperJew, said I'd done a good job with part of the stroke lecture. I get nervous when he watches me teach, and always feel like I screw up in front of him, so it was nice to get some positive feedback.
Right at the end of the class we were dispatched for a respiratory distress call with SuperJew. We're dispatched to the motel that's attached to the hospital that UNC runs for outpatients and patient's families. Communications advices us to come to the entrance on North Medical Drive, rather than the usual entrance that's near the ER.
We pull up, and can't find anyone around. Blair stays in the truck while I walk down an alley a short way. From there, a little man pops out of a door and flags me down. I signal Blair, and she follows SuperJew and the fire truck that had been dispatched with us down the alley.
We head inside, and are directed to a room down a long hallway. Inside we found a woman in her mid-50s who was having trouble breathing, and thought she might be having an allergic reaction. She does have some raised red areas on the inside of both her elbows, but there's nothing else to suggest a reaction. She's also never reacted to anything before, and can't think of anything that might've set her off.
Her lungs are clear, and her blood pressure are both good though, and after we get some oxygen on her, she calms down a lot. SuperJew injects some benadryl into her arm, and we're fairly certain that she's out of any danger.
At this point, we're literally within sight of the UNC ER. If we walk down a hallway, and then 200ft around a circular drive, we'll be at the door to the ER. Unfortunately, regulations prohibit us from simply throwing her in a wheelchair and rolling her down the hill.
Instead, Blair and I have to go back outside and drive both the ambulance, and SuperJew's medic car around to the doors closest to the ER. The total distance between the two doors? 500ft. We drive a mile and a half thanks to UNC's combination of one way streets, and construction.
We put the lady in the back of the truck, and I check us enroute to the hospital, and out at the hospital with the same radio call.
"Central, 1261. We're enroute to, and discharging at UNC"
The dispatcher chuckled as he acknowledged the call.
We moved our patient over to a hallway bed as SuperJew gave his report to the charge nurse. While I was in the ER I did notice a new nurse who was really cute, but from the way she looked at me as I walked by, I think my chances are pretty close to nil there.
The rest of the night was uneventful, except for catching an episode of "The Boondocks" on Cartoon Network. (Stop laughing at me, they're big boy cartoons!) If you haven't caught an episode yet, you should.
We slept through the rest of the night, as there were no more calls in our district.
That mention of sleep has reminded me that I'm exhausted. I'll finish this tomorrow. I work 24 in Cary, which means that I'm really starting to fall behind.
Things to look forward to tomorrow:
Whiny patient
Gospel singing
A full day without eating
A cute Mom
Chris gets hit on (sorta)
Chris helps little old lady not die
TRT call
Movie review
Plus whatever happens tomorrow.
Expect a lot.
The outside was dirty to say the least, but that's not all that rare so I just started to wash it. When Blair arrived a few minutes later and opened the doors and exclaimed "Holy shit!" I knew that it probably wasn't just an external problem.
There was a layer of dried mud over the entire floor of the truck, and some weird greasy stains I couldn't even identify (Potentially icky in an ambulance). We literally used a hose on the floor of the truck, and then had to spend about 10 minutes scrubbing and wiping to get it clean.
Now we proceed to check off the truck, only to find out that it's missing a ridiculous amount of equipment. It's like nobody's replaced anything they've used for 2 weeks. There were missing O2 supplies, IV supplies, ice packs, linens, a backboard, an oxygen tank, just too much stuff.
We eventually manage to get the truck in order, and head over to the EMT class we're helping to teach tonight.
Blair asked me if we could go help teach this class while we're on duty because they haven't had a night of active, scenario based instruction in months. The guy that's in charge of teaching the class has literally been standing in front of them and talking about random tangents and showing movies for at least 6 weeks. When the class walks through the door tonight, their eyes automatically glaze, and I can almost hear their heartbeats slow down.
Don't get me wrong, lecture has its place in EMS education, but I'm a firm believer in the idea that the best way to learn how to do this job is to do it. Scenarios, and active participation keep people engaged, and let them put their hands to good work.
I ran them through scenario after scenario, stopping in between each one to fill in the places they seemed weak, and throw in the extra stuff they needed to know, but hadn't gotten yet because of the format of the class. 2 things made me feel great. The first was when one girl said "We've learned more in the last 2 hours than we have in the last 2 weeks" and the second was when my boss, SuperJew, said I'd done a good job with part of the stroke lecture. I get nervous when he watches me teach, and always feel like I screw up in front of him, so it was nice to get some positive feedback.
Right at the end of the class we were dispatched for a respiratory distress call with SuperJew. We're dispatched to the motel that's attached to the hospital that UNC runs for outpatients and patient's families. Communications advices us to come to the entrance on North Medical Drive, rather than the usual entrance that's near the ER.
We pull up, and can't find anyone around. Blair stays in the truck while I walk down an alley a short way. From there, a little man pops out of a door and flags me down. I signal Blair, and she follows SuperJew and the fire truck that had been dispatched with us down the alley.
We head inside, and are directed to a room down a long hallway. Inside we found a woman in her mid-50s who was having trouble breathing, and thought she might be having an allergic reaction. She does have some raised red areas on the inside of both her elbows, but there's nothing else to suggest a reaction. She's also never reacted to anything before, and can't think of anything that might've set her off.
Her lungs are clear, and her blood pressure are both good though, and after we get some oxygen on her, she calms down a lot. SuperJew injects some benadryl into her arm, and we're fairly certain that she's out of any danger.
At this point, we're literally within sight of the UNC ER. If we walk down a hallway, and then 200ft around a circular drive, we'll be at the door to the ER. Unfortunately, regulations prohibit us from simply throwing her in a wheelchair and rolling her down the hill.
Instead, Blair and I have to go back outside and drive both the ambulance, and SuperJew's medic car around to the doors closest to the ER. The total distance between the two doors? 500ft. We drive a mile and a half thanks to UNC's combination of one way streets, and construction.
We put the lady in the back of the truck, and I check us enroute to the hospital, and out at the hospital with the same radio call.
"Central, 1261. We're enroute to, and discharging at UNC"
The dispatcher chuckled as he acknowledged the call.
We moved our patient over to a hallway bed as SuperJew gave his report to the charge nurse. While I was in the ER I did notice a new nurse who was really cute, but from the way she looked at me as I walked by, I think my chances are pretty close to nil there.
The rest of the night was uneventful, except for catching an episode of "The Boondocks" on Cartoon Network. (Stop laughing at me, they're big boy cartoons!) If you haven't caught an episode yet, you should.
We slept through the rest of the night, as there were no more calls in our district.
That mention of sleep has reminded me that I'm exhausted. I'll finish this tomorrow. I work 24 in Cary, which means that I'm really starting to fall behind.
Things to look forward to tomorrow:
Whiny patient
Gospel singing
A full day without eating
A cute Mom
Chris gets hit on (sorta)
Chris helps little old lady not die
TRT call
Movie review
Plus whatever happens tomorrow.
Expect a lot.
posted by C at 2:31 PM
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