A Lesson Learned

So there is this frequent flyer that always calls. It's always bullshit, and the crews are so tired of his lies they treat him harshly. So it's 3am and we are just getting to lay down and try and close our eyes when the beepers fire. Chest pain at the well known location. So we roll lights and sirens waking up the good folks dreaming of dancing sheep, cause if I got to be up so do you, and arrive at the addy to see you know who sitting on a swing. His family is still sleeping and won't even rouse themselves to come to the disco with him. Now, the last time I rolled on him he lied to me. Flat out lied. I hate liars, so I start out reminding him about it and saying that if he lies to me again I will call the po-po to have him arrested for abusing the 911 system. The boy has sickle cell and is complaining of pain in his chest all day. Since little baby J hasn't deemed it necessary to equip me with xray vision, no matter how many times I begged for it as a kid and my 3 dollars to the comic book ad never panned out, i have to trust him. Now here is where I learned a little sumthing that shamed me to my core. I WAS NICE TO HIM. I didn't give him narcs, he never asked. All I did was treat him with the same respect he was giving me. He was cold so I got a blanket and tucked him in on the stretcher. I'm in cajun land, I'm reasonably sure our AC units come from meat lockers, so it was chilly even for me but due to the fickle nature of our units you never touch the settings lest they refuse to come on again and you find yourself hauling the gaseous gangrene ALS transport. Trust me, 10 mossy oak air deodorizers, in the words of Hammer, can't touch that.  Anyhoo, I was nice to him. I treated this guy with respect due any human being, and he started crying. CRYING! I was so ashamed. Ashamed of my fellow medics, ashamed of my service and profession as a whole.I learned a lesson not taught in school that night as we off loaded him onto the hospital bed. There but for the grace of god go I, and to treat EVERYONE I roll on the exact same as I would want myself or my family treated.

Long Days and Nights

I ran a call the other day that had me thinking. A young lady had destroyed her liver by her own actions. As I transported her and her mother I was torn. Do I let myself feel apathy for the patient because her own life choices caused her liver's destruction that is now going to be paid for with my tax dollars, or do I embrace the compassion for the mother who now has to raise a grandchild when her daughter dies. I'm so new to this profession that I find it hard to believe that I am already feeling apathy, or anger, for those who abuse our tax dollars with things that could have been prevented if they only gave a damn about their own lives.

And So It Is...

I've been cleared by my service to operate as a medic now. Deep breaths, deep breaths. It terrifies me, but at the same time it thrills me like nothing else ever has. I've already run on a lot of bullshit and a really good Oh shit. But, I'll write about that a little later. Right now I'm gonna study my protocols a little more and just go from there.

There I was

Dec. 2nd, 2010. My new day of infamy. I am pleased to say that I passed my skills test and now I am a nationally registered Paramedic. May God have mercy on your souls.

Moving On

So I'll be leaving for Louisiana for my skills test this weekend and if everything goes right I'll have my license to kill sometime next Thursday afternoon. Praying hard here Boss.

Memories of Paramedic school...also known as how I learned to love the lack of sleep

A note to those who are thinking about starting paramedic school. Say goodbye to your friends, family, and pets, you will not see much of them over the next (insert length of program here). I'm only half joking. You will see them as you awake while they are still sleeping, and when you come home late after they have gone to bed. Maybe on weekends you'll catch a glimpse of them as you get ready to go to the hospital or ambulance to learn as much as you can fit into your head. Sometimes you may even get to talk to them as they bring you a plate of food as you study drug dosages, cardiac rhythms, or drip rate calculations. But, I can say without a doubt, it is the best sacrifice that you will ever make. The first time that you actually help someone, when you can visibly see the difference you have made, at least for me, there is nothing on this world that can touch it.

Don't get me wrong, there are low points. The first time someone dies on ya, despite you doing everything you can possibly do, really sucks. I mean the kinda suck that makes you walk around feeling like the worlds biggest loser, questioning yourself as a person and wondering if you made the right decision in wanting to become a medic. Hopefully you'll remember that everyone dies and that sometimes no matter what you do, some patients are gonna die and you get back up on that horse and go.

So here are some tips based upon my experiences.*
1. Ask as many questions as you can. If you don't know why that medic did what they did, after the run is over ask em'.
2. If you want respect you need to show it. Don't ever try and boss an EMT . They are there to help keep you from doing something stupid.
3. If the crews are out washing the trucks, you need to be out washing the trucks.
4. Don't put off anything, ever! If your instructors give you two weeks to learn something you need to start that day and do it every day.
5. Your probably not gonna be able to memorize everything so re read your texts as much as possible.
6. Look presentable!
7. Go out there and try and have fun with it.

Good luck to ya!

* #2-6 are things that some of my classmates did and I was lucky enough to hear the complaints and comments of the medics and learn from them.

And so it begins...

My name is Cracker and this is my blog. There are many out there like this, but this one is mine. Actually, there used to be another one, but Paramedic school took so much time and energy that I forgot what the password was.

To recap, I started out trying to get a nursing degree. Two and a half years later after getting all of my pre-reqs done I only made alternate.So, after talking to the head of the Paramedic program, I got my EMT-B during the summer semester and started the paramedic program last fall. Now, I am three days away from finally finishing my clinical preceptor-ship and all I can say is that I can not think of anything I have ever done that brings me such satisfaction in life. I love what I do! So I am resuming a blog, mainly as a way I can vent and remember what I have done and be able to have a digital memoir of everything. I've passed my National Registry and am merely waiting for my Skills test to come up.After passing that ( no worries) I'll be moving to work for a large system in Central Cajun Land.