A General Update about Things in General, Generally

First, I want to apologize for my last of posting over the last couple of weeks.  As those of you who have been through medic school know, life gets pretty crazy when you’re trying to balance school, work, home and everything else in between without going completely insane (although some might argue that I went insane long before I entered EMS!).  The aforementioned school and work stuff has been crazy busy but also issues with my phone about did me in!  Oh, and I’ve been going to some clinicals too.

Are you dizzy yet?

School’s going a little better.  I’m still not thrilled with my average in lecture but that will take care of itself.  Thankfully our last test for Pre-Hospital Care was a take home test so that will help.  Lab is still going well too.  Since getting checked off on IVs, I’ve since gotten checked off on IO and we’ve started practicing intubation.  Clinicals are going well.  I’m still somewhat shaky on my assessments.  I guess what I mean by that is I just don’t feel extremely confidant on that just yet.  I know I’m getting better; I know I’ve already come miles from where I was when I started medic school.  I know it’ll come with practice and I’m thankful that I’m getting that practice in clinicals, at work and on the rare occasion that I run a medical call with the fire department.  I’m also continuing to work on my IVs and such.  All in all, it’s like McDonald’s: I’m lovin’ it!

I am very thankful for all the new things I’ve been learning.  Even though school has honestly had its ups and downs I’ve overall enjoyed it.  I have to be honest: I’m looking forward to being finished with school and becoming a paramedic but I plan to enjoy school as much as I can while I can.  I have great instructors, great classmates and the clinical sites and their staffs have been wonderful.  Around the corner lurks pharmacology and, yes, I’m still a bit nervous about that but I know it’ll be alright.

Heh… Five years ago I never would have imagined that I would be learning how to stick a needle in a person’a vein, put a tube down their throat and give them narcotics.  I wonder if any of my friends are scared yet.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this before but I’m also a volunteer firefighter so firefighter issues are also near and dear to my heart.  The stink raised about the situation involving the South Fulton (TN) Fire Department watching as a man’s house burn because he didn’t pay his fire protection feel is, quite frankly, smelly.  The county that the man lives in does not provide fire protection in the form of county fire departments so they contract with cities and towns within the county to cover the county… for a fee.  Since the homeowner didn’t pay his fee, his house was allowed to burn.  I couldn’t disagree with this more.  I know first hand how much it can cost to fight one fire when you factor in man hours (even when they’re not paid), wear and tear on the truck, hoses and nozzles, the cost of water, diesel, etc.  However, think about this:  What if someone had been trapped in the house?  Would they have refused to enter the house (assuming it was safe for them to do so) to rescue a trapped family member because he didn’t pay his fee?  Even if a patient doesn’t pay their ambulance bill we’re bound to provide medical care to them if they call for help.  If I refuse to render aid then I’ve not only broken a code of ethics but I’ve also committed a crime.  Shouldn’t the fire department be held to the same standard?  Morally and ethically I know I couldn’t stand by my department’s truck while a citizen’s home burned to the ground, I’d have to at least try to save it (or at least some part of it and/or its contents).  Now, I don’t blame the department itself or the firefighters.  I blame the county for allowing a subscription based fire protection scheme.

I thought that’s why we pay taxes.

Now that I’ve thrown my two cents around about that, I can now get on with some good news:  The Future Ditch Doctor blog will soon be moving!  I’m not going to give all the details right now but keep watching for updates and a new site.  I’m very excited at the things coming up here and I just hope that I give you the content that will keep you coming back.  Thank you for being here and following my #questforthediscopatch.  It’s awesome having you along for the ride.

Until next time…

Jonathan

A Post about School and Not (much) about Kenneth Stokes!

I’m still fired up about the comments that Jackson, MS city councilman made about AMR (and all of EMS)’s policy on scene safety.  An article that ran in the Clarion-Ledger included a quote from another city council member who said he was “surprised” at all of the outrage this situation has caused.  While I don’t now know he could be surprised, he did say that he believes EMS should wait for the police to clear potentially dangerous scenes so I will give him credit on that one.  My hope is that one day our elected officials will realize that EMS is not a “public safety” agency so much as it is out of hospital medical care.  EMS is starting to stand up and I’m proud to say that I have a part in that.

The revolution has begun, only just begun.

As for school, it’s going mostly well.  The last couple of tests have been a bit of a challenge.  I haven’t done nearly as well on those tests as I had hoped but I’m working hard to change that.  I actually started this post last night but stopped to look over stuff for the test that I had this morning.  I also looked over stuff that we went over today just a little while ago so that delayed the completion of this post a bit more.  However, that’s something that I’m willing to sacrifice to further my performance in class.  Overall, today was bad.  My min and my confidence were completely shot.  But, after some time with my wonderful wife and a nice soak in the tub, all was right again.  It’s going to be fine, I just have to work a bit harder than I have been.

Second best is something that I don’t expect out of myself, not do I accept it.  I strive to be the best at everything I do and my education is not an area that I’m willing to take shortcuts.  I’ve never been challenged like this before and I honestly love it.  I’m eager to see what’s next.

I also have two clinicals under my belt now.  The first was an ER shift at a busy hospital nearby.  I was worn slam out by the time I got home but I got some good contacts and got to practice many skills, BLS and even some ALS alike.  I got my first successful IV on the first attempt in the ER!  I also administered some meds, did vitals and other things.  All in all it was a great experience.  This past Friday I had my OB shift.  It wasn’t as eventful as the first ER shift I worked (I only had two patients and didn’t see any births) but I still got some skills practice.  This week I’ll have another ER rotation and I’m already looking forward to practicing more of my skills and working on assessments and such.  This week also holds a critical on IO initiation and a check off on port access.

Work continues to be more and more interesting with each shift.  The things we run across in the rural setting never cease to amaze me.  Of course, I can’t get too detailed with what we do but the things that people will call EMS for is astounding.  For those in EMS I’m sure I can’t tell you anything that you haven’t heard before but for anyone who’s not riding the war wagon… well, let’s just say that a lot of it is less than life threatening.  However, we often run into those patients who are ill due to the poor decisions they make.  Specifically, I’m speaking of substance abuse.  Please, especially if you have health problems limit or eliminate intake of alcohol and for sure don’t ingest illegal drugs.  The consequences could be extremely detrimental to your health.  A patient I had over the weekend was reminded of that the hard way (as you may have guessed, this wasn’t their first ETOH rodeo).

So that’s that with me at the moment.  This week I’m back in the ER and I’m looking forward to getting my glove covered hands dirty (and clean again between patients).  This is only the beginning and so far I’m enjoying my journey on the Quest For the Disco Patch.  Please, if you have any tips on achieving balance between school, home, work and everything else feel free to pass them along.  I’ll gladly take all the help I can get on this road I’ve started on.

Jonathan

Pinch, Stick, Rub

It was a good week in the Quest for the Disco Patch.  I took my first test on Tuesday and I did very well on it.  Don’t get too excited; most of it was stuff we went over in Basic class.  But, it’s still a grade and I’m happy that I did well on it.

We also started practicing IVs and subq and IM injections.  I think I was the only one in the class who hadn’t done IVs on a dummy or anything like that.  I wonder how rare that is… but, it’s true, I was (and still pretty much am) completely green.  I think I did OK, considering it was my first attempt at doing it.  I got a couple of sticks, I know.  We should have another day to practice before check offs next week.  We’ll also check off on the injections but, really, that’s not too complicated.  IVs though… I could use some more practice!  I’ll tackle that hard on Tuesday when we’re back in the lab.  Now, I should probably point out that I haven’t tried to stick a real arm yet so we’ll see how that goes when the time comes.  Of course, I’m a little nervous and I’m sure I will be for a little while at first.  I know I’m not the first and won’t be the last.

I’m already nervous about pharmacology and we haven’t even started on that yet.  Patho awaits us first.  But, I’ve already started working on my drug cards.  Just hope I don’t botch up dosages too badly.  I know I’m going to need a good bit of practice on that when the times comes.  Consider yourself warned:  I’ll be asking for help.

So that’s pretty much it!  Otherwise, it’s just business as usual.  As I write this, I’m resting my feet from being at a high school football standby and getting ready to go to bed since I start my weekend 48 at my paid EMS job in the morning.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Jonathan

Thank God for Refreshers!

First, I have to make a big deal about my latest addition to the blogroll:  Welcome, Mark Glencorse, AKA 999Medic!  Mark had to leave the blogosphere for a while but he’s back and just as great as ever!  I’m glad to see you back, my friend!

What a week!  Between school, my part time job and everything in between, I’ve been staying busy.  It’s been a week of ups and down but I’m thankful for every bit of it.  I believe that everything I experience adds to who I am as a person and helps develop me into a better man so I’m glad for all of it.

Let me just say: Thank God we’re doing a refresher on EMT-B skills.  I didn’t realize how much I had forgotten.  Wednesday I was lead on a scenario where we were going to use the Hare traction splint.  Keep in mind that I have not so much as touched one since I passed off my skills to get my Basic card and it showed.  I couldn’t believe how much I had forgotten.  Thankfully I was able to “back up and punt” and it finally came back to me and hopefully it sticks with me.

This underscores the need for all EMTs at any level to take their refresher training seriously. You never know when you’ll need a reminder.  I’m sure glad I got mine.

Overall this was a good week.  We finally finished with the first couple of chapters and we’ll have our first test on Tuesday.  Of course I’m going to study but a lot of this is stuff that I remember from Basic so hopefully the test won’t be too difficult for me.  We’re getting into an A&P overview now and then we’ll start on patho.  It’s all progressing and I’m having a blast so far!  I also continue to be impressed with the emphasis that my book has placed on being more than “just a medic” as most would think of a medic.  EMS is changing, big things are on the horizon.  I can’t wait to see what comes about in the next few years.  This is an amazing time for EMS and I’m happy to be a part of it.

I’ve also discovered that I have got to get my sleep patterns adjusted.  Over the summer I stayed up late and all that almost every night.  I need to break that habit.  Anyone who was around me for the last couple of days could tell that I was in a bad mood and it was because I haven’t been sleeping well.  I slept in today and it felt great.  I feel lots better!  Hopefully I’ll be able to get adjusted.

Tomorrow I’ll begin my weekly 48 at the General.  I’m hoping the citizens behave long enough for me to get some studying and drug cards finished.  Tonight my wife and I are going to eat sushi with my younger sister!  It’ll be great to see her but I’m looking forward to supporting my sushi habit.

So, is there anything in particular you would like me to write about?  Is there anything you’re wanting my thoughts on?  I’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have too. Have a great weekend!

Jonathan

The First Week

Here I am, “live” from my couch.  I’m a little wetter because my wife and I went to see the football game the high school where she teaches is playing in.  Then the monsoon started so we left.  One of the advantages of not working the ballgames is that I can leave if/when we want to.  It’s nice to be back home and relaxing, especially since I begin my 48 tomorrow morning.

My first full week of paramedic school – minus clinicals (we should begin those sometime in September) – is history.  We’re still in the midst of what amounts to an EMT-Basic refresher but I’m thankful for that since I haven’t gotten to use all of my skills during the year that I’ve been in EMS.  In class we’ve been going through the first chapter and I have to say that I’m impressed so far.  In talking about the roles, characteristics and responsibilities of a medic has been an emphasis on CE and research.  These are among the areas that lots of people in EMS have been striving for for a while.  I’m glad that my textbook advocates for these areas.  Of course, this should not be a huge surprise since Dr. Bryan Bledsoe was one of the writers of my book (he also co-wrote my pre-hospital pharmacology book).

Overall, I’m having a blast with learning new things, being refreshed on some skills that I haven’t gotten to use and getting to know my classmates.  I may have mentioned it before but it seems that we’ll be a really good group.  We’re all still in the getting to know each other stage but we’re all having a good time.  I’m thankful that there are a couple of coffee drinkers besides me.  I think coffee will be in good supply in our class.

So that’s pretty much been my week in a nutshell.  Tomorrow I’m starting my weekly 48 at my paid EMS job and I’m looking forward to a good weekend.  I’m hoping I’ll be able to work on more of my drug cards and do some studying between calls.  I’ll tweet when and what I’m able to on Facebook and Twitter so please follow me (you can find this info on the Contact page).  I hope you have a great weekend, wherever you may be!

Jonathan

The First Day

The first day of my medic school career is in the books.  We didn’t do much today, just did the usual first day housekeeping stuff.  Mostly this consisted of watching videos about infectious disease exposure, PPE and HIPAA.  I won’t lie, it was boring.  But, it’s required so I made the best of it.  We then went over the first day handout and the program handbook, ordered our clinical uniform shirts (which look really good) and got an idea of when our clinical days would be.  Due to my work schedule (a 48 on Saturday/Sunday), it looks like my day will be Friday.  This will work out very well since I won’t have to worry about making sure I leave work in enough time to get to my clinical site.  Plus it’ll be nice to have a day off after my 48 (we don’t have lecture or lab on Monday).

We also got our drug list for the pharmacology portion of the program.  We’re making cards and expected to have a good working knowledge of everything from Acetaminophen to Warfarin and everything in between.  It’s a long list, I’m not going to lie, but I’m looking forward to learning more about the drugs and being able to apply that in the field.  Also, we’ll be studying a great deal of pathophysiology and I’m actually looking forward to learning more about it.  It’s good to know as much as possible about body and disease processes, which helps us understand why we do a lot of the things we do.

My class seems to be a good mix of people.  One of the most unusual things about it is that several of my classmates are actually from my hometown.  I don’t recall meeting any of them before but we know a lot of the same people.  Overall it’s an eclectic mix of different people and personalities and I feel like it’s going to be a great class in many ways.

I also thought I would share the list of textbooks that we’re using this semester to give you an idea of what all we’ll be doing this Fall.

Essentials of Paramedic Care, 2^nd Edition Update (Brady)

Pathophysiology for the Health Professions, 4^th Edition

Davis’ Drug Guide, 11^th Edition

EMS Field Guide: ALS Version, 16^th Edition

Taber’s Cyclopedic Medica Dictionary, 21^st Edition

Pre-Hospital Pharmacology, 6^th Edition (Brady)

Easy 4-Step Method to Drug Calculations (Brady)

So that’s pretty much it for my first day.  Over the weekend and Monday I’ll be looking over the first chapter in the Essentials text and I’ll likely start working on the drug cards.  I’m already looking forward to really diving in and learning as much as I possibly can.  I also have a 48 hour shift coming up this weekend and hopefully that will allow me some time to read and work.

Jonathan