Well, there’s a lot going on in my life these days, and while I feel that sometimes I share far too much on this blog, it really works for me to have a place to write my thoughts and ideas. That was the original intent behind this blog anyway.

Okay. Where to start? How about medic school. That’s as good a place as any, I suppose. School is almost done. I’ve met almost all of the exit criteria and now I’m just working on the last couple of hundred of hours and hoping for another code. Not that I want someone to die, but I need a code lead to demonstrate that I’m proficient in ACLS and can work as a team leader. I’m really going to miss all the friends I’ve made in medic School. It’s been an amazing journey. Monday was the entrance exam for the next cycle of medic students. 91 people tested for the 24 slots, and true to form, our instructor bragged about his current class to the crop of perspective students. He said some rather flattering things about us.

My personal life? Well… that’s getting better too. Thanks to the help of a great therapist, my wife and I have started to fix the issues that have been plaguing our relationship. These came to a head during medic school and for a while, it looked like the 10 years I had with my sweetie were going to go by the wayside. I feel a huge sense of relief that we are working thorough these problems, and I can say that I’ve grown more as a person over the last year. Anyone who says medic school doesn’t put a strain on a relationship is a liar. It’s brutal. It chews people up and spits out chunks.

Internship? It’s been great. As I mentioned, I’m working in a very busy system on the East side of the Cascades. It’s a long drive from home, but worth every minute of it. Every shift brings really interesting cases and another opportunity to shape and grow my practice as a medic. As a student that’s a little bit older than most, I’ve got the benefit of age on my side when I walk into a house. Little old ladies just feel a little more comfy with a 40 year old guy than a 22 year old kid. Hey, I’ll take it. I’m working in the role of the “lead medic” and my preceptor and EMT partner act as my assistants and Sherpa. It’s really a great way for me to get a lot of practical experience quickly. This system is so busy, if you’re not spun up to the level of being able to run complex calls right out of the chute, it can be difficult to get your feet underneath you.

I also learned that as the lead, I need to set my expectations for the crew at the beginning of the shift. I didn’t do that a few shifts back and I made a huge mistake with the EMT that was on my truck. It was a pretty painful shift and made for a really awkward day. Needless to say, now when I work with a new EMT, I let him know my expectations first thing. It’s pretty simple. I say, “I like the patient packaged with a couple of blankets. When we’re in truck I want all the lights on and my preceptor sitting in the airway seat. I don’t need you or anyone else in the back, unless I ask. When I say I want a set of vitals in the house, that means BP, HR, Respiration, temp, Monitor, SpO2 and a dexi… unless I say otherwise. When we’re in the back of the rig, you don’t drive until I say “drive”. You don’t ever question my treatment in front of a patient or talk to my patient unless I say it’s OK.” I didn’t set these rules at the onset a few weeks back, and I got burned. I like to be a nice guy and get along with everyone, but I’m not riding on the medic unit for social hour, I’m working my practice… and I need to make sure my team is on the same page.

So…anyway. I’m getting ready to head to the dentist for a teeth cleaning and another 48 tomorrow morning. It’s almost over.

Here’s a quick update for the folks who may still actually check my blog.

Wow. All I can say is wow. This quarter of school is kicking my ass. I mean, literally, beating me into a pulp. I’ve been working 48s on an incredibly busy Medic Unit. As an example, last shift, our 6 crews of medics got 8 tubes. Only one for me, but still… we see lots of shootings, stabbings, serious car wrecks and overdoes galore. Talk about experience.

This week in class, I’ll be presenting a case study of one of my “interesting calls”. After the presentation, I’ll post my case study here for y’all to look at. It was a pretty odd case, and worth reading, I think. And don’t worry HIPAA freaks, I’ll redact any and all identifying traits.

I’m also writing a research/opinion paper on Paramedic Pediatric Intubation. As a medic student who frankly enjoys the opportunity to intubate patients, I’m disappointed when I read articles from Dr. Wang stating how bad paramedics are at intubation. Do I think intubation will go away as a paramedic skill… my gut tells me yes. But, that’s another post for another day. And yeah, I’ll post my paper here, too. It may make for some interesting discussion. Maybe I can refer to someone as an idiot again.

I continue to try and work at OAC as much as I can. I just got off a 24 that crushed me. It was call after call after call… and, to add insult to injury, we’re doing double reports, as we get ready to move to an ePCR system. It was a non-stop parade of folks who were classified DNNA. Don’t Need No Ammalance, yet we transport ‘em anyway.

I need to run out and grab some lunch and take a nap. Folks, I miss you all…and I’ll try to be back soon.