Firefighters battle a blaze at their own station.
Can you say "oops"?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Murphy's morning...
This morning has been what I would like to refer to as a Murphy's morning. If it can go wrong, it will:
1) I started out the morning feeling nauseated and having abd pain (which has been off and on for 2 1/2 wks and my doc wont listen to me)
2) Im going into work on my day off to cover for a fellow co-worker on bereavement.
3) I start my morning out in the triage medic spot, not so bad until the triage nurse computer starts acting up and pt are getting backed up and start to get cranky with me, since Im the only they can get to.
4) Then the baby scale in triage stops working, continuing the delay until someone can come in and simply change the batteries in it.
5) Then, I start feel better and think a nice hot cup of coffee would be really nice, I walk in the back since we finally got the pts checked in and even in beds and knock the whole damn cup over in the ER breakroom, spilling scalding hot coffee down the fron of my shirt and pants and all over the floor. I think I may have a slight burn on my stomach, a sore red area anyways, but I'll live.
6) Both of my partners are out on calls in the two trucks we have in service (our first due truck has been in the shop for almost a month) when my boss calls and says since the altenator is acting up in the 2nd due truck (again...its on its 5th or 6th one) to drop it off at the shop this morning and double up in the 3rd due truck while they replace the altenator.
I guess I really can understand about when it rains it pours.
Now I am nauseated again, and still caffiene deprived....this is going to be a long 8 hour shift......
1) I started out the morning feeling nauseated and having abd pain (which has been off and on for 2 1/2 wks and my doc wont listen to me)
2) Im going into work on my day off to cover for a fellow co-worker on bereavement.
3) I start my morning out in the triage medic spot, not so bad until the triage nurse computer starts acting up and pt are getting backed up and start to get cranky with me, since Im the only they can get to.
4) Then the baby scale in triage stops working, continuing the delay until someone can come in and simply change the batteries in it.
5) Then, I start feel better and think a nice hot cup of coffee would be really nice, I walk in the back since we finally got the pts checked in and even in beds and knock the whole damn cup over in the ER breakroom, spilling scalding hot coffee down the fron of my shirt and pants and all over the floor. I think I may have a slight burn on my stomach, a sore red area anyways, but I'll live.
6) Both of my partners are out on calls in the two trucks we have in service (our first due truck has been in the shop for almost a month) when my boss calls and says since the altenator is acting up in the 2nd due truck (again...its on its 5th or 6th one) to drop it off at the shop this morning and double up in the 3rd due truck while they replace the altenator.
I guess I really can understand about when it rains it pours.
Now I am nauseated again, and still caffiene deprived....this is going to be a long 8 hour shift......
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Staff Sergeant John Beale
SSgt John Beale.
He was 39, from Georgia, was a member of the Georgia National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade, and he married his wife right out of high school. He was also a Father of an 8 and a 12 year old.
He loved being in the military. He was deployed to Afghanistan a month ago, his second tour there and he died a few days ago thanks to an IED, alongside two of his fellow soldiers, 21-year-old Specialist Jeffrey Jordan, and 37-year-old Major Kevin Jenrette.
Until today I had never heard of or met this man or his family. I did learn today to what extent people care about and respect him and other members who are in the military fighting for our freedom and our country.
The following video proves just this.
Welcome Home SSgt John Beale, and thank you for your sacrifice for my freedom. May God bless you and your family and may you rest in peace.
He was 39, from Georgia, was a member of the Georgia National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade, and he married his wife right out of high school. He was also a Father of an 8 and a 12 year old.
He loved being in the military. He was deployed to Afghanistan a month ago, his second tour there and he died a few days ago thanks to an IED, alongside two of his fellow soldiers, 21-year-old Specialist Jeffrey Jordan, and 37-year-old Major Kevin Jenrette.
Until today I had never heard of or met this man or his family. I did learn today to what extent people care about and respect him and other members who are in the military fighting for our freedom and our country.
The following video proves just this.
Welcome Home SSgt John Beale, and thank you for your sacrifice for my freedom. May God bless you and your family and may you rest in peace.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
decent days
Day shift isnt so bad...
So I had pretty decent days at work yesterday and today. Got to run a variety of calls, and it made the days fly by. Yesterday I only went on one call, but it was interesting. Long story short, a woman suffered a cardiac arrest while talking on the phone to her friend in CA while sleeping on air matress in a duplex she was just moving into. The friend called the police in town, and PD, the FD, and I were dispatched. It took about 15 minutes before we were sure we were at the correct address before attempting to forcibly enter the locked building. One of the EMTs ended up going out the 2nd floor window of the duplex neighbor and across the roof to get into a window with an air conditioner it to find that our lady had been gone long enough to be incompatible with life. This was my first call like this at my new job with new procedures, I simply turned it over to PD and was released! Im used to having to sit around and wait for a coroner and then transport the body to the morgue.
Today I had a good variety of calls. I had an abd pain, a possible OD, and a MVC. The abd pain came in as a SOB, but it wasnt, obviously, but it was in BFE! I got to see a part of the county I will rarely see on a call according to my partners. The OD had actually happened the night before, but the guys wife was still worried, so it took one medic, 2 EMTs, and about 8 PD to convince him to go to the hospital without a fight. And it took the cops again to make him stay at the hospital as an involuntary commital. The MVC was a single car rollover, pt was not entrapped, but had a nice hematoma and lac to the head and pain in the shoulder blades, and the EMTs asked me to ride along. Pt was A&O the entire time, x-rays and CT showed a sub-dural bleed...go figure, she was sent off to the trauma center.
I finally caught up on all my paperwork and am now waiting the next 20 min for my relief so that I can go home and enjoy my day off tomorrow by sleeping in a bit, going to the doc, and packing up stuff at my old place to move into the new place next weekend!
So I had pretty decent days at work yesterday and today. Got to run a variety of calls, and it made the days fly by. Yesterday I only went on one call, but it was interesting. Long story short, a woman suffered a cardiac arrest while talking on the phone to her friend in CA while sleeping on air matress in a duplex she was just moving into. The friend called the police in town, and PD, the FD, and I were dispatched. It took about 15 minutes before we were sure we were at the correct address before attempting to forcibly enter the locked building. One of the EMTs ended up going out the 2nd floor window of the duplex neighbor and across the roof to get into a window with an air conditioner it to find that our lady had been gone long enough to be incompatible with life. This was my first call like this at my new job with new procedures, I simply turned it over to PD and was released! Im used to having to sit around and wait for a coroner and then transport the body to the morgue.
Today I had a good variety of calls. I had an abd pain, a possible OD, and a MVC. The abd pain came in as a SOB, but it wasnt, obviously, but it was in BFE! I got to see a part of the county I will rarely see on a call according to my partners. The OD had actually happened the night before, but the guys wife was still worried, so it took one medic, 2 EMTs, and about 8 PD to convince him to go to the hospital without a fight. And it took the cops again to make him stay at the hospital as an involuntary commital. The MVC was a single car rollover, pt was not entrapped, but had a nice hematoma and lac to the head and pain in the shoulder blades, and the EMTs asked me to ride along. Pt was A&O the entire time, x-rays and CT showed a sub-dural bleed...go figure, she was sent off to the trauma center.
I finally caught up on all my paperwork and am now waiting the next 20 min for my relief so that I can go home and enjoy my day off tomorrow by sleeping in a bit, going to the doc, and packing up stuff at my old place to move into the new place next weekend!
Monday, June 15, 2009
squashed the little birdie
So my boss was my relief at work yesterday and he and I had a little talk. My boss says to not believe a thing my birdie tells me....
It was such a relief to get that burden off my shoulders. I for the life of me could not figure out what I had done to make any nurses or other medics upset. My boss confirmed he had heard nothing negative about me and that he asked me to switch to days temporarily just so I could get a little more experience, nothing more, nothing less. A simple confidence booster with being a newer medic and all. And truth be know I adapted to day shift pretty well. I only hope I can re-adapt to nights when I go back. Im not sure if day shift is a one month or an all summer thing, but I know its not longer than for the summer.
Im kind of looking forward to the summer here, lots of things going on in this historical town, war reanactments, bike rallies, and the one thing Im still getting used to is the people who walk around ALL DAY in Civil War garb....anyways, all is good on the work front.
I picked up another part time job, one or two days a week for a specialty transport company who specializes in ventilator pt transports, I start there tomorrow and will be down in WV at the racetrack this weekend, not sure if its motorcycles or cars, but no new war stories to tell yet.
Hope everyone has a good week, keep safe.
It was such a relief to get that burden off my shoulders. I for the life of me could not figure out what I had done to make any nurses or other medics upset. My boss confirmed he had heard nothing negative about me and that he asked me to switch to days temporarily just so I could get a little more experience, nothing more, nothing less. A simple confidence booster with being a newer medic and all. And truth be know I adapted to day shift pretty well. I only hope I can re-adapt to nights when I go back. Im not sure if day shift is a one month or an all summer thing, but I know its not longer than for the summer.
Im kind of looking forward to the summer here, lots of things going on in this historical town, war reanactments, bike rallies, and the one thing Im still getting used to is the people who walk around ALL DAY in Civil War garb....anyways, all is good on the work front.
I picked up another part time job, one or two days a week for a specialty transport company who specializes in ventilator pt transports, I start there tomorrow and will be down in WV at the racetrack this weekend, not sure if its motorcycles or cars, but no new war stories to tell yet.
Hope everyone has a good week, keep safe.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
reflections
well as I was sitting here at work I saw something that struck a happy memory chord...
I was sitting in triage at work today and in walked a couple guys in USAF blues. My father was in the USAF for 17yrs. The first 8 or so years of my life I was a USAF brat. One of my fondest memories as a kid was sitting on the floor at my fathers feet while he shined his boots every morning. Everytime I see a person in military uniform, especially the older camoflouge or USAF blues I flashback to the days of my early childhood. Oddly enough, the sight and/or smell of Kiwi brand shoe polish does it too. I always smile when I flashback to those days, and for that I am grateful, as it was not always cake in those days, as those were the years my parents worked their way through a divorce, which I don't really rememebr much of.
It is nice to be able to have some happy thoughts, especially on a rainy day that seems to make the whole world seem dreary.
I was sitting in triage at work today and in walked a couple guys in USAF blues. My father was in the USAF for 17yrs. The first 8 or so years of my life I was a USAF brat. One of my fondest memories as a kid was sitting on the floor at my fathers feet while he shined his boots every morning. Everytime I see a person in military uniform, especially the older camoflouge or USAF blues I flashback to the days of my early childhood. Oddly enough, the sight and/or smell of Kiwi brand shoe polish does it too. I always smile when I flashback to those days, and for that I am grateful, as it was not always cake in those days, as those were the years my parents worked their way through a divorce, which I don't really rememebr much of.
It is nice to be able to have some happy thoughts, especially on a rainy day that seems to make the whole world seem dreary.
little birdie....
It has been an interesting week folks. I started day shift this week on a temporary basis at work. I have a few concerns, one mainly. I was under the impression I was asked if I wanted to do days because someone else wanted to go to nights. Well, on my 2nd day shift a little birdy mentioned otherwise to me. Apparently the buzz around the other medics and nurses is that I have been making poor decisions on calls and was sent to days to get whipped back into shape since our call volume at night is so low. I know I dont have as much experience as other medics who have been doing this the same amount of time I have, but its not for my lack of trying, and my boss knew that when I got hired here, this is my first full time 911 job....and I absolutely love it, I dont want to lose it....
Honestly, Im not sure what bad decisions are being made, I know of one call, and I talked it over with both the doc and my boss, and everything was cool, or so I thought. I just think that if there is a problem my boss would have mentioned something to me, not a co-worker. And I have only a couple of people here at work I consider "friends" all the others are co-workers, and the few I consider friends say they havent heard anything, so I dont know. I guess I should just ask my boss to sit down with me and clear things up instead of letting this eat away at me....
Honestly, Im not sure what bad decisions are being made, I know of one call, and I talked it over with both the doc and my boss, and everything was cool, or so I thought. I just think that if there is a problem my boss would have mentioned something to me, not a co-worker. And I have only a couple of people here at work I consider "friends" all the others are co-workers, and the few I consider friends say they havent heard anything, so I dont know. I guess I should just ask my boss to sit down with me and clear things up instead of letting this eat away at me....
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