EMS safety...well said AD!

Surfing through my regular blogs this morning and Kelly Grayson, aka Ambulance Driver, or AD, hits the nail on the head in his latest article on EMS1.com. Any EMS provider should not only read this but take it into serious consideration for the safety of ourselves and our partners.

Conversation in triage tonight

Conversation in triage tonight:
me: (lookint at todays paper) I cant believe Imissed the guys in kilts atthe parade this weekend, all because I slept in...(sarcastically)
Triage nurse: what? you think its sexy or something? men in skirts?
me: oh yea, very sexy...
TN: at least you know they dont have sweaty balls...
me: (sing-song) do your balls hang low do they wobble to and fro...(laughing)
TN: you know theirs do!
(both laughing, me crying from laughing...)


Guess you had to be there.... ;)

never gets easier

I have been a part of the EMS world for over 6 years now, and today I realized some things just never get easier. I currently work in a hospital based system, which means we get the opportunity rotate though triage for 4 hours every 12 hour shift. Today I am working a 16 and somehow wrangled 8 hours in triage. (It's really not too bad some days) Well, my fellow paramedic brought in a cardiac arrest who was a rather young pt, in their 30s. The call came in as a seizure but upon BLS arrival it was a cardiac arrest. The crews did their best but was unable to resuscitate. His buddy rode in on the ambulance with him, but family was completely unaware of what was going on. About 30 min after he was called in the ER family showed up, were shown to the consult room and the doctor went to talk to them, you could here the cries and screams of grief clear out in the waiting room. It never gets any easier at the point. I can handle a pt not making it, I have done it several times, but when the family can't handle it or handles it badly it is like daggars to my heart...

soldier's angel update

Ok, so a while ago I mentioned I had 2 military penpals, well the one I was emailing just stopped....the other one I failed. I was terrible at sending consistent letters and packages. I got discouraged because I never heard back from him. Well I just got an email that he is on mailstop now and is supposed to be returning home in December. I have decided to try a new "adoptee" and to be better with this one. I got his name and address tonight and have written my first letter to send in the mail tomorrow morning. The group I get these names from frowns on passing the address out to "strangers" but I am more than willing to accept and send anything anyone might want to send, just let me know! The more the merrier!!

more thanks

I am thankful today for good work relationships with my fellow coworkers....it makes for a much easier shift when you not only enjoy their company but know they have your back in any situations.

love notes from the nurses

If you can't read it, it says:
"Tiny insects brains can solve big problems"
then handwritten below says:
"See? Even the medics can accomplish something!"


This was a love note from one of my favorite RNs here at work that I came back to after a call tonight.

It's such a shame that she will soon be leaving the dark side of the ER for dayshift. I am definitly going to miss her love notes and her humor!! Thanks Sue!!!

be careful what you wish for

When I was in high school I went through a phase where I decided I did not like original spelling of my name. I guess I wanted to feel unique. The proper spelling of my name, given to me at birth is Stephanie. In high school (around the age of 15 maybe) I decided to start spelling it Steffanie. My parents and family did not like the idea of this. I went through this phase for a long time. My mother eventuallynhumored me and somehow the whole family began spelling my name Steffanie. It was as if someone passed a memo around to the family. When I got to college I continued this phase, confusing many professors, teachers, officers at the firehouse, and other new people who thought someone else made a mistake, since all of my "official" paperwork had my name spelled Stephanie. Well, about a year ago, maybe even two, I realized how silly this "phase" was. I began to respect my birthright, I guess you would call it, and began using the spelling of my name given to me at birth. I am now 25. The odd thing is, the majority of my family is still spelling my name Steffanie, even though I have been using the proper spelling on all cards, gifts, and our family website for the last year or so. I guess it's true you should be careful what you wish for....

giving thanks

ok, so I am double counting on this post...this is my "thanks" post for yesterday (the 15th) and today (the 16th) so that I dont keep feeling like Im a day behind.

for the 15th: Im thankful that I had a warm place to sleep today and a for the hot shower I had before work.

16th: Today Im going to be thankful for meeting new people....I believe people are brought into our lives for one reason or another....its figuring out what that reason is thats sometimes the hard part.

compliments

I am not the kind of person who receives a lot of compliments, or if I do I don't realize it...but today I received what I feel was a major compliment, not just me as a person, but me as a paramedic.

I was working tonight, a shift I normally don't work, but switched shifts for a fellow medic, and we were sitting at the nurses' station, just chit chatting, when one of the nurses (well she is a nurse practitioner now) mentioned they were hiring a medical assistant at her office, I was getting the info for a friend that I thought would be interested. She mentioned the pay "isn't that great", when I asked how much she said it was $12.00/hr. I was astonished folks, thats almost as much as I make as a medic at the hospital. She couldn't believe me, and gave the compliment that we, as medics should be making much more than $14-15/hr.

For now, I'm just going to have sweet dreams about that and continue working my 2 lower paying jobs...

giving thanks....

With Thanksgiving just around the corner I have seen a lot of media online about being thankful...I am going to attempt to list at least one thing a day I am thankful from now until the big Turkey day.


Today (well, 11/14/2009....)

I am thankful that father lived to see another year in his life, and that he is the best dad I could have been blessed with.

I am thankful for my "girlmate", my best friend and roommate, Sara. While we are two completely different people, we make great roommates and even better friends, she is definitly one of those people I can not imagine what my life would be like without her being in it. She is intelligent, is beautiful both inside and out, unique, and eccentric in her own way. I think living together is a new learning experience everyday. Sara- thanks for being my friend!!

Thats all I'll write about today....stay tuned for more to come!