pediatrics

I had an interesting call the other day involving a pediatric.

Was dispatched for a 4 1/2 month old with breathing difficulty. The call was in the northern part of the county and I knew it would take me close to 15 or 20 minutes to get there but that the ambulance would get there much sooner. As dispatch kept updating me, it seemed the pt was getting worse. I pre-alrted and engaged a medevac prior to reaching the pt. Once arriving on scene I found a very sick, 9lb, 4 1/2 month old baby boy who had seen better days (I had hoped anywyas...). He had experienced quite a few problems in his short life span, to include some trachea and esophagus defects as well as some heart defects. (I learned a few new ten-dollar-words that day) Today he was having trouble simply breathing. Mom told me he had stopped breathing and she had to give him a few breaths to get him started again prior to calling 911. I can not even tell you the worries and thoughts racing through my mind. After assesing the baby I knew I had made the right decision calling for the medevac. It seemed like an eternity waiting for them about a mile from the pt house, although it was only about 12 minutes. While waiting the only thing I could do for this little guy was give him some oxygen and a couple breathing treatments to help him out a bit. I set out my infant BVM and intubation kit to ward of the evil spirits, which, thank goodness, worked.

Looking back I just had this feeling that maybe there was something more I could have or should have done, or that I should have donemore, faster. Im confident now I did all I could for him. The most disturbing thoughts are 1) This family lived so far away from the hospital with such a sick baby, and 2) I called to check on him the next day and they had not been able to figure out what caused him to stop breathing, all the tests had come back normal so far....

back to the bat cave...

ok so its not exactly the bat cave...

Im back to working night shift. Im 7 hours into a 12 hour shift. We have only been dispatched to one call for a car into a utility pole, sounded pretty promising, sadly I was stuck sitting at the triage desk watching both my partners head out for the call. (someone has to hold things down back here I suppose)

I am grateful to be back on nights, or I think so for now. I am going to miss some of the daytime nurses that I seemed to have formed a relationship with. I initially thought I would absolutely hate day shift, but loking back, I actually enjoyed it. I got to run more calls, and have some learning experiences. I got to work with some nurses, doctors and paramedics I had not worked with before. I actually had enough time and energy after a shift to get things done at home, like mowing the lawn, or simply having dinner with my roommate and friends. On night shift I usually go straight home and crash, to get up and do it again, at least fr the 3 nights I usually work in a row. Guess we will have to see how things go. I have only had 3 cups of coffee thus far tonight and am doing better at 0200 than I thought I would be. I was pretty sure by time midnight rolled around I'd be dragging my feet.

On a personal note, I have been ill lately, not really sure whats going on, lots of interesting symptoms the strangest to me is that over the last 8-10 months I have noticed my body temp being low, around 96.4-96.8 on a regular basis. The doc initially thought it was my thyroid, everything came back normal (as it always has, even though I have had several docs think I have a thyroid problem). Guess we will just wait and see what the next step is.

Anywyas, you all stay safe out there, I'll keep you updated on how night shift is treating me

back to school?

So I know its been awhile....went on vacation and have been back to work for a week now.

I have been doing a ton of thinking lately and I think Id like to go back to school and get a bachelors degree....I have a major in mind, something that was formerly foriegn to me, but that now spikes my interest. Im looking into an online program so that it wont interfere with work. I dont think I can do an in-class program, maybe blended....

we shall see, but I dont see me starting this fall (little late for that) Maybe winter or spring, but I definitly want to start by next fall

road trip

Still nothing blog-worthy to write. Heading to Clanton, Alabama in the morning with my younger sister to go visit our older sister....maybe have some pictures to post next week.

update...sorry for taking so long

I feel like its been a while since I last posted, but I really have not had anything to blog about. Days at work have been on the slow side, no really interesting calls, just working a lot of OT. There has been a lot of hospital/ER traffic just not ambulance/911 calls.

Speaking of working a lot, I am starting my new PT job at MVFD this week. I have always wanted to work out of a fire department without having to do the firefighter stuff. (I have the VERY basic training and do not consider myself a fire fighter at all)

I am starting the new PT job because the old one isnt paying well. Actually it's not paying me at all. Hence, I need a job that will pay me, on a regular basis. I am being forced to go above my supervisors head to his boss to resolve this issue since my supervisor keeps dodging my phone calls and when I confronted him in person just kept making up excuses. This is the same supervisor who can't figure out why I tell him I cant work everytime he calls me and asks me to. (duh!)

I dont know what else to do....