The stress of EMS

The view from my seat in the back of the ambulance

Well, I have another 4 shifts under my belt. I am now running all the calls. I am so grateful to be here. I am truly learning what it is like in big city EMS. I get home anywhere from 9-9:30 every night and try to go to bed as a soon as possible. I wake up at about 6:45. By the end of the day I am DEAD tired. That is why I don't post each day. It is easier for me to post on my days off.

First of all, I will be getting done a few days sooner than scheduled because my preceptor is switching to nights. Wednesdays through Saturdays. I had the option to go to nights with him and I figured it would be a great opportunity, plus I really like my preceptor and I don't want to take the chance of getting a new one. My new schedule starts next Wednesday and I will run 12 hours 8pm to 8am. Now, I will get all the drunks and the good traumas. I am excited for that :) Hopefully I will be able to readjust my sleep schedule. I had the day off today but tomorrow night I am going in because my preceptor is doing an overtime shift. That means another extra shift under my belt :) I will have Thursday off and then back to work on Friday at 8 am. I will work until Monday and then have Tuesday off and then switch to my new schedule. This next week is going to be CRAZY!!!!

Everyone asks me how John is doing......well, we have GREAT NEWS!!! John got offered a job as a 3/4 employee of the school! (REAL JOB, NOT A STUDENT EMPLOYEE) :) John's current employer and the landscape company called the school and begged them not to take John. John is a wanted employee! This means he works 30 hours/week and makes double what he used to make! Our tuition is paid for and we get REAL benefits! He gets paid sick/vacation days. His job description is Groundskeepr/Substitute Garbage Truck Driver. He got his Commercial Driver's License a few months ago and that is why he can drive the garbage truck. We feel so blessed and grateful for this opportunity. This is truly an answer to our prayers. We needed this great news to keep us sane while we are apart. I am so proud of him. He always tells me that he will always take care of me. I trust him more than anyone in this world. He works so hard for our family. I am so lucky to have such a hard working husband who is always trying to do better.

On to PARAMEDIC STUFF!!! These last four shits have been very interesting. I had that "one" call that changes your life. I finally knew what it meant when they say that this job is stressful. On Sunday morning, after picking up a lady from the nursing home and taking her to the hospital, I was thinking to myself....."this is going to be just another one of those days" meaning no "real" calls just a bunch of nursing home and panic attacks. The dispatcher comes over the radio and tells us to head towards an address. My preceptor Drew, leans back and says, "pediatric cardiac arrest." These are the three words that you never want to hear. He then said. "2 month old male." I immediately started writing down drug doses for a baby that size and what size tube I would need to intubate him with. I said a pray that I would be able to remember everything I had been taught. I told Drew that I was nervous and he said, "Don't worry we got this." When we arrived at the apartment building I noticed that it was government housing and didn't look like a safe area of town. I jumped out of the back of the ambulance, we grabbed the cot and started for the door. I immediately saw a fireman walk out of the front door and put his bags and monitor on the front porch. I thought to myself well maybe it wasn't a true cardiac arrest if he didn't need his bags. When we got closer I saw another fireman standing at the front door giving us the "cut it" sign. You know the one where wave your hand across your neck. I wasn't sure what he meant by that until we got closer and all I could hear were blood curdling screams. I knew it wasn't good. A mother and father walked out of the house in tears and the mom proceeded to throw up on the porch. I walked in a saw a two month old little boy in a blue onsie lying dead on the couch. Rigor mortise had set in as well as color drained from his face. I just stood there and looked at him. His hand was held up by his face. Immediately a feeling came over me. It was a feeling of peace. As I looked at this precious child it was obvious that I was looking at a body but I knew his spirit wasn't there. I knew that his spirit was with our Heavenly Father. It was truly a spiritual experience for me. I will never forget that child's face or the feeling that I had when I left that house. It made me grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that I have from the gospel of Jesus Christ. My first DOA (dead on arrival) was a baby. I left out a lot of details because this is a crime scene but I just wanted to share that experience with you.

A few hours later, I had a massive trauma. (my first one) It was a 3 car MVA and my patient was unconscious. I have never seen a car wreck with more damage. I never panicked and I knew what needed to be done. We used the jaws of life to get him out. He was unrestrained and people all I have to say is WHERE YOUR SEAT BELTS!!!! Drew said I did a fantastic job! There were SOOOO many people there. Tons of ambulances, fire truck and even a police helicopter. Turns out, he had been running from the police when he ran a red light and hit 2 cars. We ran him into the trauma hospital and yelled report as a huge trauma team was assessing him. It was just like T.V! I loved every minute of it! On the way to the hospital I thought to myself, "this is what EMS is all about" He is considered my first trauma save. After I got cleaned up (lots of blood) Drew said, "well, your first trauma save was a drunk Mexican fugitive. How do you feel about that?" I just laughed. It would have been harder if he had killed someone because of his stupidity, but everyone survived. Truly a miracle. The wreck was on the news and here is the link. Sunday was a very eventful day for me. I love this job and I know it is what I am supposed to be doing!
Love you all!!!

Car wreck: http://www.koco.com/video/25076480/detail.html

4 down.....36 to go!

So I have done my first 4 shifts! I haven't posted because I am so dead tired by the time I get home that I talk to John on Skype and then go to bed. I am also taking 8 credits online and so I also have homework. Well I looked up my preceptor on Facebook the night before my first shift so I knew who to look for. While I did this I was shocked to find out that he was only 23! His name is Drew and he has been a medic for about a year and a half. He is SOOOO smart. I am already learning so much from him. We have super serious times like on calls but we also get along really well and joke around all day long. I have to EMT-basic drivers 1 for 2 days and another for the other 2 days. They are both fun too. All of us are always making fun of each other. EMS life is SO much fun. I love it! One of the drivers is going to paramedic school right now so we are always quizzing each other. He used to be in the Mongols motorcycle gang! The fact that I have an awesome preceptor and one that is extremely knowledgeable makes this so much easier. I see it as a little tender mercy from the Lord

I am averaging about 7-8 calls per 12 hour shift. Most of them are BS calls. A lot of people call the ambulance for nothing, it is really frustrating but whatever. We make it very entertaining. The first day I watched them and helped out where I could but everyday we have a new goal. Drew is a great teacher and always tells me where I can improve and tells me when I am doing a good job. We don't have a station that we sit at. We go to EMSA headquarters and check out our cot and get the truck that we will be in for the day. We check out the narcotic drugs and go over our supplies. We then go out on the truck and usually get a call before we go to our first post. We post around the city and that is where we wait for calls. I love being in a busy EMS system. I have recently started running the calls and Drew stands back and I tell him what to do. I am learning a ton and feel pretty confident. I have had some calls that I have never had before like assault, domestic violence, children, drugs.....pretty sweet calls I must say. Drew wears a bullet proof vest!!! I am like hello where is mine? I think he wears it though just so he says that he does.

It is hard being away from John, but I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to come to a busy EMS system and learn from the best paramedics. I try to stay posotive and realize that this is where I am going to learn how to be a good Medic. A lot of people have told me that I should be a model not a medic here but I say NO WAY I LOVE THIS. Most women medic here are, well a littl lesbian-ish. I was really worried here about my diabetes and what everyone would think but Drew said there is another medic here who is diabetic and has an insulin pump. He just said to tell him if I feel funny and we will fix it! :) This took a ton of stress off of me. However he did say that before he gives me sugar he is going to take a picture. I guess the diabetic medic here drools when he has low blood suagr....lol

I thought the very first call I was going to have was a women having a baby! I was soooo excited, but of course the call is never what you think. She was only 7 weeks and probably had an ectopic pregnancy. I have had a lot of shortness of breath calls. Yesterday I took a guy off of his drug high and he was MAD! I also had a 4 year old with a tension pneumothorax, (collapsed lung) that call was pretty scary because we could have possibly had to dart her chest. I had an assault where a girl hit a guy with a metal insence burner and cut his arm down to the muscle. It was super bloody and super awesome. I also unloaded an 18month old from a helicopter who got ran over by his parents. All I have to say about that is WATCH BEHIND YOU!!! to often does this sort of thing happen and it is so preventable. The baby survived and was stable when we got him out of the helicopter and rolled him into the trauma center. I will try and write more after calls so that I can remember them better.

I have 3 days off so I will be doing my homework ALL DAY! I can't wait to go back on Friday!! Living with 3 other girls really isn't as bad as I thought. We really don't see each other much because we have opposite shifts. We try to do things together and talk and study when we can. I talk to John every night right after my shift and we try to Skype every night. Skype is what keeps me sane.

Have a wonderful day and feel free to ask me any questions!!!
-Em (Future Medic)

I am sooooo nervous!!

John and I waiting for him to board the plane....holding back tears

Before John left we thought a trip to the zoo would keep our minds off leaving each other. This is the coolest animal in the whole world! It is called an Okapi and it is only found in a small remote part of Africa. It was only discovered about 100 years ago!

So tomorrow I start my first shift. I am soooo nervous I might vomit on the way to the ambulance station. School started today and so I have things to keep me busy until then. I took a picture of the countdown that I made on my wall! I should be getting done around the 15th of November. That is if everything goes to plan. I might try and pick up more shifts at the end to get done sooner. I went to the pool today because there is still water in it but there is a lock on it and the lady said it was closed. I don't understand the big deal if I just go sit by it but whatever! Yesterday it rained ALL day. It reminded me of home....my real home SEATTLE :) We got the aftermath of some hurricane that hit Texas. I noticed that there are no drainage ditches here so the streets flood pretty bad. It was pretty fun driving in puddles though. Last night I talked to John on skype for 2 hours! It was so fun! Aubrey (sister) was schocked that John could talk to for 2 hours! but he did! I guess thats what it means to be in love! I sure miss that boy :(

Orientation

Today we had orientation with our Internship Coordinator here in OKC. It was really nice to be able to understand more about there system and what types of calls they run here. VERY DIFFERENT from Rexburg. They average 250 calls a day here in Oklahoma City. I will be working 4, 12 hour shifts a week. My shift is Friday through Monday 8:30am -8:30 pm. I am excited to work weekends because hopefully they will be busier. I should be running about 12 calls a shift!!! The most calls I have ever had was 8 in a 14.5 hour period and I was soooooo tired after. I am also taking 8 online credits on top of this internship, so I will be a busy lady. I got my preceptors name but I don't meet him until I start on Friday. I am actually excited that I got a male because girl paramedics are known to be a little on the yotchy side. I hope and pray that I have an amazing preceptor because that will make all of the difference. They run about 20% trauma calls and 80% medical calls. Hopefully I will get some cool trauma calls though.

It is definitely different living with girls again. It really makes me miss John but I am trying to stay positive and make the most of the situation. I am really mad because I found out that the pool here at our complex is going to be drained for the season!!! I am soooooo mad. It is still like 100 degrees here with the humidity. I am pretty nervous to start so say a little prayer for me. I have started a countdown in sticky notes on my wall of the shifts until I get to go home. After 40, 12 hour shifts, John will hop on a plane and come get me :) We set up skype last night and it is really amazing how much of a difference it makes seeing someone while you are talking to them. I have a feeling we will skype everyday!!! I will post pics of my apartment tomorrow. By the way it is AWESOME!!!

address my letters to Mustang, Oklahoma!

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
So, I decided to start a new blog for just Paramedic Intern stuff. John and arrived in Oklahoma City on Saturday. We had a looooooong 20+ hour drive, but we had a blast! On our way here we drove through Kansas were I saw a sign for the worlds largest prarie dog and a live 5 legged cow! I begged John to stop but he said that we could on the way home!



Today has been one of the hardest days for me. I had to say goodbye to John. We have only been apart for a week before and that was really hard for us. I never cry and John NEVER EVER cries and we both cried A LOT today. Sending him on the plane was one of the hardest things I have ever done. He told me not to look back and he said he couldn't or else he would start crying again, but he told me later that he looked back twice. I love that boy so much. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband who loves me and supports me. He left a note for me under my bed, so that I would find it when I went to bed. He is the sweetest person in the world. He has made this a lot easier becuase he is so posotive. He keeps telling me that he will be back before I know it to come get me and that we won't have to be apart again. He tells me that I am going to have a blast! I hope so, and I hope the 10 weeks goes by fast. He gave me a blessing before he left, and I have never heard more beautiful words come out of someone's mouth. I love that boy with all my heart and I am the luckiest girl in the world.



I have orientation on Tuesday, where I find out who my preceptor will be and what my shifts are. I am pretty sure that I work 4 days on and 3 days off. I have to do 40 12 hour shifts and then I get to come home. I am going to make a countdown! I am taking 8 credits on top of my internship online, so hopefully I will stay busy and not think about John. We have a really nice pool here at our apartment complex and I have my own room so I can't complain too much. The weather here is nice and hot, just the way I like it :) I'll post pics of my apartment soon and let you know my schedule when I get it! Pray for me that I do well and that it goes by fast. I am going to make the most out of this. I am nervous but excited to start on the ambulance. I hope I learn a ton and that this is a posotive experience for me.



Love you all!! Thanks for your love and support

-Emily (Future Paramedic)



p.s. if anyone knows me they know I LOVE MAIL!!!! so feel free to send it my way :)