What time am I supposd to eat breakfast?

Get ready for a LOOOOOONG post!
Sorry I have neglected my blogging duties. I am been really busy! I think I am like 8 shifts behind on blogging, maybe more. First things first. I LOVE NIGHTS! I really am glad that I got a chance to work both days and nights. The calls are certainly different. I don't miss the nursing home calls and I am loving the psych and drunk calls. The nights seem to go by much faster as well.

On one of my last day shifts, Drew and our old EMT-Basic partner took me to the OKC bombing memorial. The outside part is open 24 hours. It was really neat to go there in the ambulance and be there in my uniform. There was a very strong spirit there. I thought back to the day that this horrible event occured. I remember I was at my Grandma Harris' house. I had slept over at her house and she was babysitting me. I remember going up to her playrooom and she was watching it on T.V. I remember her trying to explain to me what was going on. I can picture that moment like it was yesterday. I thought about my Grandma Harris the whole time I was there and how I was standing at the exact places that we were watching things on T.V. I didn't bring my camera but here is a pic I found. When John comes to get me we are going to walk the grounds and go to the museum. Speaking of John, he is LOVING his new job! We bought his plane ticket to come get me on November the 13th! That is 1 month and a day away. FYI I have completed 21 shifts. I am halfway done!!! It truly has gone by fast and I hope the last leg of this race goes by just as fast. John sent me a care package full of my favorite things. He found an Okapi stuffed animal!!! How cool is that? If you remember we discovered these at the zoo here right before he left. My amazing sister sent me a fun package too full of her favorite things. I love having a sister! Thanks guys! LOVE YOU

Now, on to my calls!! I am now running all the calls. Drew sits back and just does paperwork. Pretty much his job is to make sure I don't kill anyone. I am so thankful that he lets me run calls and use my brain. It really shows that he trusts me. When we switched to nights we got a new Basic partner. Her name is Sara. She is super tiny but man that girl is tough. It is fun to have another girl on the truck, but I miss our old partner :( I kind of liked being the only girl on the truck. Everyone around here has nicknames. Want to know what mine is.......PRINCESS! Apparently one day I fell asleep in the back of the ambulance and my hands were together resting on my head like a princess. I then sneezed and Drew was like, "geez, you even sneeze like a princess." The name stuck and now everyone here calls me princess.

The thing about EMS is 90% of the people that call the ambulance DON'T NEED IT! It gets really old really fast. There is however always those few calls where you actually saved someone's life and feel like you made a difference. Case in point number 1. One of my last days while working on days, we got called to a nursing home for what we thought might be a cardiac arrest. I was pumped, thinking this would be my first one. When we get into the room, I saw a fragile little old lady being held by her grandson. She was gasping for air every few seconds. The nursing staff told us she had a DNR which means do not resusitate. Until we see those documents we are going to try and save her. Turns out she had a pulse and a good blood pressure. She WASN'T dead! She was in respiratory arrest, however this can quickly turn into cardiac arrest. We quickly got her onto our cot. I knew what was next.....INTUBATION!! intubation is when you put a tube down the trachea so that you can breathe for the patient with a bag and if it is a long transport hook them up to a ventilator. You have to use a blade to lift up their epiglottis and pass the tube through the patient's vocal cords. Guess who got the tube the first try....ME! Drew was like awesome job all the way to the truck. When we got into the truck I was bagging her and her oxygen saturations were coming up. She started to open her eyes and I calmly told her that there was a tube in her throat to help her breathe and not to fight it. When we got to the hospital, we turned her over to the ER staff and started on our paperwork. By the time we were done with our paperwork the lady had been extubated and was breathing on her own and TALKING!!!! ABSOLUTE MIRACLE. I went in her room and told her I was sorry I had to put a tube down her throat. She looked at me and said "That's OK sweetheart. Thank you." I actually saved that woman's life. That was an amazing feeling. Here is a pic of what an intubation is.One of the saddest calls that I went on was to a domestic assault. A women was asaulted by her husband in front of her child in the car. He was drunk and drove off with the child. When we got to her house, the husband was in the cop car and it was clear that he had beat the crap out of her. My heart just sank for her. This was the first time that this had happened and I know it will not be the last. We had to convince her to go to the hospital. She had no one to watch her baby so we took him with us. The cop said to her, "I have been married to my wife for 25 years and never have I told her I loved her by beating the crap out of her." I said a little prayer for her and thanked my Heavenly Father for such a loving husband. I really am so grateful to have John. I sent him a text that night telling him how wonderful he was and thanking him for not beating me. This is the reality of life though. Most all assault calls I have been on are domestic.

I have been on a few overdose calls as well. The other night a very high class well to do women took A LOT of medication and wrote a note to her kids. She then ran away and told her family she was going to jump in the lake. Long story short, the police helicopter came out looking for her, we were looking for her with flashlights with the cops and the firefighters for a good 45 mintues. Drew said that this was the best game of hide and seek he had every played. We found her sitting by a tree, very out of it and took her to the hospital.

I have had a few heart attacks that we transport rapido to the hospital. Those are always intense and fun. I have had so many neat calls that they all mesh together. If I think of more I will post them. Those are the big ones for now. I will try and update after every few shifts so I don't forget my cool calls. As for now it is 2 in the morning. I don't really go to bed until 8 am. I try and keep my schedule on my off days so it doesn't mess me up during the work week. I am doing lots of homework on my off days in the middle of the night. As for my post title......I am not sure when I am supposed to eat breakfast lunch and dinner. My time is ALL MESSED UP. Well I better get to updating my shifts online so they actually count! Love to all!!! Wish me luck :)