Category: EMT

Code 3 – v2.0

What I did for my fourth of July?

Well, I helped a nice Russian lady face the hard reality of pending organ failure due to chronic Hep C infection. She developed an upper GI bleed today and showed the first stages of organ failure. Sadly, her future doesn’t look rosey.

Then I worked a 49 year old male in full arrest from a MI (heart attack). He later coded (died) at the hospital. While the learning experience for me was invaluable, all I wanted to do was hug his poor wife afterwards. They were visiting from out of town. I’m sure this wasn’t in the vacation plans. I can only imagine what it’s like to lose a loved while on vacation in a foreign city. I can’t speak for other cities but, the emergency responder care you get in SF is first rate. We had 3 paramedics onscene, a paramedic captain, and 4 EMT’s (including me). With the exception of moi, it’s a standard response on any type of resuscitation. We “worked” the man for almost an hour before finally transporting C3 (code 3) to the nearest hospital. We didn’t think he’d live but since he had what’s called a ‘workable rhythm’ on his heart-rate, we did the best we could. I’m a quick study and that one call made it worth it for all my previous ride alongs. I’m very fortunate in that I assimilate info quickly. The other firefighters didn’t know I was a newbie till after it was over and my crew mentioned it.
Continue reading Code 3 – v2.0

Nonsense

I had another ride along today. It went well. Not very busy but something is better than nothing. I always find my ride alongs a lesson in humility. I usually end up dealing w/the down-trodden and cast aways of society. Whether by fault or fate, life dealt these folks a shitty hand. Some make the best of it, others wallow in their misery. Either way, I’m reminded of how lucky I am and how far we need to go as a society before we can even begin to throw around terms like “civilized”. It is unthinkable that we allow folks to sink to such lows.

While responding to a victim of an assualt, we happen to see a man walking the streets sort of erratically. The most striking trait is the odd color of his hands. By odd, they were completely purple. Not a good sign regardless of the reason. It becomes apparent said person isn’t dealing w/a full deck as we watch him perform a sort of hopscotch of hopping back and forth across the street. PD was onscene and mentioned he’d been 5150’d (psych eval’d) previously on several occasions. Uh, yeah! Here we have a man that w/medication and just a modicum of daily intervention could lead a normal even productive life. Thanks to a variety of issues, including our shitty no-good piece-of-shit president’s policy of robbing this country of any social programs, this poor soul is left homeless and forgotten. He wanders the streets on a daily basis in a cloud of chemical dysfuntion. And true to description, after dealing w/our current patient, we can’t find him. Lost once again in the daily shuffle of life. He is but one of many such people in this city. And not just SF, you could pick any large city in the US and encounter a similar problem.

Oh, and our assault victim? A victim true enough. But, as soon as PD left, he hopped out of the ambulance and was on his way. He was what we call a “repeat offender”. Someone who works the ins and outs of the system just so he can get a ‘free ride’. But how free is it when your life is at the whim of social services, housed in squalor, and totally dependent on the kindness of others?

At day’s end I find my faith in my current career choice renewed. I may not be able to save them all but I know I can make a difference. Even if that “difference” is a compassionate face in the chain of faces one must endure when faced w/a life on the streets.

Emergency?

Is it possible I’m FINALLY on another ride along today? Well, if it’s after 8:00am and this is still here, it’s true!

** Update **

Yes, it did happen. It’s been so long I was getting discouraged. This was a new medic too and I really liked them. They were knowledgable and treated every patient w/dignity. I really liked seeing that. There are ways w/dealing w/”repeat offenders” however, being ugly isn’t one of them. They found me energetic and eager to learn which made their job easier. YAY!

Long day though and I’m tired. Doing laundry now. It’s piled up so high I can’t avoid it any longer. I’m down at the local Sit & Spin doing it as I can do all the loads at once. I’ve resigned myself to just having it done. My free time is continually limited and I’m not keeping up w/it. (Yeah, I’m lazy too but that’s not the point.)

Busy Bee III

No rest for the wicked. I’m off but not such luck on actually being free. *sigh* I miss having a life. (Wait, did I ever have one?…*pondering*)

I’m off to work to bend fresh minds to my iron will. The current class has finished their first rotation and today is their one day classroom training session before starting 2nd rotation. Out of 18 there are 9 left. Sadly, that’s better than most. The remaining group is doing well though.

Tomorrow, I’m headed over to City College to help my previous instructor w/his new EMT class. They are coming toward the end of the semester and doing much more hands on.

Wednesday, I have to go in early (7:00am) as I’m learning the new dynamic deployment for fire side. (I’m not exactly a morning person so I’m sure I’ll be extra cranky that day.) We are switching to a new type of dispatching for medics in the city. Instead of placing them at fire stations they will be roaming. We will use an AVL (automatically verifiy location) system to deploy medics for emergency calls. Basically, it just means we’ll have more tools to do our job effectively. Not any new skills but more attention is required now. The current system is sloppy at best. After a week of training, I hit the floor. One of the perks might be better days off for awhile. I might end up w/a weekend day or two off thru the month of April.

802’s

Ok, I sorta got my wish. I ended up riding around not in an ambulance but w/an RC. RC stands for Rescue Captain. Basically, he is a Paramedic supervsior. He was also my instructor for my EMT cert.

Nothing gruesome but my first two calls of the day were 802’s. (Dead on arrival) The first was sad as an 11 year old boy woke up to find his mother had passed away during the night. Truly impactful event for an 11 year old boy wouldn’t you say? The parents were estranged from each other so we had to stand by till the father could come onscene. The boy handled it like a trooper and his giant tomcat seemed to be a huge comfort (that was for you homer). Having already been predisposed to such tragedies on a daily basis from my current job, I was saddened but very in control. Lets face it, people die everyday. I can think of no better way to go than peacefully in your sleep in your own home.

A couple hours go by and we get another call. A typical man down/3rd party scenario. Continue reading 802’s

Finally

I’m doing a ride-along today. After the last two cancelled, I’m feeling rusty. I’ll be spending twelve hours on an ambulance or “the box” as they call it.

Maybe I’ll get lucky and get something gruesome.

Wish me luck?

Code 3

I’m doing a ride along again today (it’s after midnight while I’m writing this). Twelve hours bouncing around in a tin box w/some of the needest citizens in the city. Drunks, junkies, crabby old ladies, and the occasional victim of circumstance.

Ah, I love this job!

Apparently, someone at HQ screwed up and scheduled two fo us for the same day. Since, I was lower in senority, I got booted. Oh well, shit happens. I might do one tomorrow but it’s iffy right now. So now I have all this free time on my hands. What to do…what to do?….hmmmmmm

Oh and happy VD guys.

Tim & Tim / Meanderings

I got a flood of emails from my profile post yesterday. Guess I hit a nerve! All I can say to that is if the shoe fits wear it, bi-yatch!

Yesterday, lunch was spent w/Tim W. He took me down to Daly City for all-you-can-eat sushi as a belated b’day present. We both got full, caught up a bit, and just enjoyed the time together. I forgot to bring my camera. He wanted to see how much sushi I could put away. On a site note, he is going thru a bad patch at the moment so keep him in your thoughts!

Today, I had lunch w/southern Tim. I haven’t seen him lately so it was nice to see his shiny face. I was on the phone w/the movers when he showed up for lunch. Damn, if that hussy didn’t sit and eat most of my food. “Oh, I’ll just sit and hang out while you eat.” My ass! I got back at him though. He gets so embarassed hearing about my sexual exploits so I make sure to keep him up-to-date whenever I can. *eg* He was also gracious enough to volunteer to help me move. I’m recommending him for sainthood. Just as soon as I get to church again.

Continue reading Tim & Tim / Meanderings

Year In Review

I was all ready to review my resolutions for 2005 till I discovered I never posted them. Or maybe I did just not all together. So, I’m thinking, what were my goals again?

With the break up, having to move twice, and the death of my father, the year started out on a sad note. I was also troubled about the lack of direction my life was taking. I’d put things on hold for an unhealthy LTR and was left scrambling to pick up the pieces. So where am I now compared to a year ago? I managed to shake myself out of my malaise and “get busy”, thats where I am. *g*

For the nitty gritty, click here for the rest… Continue reading Year In Review

DMV II

Thanks everyone for “feeling my pain” w/the ongoing DMV drama. And yes, there are a lot of deadbeat government employees. However, being someone who works for “the man”, there are a lot of really hard working employees too.

So I go back today to DMV today. Miss Manners is there along w/the person in charge of the testing program. I get up to the counter expecting everything to go smoothly. WRONG! Apparently, my live scan form wasn’t on an official DMV copy. It was a copy of the original form but not the original copy. Of course, in DMV speak that is just blasphemy! I think Miss Manners had a small stroke when she saw my paperwork. Without saying a word, she takes my paperwork and walks away. Four phone calls later she comes back, and accepts my form. Add 30 more minutes for processing time and I’M FINALLY FUCKING DONE!

I have my EMT certificate, my license notation, and my live scan paperwork showing I’m not a convicted felon. I’m now ready to start looking for my part time gig as an EMT. Thank the stars!