Five Months In...

Obviously the lack of posting has ment something has been keeping me occupied. Paramedic School has been an indescribable adventure these past five months. Its been interesting to say the least, and a little stressful at times, and I understand that its only going to get worse, now that we officially start ED rotations on the 12th. The Cardiology test was on Tuesday and all 18 of us passed. Impressive right? I have heard horror stories where this is where many programs lose half there class if not more. I'm blessed for the paramedic friends I have that got me through this and have been so supportive. God has been good to me. I'm excited to be at the point where we can start clinical shifts. Our instructor told us it doesn't get any harder then where we are right now, that we will plateau out from here for a little bit. I'm sure with working full time, class twice a week and doing clinicals its not going to be very easy, but I say bring it on. I'm ready to move forward. 9 more months to go, and 5 more module tests. Every hour, every class is just one more step closer to the dream. Some days I find that Paramedic school is all I got going for me. Life has sure been tough, I'm ready to make some other changes, just as quick as I can. I can only go forward  and  up that's the positive with being on rock bottom. Cant wait to see whats next.....

Module 2 test tonight

Just like the title of this says Mod 2 test in the paramedic class is tonight. Oh joy, so everything I have struggled with this far will be thrown at me at once. Acid- Base balance, Immunoglobulins, parasympathomimietics/lytics, HLA,neurotransmitters, ahh the list goes on. Am I prepared? Well its less then 6 hours to the test, not much more that I can do. Keeping in the mind frame, I had friends who did it, so there is no reason I can't. On a good note however, we have done some practicing with IV access, of course my arms look like I have track marks, but who cares? I have had patients in the hospital where I work question them, "I'm a paramedic student" I have said proudly, how quickly their tone changes! Now, If I could just get IV's down myself, we would be good to go. Ugh I am frustrated with the process, I'm a phelbotomist, this shouldn't be too difficult for me. Angle Angle Angle. My biggest issue, and its the biggest difference when it comes to drawing blood.  ET tubes, so far so good. I'm not sure tho, that I have been doing them "by the book" What I mean is I have been getting my tubes by direct visualization of the tube passing through the cords, but I'm almost positive that I'm not placing the machintosh blade in the vallecula or even the miller under the epiglottis. I believe that I'm just moving the tongue and seeing cords and making sure I'm not prying on teeth, but I would venture to bet my placement is all off. The mac blade so far not my favorite.  OK so I have lots of time to practice, just things I have been noticing. I'm rather stressed about this test tonight tho, I can not keep my mind off of it, I know they only get harder, just an abundance of information I will be glad when this test is over. I have to keep the mind set that I got this. I cant wait to laugh at myself for feeling this silly later, but for right now its tearing me apart, so I think I better go look over the material again....

Over a month in....

I have been in Paramedic class over a month now and we are almost through the first book in the Brady Series. Acid Base balance and the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems were not my friends. I have pushed through them all, and so far so well. We finally got into some skills. IV access and ET tubes. IVs not a problem for me, working as a phlebotomist has given me one up on the majority of my classmates. All the times, that I thought they were so much different then drawing blood, the initial process of finding a vein and inserting the needle and IV itself aren't that different. Yay, for me! We also did our fist ET tubes, last night with "Fred the Head." Why is it, that the infant and pediatric, and laying down with the trauma patient were easy, but I struggled a lot with the normal adult? I eventually got it, but wasn't till after a bunch of slaps on the wrists for bending my wrist back which would essentially break teeth. The process of intubating a patient was rather simple, however I know that there are many factors that make it harder in the "real world." Since last night was our first night, I know a lot more practice is ahead of me, just sometimes you want to be able to catch on just as quick as your classmates, no one wants to be left behind or not as competent. I'm excited though, there have been some toughs times, and material I feel like I haven't grasped, but then we quiz on it and I think wow, I knew more then I actually thought.  I know I have support of some awesome medic friends and Twitter has been a surprising support. Its crazy that a people on a social site are so willing to help, kind of makes you jealous at times that you cant always find that in real life to people you are close to. "Practice the way you want to play." I got to keep that in mind as I study and work on my skills, I don't want to fail, failure and dropping out is not an option, I'll have to do everything I can to obtain the goal I have set for myself that is now down to 13 months away... Stay Tuned...

Way too little time..

Well its been a few weeks since I have had the time or taken it to post a blog. Slacker? quite  possible. Paramedic class is well underway. Less then a month in and we are 8 chapters in, first module test down 9 more to go in the remaining 13 months. First 8 chapters were  mainly review of scene and personal safety, health and well being, and medical laws. I am pleased to say that I scored a 90 on that module test, however I know that I could of and should of done better.
 Tonight we started pathophysiology. Help! My brain is fried. Acid Base Balance, homeostasis and osmosis along with cell structure and function. I took 5 pages of notes tonight, hopefully this will start to click, and tomorrow when I wake and have had some time to digest what. I learned it will all come to me. This was one chapter I was dreading however I know the difficulty only increases from here on out. I am ready to give it all I got, just a little overwhelmed with the abundance of information all at once.
I hope to find that right mix of class time,studying and work. I have been trying to throw in some hours of "social" time too for now to keep my mind fresh. So far so good, but I don't see that lasting much longer. I also need to find the happy mix that allows me more time to blog about my struggles and grievances with medic class. This is an adventure I  have have undertaken,I'm just hoping for success in the upcoming months, my mindset has always been go big or go home, and that is just as true now. Luckily I have a great network of Medics and Ems personal at my disposal ready to help, and I am grateful.. Stay tuned..

10 year Anniversary

I know every town in America is planning  some type of tribute or memorial service this Sunday, marking the ten year aanniversary of September 11, 2001. This picture is at the department I volunteer Fire and EMS with. I am honored to be a member of a fire service. May these 343 flags we placed be a somber reminder of the NY FD who lost some of its bravest that day.

Paramedic Vs. ER Nurse

This is old, but its funny, and in a twisted way, theres some truth to this, and all the others that are like it!

http://youtu.be/JGU_zN8xf0I

What am I getting myself into????

So Medic class hasn't officially started yet, and I'm thinking what the hell am I getting myself into? Of course this is what I want, but am I competent enough to really pull this off? We were emailed an assignment to read the first three chapters in our text book. Piece of cake, and since I'm an over achiever I made sure I did the work book as well. Then I flipped back to the back of the book, yay.. drug flash cards. A co-worker and myself cut them out. There is a lot, and there is a few I cant even pronounce. I'm concerned, each card contains a lot of information. Normally, memorization is VERY easy for me, but this seems like something that can become overwhelming very quickly. I'm glad I already got these together and I must start reading each of them carefully now, but for once I'm not sure at all what form of memorization is going to work for me. Also where do I begin? Ugh! I know that I will get this figured out, and I know if so many others did it, theres nothing stopping me, I just hate not having a game plan and control. However, this is just the beginning and I am excited for the next 14 months....12 days till the first day of class....that is if they don't push it back again! Look out, here I come!