The Skin Gun

This may just be the most awesome thing I've ever seen.





Check out the National Geographic episode Monday February 7 at 10pm.

Name

For the reader whom I have the misfortune of living down the hall from (and occasionally working with),

You creeper. When I said go read some work-related blogs, I didn't mean mine.

I named this blog when I thought my EMS career would be heading towards paramedicine, rather than back to working on a Bachelor's degree. After that, I kept the name to help keep an illusion of anonymity. Keeping you all confused as to what I actually was totally worked, right? Not. And it just sounded nice. :)

But I'm all growed up now and your reasoning makes sense. I like being an EMT-B.

So fine. You win. Name downgrade in the immediate future. Or as soon as I figure out all the logistics. Or on my 1-year blog anniversary next month. Or I'll just change the title/my name and not the URL, cause I'm awesome like that.

♥

PS: Now I definitely have to upgrade my license at some point. Just to mess with you.

...and you'll get your blackmailing extortionist cookies when I get home tomorrow.

You Know You've Been Working Too Much Overtime When...

You have dreams about cardiac rhythms and EKG strips.

You forget the number of the truck you're driving while talking on the radio. Repeatedly.

You spend an entire shift convincing an elderly patient to go to the hospital.

You fall asleep in the back of the truck while your partner is in the ER writing their report, and they spend 15 minutes looking for you.

You start believing that the weather knows when you pick up overtime shifts, because that's the only time it snows.

2/3 of your Christmas presents were EMS related.

You clean your ambulance every shift change. You haven't cleaned your own car since you bought it.

You 'borrowed' a shirt from the spares box so you could put off doing laundry for another two days.

If someone recorded clips of your partners' snoring, you could name each one of them and what stage of the sleep cycle they were in.

First Snowmageddon of the Year

Dear inventors of sandbags, 4 wheel drive, all terrain tires, and snow windshield wipers - my pickup truck and I would like to take a moment to thank you for getting us home last night in that blizzard. Also, thanks to all those folks with the flashing yellow lights and big ol' plows who like to slow us down on the highway. (I really do appreciate you guys... It's just a lingering jealousy that I don't have a plow and am stuck shoveling myself out...)

Seriously, though. If I'd been trapped at work, they would've had me on the road all night.

For all you crazy kids out there in this mess, be careful. Our big box truck stood the test today because nearly all of the roads we needed were plowed. Traction control can only do so much, if you even have it. The amount of ice that built up in our windshield wipers, and on our windshield as a result, made both my partner and I get completely turned around on two separate calls. And the wind... don't get me started on the wind.

I know you want to speed to that cardiac arrest. We did, too. Even after that sedan fishtailed partway into our lane while trying to pull to the right and scared the shit out of us.

But you know what? We got there in one piece, and the patient got to the hospital in one piece. No police officers, firefighters, medics, EMTs, family members or innocent bystanders were injured in the process.

Remember: Slow acceleration, slow deceleration, 3x the space you'd normally leave between yourself and the car in front of you. Drive like everyone else on the road is about to do something incredibly stupid. If you're responding to an MVA, chances are you'll be driving over the slippery sections that your patient lost control on. When you're out on scene, expect other cars on the road to be losing control on those same spots and stage appropriately. (This includes other first responders! That firetruck may not actually be able to stop. Get word to them via dispatch if possible.) Block the entire road if necessary until DOT trucks get there to clean things up. Level Zero is also known as: don't be stupid, because you of all people know that there is no one to save your sorry butt.

Snow can be very fun when you're off-duty:




BUT THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AT WORK:




Be safe. And bring your own shovel if your truck doesn't have one. <3

Texts From Last Night

It's almost finals. I'm sitting on a few real posts, but here's what I've mostly been doing with my (not) free time. For those of you who don't know, this website is an epically distracting collection of drunk text messages. And proof that we will always have job security. :)

As it pertains to us:

EMT / Paramedic /Ambulance

Hospital / Nurse / Doctor

Firefighter / Firetruck / Fire

Police / Cop


*Note: May not be suitable for work.

So You Thought Your Job Was Dangerous...

We all have some type of cellphone tower within our areas. This video was shot in the USA, and yes, he is free climbing for most of this, against OSHA regulations (ignore what the video says). And it's called a Guyed Tower, not a "Gided Tower".

But how would you respond if he had a medical emergency while properly secured at 1,768 feet? Or got hit by lightning at 1,768 feet? Or had a partial fall from 1,768 feet while secured, which resulted in a spinal injury? What if he hit his partner on the way down and you now have 2 patients?

Tower workers go through training for how to rescue one another at those heights. That guy holding the red tool bag is going to be your point man if anything were to happen to his partner. From what you can see, they travel light, so they won't have much medical equipment readily available. Does anyone do interdepartmental training with their local tower workers? Do your departments have protocols for how to handle these scenarios?

Personally, that's when I call the boys with the big red trucks. They have ladders bigger than the Empire State Building, right?




There's a good discussion about the technicalities of these towers HERE.