Passed skills test

Finally. The time has come for me to take my skills test. It was hyped up, and once I got there I had no problem acing all the stations. I started out with the patient assessment for a trauma patient. After I completed the station I was told by my instructor, that if I did what I just did for every other station there will be no possible reason for you to fail anything. This is the same instructor that bashed me and was very hard on me in class, so it felt good to hear that from him. Honestly after trauma it was all a cake walk. I did medical with a breeze, then came bleeding control, then AED and BVM, after that I did the KED. At this point I was done and just waiting to hear what I had gotten on all my stations. Once I found out that I passed, I just got really excited. A lot was riding on this test today, because if I had not  passed I would have to repeat the entire 3 month EMT class. My teacher that had given me the trauma assessment came back to me after all was said and done, and asked me to identify what was wrong with the patient. It was obvious he was in shock, because he had no radial and pedal pulse.

This is when my teacher told me that I nailed every single part of the assessment and that I had a very good flow to how I went about it. He then went on about how he was similar to me when he was a new EMT and he had actually gotten attacked by several people and was in a life threatening situation. I guess he was hard on me, because he didn't want to see the same thing happen to me. Now when I look back on how he taught me, I'm glad he did what he did. Not only did he push me, but he's saving me from a situation that he had to go through. Well overall I learned about controlling my ego, and settling down when it comes to certain situations.

Electronic

This song is absolutely stunning and beautiful. What a piece of art. It's hard to think that such an unrecognized group is making such great music. That is the prime reason why I don't like to follow the radio songs for too long. They are all mundane and overplayed. It's music like that shows that there is still hope. Give them a listen. I guarantee that you won't be upset with the song. I think this song is about running away and trying to get away from problems.

Another great song.

Becoming an EMT

I always thought it would be a daunting task to join the forces of EMS. Everyone around my hyped it up so much that I almost didn't want to do it. I fought the pressures and finally decided to join my local ambulance corp. This was one of many good decisions of  my life, because it opened many doors for me. I now have a point of reference for many problems that I come across. When I went on my first call, and keep in mind I've only been on a handful so far, I was immediately comforted by my captain and was reassured that I actually helped saved that persons life. The patient had a gun shot wound and even though I didn't do much more than run supplies from the ambulance to the scene, I had helped a great deal.

As soon as we arrived on scene, the two officers rushed in and left me to get the cardiac monitor and the first aid kit. Keep in mind both of these items are 25 pounds a piece and aren't shaped for efficient carrying. After bringing those two vital things to my captain, he needed trauma dressings. This is where I got messed up. I was new in the corp and had no clue where anything was in this specific ambulance. After getting him the dressings I just helped him lift the patient into the ambulance and helped get the patient into the trauma center.

It's a great feeling being involved with an organization that does so much for the community. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the medical field. Even if you want to become a doctor, becoming a part of an ambulance corp looks great when you're applying to med school. Part of why I'm becoming an EMT is for when I apply to PA school.

Milkshakes

Bringing back old memories. Old songs.

Ribs fractured and chest movement is irregular? Flail Chest

What this basically means is someone has experienced some serious trauma and has several broken ribs, which leads to the irregular expansion of the lungs. This is a serious injury and in any event this occurs, emergency services should be notified immediately. As an EMT student I am currently being trained to fix life threatening injuries. Now when I first get on a call and someone has a flailed segment, I will most likely panic, but remember back to my EMT class. What I was told to do for this specific case was to pack the affected area with bulky dressings and tape them down. What this does is inhibits the injured part of the chest from rising and falling irregularly from the rest of the chest.

By no means am I telling anyone to do what was stated in the previous paragraph. This is just me talking about something that was on my mind and am not instructing plausible treatment. I am not a certified EMT (yet.)

Grades are annoying

I'm realizing now that the grades I have recieved for my first semester aren't what I expected them to be. Yeah yeah a 3.58 is a good GPA, but I could've done a lot better. Chemistry is what brought me down. Only getting a B in that class hurt me and the fact that it's a prerequisite for getting into PA school could hinder my chances. I'm trying to argue my grade on my final paper for an extra 2 points which will get me the B+. This will bring my GPA up to a 3.66 which is extremely exciting.

I passed!

Today was a stepping stone to get to my EMT certification. I took the final exam for my EMT class today, but starting from the beginning, I woke up late to work and it didn't seem like it was going to be a good day. I work in my college's mail room as a student worker. There are serious perks to being a student worker, because most of the time you're not required to do actual work! Aside from that, my day started to get better when I took lunch. I had enough time to make flashcards for my final that was the same day, but much later in the day. This made my day better because I realized how easy the material was.

After studying and leaving work early (as I usually do) I caught the train home at 2 and got home around 3. I talked to my girl friend for a little bit and played video games to ease my mind. I figured this test would be such a cake walk since I mastered the material during my break. I procrastinated studying for a couple hours, and I think this was my greatest fault. When it comes time for tests, I tend to trick myself into thinking I'm a genius.

I made sure I went to the ambulance corp early to restudy the material and converse with the other students about what they don't understand. This is when I started to panic. I realized that I missed a great deal of information on my study sheet and there were several questions which I didn't know the answer to. Thankfully I was in the hands of intelligent people, willing to pass their knowledge onto me, which helped me get the grade I much needed. When it came down to test time, I decided to take my time and go through the test unlike I'm used to. My self-diagnosed ADHD tends to inhibit me from taking time on tests and make sloppy mistakes. Taking my time was a good choice to make for today, because it led me to get the third highest grade. I received an 81 and the highest score was only 2 points above me.

I feel very accomplished today because I tackled another challenge put in front of me. This is step one in the path to getting my EMT certification and fulfilling my desire to help people. Now I have to focus on my practical exam, which focuses on skills such as patient assessment, bleeding control, splinting, CPR, and extrication. If I pass the skills portion of the exam I can take the New York State certification exam and be able to practice as an EMT. I can't wait

First post!

Well hello there I guess. This is kind of new to me so bear with me as I try it out. A new years resolution would be a good name for what I'm attempting to complete here and I'm about to see how it goes over the course of a year. This seemed not only like a good way to practice writing, but to also express my ideas in words.

I want to try to update it once every week at a minimum, but I have to prioritize

Well here goes nothing.