"I'm not alone...I wish I was."
Since I last posted a few things have happened. I'll lay them out but I'm not promising anything super interesting.
As I'm sure many of you have heard or read about (if you live in Indiana) a small Afghan boy, Qudrat, recently died shortly after receiving surgery in Indianapolis and going home.
He was brought to Indiana through the efforts of the Indiana National Guard, and more importantly one Captain Mike Roscoe. Roscoe is a Physicians Assistant and, I'm proud to say, a good friend. He was instrumental in the diagnosis of Qudrat's heart condition and started the ball rolling on getting Qudrat to Riley Children's Hospital. Mike invested a lot of himself into the care and well being of this boy and, as a father of 4 young children himself, he was crushed when Qudrat died. Mike was part of the team that rushed to the refugee village early Friday morning. Mike was there from the start of Qudrat's journey and sadly was there to witness the end.
Mike is one of the most decent persons on this Earth and my heart goes out to him. I can think of no one more deserving of some good news. You see Mike recently also experienced a situation similar to the one I did in January of 2004. His son and youngest daughter were playing upstairs at there home here in Pendleton. Shelby, Mike's wife, was downstairs doing housework. Mike's son opened a window and both boy and girl leaned against the screen to see their dog that was barking on the deck behind the house. Mike's daughter fell through the window and landed on the deck fracturing her skull. Thankfully her injuries, though severe, were not life threatening. She suffered no internal swelling, meaning her brain was not damaged. But, like myself, Mike was not allowed to come home to be with his daughter. Its an experience that I hope most never have to go through. Having someone else be in charge of when/if you can see a family member that is critically ill is horrible.
The good news is that Mike will be home in a few short months.
As of last Wednesday I was offered, and accepted the job as Brown's Pool Manager. This will be my first management position and I look forward to having a fun summers. The job starts the second week in May and I'll be in charge of the life guards, maintenance, and concessions. As well as pay roll and a monthly report to the park board. I'll continue my Thursdays and Fridays at Pendleton Ambulance but I will be dropping my 24 hour shift for Rural/Metro on Sundays.
We had an awesome shift there yesterday. It started out at 6am with a single vehicle MVA (motor vehicle accident) on I-69. 69 is a 4 lane road. Two lanes going southbound and two going northbound. I went north on the interstate and found the accident around the 28mile marker. A white Buick Park Avenue was turned the opposite way of normal traffic and sitting on the drivers side door. The driver had apparently hit the guard rail (destroying 5 of the post that hold it up) and then whipped around to its current position. As we beat the fire department we made patient contact and noted the patient was pale, sweaty, and very slow to respond to questions. When the Chesterfield Fire Department's rescue arrived we popped the back window out and I borrowed a turnout coat and climbed in the car. From what I could see the patient was not entrapped, other than his seat belt, and he did not appear to be injured. First thought; This guy is drunk. I asked for a c-collar, which is used to immobilize a patients neck when a neck/spine injury is possible. Upon examining the patient head to toe (which is easier said than done in a vehicle that is on it's side) I found a medical alert bracelet that informed me our patient was a diabetic. BINGO! I asked him his name and he finally told me it was Matt.
"How ironic. Two Matt's trapped in a Park Avenue on the side of the interstate!"
He didn't laugh. I kept asking him questions to which he would answer about every third. I was handed a tarp and covered the patient with it (and my own body) to protect him from falling glass. As the firefighters began to cut I began to wish I'd borrowed a helmet along with the coat. Oh well too late for that. After a few minutes of cutting and window breaking the roof was taken off the car. The patient was placed on a plastic backboard and taken to the local fire department's ambulance. With Rural/Metro we provide Advanced Life Support services for smaller EMS systems whom normally can only afford Basic Life Support. My medic rode in their truck and I followed behind, after doing my best "wet dog" imitation to get all the glass dust off myself.
I love car wrecks with entrapment.
En route to the hospital our patient's blood sugar was taken and all the glucometer would say was "Low". This probably means it was below 15...not good. He was given an Amp of D-50 via an IV in the right AC. Before I was able to catch up with them at the hospital he was awake and able to report to my medic that he had taken his insulin but not eaten before deciding to drive home. This is just as dangerous as being drunk and going out for a drive. He was extremely lucky and at the hospital a physician examined him and assured us that he was not injured at all. Talk about a very lucky guy.
I've decided to give up Secondary Education as a career. I figure if I go to school for the next 4 years (barring another trip to Iraq) and then find out that I don't like teaching I'm not going to be happy. I know that I love medicine. And I know I'm addicted to emergency medicine. Therefore I'm going to become a Paramedic just as soon as I find a class opening at a hospital I want to take it at. After getting my medic cert I'll try to get on with one of the helicopter ambulances in our area (LifeLine or PHI) or maybe find a job at a hospital. Most hospitals will pay for further education of their full time people. I could then pursue a degree in nursing.
Thats the latest plan.
Also I'm living on my own again, and nothing against McClintick, but I'm the happiest I've been since I got back from Iraq. He and I had a great time living together but I'm happiest when I'm alone in my own domain. And since I haven't had the pleasure of living like this since December, 2003 I'm really loving discovering this all over again.
As I'm sure many of you have heard or read about (if you live in Indiana) a small Afghan boy, Qudrat, recently died shortly after receiving surgery in Indianapolis and going home.
He was brought to Indiana through the efforts of the Indiana National Guard, and more importantly one Captain Mike Roscoe. Roscoe is a Physicians Assistant and, I'm proud to say, a good friend. He was instrumental in the diagnosis of Qudrat's heart condition and started the ball rolling on getting Qudrat to Riley Children's Hospital. Mike invested a lot of himself into the care and well being of this boy and, as a father of 4 young children himself, he was crushed when Qudrat died. Mike was part of the team that rushed to the refugee village early Friday morning. Mike was there from the start of Qudrat's journey and sadly was there to witness the end.
Mike is one of the most decent persons on this Earth and my heart goes out to him. I can think of no one more deserving of some good news. You see Mike recently also experienced a situation similar to the one I did in January of 2004. His son and youngest daughter were playing upstairs at there home here in Pendleton. Shelby, Mike's wife, was downstairs doing housework. Mike's son opened a window and both boy and girl leaned against the screen to see their dog that was barking on the deck behind the house. Mike's daughter fell through the window and landed on the deck fracturing her skull. Thankfully her injuries, though severe, were not life threatening. She suffered no internal swelling, meaning her brain was not damaged. But, like myself, Mike was not allowed to come home to be with his daughter. Its an experience that I hope most never have to go through. Having someone else be in charge of when/if you can see a family member that is critically ill is horrible.
The good news is that Mike will be home in a few short months.
As of last Wednesday I was offered, and accepted the job as Brown's Pool Manager. This will be my first management position and I look forward to having a fun summers. The job starts the second week in May and I'll be in charge of the life guards, maintenance, and concessions. As well as pay roll and a monthly report to the park board. I'll continue my Thursdays and Fridays at Pendleton Ambulance but I will be dropping my 24 hour shift for Rural/Metro on Sundays.
We had an awesome shift there yesterday. It started out at 6am with a single vehicle MVA (motor vehicle accident) on I-69. 69 is a 4 lane road. Two lanes going southbound and two going northbound. I went north on the interstate and found the accident around the 28mile marker. A white Buick Park Avenue was turned the opposite way of normal traffic and sitting on the drivers side door. The driver had apparently hit the guard rail (destroying 5 of the post that hold it up) and then whipped around to its current position. As we beat the fire department we made patient contact and noted the patient was pale, sweaty, and very slow to respond to questions. When the Chesterfield Fire Department's rescue arrived we popped the back window out and I borrowed a turnout coat and climbed in the car. From what I could see the patient was not entrapped, other than his seat belt, and he did not appear to be injured. First thought; This guy is drunk. I asked for a c-collar, which is used to immobilize a patients neck when a neck/spine injury is possible. Upon examining the patient head to toe (which is easier said than done in a vehicle that is on it's side) I found a medical alert bracelet that informed me our patient was a diabetic. BINGO! I asked him his name and he finally told me it was Matt.
"How ironic. Two Matt's trapped in a Park Avenue on the side of the interstate!"
He didn't laugh. I kept asking him questions to which he would answer about every third. I was handed a tarp and covered the patient with it (and my own body) to protect him from falling glass. As the firefighters began to cut I began to wish I'd borrowed a helmet along with the coat. Oh well too late for that. After a few minutes of cutting and window breaking the roof was taken off the car. The patient was placed on a plastic backboard and taken to the local fire department's ambulance. With Rural/Metro we provide Advanced Life Support services for smaller EMS systems whom normally can only afford Basic Life Support. My medic rode in their truck and I followed behind, after doing my best "wet dog" imitation to get all the glass dust off myself.
I love car wrecks with entrapment.
En route to the hospital our patient's blood sugar was taken and all the glucometer would say was "Low". This probably means it was below 15...not good. He was given an Amp of D-50 via an IV in the right AC. Before I was able to catch up with them at the hospital he was awake and able to report to my medic that he had taken his insulin but not eaten before deciding to drive home. This is just as dangerous as being drunk and going out for a drive. He was extremely lucky and at the hospital a physician examined him and assured us that he was not injured at all. Talk about a very lucky guy.
I've decided to give up Secondary Education as a career. I figure if I go to school for the next 4 years (barring another trip to Iraq) and then find out that I don't like teaching I'm not going to be happy. I know that I love medicine. And I know I'm addicted to emergency medicine. Therefore I'm going to become a Paramedic just as soon as I find a class opening at a hospital I want to take it at. After getting my medic cert I'll try to get on with one of the helicopter ambulances in our area (LifeLine or PHI) or maybe find a job at a hospital. Most hospitals will pay for further education of their full time people. I could then pursue a degree in nursing.
Thats the latest plan.
Also I'm living on my own again, and nothing against McClintick, but I'm the happiest I've been since I got back from Iraq. He and I had a great time living together but I'm happiest when I'm alone in my own domain. And since I haven't had the pleasure of living like this since December, 2003 I'm really loving discovering this all over again.