Skip to content


Archives for

See all posts in the network tagged with

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

View Comments

Things have definitely turned to an upward swing in the last few days. Many of you may have gathered that I haven’t been happy with my current employment situation for quite some time. Honestly, from the day I started I felt like I had been lied to–actually, I had been–but that is a different issue.

Things have changed though. No, my job didn’t magically stop sucking. No, in fact it got worse. It became a level of suck that isn’t easy to describe–so I won’t. Instead of wishing and hoping for a miracle, I went out and looked at my options.

My situation isn’t easy. We are in a lease till July 1st, we’re expecting a baby in the next 10 weeks, and honestly, there are very few service around here, let alone those that are hiring.

As a matter of fact… There was only ONE service hiring within an acceptable driving distance from home. It is in my hometown and it has LOTS of history–not all good. Actually it is one of those services that I said I would never work for. 20 or so years ago the owner of said service made some mistakes. Like so many private services he screwed up, had to make some tough decisions and obviously made the wrong ones a few times. Still, all I had to go on was what I had heard.

Well, I decided things here were so bad that there was no way it could be worse there. I took the interview and decided to see what they had to offer. My interview was 3 hours long–and I’ve never been more excited walking out of an interview. This place feels a lot more like a family–a lot more like the kind of service I want to work for.

So… With all of that being said, I start as early as Tuesday! I take a tiny pay cut for a while, but I gain back my pride, dignity, and a little self respect.

Wish me luck… I will be back with more!

Congratulations EE!

View Comments

You and FPA are going to be great parents!

Carter Josiah
November 24, 2008 at 1507
6lbs, 3oz
19 inches

You wouldn’t believe how cute he is!

Test from Windows Live Editor

View Comments

Trying out Windows Live Writer. I have nasty horribly luck with blogger’s editor, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Supposedly I can even add photos here without going into the blogger super slow uploader!

It let me insert my favorite cartoon again from the web(I didn’t have to download it) and unlike when using Google Chrome, I could resize it and such. Also… blogger always makes me move the pic as it puts it at the top of the post.

This pic fits me right now…

Guess I better do those reports…

The Walls are Closing in…

View Comments

We don’t do many Psych transfers here. My particular county requires a Mental Health board to meet to place someone on an involuntary hold. Not many people come to the local ED to commit themselves…. While on Internship I did so many 72 hour holds it wasn’t even funny(no seriously… it wasn’t). 

This is actually my FIRST transfer to the behavioral hospital(next to the Heart hospital in sorta-big-deal-ville) while working at my itty bitty service. 
My patient is voluntarily committing himself so I didn’t expect to have many problems. He had some ETOH and maryjane on board, but nothing out of control. He is depressed and “this is working.” –well… no shit Sherlock! Depressants aren’t helping with yoru depression?!?!?! I’ll be damned…
Back to my patient… We loaded him up, and he was just kinda zonked. I had asked if Ativan or Haldol would be necessary–but I was assured it wasn’t needed. Beings that I hadn’t gotten much of a report I wanted to do atleast some sort of assessment(I’m not good at being a meat wagon). I was in the middle of asking the usual “how long have you felt this way, do you think about hurting yourself” line of questioning when my(much larger than I had realized) patient’s voice began to get much more aggressive.
Whipers turned to screaming, sweaty hands turned to fists. So… I did the only thing I could do… Hopped from the bench to the airway seat and stopped assessing(interogating) my patient. I let him cool down and then just asked him if he wanted to talk about anything…
The remainder of the trip we talked about why Pizza Hut is better than Papa Johns. For the record–it isn’t.
Expect some sort of post about things to come within the next 3 days. I haven’t decided if I’m going to spill the beans. 

17 Kids and plum f'ing nuts.

View Comments

TLC has about 1234213 reality shows. Some of them more sane than others…. 17 Kids and Counting is NOT one of them. The Duggar Family–or should I say the Duggar Parents–have successfully created the best army of drones I have ever encountered(and we live near more than one Hutterite Colony).

Fascinating facts…
Their Eldest Son, Joshua, and his fiance did not Kiss prior to marriage(they were 20 years old). They(as well as all other Duggar Children) were not allowed to be together without a chaperone. 
Mom(Michelle) was named “Young Mother of the Year in Arkansas” in 2004…
They have their own Family Website.
I’ve decided to stop my fun facts and just skip over to the rant.
I’m all for traditional conservative family values–but at what price? 17(going on 18) Children cannot possible get the attention from their parents that they deserve. They are home schooled–the elder children do MOST of the work teaching the younger children. What happened to allowing kids to be kids! They didn’t have a choice in you having more children, yet somehow get to the the bulk of the work in raising your little swimmers gone awry?!?
I believe in God. I do not believe that sheltering your children from the rest of the world will bring them closer to God. I do not believe that brainwashing your children to believe that evolution is propoganda will bring them closer to god. I especially do not believe that brainwashing an 8 year old to spew out your nonsense to a camera crew is going to make them any closer to God.
The Dugger’s claim to restrict TV and Internet use with their children. They think that modern TV is dangerous for young people to watch. Damn Straight! I will gladly let my children watch this show–only to point out just how closed minded some people can be.
I’d love to go on… but seriously… these people have me so frustrated!

May God Have Mercy…

View Comments


We still don’t know what happened to young George Schaub, III. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter. Like many that we see–he was just too young to go.

Scenes like this ALWAYS bring tears to my eyes.
His Obituary is up HERE.  
He had barely been married 1 year. Barely. 
Give him and his family a minute to give good thoughts or prayers to. God knows they need it. 
A parent should NEVER have to see their child go before they do. 
Godspeed, comrade. May God have Mercy. 

Caffeine

View Comments

I have an addiction. No, I’m not lucky enough to be addicted to Narcs or booze. Nope, I don’t get high or zonk out on xanex. 

I am addicted–dependent–on caffeine. I drink more Mt. Dew, Vault, and Coke than any person should.  Just ask my dentist! He “acts” all concerned… but considering the checks I write him, I’m sure he’ll sleep just fine. 
I have even started chewing “Jolt Caffeinated Gum”.  I love it. It kinda has this peppery(I LOVE PEPPER!(as in black pepper–my meals are covered in it!)) taste at first. In the morning it makes my lips tingly.
I have a problem. 
I want to cut back–or eliminate it–but honestly… I’m not sure I can roll out of bed at 3 am for a call and not grab a soda(pop) for the road.
Time will tell. 

The wierdest things…

View Comments

Keep happening to me. Today, after our short transfer to the big deal hospital, I had placed one of the “complimentary” sodas(the half can size–cheap bastards) on the rear bumper. I was cleaning off the cot and finished tidying up the rig. 

I went in, grabbed my cover sheet, walked out and opened the garage door. Off I went. About 5 minutes later I realized I left the soda on my bumper, figuring it had fallen off during the many bumps/railroad tracks I had just crossed.
When I got out to get fuel 45 miles later… I saw this:
Somehow it managed to survive the trip… on the bumper–45 miles, 85 mph, bumpy ambulance ride….  whowuddathunk?

Bookworm Award

View Comments

Sam over at On the Clock decided I was worthy of the Bookworm Award. While I’m honored… I think it was only because she ran out of people in our blogrolls that hadn’t gotten it! Ok… just kidding Sam.

I don’t consider myself much of a bookworm. As a matter of fact I collect them more so than I read them…
Rules are as follows. Pass it on to five other bloggers, and tell them to open the nearest book to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence on that page, and also the next two to five sentences. The CLOSEST BOOK, NOT YOUR FAVORITE, OR MOST INTELLECTUAL!

As I sit here on my couch, my Mini 9 on my lap, I don’t really have any books nearby.

I do have a book ON my Mini 9 though, so we shall go with that. 


You wouldn’t believe it, but really there were about 30 sentence fragments before I got to the 5th “sentence” which actually happens to be a question in the quiz section…. so…. here goes:

How much blood should be evacuated from a hemothorax?
a. As much as needed to stabilize the patient
b. No more than 500 cc’s per side
c. None, if the patient is stable, as this problem will resolve itself
d. No more than 250 cc’s, as this could cause the patient to go into shock

I am going to allow the possible answers to be my following sentences.
Anyone know the answer?!?! Post it in the comments and we’ll see if anyone is right!
So I have to give it to 5 bloggers too! That may or may not have gotten it already….
ALS Not Available   Not updated recently, but maybe this will bring Witness back to life.
New Life Changes is next. MedicMatthew always has something good to say!
Baby Medic is one of those blogs I TRY to follow. I wish I spent more time over there. 
The Rhythm of Life is Rookie Bebe’s blog about being a rookie emt and a Paramedic Student–both stories I still know all too well!
The Adventures of Ninja Medic and Noodle Dawg.  NM is one of my favorite bloggers. Never affraid to lay things out how they are.
There ya have it! Thanks all!

Rest in Peace, Sir

View Comments

George Schaub, only 23 years old. 



May God have mercy on his soul. 



Be safe out there-and-take care of yourselves. 

OOOOH! I want this!!!

View Comments

Watch.

View Comments

Never did I realize

View Comments

Just how scared I really was. I’m terrified about this child that is soon to come. I’m terribly excited too–but terribly terrified.
~~~~~
This morning at 0340 the pager went off. I actually slept right through it, reached over, turned it off, and kept going. The wife gave me the loving elbow to the side that she is so good at during the wee hours of the morning and gave me the “aren’t you going to go to that?!?”

“Fuck. Alright, I’m up.” and away I went. I walked down the cold wooden steps put some drops in my dried out extended wear(I doubt that by extended wear they meant 35 days…) and picked up my radio. “Medic 3 copies. 311 1st.”
~~~~~
So I do the ever so elegant–Hop through my pants into my shirt, and end up with boots on, stumble to my coat, and out the door I go. I notice that because of the slow week, and my laziness, my car is covered in snow still. I run back in, grab the wife’s keys–and a soda–and drive the 3.4 feet to the station(somehow managing to have done this all in 4 minutes from the time of page) to find my partner pulling in behind me.

“This is YOUR fault.” cranky old supervisor partner states–referring to a statement I had made earlier in the evening that “realizing we haven’t had a call since Monday at 0600, we will inevitably get one just before the end of my shift…”

“Yeah. Get over it. Its YOUR call too.”
~~~~~
Not noticing much, my Blackberry vibrates as I pull the rig out of the garage and hit the road(all 3 blocks of it). I park the rig, grab the monitor and walk in to our suspected “diabetic problem”.

We run the usual gamut of assessment/treatment and yet he doesn’t come to after his sugar is well over 100. Thus, transporting is a must.

As I walk out to grab the stair chair, my Crackberry vibrates again. I glance at it, and it is a message from Mrs. Medic Three. “I’m having contractions one to two minutes apart.”

FUCK, FUCK, FUCKITY FUCK.
~~~~~
I grab the stair chair, run it in, and respond to her–saying we will take her in. By this point she is freaking out–and alone–and I’m doing everything I can to get this show on the road.

Finally, we get him up, on the cot, and in the truck. 5 blocks later we are in the ER, and I am on the phone to Mrs. Medic Three. She wants me to call her doc, so I do, and as suspected get told to head on in to L&D. Contractions spaced 2 minutes apart at 28 weeks is far from ideal.
~~~~~
By now it is about 0500. I get changed into street clothes and put the Mrs. in the car. I have to stop for gas, and by 0630 we are at the “big deal hospital” just down the road.
~~~~~
The emotions have run hot this morning. From fear, to excitement, to just plain freaked out.

Finally they give her some terbutaline, followed by Procardia and a 4 hour observation. They dictate bedrest for the weekend and foot rubs(I promise honey, I will give you them when I’m back…) every 6 hours—along with the Procardia, at 6 hour intervals, day and night.

~~~~~

Back to normal. We get home, now 1200, and I run to the pharmacy to get the procardia scrip filled–no such luck, they are out, as is every pharmacy within 30 miles, except one Walmart–I HATE Walmart pharamcies… They are SO. DAMN. SLOW.

~~~~~

Finally we are home. It is now closer to 1400. We find our bed and the Mrs. zonks out in a hurry. All morning she has INSISTED that I still go hunting this weekend. INSISTED. This is, after all, going to be the last hunting trip I get before I become Medic Three, the daddy years.

~~~~~

1730 comes, the wife has already been picked up by Mother-In-Law and she calls me to get me out of bed–to get on the road for my 300 mile journey to the land of the Mule Deer. I fight it at first… I’m stubborn. And then concede. She could get me to use a bed of coals as a pillow with her pouty voice…

~~~~~

1850 and I’m at my parent’s house, dropping off two of the monster dogs for a weekend with Grandma. Sorry Mom. I owe you big!

~~~~~

2000 and I’m finally on the road. 250 miles to go. One eye doesn’t want to stay open, and the other is close to follow.

Soon after I almost got to fill my tags at 80 mph, which, I’m sure the wife wouldn’t have like since I was in HER car…

~~~~~

By 2335 I am finally pulling into my destination. I have decided not to call the Mrs. to let her know I’m here. She needs the rest. She is on “bed rest” tomorrow, during her Baby Shower and her parents Anniversary party–I have spies out there darling… don’t you go running around!

~~~~~

Present time. Realize that I have only had bout 3 hours sleep since yesterday(and by yesterday I mean Thursday) and I’m just about to crash. I am still trying to grasp the fact that baby came knocking today. So much to do. The grib isn’t finished, the nursery is far from finished. Jesus…

Time to buckle down.

Godspeed, and, as always–be safe out there.

Off the Grid

View Comments

At about 0900 tomorrow morning I will be off the grid. I am going on my annual deer hunting trip with my father and some family friends. While I am gone, my mom is watching two of the dogs(bless her soul…) and the wife is headed to the inlaws(I’m taking her car all weekend, as my little Beetle just doesn’t cut it…) for her baby shower and her parents’ 25 Anniversary party.

I attempted to make a DVD slide show for the party, and while there is in fact a video… it isn’t exactly top of the line quality. I think I had to redo parts of it 5 times because my system locked up… and Windows Movie Maker sucks!

I hope to come back relaxed, refreshed, and a little more clear-minded… I may soon have tales to tell of a job interview prospect… or two.

EMS Research

View Comments

I have followed Rogue Medic‘s series of posts concerning EMS Research for quite some time. Though long-winded, he is much more eloquent than I, so I defer to him for those posts as background:

Helicopters and Bad Science
Another One Walks Away
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Research
How did this happen? – Research
Narrative Fallacy I
A Response to Dr. Scalea’s Letter to EMS

(Honestly, I don’t think that is all of them–but seriously, it took 5 minutes to link all of those!)

It seems as though Dr. Bryan Bledsoe has beed reading his blog too

In Dr. Bledsoe’s article entitled EMS Research and the Scientific Method, he states:

First, when looking at EMS research, it is important to determine whether the study in question is published in a peer-review journal or elsewhere. The peer-review process is arduous and time-consuming. It differs from popular press articles in that the authors of the research must carefully detail and explain every fact and every point in the study. Typically, a researcher or a group of researchers will complete a study and write it up.

Maybe this is something that we aren’t focusing on enough. The simple fact that we spend so much time disputing research published in JEMS or EMS Magazine could be addressed with this single point. The fact is, we may be inflicted with more opinion in a trade magazine than a journal with peer review process. (The Irony is Dr Bledsoe’s own contributions to JEMS could come into question then)

This is where MOST of the controversy over EMS research comes into play:

The fifth step is to analyze the data. This typically will involve some sort of statistical evaluation. Statistical analysis is essential in scientific research to assure that observable findings are not simply due to random events and are in fact due to the variables being studied. The level of statistical analysis varies with the experiment type. But, along the lines of what Benjamin Disraeli once said, some researchers will torture statistics until they support their hypothesis. Generally, this is picked up and corrected in the review process; however, some lower-tier journals will publish studies where the statistics have been tortured.

Right now I’m a bit distracted, but I can’t wait to see if Rogue Medic has a response! (now that I’ve called you out, RM, I expect prompt work here!)

I hope to have more on this subject tomorrow–though I gots lots to do before Deer Hunting this Friday!

A case of the Mondays

View Comments

Had 3 calls last night. For a normal shift that wouldn’t be bad. Unfortunately my shift isn’t over till Friday at 0600…

View Comments

A few posts have got me all riled up. I’m not a liberal. I voted for Obama only because I disliked Sarah Palin and the chance of her becoming President was too great.

I voted for more Republicans this year than Democrats. The END is NOT near. As a matter of fact–we’ve managed to make it through the last 8 years, with a President with some of the worst approval ratings in history, yet here we are today–alive, secure, and recovering still.

I find myself to be very *moderate*.

I firmly believe in smaller government, fiscal responsibility(If we want to fight a war NOW, we need to pay for it NOW).

Unfortunately neither party is doing a very good job of presenting anything resembling smaller government. The liberals want to tax us into prosperity and the conservatives want to legislate us into morality.

Somewhere in the middle we are all going to have to do something to bring change about. Americans are so disconnected from the political process that a politician wouldn’t know what a constituent was if he had his head buried up their arses.

Anyone who thinks that either one of these political morons was going to bring about drastic changes is foolish at minimum, and well, insane at worst.

The only thing that is going to bring about change is continuing to be outraged by government waste, corruption, and lies.

Stand up America. Stand up.

If you’re only statement concerning the President-Elect is that we are fucked, congratulations–while you are entitled to Freedom of Speech–you have done little more than the hate mongers who preceded you.

Stand up. Speak your mind. Help us FIND a solution. Pointing out problems is great–but when all we do over and over is point out problems without trying to find a solution(other than “Kill that damn Uncle Tom”)we might as well add witchcraft, voodoo, and a seance to the list of brilliant solutions the blogosphere has come up with.

Stand up. Stand up or shut up.

NEMSMS

View Comments

The National EMS Memorial Service is a sad-that-its-necessary, but glad-someone-stepped-up organization. Something I hadn’t realized was that one of my childhood neighbors is on that list.

Hit closer to home than I would’ve liked. I was only 14 years old when they died. He had a son a year older than me and a daughter two years younger than I. It is amazing that someone I honestly only met once or twice has made me feel the way I do right now.

Maybe its a case of whoa-is-me, maybe its a case of –I’m-having-a-baby-and-I’m-terrified-of-fucking-up. I’m not sure…

May God have Mercy on your Souls.

May God have Mercy.

Be safe out there, friends. Godspeed.

The Results are In!

View Comments

Some of my non-EMS readers might find this horrible… Me, I find it relaxing.

Well, the first weather-related MVC of they winter season has happened.
A 30yoF driving to the Tribal School had (luckily) just passed over the river and started to fishtail. She then hit a (small) bridge (over dry ground) and cartwheeled over the top of it. ~3omph, unrestranined, and she was in my ambulance before I even had a clue she was my patient…
I obviously didn’t board her initially, but did get to do it at the ED entrance since the “Doc said so”… I think that she was in more pain(as is frequently so) after boarding, then prior to.
Thanks future Medical Director… We sure saved one today…
I don’t think any of the bets specifically chose today–nor where any all that close. Maybe we’ll find a new bet!

If ONLY

View Comments

My suspects–err….. Patients followed by this rule…

funny pictures of cats with captions
more animals

There is something in the air…

View Comments

Wait…. Oh! I figured it out! Its a GOD DAMN BLIZZARD….  Mark your bets friends…. I feel it coming…

I resume call at 0600–merely 5.5 hours away. 168 hours of on call goodness. 
Let the morons-on-ice car bowling begin…
Godspeed–keep your head up, your eyes open, and your ears alert.
Be safe–ya ain’t gonna save any lives bein dead now, are ya?
FYI, I have been informed that I am likely going to hell by placing bets on the first weather related accident of the year…  I say I gain points for ways to counteract the nightmare bank that they will inevitably contribute to. 

My kind of funny…

View Comments

Johnny Truant is my kind of funny. Check out his explanation of US Politics

Here is my favorite part:

Our election process is dumb. Two people run, and each picks a running mate. Then, each team heads out into the world to call the other team a couple of assholes. It’s important to do a good job of calling your opponents assholes, and to effectively deflect asshole references directed at you. Then there is the talent portion of the contest, in which each candidate demonstrates how well he can infuriate Tom Brokaw. Then eveningwear, and then the swimsuit competition.

Amen.

Blog Listings

View Comments

Chris from Space to Rant came up with an Idea for a blog where fellow bloggers could get together and find new blogs to review. I hopped on board with his idea, along with several other bloggers and we have came up with Blog Listings

We haven’t really got much into it yet, but I have put up an introduction to myself(as if you needed to know more about me!). We are working towards exposing some new blogs and at the same time finding new blogs to read(as if I don’t fall behind on reading the blogs I already follow!)
Stop on by and give us a hollar. We’d love to hear what ya think!

Despite Common Belief…

View Comments

The end of the world is NOT near. I frequent blogs of every size, shape, and color–many of them as politically different from I as bears from lizards. I love all of these blogs–otherwise I wouldn’t frequent them! Having spent a few years of my life as a cog in the political machine known as Campaigning I have insights some might not appreciate. I do NOT know everythiing–but I’ve seen a few things that most haven’t a clue about.

Rest assured my friends–The world is not coming to a screaching halt. Life will go on. Things will change–but that is the nature of the world that we live in. 4 months ago our economy was merely “unstable”… Today it is plain old shitty. A year ago Iraq was the primary concern amongst voters… Today it only ranks number 1 with only 10% of votoers–Sad, but true.
Our next President(no matter who it should have been) is going to be presented a set of battles that few stand ready to fight on their own. Despite campaign retoric about who is best suited to be President I am a firm believer that NOTHING PREPARES YOU TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
Being a Senator, Mayor, Congressman, War Hero, Draft Dodger, Football Player, or US Army General does NOT prepare you to be President of the United States.
As POTUS all men are created equal. All men face the challenge. I’ve heard so many comments already that our National Debt will now triple because of Obama, and that our National Security will now falter because of Obama. If this is so much the case, you have solidified that everything that has went wrong in the last 8 years is the fault of George Bush. Is that the case? I doubt it. If you are going to blame every failure of the next 4 years on Obama(and there will be failures–and triumphs) then remember that the previous 8 shall be blamed on GWB, and the years to follow Obama shall be blamed on whoever dares follow–even if it is YOUR guy.
I have some news for you, my friends. Our National Debt is going to continue to spiral out of control, no matter who takes office in January of 2009. As a matter of fact, GWB isn’t even to blame for the beginning of that double helix of debt and despare. An inflated US economy based on an inflated US dollar are to blame. We are fighting 2 wars(technically 3) all while lowering taxes–a proven method to increase National Debt(now did Bush manage to magically pass tax cuts without the help of the United States Congress?). 
The National Debt has reached a level that the specifics are no longer relevant. The difference between 2 and 3 Trillion is so trivial that only economists can comprehend the difference between my grandchildren and great grandchildren paying it off. The state of this Economy will NOT allow Obama(or anyone) to go into gigantic spending binges–no more so that we are already. 
Taxes will rise. The Bush tax cuts near their ceiling. It is TIME WE START PAYING FOR THE DEBTS OF OUR GENERATION. If we want to fight 2 wars, bail out Wall Street, and protect our borders, we NEED TO PAY FOR IT NOW. Never in history were tax cuts put in place at the same time as a costly war. Since when do we get to fight a war now and pay for it later?
Life will go on.
At the end of the day there will be two types of Americans–Those who wish to work together to rebuild, and those who wish to point fingers and blame. 
If the far right wants to take the place of the far left in blaiming the current POTUS for America’s turmoils, so be it–but understand completely–no problem has ever been solved by merely pointing and whining. If you want to fix the problems this country faces you need to stand up, speak your mind, and in turn LISTEN TO YOUR OPPONENTS. This cycle must continue till some common ground is met. 
Life will go on. 
The end is NOT NEAR. 
Stand up America. No matter who would have won today, History would have been made. For once our Country is making progress and this is our chance to sieze it, embrace it, and work together to prove to the world that we are worthy of our status. 
Also… If you can’t remember that we have bigger problems than which talking head pretends to lead this country, take a daily glance at this(as no matter who is POTUS, the story will still sadden my heart):
Godspeed. 
Be safe out there–
MedicThree

I NEVER win anything…

View Comments

But I did win ANOTHER Dell Mini 9! Long story short: I put 5 bucks in a raffle for a couple raising money for their adoption, I then completely forgot about it-till yesterday! I'd post up the link… But then ya'll would know my name! (If you know of this blog… Please try and keep it to yourself…)

Anyways… Looks like the wife gets a new computer too, since she doesn't seem to think I need 3 computers…