I made it.

My usual seven nights in a row have finally ended and after nearly 16 hours of well deserved sleep I am ready to enjoy my seven nights off. Shift work is tough but I really can't complain all that much because I work opposite of another medic in the ED and we can make our own schedule. I only have myself to blame for long stretches of tiresome work but it does come with some rewards, seven days in a row off is certainly one of them.

It was very busy in the ED this week. Saturday night we held several CCU patients because the hospital was full, we even admitted men to the OB ward. I am sure the OB nurses were surprised when they changed shift and their patients' anatomy was dramtically different then what they were used to. All was well buy Monday though, and the night rode by pretty quickly with the usual idiots with coughs, colds, broken bones and cardiac arrests. Nothing stands out in my mind at the present because it seems to be much of a blur. Patient after patient, bed after bed. A NFD medic sumed it up pretty well on his 10th call in 8 hours when he said "I had eveything ready to treat this patient and I thought 'I have done this so many times tonight I don't want to do it again'". Tell me that's not scarry. NFD is full of idiots lke that that think they have tenure and can just neglect there patients whenever they want to just because they "have done it so many times." Idiots. But that is true medicine, unfortunately. I have read so many books about medical students and aspiring medical students who bullshit about how almost spiritual medicine is and how important the whole "patient-doctor" relationship can be but they miss the concept of medicine completely. One fine example is a doctor entering an examing room proclaiming "I am doctor so and so, why are you here?" to each patient he speaks to. However confrontational that seems, it sums up true medicine. From doctors to techs, no one really cares about the countless patients unless the caregiver can relate to the persons situation. If they can't they are just another test, just another disposition and risk analysis prior to discharging them and hoping they don't litigate you.

Intro to my blog

Careful, that medication could cause very severe reactions in certain populations or man you can't just perform a Rapid Sequence Induction without more than one medic with you. Hell, in the ER there are 4 nurses, six doctors and a who knows how many respiratory therapists who can "assist" in the event that something goes wrong.

Anyway, I am fairly content with my current employment. It's somewhat different for me. The ED has offered many chances to learn, but for the remainder of our time in Nashville I think I would much rather ride around on an ambulance and make a decision once in a while. If I do in fact make it on a truck it will be bitter-sweet because we may only be here for a couple more years. Then it will be time to pick up and move somewhere where my wife can further her education and I can begin my long and drudging quest through school and a futile attempt at medical school. I'll be an old fart but ..hey I would rather be an old fart MD than just an old fart Paramedic. At least that's my plan and it sounds good on paper.

Other than that I plan on ranting about past patients and trashing co-workers, anonimously of course ,and venting periodically. Enjoy.