"I survived 'Nam. I'll survive Tulsa."
That's what my paramedic preceptor said when I asked if he wears body armor. He just scoffed at the idea. But, he did say offhandedly that those who work the night shift wear it.
Later in the shift, we had the occasion to stand around with some police officers while waiting for a decision to be made (by a patient) about whether or not we would be the ones transporting the patient.
I asked the police officers about body armor. They told me there is no law that says I can't purchase body armor. They said, "You can buy it and wear it around all the time if you want to." But, they said, I'll just have to find someone to sell it to me.
They told me where NOT to go. They said I should not go to the store that is owned by former police officers, because they get really upset when any non-police person wants to buy such items. One of the guys said he was in there the other day, and the man (former police officer) became very angry and almost threw a man out of his store after the man asked to buy body armor.
They were cool about it all. They told me who might sell to me. And, they told me what level of protection is provided with the various 'levels'. They told me what I can expect to get for what price.
So, I feel better about the body armor situation. I'll check again with the other store and see if I can buy from them. I've been planning all along to spend whatever it would take to purchase it. Now, I'll just need to find out who I can buy from.
About the ride? It felt like an easy day. We got 10 calls in 12 hours. But, five of those calls were canceled before we arrived. We transported the other five. Of those, none were terrible trauma situations. There were no guns or knives or cars causing injury to humans. No one was badly hurt. No one died. That was good. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for those calls if I stay with this particular kind of medicine (pre-hospital emergency).
My preceptor, the paramedic, enjoys teaching. So, he spent time between most of the calls talking to me about various things. I practiced preparing some of the meds. He told me things and asked questions to see if I understood.
He tried to get calls for us, so I could get the most possible experience. He requested that we be stationed at one of the busiest posts in the city. We did get pretty many calls. We just didn't get to complete but half of them.
We (students) are not allowed to lift or move patients on the cots, for insurance reasons, but we are allowed to do anything else we feel comfortable with. I checked blood pressure and pulse, listened to breath sounds and heart beats, connected 4-lead and 12-lead electrodes for the cardiac monitors, and started IVs.
I needed help with the IVs, because some patients were a little dehydrated and some had fragile veins. I'm better at that in the hospital than in the back of the truck. But, it's fun working out of the truck.
The day/night 12 hours ended without incident. He gave me all SAs (strongly agree) for the various areas he was to evaluate me. (I like it when that happens. It doesn't happen every time.)
In the comments section, he wrote, "Excellent assessment skills. Great patient interaction." That's always nice to hear, too! :)
posted by jordanrep.com/10522 @ 1:01 AM
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